Hockey and Heels? Please, Spare Me the Pain

Now, I know that this latest bright idea from the marketing geniuses of the Islanders' organization didn't come from the players themselves, so in no way am I blaming them for this latest move, which can either be a rousing success or another raw deal- which goes either way.

At least someone, somewhere deep in the bowels of Nassau Coliseum must think that this is intelligent, and on the surface, it looks as much. Hockey and Heels Night, a great night for the ladies of Long Island to come out and support their hockey team, the New York Islanders- for only ten dollars. What's not to like?

I'll tell you... it's the fact that the sideshow attractions prove that the organization really doesn't know what female fans want. FYI- it's not a fashion show by the players' wives and girlfriends, nor is it a makeover. (Trust me, I'm 17 years old and know nothing about fashion, I don't want to start learning, and surprisingly enough, I don't think I need a new look, thank you very much.) I would rather see an Isles win than any gimmicks the marketing staff comes up with to put butts in the seats.

And yeah, the $10 tickets are great, but it's on a school night. Practically impossible.

True, for the female fan who's more ladylike than me, she might enjoy this little deal more than I would. But she'd probably also be fine with the game itself- after all, she could see better renditions of these things on TLC, Oxygen or the E! Channel. The point is, these maneuvers make it look like the organization is trying to deviate people's attention from the on-ice product (which has suffered as of late) and focus it on things that are of no relevance to hockey- especially when you consider the amount of times this past week that Deb Kaufman has mentioned the package offer, and that Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe, bless them, have cracked the same "wearing heels" jokes over and over.

True, if this turns out to be a success and more women, or fans in general, are seen at the game tonight, no matter what our record is as of late, it would be seen as a success. But then again, that all depends on how many people- how many women- are willing to look past the record and sit through three periods of which we cannot predict the outcome. This was supposed to be about something completely different than what it has become, actually... it's the extra things added on at the last second that have turned me off to the notion of trying to "feminize" a sport I've watched for three years and Christine has watched for 34, that we were just fine with before everyone started becoming conscious of gender. The organization should have made it strictly about the low-price tickets, end of story.

Bottom line... make it about hockey, don't make it a sideshow. We ladies deserve better than that.