When the issue of dispensing beer at an event is raised the focus mistakenly gets centered on how changes would benefit the beer drinker and conjecture and speculation about how easier access to alcohol could affect behaviour at the game and impair judgment after the game. What is lost in the discussion is the fact that hockey is a fluid game that is not compatible with the disruptive nature of vending in the stands.

Hockey is not like baseball where there is little to nothing going on for the majority of time. There are no manager, pitcher and catcher conferences on the mound. No pitchers rejecting the catcher’s recommendations. No multiple pitcher half-hearted pick-off throws to first base. No long treks in from the bullpen and delays warming up a relief pitcher. Again, hockey is not like football where there is a delay after every play. Flag on the play, measure for a first down, measure to see how close to a first down, challenge a call on the field, deal with injuries on the field, sending on the short yardage team, sending on the kicking team and, of course, the unscrambling of the mess of players on the ground after every running play and the return of all to the huddle.

Baseball and football are designed for beer sales in the stands so that the fans have something to do like passing beer and peanuts down their row and money back to the waiting vendor between spurts of action. In contrast, serious hockey fans and season ticket holders go to watch the game. We are not there to be pressed into service passing beer down to someone who must consume more than the two beers he or she can purchase before each and every period.

Six beer over a span of two hours or so should be sufficient for anyone who actually came to watch the game. The game is the attraction, not the beer. It is a pity or a sign of our times that so many are under the influence of a contrary impaired opinion.

BILL MOTIUK

Kamloops