Toughest Sport on Planet = Hockey

I ran across this link that shows ESPN's list that ranked Most Difficult Sports (click here). It was a breath of fresh air for me as I have debated this topic with many people as to why I think hockey is the most difficult sport overall.

Ok, well maybe ESPN has boxing listed as #1, but I disagree with that as well. I have heard many arguments about other sports, and just as I grew up with hockey, others believe their sports are tougher.

Forget the ranking or the science. Just think of it from a common sense standpoint. Some have argued baseball is the most difficult sport. I agree that hitting a 95 MPH fastball is extremely difficult, but thats where it ends.

In baseball, players stand around a field where often times nothing may happen. The outfielders see a few balls hit, and outside the pitcher, catcher & first baseman, not much movement. Much different in hockey where all players on the ice are always involved in every play.

A hitter stands at the plate and awaits a pitch that he needs to hit. Nobody in his way, or any distractions, just him focusing on the pitcher. In hockey, the offensive player has to try and shoot a 3" round piece of rubber using a long stick while his opponents can legally knock him over while he does it. And if he CAN make contact with this puck it has to be directed at a net 6' wide by 4' high net in order to score....oh yeah and there is a person there with pads on preventing it from going in. A bit more difficult than having the entire outfield to hit into.

And the pitcher position? He throws the ball then takes a break. Spits, scratches himself, regains his composure, shakes his arm, looks at the catcher, winds up and then throws. Then all over again. If he's not doing good, another pitcher is warming up uninterrupted and then brought in. The new pitcher gets to warm up even more prior to facing the batter. This is just like a goalie in hockey...well not really. The goalie has the opponent in front of him, blocking his view, swinging at him, shooting at him from all angles...and if the goalie doesn't do well, his back up gets thrown in cold with no warm ups to face more of the same....thats fair.

Now, I do think that some of the sports listed on the "Difficult List" could be made more difficult than hockey.

Football was #3. This sport contains much the same as hockey. Strategy, hitting, speed, accuracy are many of the similarities, but it still lacks much. 16 games in the regular season versus 82 for hockey? Football players get a week to recover between games while hockey may play 2-3 games in a row after similar pounding? Almost, but not quite the same toughness as hockey players.

Basketball was #4. I shouldn't even argue this one. Alot of running up and down the court requires much endurance. Shooting a ball into a basket 10' high...excellent. But getting tapped, or brushed on your way to shoot results in the player getting "free throws"? They should incorporate that in hockey. If you get checked while shooting, you are allowed to shoot a free shot from your own blue line into an open net. Also, the trash talking in basketball would quickly go away when Brashear would plug Kobe Bryant in the mouth with a stiff punch.

Wrestling was #5. I guess we could make hockey take over the #1 spot if we added wrestling to it. If 2 players decide to fight and fall to the ice, they should be allowed to wrestle as well. It would be cool to see one player utilize the Guillotine Choke or Kimura in order to gain a "tapout". As for wrestling being equally as difficult as wrestling, there is a similarity. There are 3 periods in wrestling and hockey...but wrestling's periods last 2 minutes. Also, you wrestle guys your same weight...tell that to Martin St. Louis...maybe he'll change sports so he doesn't have to face Chara.

Martial Arts was #6. If you are training to be a ninja and can scale walls using only your hands and feet, or can fight like Jackie Chan in the movies, than yeah, its difficult. I'd put Bob Probert against any karate expert.

Tennis was #7. Here is where I stop with the comparison. Once you compare a sport that is done on solid ground, one on one, with a net seperating the 2 opponents, you've lost me. Now I love a watching a great game of tennis and even lobing the ball around occasionally, but to compare its difficulty to hockey is more of an Adam Sandler comedy than a real life discussion.

So in conclusion, hockey to me is still the most difficult sport to play. My main basis for this argument is simply the skating. As an adult, most can run, throw, jump, etc. This means you can at least make a decent effort to play soccer, baseball, basketball & tennis. But to move yourself one ice using shoes equipped with 10 inch long blades on the bottoms that are 3 mm thick while trying to push a 3" piece of rubber and make it go into 24 sq. ft of space while being chased is not easy...plain and simple. So if you put boxers on skates...then yes...its more difficult than hockey, but until then....don't argue with me.