Whats In A Name?

Did you know:  Almost every single good name for a blog has been taken?  Its true.  And most of those blogs haven't been updated in years.  I'd been trying to come up with a name for this blog for a little while now, and I finally got it last night.

Last night I was in the shower after playing hockey, and I was checking out this sweet bruise on my arm from this douchebag's helmet after I decked him.  I was mentally comparing it to other bruises I've taken from blocked shots, and the thought occurred to me that sacrificing your body is perhaps the greatest part of this game.  

Anyone who has played the game knows that you show off your bruises like badges of honor.  A big bruise on your belly is like a big flashing neon sign that says "My heart is THIS big!"  Football is the only other US sport that can rival hockey in terms of pure physicality, but even in football, you don't see guys deliberately sacrificing their body on the same level.  There is nothing in any other sport to match the blocked shot.  More than anything else in the game, laying down in front of a rubber bullet exemplifies the commitment and the heart that makes hockey great, on every level from youth to adult recreational right on up to the NHL.  

Naming a blog after one of the single most admirable aspects of the game has gotta be a good start, right?

Welcome to Sacrifice The Body!

Thanks to James O'Brien giving me the blogging bug (I hear its contagious), here I am, with my very own blog.  Allow me to introduce myself.

I'm Joe.  I lived in Michigan all my life, until 2008, when I moved to Colorado, in an attempt to find a place where the weather didn't suck and the economy was half-way decent.  For sports, the only ones that count for me are football and hockey.  As a Michigander, I'm obviously a Wings fan, though I do root for other teams, and more than anything, I am a fan of hockey in general (though not necessarily the NHL).  Further, hockey and the NHL in general are far more interesting than just another blog about how great the Red Wings are (or for the rest of you, how much they suck).  

As such, my general intent with this blog is to discuss the NHL in general, though I will certainly be doing certain things that are more Wing-centric.  In fact, one of the series of posts that I'm planning as a Wing-centric thing is actually looking at the performances of renowned Wing-killers like Adam Deadmarsh and Chris Pronger, so I think even you Wings-haters will find something here to read.  

If you looked through my own bookmark folder of hockey blogs, you'd find a lot of sites that do statistical analysis.  I certainly won't be approaching levels of super-advanced statistical analysis like Tyler over at MC79Hockey, but I'd like to think I can do something along the lines of some of the things James Mirtle does, or even some of the stuff the guys at Battle of California do in between cartoons.  That's not to say that everything here will be heavy on the numbers, but I'd definitely like to do some of that.  

We'll see where we go from here.  Hopefully you'll come along for the ride.