Dumb title, I know.

I was at the local Irish pub after work in hot, crowded Memphis, and noticed something odd (to me, that is) about the soccer game being shown.  At halftime, the refs (officials) were leaving the field at the same time, through the same exit, as the players.  Not only that, but they were exiting with both teams, and talking cordially with them.  Can you imagine something like that happening in hockey?  Even at the lowest levels of amateur hockey, even with kids games, there are precautions that refs take when leaving the ice, and also when leaving the rink to go home.  Remember, this is a sport where fan behavior is associated with rioting.

The other cool thing was, they were showing hurling a few nights ago. Holy crap, what a sport.  These guys are insane.  If you have never seen hurling, combine parts of rugby, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, and the movie Braveheart, and you start to see what it is.  The nice thing was, it didn’t take long to pick up on.  Hockey can be confusing to newcomers as to why there are stoppages in play, what was or wasn’t a penalty, and so on.  Hurling seemed pretty easy to pick up on.  I’m sure it isn’t a simple game, but it wasn’t exactly rocket science either. Oh, and the soccer sized stadium they were playing in was packed.