SLOVAKS REALLY LIKE HOCKEY | With Leather - Sports news and gossip, panda sex, and the occasional Toonces the driving cat Photoshop

By no means should you watch the full seven minutes of this video, because it drags on forgoddamever, but I couldn't help but be amazed by the crowd's enthusiasm about this Slovakian hockey game. From the NYT hockey blog:

It was recorded last Friday night in Martin, Slovakia, when perennial minnows MHC Martin beat HC Kosice in the Slovakian Extraliga and reached second place at the start of the two-week December break. After the game highlights, watch the unbelievable send-off the 4,000 fans at the Martin Winter Stadium give their players, and how much fun the players have giving back the love.

And it is kind of cool, for hockey. The players do silly things like ride the zamboni and pretend their sticks are locomotives (Ed. note: my "stick" is a locomotive: chugga-chugga-chugga. Call me ladies), while the 4000 fans make more noise than 40,000 Americans with Thunderstix. On the other hand, Soviet tanks weren't parked in our cities in 1968 because we tried to increase social freedoms slightly. Suck on that, Slovakia.

[FanHaus]