While there's some merit in his argument, it strikes me as typical Shank - bail out at the first sign of trouble. His notion of ending the Winter Classic runs counter to this sentence:
If it's cold enough, I would be OK with any outdoor game in Detroit, Montreal or Toronto. Yankee Stadium might even work.Average temperatures in these cities at this point in the year are 33, 23, 28 and 37 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. So why not try some / all of these next venues, then decide if it's worthwhile? Probably because this column needs to take some definitive position, and Shank takes the easy, and negative, out.
This is one of those columns that leaves you dumber for having read it. Counting the logical flaws in this piece of inanity would be like counting Bruce Boudreau's F-bombs, but leaving that aside, Shaughnessy essentially seems to be saying that the only way the Winter Classic should be played again is:
ReplyDeletea) if it's always played in Boston (the center of the world, of course, where everything will magically be all right)
OR
b) if God will personally guarantee to Dan that it will snow on Winter Classic day
Otherwise, clearly this horrible event -- you know, a game which turned out to be the most-watched regular-season hockey game in 30 years -- must never occur again.
Oh, and Dan? The ratings for last year's Winter Classic in Hockey Heaven (aka Boston) were dwarfed by the ratings in Pittsburgh this year for the game.
Last year: Boston, 14.4/29 share.
This year: Pittsburgh 32/46 share
Pittsburgh, by this measure, is now twice the hockey town that Boston is.
What a moron.