Apparently there's been no major league hockey this year...who knew? I mean after all we're talking about an activity where its own commissioner admitted that it was not a legitimate sport. OK, so he didn't say it in so many words, but follow my logic for a moment. The NHL commissioner once said that fighting could not be removed from the game. More specifically, he said that hockey fans wouldn't support the sport without the fighting.

This is either an admission that the sport is insufficiently entertaining by itself or that its fans are just too low-brow to appreciate it--take your pick. Assuming the commissioner wasn't insulting his customers, the only remaining option is that professional hockey is a joke. If you're like me, though, and think hockey (without fighting) is a fine sport, then the commissioner was pointing out the imbecilic nature of pugilism-loving professional hockey fans.

There is no fighting in college or Olympic hockey therefore, it follows, there is no need for it in the professional leagues. Fighting detracts from the sport and provides a venue for less skilled players who are simply there to fulfill the role of a thug--never a good thing for any sport. While I'm no pantywaist liberal, I'd rather someday take my son to an actual boxing match and a college level hockey game than anything the NHL provides as a combination of the two. I like to think I have all the answers but, "Dad, why are they letting them fight?" during a major league sport is one question to which I have no answer.

Can you name another sport in which fighting is not allowed at the college or Olympic level but is allowed at the professional level? Click on "Continue reading" for the answer.

Answer: Wrestling. And, as long as fighting is allowed in professional hockey, it'll be just as big a joke as professional wrestling.

Just to be clear, I like hockey. Fighting, however, serves no purpose other than to detract from the sport and the skill and athleticism of the competitors. How silly would it be if fighting were allowed in baseball, basketball, football or soccer? That's how ridiculous it seems to me to allow it in hockey.