Juega Bonito

The man is an absolute genius. But you already knew that. When we vote Most Valuable Player for the Dallas Stars this season I will readily admit that A) it is likely silly to debate who the MVP is on a team that is going to miss the playoffs and B) beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

But, how far down the MVP list must one go before he sees the magic of #63? The man is a genius on skates. No doubt, when he tries his moves of great skill, the second it doesn't work he is ridiculed by his coaches as being a hot-dog. I understand their views, because we see it all the time, someone is trying to make Sportscenter harder than they are trying to help the team.

Please don't misunderstand me. I don't want kids trying these Mike Ribeiro moves in their youth leagues on breakaways. I also don't want them trying to "show up" the competition.

At the same time, let's understand that part of the attraction of hockey is the beauty. The coaches don't worry about that because beauty can not be quantified on the scoreboard. They play it safe.

Does playing it safe steal the imagination of kids everywhere? Does playing it safe make good commercials for the game? Does playing it safe make kids want to go get a stick and try it on their driveway with their buddies?

No. But this does:



And this does, too:



And, this, too:



Sorry. I like my soccer from Brazil (Juega Bonito, Mi hijo) and my hockey from #63. Thanks for selling hockey to the unconverted, Mike.

EDIT: As pointed out by Boomer, Portuguese is the primary language of Brazil. That being said, I was not speaking Spanish to our Brazilian readers. I was referencing the amazing Soccer campaign by Nike, entitled Juega Bonito. Mira! I think in Portuguese, that might be Joga Bonito. But really, I don't know.