Joe Thornton has never been afraid to give the media a good quote. He is one of the rare great players who will interact with the media and say exactly what is on his mind. Remember what he said he’d pull out and stroke if he ever scored four goals?
When he talked to Kevin Kurz of the Comcast Sports Network, no one should have been surprised when he spoke plainly and directly to him.
https://twitter.com/KKurzCSN/status/712349789245976576
In my opinion, he has a point. Why the heck should people be celebrating the fact that a team has only made the playoffs? The work isn’t done yet and it’s something that needs to be built upon. This fact is especially true when mentioning the Sharks as they routinely make the playoffs but they can’t get to the ultimate goal – the Stanley Cup.
Our friends over at Fear the Fin had another idea about his statement:
Well yes, half the teams make the playoffs, Joe. So it's not quite as big of a deal. https://t.co/jksoogaaGQ
— Fear the Fin (@fearthefin) March 22, 2016
The MLB playoffs are statistically more difficult to make, but does that mean they should celebrate it the way they do? It could be debated until kingdom come but the early celebration seems odd.
What do you think? Is the early celebration a dumb baseball tradition due to the smaller amount of teams that make the playoffs or do you think that Thornton has it right?