David Singer is the founder of hockeyfights.com, a website devoted to the game’s enforcers and tough guys. I was curious to know how he got started, so I asked him if he would be willing to answer a few questions about his website and about fighting in general. He said yes, we traded emails, and now his answers are below. Many thanks to David for his time.
1. How long have you been a hockey fan? What attracted you to the game in the first place?
I’ve been a fan since I was young, probably 6-7. I don’t know why I became a fan at that age, I simply liked the sport. Playing street hockey didn’t hurt.
2. When did you start hockeyfights.com, and why?
I had my own page in 1995. It had a little hockey blurb on it. It grew and grew and by 1999 I had hockeyfights.com. It was easy to look up goals and assists leaders, but it wasn’t easy to find out fight information, or much about the players who weren’t the game’s biggest stars. I started the site to track fighting, and put the spotlight on all the tough guys of the game, no matter how many goals they scored. I also met a few players here and there, and the tough guys always seemed to be the nicest.
3. What do you look for in a fight?
Interesting question. I’m not sure anyone’s ever asked me that before. Honestly, I don’t look for anything. While I hope it’s a good one, I have no expectations. I try and have a similar outlook on games. No build-up, no let-down.
4. Are there fighting moves or tactics that you consider cheap or dirty?
I think the same things most would consider dirty: hair-pulling, any biting, things like that. When a player goes down, the fight’s over, no need to keep throwing.
5. Is fighting an integral part of hockey? Why or why not?
I do think fighting is an integral part of hockey. With the speed, aggression and contact, fights will happen. With many sports, fighting is on the top of the pyramid of violence. With hockey, it’s not. Fighting, being accepted in some form since the beginnings of the game, has become part of the game itself. While it comes out of some plays naturally, it’s also used for intimidation, deterrence or to simply trying to spark a team.
6. If fighting was banned (or at least much more severely penalized), would you still watch hockey?
I think the better question would be: would I still watch the NHL? I do watch NCAA hockey. Fighting is banned there, although fights still happen from time to time. If fighting were strictly banned in the NHL, I’d wait to see what the game evolved into.
7. Let’s say someone emails you and heatedly condemns you as sick, twisted individual because you like watching hockey fights. What three reasons would you give in defense of yourself?
I’ve gotten some crazy messages before. Some equate fighting in hockey to all of the world’s ills. They think a ban on fighting will bring an end to war somehow.
I’ve learned to ignore the craziest of the crazy. They don’t want a real response or conversation.
To those who are looking for a real answer as to why I think fighting is necessary in hockey, I give them the basics: a more controlled violence than the alternative, an effect a fight can have on the game, and entertainment to the fans.
