This is sportsmanship at its finest.
When we were kids, one of the biggest things taught to us was the concept of sportsmanship, but the older and more professional an athlete gets, the less that’s a thing. So when a penalty was waived off during the Colorado Avalanche–New York Islanders game Dec. 19 due to good sportsmanship, it was a breath of fresh air.
During the first period, Avalanche star defenseman Cale Makar had the puck behind his team’s net, and while turning a corner, he was being chased by Islanders forward Mathew Barzal. With hockey being a speedy game, it originally looked like that Barzal tripped Makar, which was going to give Colorado the man advantage.
However, when the referee blew his whistle, Makar instantly waved towards the referee to motion it wasn’t a penalty like they originally thought. Not much longer after, the referees announced that there was indeed no penalty. Avalanche fans were pissed, but little did they know, the change came from their own fan-favorite hero.
Good guy Cale Makar gets the ref to reverse a penalty call on Mat Barzal pic.twitter.com/BPZ4bQTazq
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 20, 2022
Cake Makar waving off a Barzal delayed penalty.
Good guy. #Isles pic.twitter.com/zNFeqnh1a8
— Isles Territory (@IslesTerritory) December 20, 2022
Now this is pretty cool. With millions of dollars and championships up for grabs in professional sports — and it’s turning into that in college sports as well — you know sportsmanship like this is extraordinarily rare. It was pretty cool.
But here’s the problem for me: Doing a little research on this situation, I ended up coming across this video about sportsmanship. However, instead of thinking it was pretty cool like the Cale Makar moment, I completely cringed. And honestly, it ruined the Makar moment for me a little bit. Remember the old 80’s and 90’s PSA commercials that make you cringe?
Yeah, this is one of those PSA’s.
Cale Makar legit just did this in an NHL game 😂 pic.twitter.com/2egqTo80uH
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 20, 2022
I like the Cale Makar moment, but that’s essentially what he did. He gave us a sportsmanship PSA. Damn, I wish I didn’t see that advertisement, because now I’m over here cringing. (RELATED: Washington Capitals Players, Fans Erupt After Alex Ovechkin Nets 800th Career Goal With Hat Trick)
See, this is exactly why sportsmanship rarely exists anymore, because nobody wants to cringe.
I think I’ve cracked the code on that one.