Pasha Farmanara, Web Co-Editor-in-Chief
The halls of Beverly are filled with chatter about sports, usually the NBA, NFL, MLB or various soccer leagues. One popular sport that gets no attention is hockey.
Now that the Kings are in the Stanley Cup, Beverly’s true hockey fans are beginning to make their presence felt. Whether it is with sports Kings apparel or Facebook statuses, they are making their voices heard.
The most famous (or notorious) Kings fan at Beverly is junior Joel Goldszer.
“It does feel weird being a hockey fan because not a lot of people follow hockey at school. I think it is because you can’t go in your backyard and play hockey like you could for basketball or football,” Goldszer said.
Fellow Kings fan junior Allison Wolff has a different idea about why hockey isn’t as popular as most other sports.
“Hockey is a very Canadian sport, and people at Beverly tend to only focus on basketball. Since the Kings haven’t always been as successful as the Lakers, many people ignored the sport. But now that the Kings are on their A game, everyone seems to be hopping on the bandwagon,” Wolff said.
People usually get offended when referred to as “bandwagon” but when it comes to the Kings, fans embrace the title.
“People don’t mind being called a bandwagon because they don’t view hockey as much as a sport as basketball and such,” sophomore Adam Steinberg said .
Students have been jumping onto the Kings’ bandwagon by the dozen, but unlike other fans, Kings fans are embracing these fair-weather fans rather than shunning them.
“Even though they aren’t true fans, it’s fun to have people interested in hockey. And it is not like they had another favorite hockey team before this year,” Goldszer said.
Hockey may be known for its bruising hits and flagrant fights, but Wolff don’t watch the sport for those reasons.
“Hockey games have this amazing atmosphere that no other sport offers. Players are allowed to hit each other, yet they all end up shaking hands at the end of the game. No other sport offers that physical and sportsmanship quality,” Wolff said.
Dan Park • May 27, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Kind of funny how hockey got popular in California…
Nathan cohen • May 24, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Great article, can’t wait to watch the kings!
Adam Steinberg • May 24, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Go Kings!