Fighting hypocrisy

AHL KOs punch-out promotion, but misses the mark

This Thursday, the AHL's Houston Aeros will play host to the Milwaukee Admirals and, after much to-do, it will not be "Guaranteed Fight Night" at the Compaq Center. That was the promotion that Aeros president Dave Barr had in mind, hoping to lure fans by offering a money-back guarantee if no fight broke out during the hockey game. It was a splendid idea, though not Barr's own. In 2000, the IHL's Orlando Solar Bears debuted "Guaranteed Fight Night" about a week after they'd held a "Boy Scout Night." The Solar Bears' opponents that night were the Aeros and, as Barr recalls, spectators left the arena without free tickets in their hands. "There was fight on the first shift and that was it," he says.

There could well be a fight on the first shift Thursday night, but it won't have any bearing on the fans' right to a freebie. When AHL president David Andrews heard of the Aeros' proposed promotion he stepped in and scotched it. The event, Andrews told reporters, "Suggests that violence is a big part of the sport, and that's just not the case."

Say whaaaaaaaaaat?

Can a person so clueless -- or disingenuous -- really be a league president? I don't blame Andrews for killing the promotion, and executives at the Minnesota Wild, the Aeros' NHL parent team, were pleased he did. But to imply that the Aeros were doing anything but marketing the very stuff that pro hockey sells is preposterous. (The AHL, by the by, is the NHL's top developmental league.)

Maybe Andrews didn't catch Tuesday night's Admirals game against the San Antonio Rampage (the Rampage, they're called!). A whole 2:18 had expired before Milwaukee's Nathan Perrott and the Rampage's Rocky Thompson started beating each other up. Perhaps Andrews missed the fight in the St. John's Maple Leafs-Albany River Rats contest that same night.

If Andrews wants to pretend gratuitous violence isn't at the heart of pro hockey, he had better not follow the NHL on satellite. He would have been shocked -- shocked! -- to see fan-friendly fisticuffs break out Tuesday night between the Devils and Ducks, between the Islanders and Senators, between the Bruins and Sabres. And definitely don't let Andrews get near a tape from Saturday's Rangers-Blue Jackets game. His illusions will be shattered. Next thing, he's going to find out there's no Santa.

The Aeros' real crime was one of etiquette. The NHL and its lower leagues operate on a simple premise: Tell everyone you don't like the violence, tsk-tsk against it -- then promote it like hell. What's wonderful is how honest Houston was about it all. I spoke to Sandy Kirk, the Aeros' top p.r. representative, just after Guaranteed Fight Night was canceled. "We tried to explain that, well, hockey isn't the biggest thing in Houston," Kirk told me. "We were trying to do something to attract people who otherwise wouldn't come. It's not like we were promoting something that isn't part of the game. To us 'Guaranteed Fight Night' isn't any different from 'Guaranteed Goal Night' or a 'Guaranteed Sack the Quarterback Night' in football."

Right on. It's not much different at all.

After Andrews intervened, the Aeros reluctantly modified the promotion to "Guaranteed Win Night." Fans get a free ticket if Houston loses. It's not a bad bet -- the Aeros have an AHL-best 12-1-1-0 record -- but it lacks the pizzazz of punch-out night.

The Aeros have several good prospects on their team, as well as NHL veteran Hnat Domenichelli. But the Wild wisely have particular interest in young Kyle Wanvig, who, at 6-foot-3, 219 pounds, has both scoring punch (12 points in 12 games) and physical pop (team-high 37 penalty minutes). Wanvig is the kind of player who just might put a whuppin' on the opposition, the kind of player the NHL and its fans adore, no matter what a hockey team guarantees.

The first page of the Aeros' Web site has a poll that asks fans to vote on how they "feel about the change to [guaranteed] win night." There are four options: "Should have stayed fight night!" "I like win night better!" "I'm there to watch hockey!" and "Don't really care!"

When I checked with Kirk on Wednesday, she said that 68 percent of fans have voted that it should have stayed fight night. That number, Kirk says, "is growing."

Well, it's too late for the Aeros faithful. They've lost the guarantee. But the bet here -- and I know I'm going out on a limb here, and Mr. Andrews is sure to think I'm nuts -- is that they will still see a fight.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Kostya Kennedy takes sides every Wednesday at CNNSI.com.

 

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