by Jeffrey Weinstein

Created on: January 18, 2009

Why is hockey a better sport than football? That is an interesting question. These are my two favorite sports, but I think most people's answers will depend on which side of the 49th parallel they live.

I was born and raised in New York and I currently reside in New Jersey. I don't think you'd find many people around here who prefer hockey over football. We have three NHL teams in this area (Rangers, Devils & Islanders) but the Giants & Jets will always reign supreme in the popularity department. If you talk to people north of the border where hockey is a religion and way of life, you'd have to scramble to find someone, anyone who likes football more than hockey.

These are two vastly different sports. Both are great theatres of athleticism. Both are rough, and physical. Both are hard to watch at times because of the incredible physicality but that's about all these sports have in common.

Football is more of a cerebral game while hockey is more spontaneous. In football, a play occurs, then the teams huddle up for 40 seconds to decide the next play. A football team can hold on to the ball for a long march down the field lasting several minutes. In hockey, the back and forth action is constant and unpredictable. In football, players only play offense or defense...some just play on the special teams. In hockey, players will go all over the ice doing whatever they have to do to help the team win. Whether it's scoring a goal or preventing one, a hockey player is everywhere.

Football is kind of like controlled chaos. When a coach calls a play, each player knows what their role is and where they have to be. When the ball is snapped, all hell breaks loose. When the play is over, things calm down, players go back to the huddle and wait for the next play. In hockey, when a player jumps over the boards for his shift, he has no idea what's going to happen. His immediate reaction is to go after the puck. During the duration of a shift which usually last 30-40 seconds, anything can happen. There is very little control. When his shift is over, a hockey player gets his breath, talks to his line mates on the bench and gets ready for his next shift.

The crowd participation of both sports has its differences as well. Football fans tend to rise as one to support their team screaming "defense, defense" as loud as their lungs will let them. Because of the fast paced nature of the sport, hockey fans generally wait in anticipation for the big hit, fight, great save...and of course a goal. Once a home team scores, the crowd jumps from their seats to clap and high five the neighboring fans.

As stated earlier, I am a huge fan of both sports. Having compared and contrasted the two, I think hockey is a better sport mainly because of it's unpredictable nature. Before a play in football, when a team approaches the line of scrimmage, a knowledgeable football fan can tell why type of play is going to happen. Some of the drama is taken out of the play like a movie in which you already know the ending. Hockey is an out-of-control train wreck. We fans sit on the edge of our seats waiting. We wait for the fight, we wait for the big hit, we wait for the great save, we wait for the goal. When we finally get it, we explode with all kinds of emotion.

In the United States, football will always dwarf hockey in popularity but this is one American who loves hockey more. Seeing the Rangers win the cup in 1994 is one of the greatest moments of my life and I just don't think a Jets Super Bowl can compare.

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