This is not a soccer blog, but it may seem like it, so please hang on and endure the pain. Soccer is the world’s largest sport, watched and played by millions of people worldwide. A very tough game to play, ninety minutes of non-stop, limited substitution, running on a field larger than the standard football field. Once ranked only ahead of hockey as the sport where the most endurance, strength and agility are required, with football coming in third. 
But it has a major flaw.Diving, over exaggerating, theatrics, faking an injury. Call it what you want, but they do it a lot! And now the sport we love the most has picked up on this idea and is using it for the same reason: to try to embellish an act by an opposing player to gain an advantage to help win the game. But there is one major difference. In soccer, if it works, the opposing player could get a yellow card or a red card. A yellow card is a warning and can lead to red card with another foul being called on that player. A red card leads to ejection, and possible suspension for additional red cards. This is important in soccer because there is no substitution for a player who has been ejected by a red card. If it happens in the first minute of play, that team plays a man short for the rest of the game.
In hockey, if the “diving” works, your team gets a power play for two minutes! Two lousy minutes for acting less than professional!
And the best power play team for the 06-07 season, the Montreal Canadians, were 22.8% effective on the power play. That’s less than 1 in every 4 attempts. Is it really worth it?And it has got so bad in the NHL, not only are the fast, smaller scorers doing it, now we have the guys who are usually upset that someone else does it, doing it too. Being from Pittsburgh, I am a Sydney Crosby supporter, but when he gets a stick up in his chest or higher, and the Madonna head whip kicks in, I hang my head in shame. But in the playoffs,
Chris Neil gets barely touched by a stick in his midsection and he falls to the ice like George Blanda used his family jewels for practicing field goal attempts! Chris Neil!! This guy isn’t your choirboy from just left of the altar. He has had his fair share of nasty, borderline and across the border hits. Way across the border, deep into Mexico, near Mexico City hits!! And he needs to resort to diving?
Is diving being “taught” in the youth leagues? Are goaltenders told “If a guy comes anywhere near you, in the crease or not, flop around like a landed marlin!” if so, it has got to change.
But what are some solutions? One solution mentioned during the playoffs I rather like. If an actual infraction, such as hooking or high stick, is going to be called along with the diving, it gets dropped and the player diving gets his unsportsmanlike penalty only. Let’s see how the coaches and teammates feel about having to play shorthanded because Crosby suddenly felt sexy and had to fling his hair.
But there is the other side too, were more stick-up-in-the-face area infractions being missed? Is this because of the faking or are the referees really missing it? Should linesmen have the ability to call penalties to the head, should they be reviewed, or should the War Room deal with it after the fact? These are pretty radical and not very feasible.
The real solution is for hockey players to play like hockey players. Keep the sticks on the ice and if you get hit, hit them back or let someone else do it. All players from Crosby to Neil should work on hitting legally and accepting being hit.
Put some respect back in your game. And leave the embellishing to the soccer players.
