Anonymous wrote:It seems that hockey players aren't known for being as douchey and alcoholic as laxers. I wonder why that is, considering hockey is also a white, prep school sport.
I would imagine part of it stems from why people start playing a specific sport in the first place. Most hockey players who excel at their sport start playing when they're 3-6 years old - too young to really take into consideration the sorts of social benefits that accrue from participating in one sport over another.
Part of it also probably stems from the emotional, time, and financial requirements required to develop skills in a particular sport. Hockey practices tend to be at insanely early hours, which leaves less time or inclination for late night carousing. Kids who can't hack it, or who lack the necessary focus and emotional stability, tend to drop out before they reach the high school level. Plus, hockey has viable professional leagues, not only in the U.S. but around the world (most European, and even some Asian, countries have national leagues, all of which recruit Americans and Canadians that the NHL and AHL don't pick up). So, talented hockey players have an incentive to maintain a laser like focus on their goals if they have any desire to go pro after college.
Laxers have the benefits and temptations that go along with D1 sports at the collegiate level, without the counterbalancing incentive of potential future rewards within the sport. Thus the strong built-in incentive for players to get it all while the getting is good.