Troubling to see King taking a page from the TJ Simers playbook - taking a swipe at hockey and passing it off as "writing about hockey."

Love your column, King, but we both know you'll be the loudest one on the bandwagon if and when the Sharks ever hoist the Cup.

Based on the argument you've presented, is it safe to assume you think Tim Duncan should have been suspended for leaving the bench area earlier in the game?

Altercation or not, the NBA's official stance on the situation is, as you said, "a rule is a rule."

By their own reasoning Duncan should have been suspended and Fischer should have been fined. After all, the league stated that "it's not about what is fair."

I, and most anyone else with any common sense, would loudly disagree if either of those punishments had been levied (in fact, I'd probably send a donation to help pay Fischer's fine)- just as the majority of fans are howling over the suspensions of Diaw and Stoudemire. They were suspended for doing what any of us would have done; instinctively stepping forward to come to the aid of a teammate who's been knocked to the floor by a cheap shot, thinking the better of it and returning to the bench without incident.

I guess Duncan gets a free pass because both Jones and Elson kept cooler heads than Horry?

Can't help but think about Clint Eastwood's last line to Gene Hackman.

"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."

Bummer.

Hockey is a fast moving, exciting sport once considered to be one of the "Big 4" spots in the US, until a man named Bettman decreed that the league should be expanded enough to dilute the talent pool. It was also decided that teams should be taken from locations where the sport is extremely popular and moved to desert and tropical locations where there is little to no fan base.

Bettman then cleverly negotiated a television contract with a network no one had ever heard of.

Forgot to mention that, unlike basketball, hockey allows its players to actually play defense.

If you don't want to write about hockey then fine, don't write about it. At all. Don't have the only mention of the sport be some snarky remark about how nobody "gives two shits about it."

I always thought the Rangers were the Yankees of the NHL, except that they kept missing the playoffs even with the bloated payroll.

Would be nice if Detroit made their ticket prices a bit more manageable, so that Hockeytown wasn't half-empty during the conference finals though.

And I'm all for moving hockey back up North. If we're going to be a niche sport, let's embrace it.

A Buffalo-Anaheim final would be great to watch, but I just don't see the Sabres winning the next three against Ottawa right now. And the Pronger suspension is going to hurt the Ducks in a big way. The guy plays about 35 minutes a night, tough to cover for that.

On the bright side, I no longer cringe at the thought of the Cup being awarded to Anaheim now that they've dropped "Mighty" and gotten rid of the cartoon logo and teal-trimmed sweaters.

I said it last week, if we're going to be treated as a niche sport then let's embrace it. We are now far and away the biggest and best of all the niche sports. (Sorry NASCAR, but you're not a "sport" if there is an engine and steering wheel involved.)

We all had to know this was coming once Bettman took control. I honestly don't believe that Bettman even likes the game of hockey. The glowing puck fiasco? Even Bud Selig thought the better of selling ad space on the bases a few years ago. Bettman has constantly tried to grab the attention of casual fans at the expense of his sport's true fan base. Over-expansion, carpetbagging owners, allowing team names like "Wild" and "Avalanche" (is each individual "an Avalanche" or "a Wild"?), not to mention the introduction of the color teal to hockey sweaters.

There has never been a commissioner of any sport, major or niche, who has been so incompetent for so long and gotten a free pass. It's time for the league to step up and admit that this man's tenure has been a disaster and let someone with an appreciation for the game itself take over. Ken Dryden, anyone?

I agree. Did anyone see the NCAA Division II men's basketball final? It was the most thrilling, emotional end to a game I've seen in years.

The outrage over the glow puck was that it actually did the exact opposite of what it was intended to do. It made it impossible to see the actual puck during a scoring chance. The red comet-tail effect would kick in during a shot on goal, completely obscuring the puck and goalie. We would have to wait for the replays from the closeup cameras that weren't outfitted with the glow technology to see what actually happened. Missed seeing many a good glove save thanks to that.

Having grown up watching fuzzy feeds from Montreal and Buffalo on a small black and white set in our basement rec room, I always found it a bit odd that the good people at FOX decided it was too hard to see a black puck on white ice.

You hit the nail on the head expect for one detail; ticket prices are still at "Major Sport" levels. Why else would the Joe Louis Arena have empty seats during the playoffs?

What was that look on Little Carmine's face after being denied entry to Phil's house? Was it out and out fear, or was it the realization that he was going to be pulled further into "this life" that he wants to be?

Now that you've convinced us all that hockey is lame, can I assume we've heard the last from you on the topic?