Politically Correct

Name calling, insults, racism, etc, etc=NOT GOOD!  But after the banana peel incident and Avery being called a fa**ot, I guess the biggest insult the players are going to be able to hurl on-ice from now on is "Your mother wears Army boots!"



***NOT in anyway excusing what was done/said.  This is just an attempt at cutting the tension...

Questioning

A few days ago, the Red Wings and Flyers played an exhibition game.  The score was tied at the end of overtime, so it moved into a shootout.  During the shootout, someone threw a banana peel on the ice.  Anyone with even a slight awareness of hockey knows that things are thrown on the ice all of the time--octopi, hats, rubber rats, slabs of beef, etc.  Now, other than the NHL powers-that-be, things thrown on the ice are pretty well tolerated by everyone--until the banana peel incident.  And why was this different?  The player on the ice at the time was the only black player for either team.  And someone decided this was a racist incident--which it probably was.  And the (hockey) world exploded for several days.

While I would never argue that racially motivated acts are okay, I do have some very serious concerns about this entire affair.  First of all, this game was a pre-season game.  That in itself meant that not a whole lot of people were watching it.  There was no audio or video broadcast of this game--other than to an area in and around Philadelphia.  So, the fans in the arena and the (relatively) small viewing audience were the only people who actually saw this happen.  And I question how many people saw this, even if they were at the game--several players were questioned about this later and they weren't aware of what happened until they were told. But, someone DID see this and ran with the story.  I don't know where it first appeared--Twitter, a news story, a blog--but someone made a story out of this.  And once it was out there, it became fodder for opinion pieces, blogs, newscasts, Twitter, Facebook, etc, etc, etc.  This was reported and talked about ad nauseum for several days.

As I said, I would never advocate for a racially motivated act.  I also don't believe society is benefitted by sweeping unpleasant topics/acts under the rug, BUT...  And there is the problem.  The person responsible for this was never found, so we really don't know what his motivation for throwing the peel was.  I'm NOT saying there wasn't a racial element to this, but I'm saying that the assclown who did this probably had a bigger reason for his actions:  PUBLICITY.*  And he got his share of publicity.  This is pretty much the only thing that was 'talked' about for several days.

Now, we come to my question.  Is this something that should have been ignored?  This could have flamed out very quickly, because of the small amount of people who saw what happened.  Actually, it would barely have been a spark if it hadn't been reported.  Have we become a society so politically correct that we have to 'make a big deal' out of everything, even if the intention was nowhere close to what others perceived?  We are finding in all areas of our lives where huge stories are (manufactured?) from small, insignificant incidents--from politics to our personal lives--and it doesn't seem to help do much more than inflame.  I do have to wonder who is benefitting from this--other than the 24-hour news sources and the assclowns who want publicity.



*I realize that I am publicizing this just as much as everyone else did, but I don't reach a big audience, so I don't think my little blog matters.  ;)

Why I Need Twitter and Blogs

I appreciate the imaginary, fake friends I have online so very, very much.  And here is just one more reason--this is an actual 'conversation' I had today with a Facebook friend*:

Friend:  I enjoy reading about your love for hockey!! I have another close friend, who is crazy for the NY team!

Me:  Which NY team?

Friend:   Yankee~

{facepalm}

What more can be said?

*And to top it all off, she is perky.  I don't do perky...

Tychkowski Isn't COMPLETELY Wrong...

Anyone reading this is probably a Wings fan, so the entire debacle that was Tychkowski's article in the Edmonton Sun is very familiar.  I must defend him, though, and say that I, too, am a bit frightened about going to Detroit.  (It has been years and years and years since I've been there.)  But, I also am frightened of Chicago, the Twin Cities, New York, LA, etc, etc, etc.  Hell, I wouldn't even walk alone down the street of Green Bay in the middle of the night.  I grew up in a town of less than 1000 people and live in a town of about 20,000--big cities scare me.  I'm a hick and I know it, so I feel for poor Bob.   ;D

Hey, Hater! Yes, YOU!

I just read another post/letter/comment/whatever from a Red Wing hater where the team was referred to as the 'Dead Wings.'  Really.  Enough already.  I don't mind the haters hating the Wings--I probably hate their teams, too--but I wish they would come up with something more original.  It is the 21st century, after all.  And you aren't saying anything that we ourselves haven't said--those of us alive and old enough to talk during the dark ages called the team the 'Dead Wings' as well as everyone else did.  As I said, crawl out of the past and come up with something new.  I could almost respect someone that came up with a new, creative nickname--even if I didn't agree with them.  After all, The Brother still uses the same term when talking about the Wings, so I CAN'T respect anyone who uses 'Dead Wings.'

Time Is Dragging

I really would like to meet the idiot who decided that it was a good thing to give the Wings four days off between games this early in the season.  I would, for sure, punch him in HIS 'schedule' if I had the chance.  This is fricking ridiculous.  Tomorrow night can't happen fast enough.

Now for GREAT news:  The Triple Deke will be putting up a new post on Friday!  YAY!  Tyler is coming back.  Not to put any pressure on him, but this is one of the most anticipated returns of a blogger in a long, long time.  I know MY life has been much sadder without Tyler lighting up my life.  Welcome back--you were gone much too long.

Who Is The Better Fan?

I am very much a non-entity on the interwebs--and I believe I like it like that.  It keeps me out of trouble and saves me from so many fights that I see going on.  Already in this very early part of the season, I have seen at least two nasty fights going on--and I don't 'follow' hardly anyone on Twitter or read very many blogs!  I can't even begin to imagine how many there have been that I know nothing about.  And these are between fans of the SAME team, NOT opposing fans.  I don't get it.  And that is why I usually don't give my opinion, unless it is pretty much the same as the majority opinion.  Yes, I'm spineless.

The majority of fights are usually one of two:  1)  Someone rags on a particular player and another person comes to his defense or 2)  someone criticizes the entire team a bit strenuously and a total homer (who wouldn't say a bad word about the team if s/he was paid) comes to the team's defense--and accuses the criticizer of being less than a loyal fan.  And then the fighting begins.  And, usually, a lot of other people are dragged into the fight and then all hell breaks out.

Many times I can see all sides of every fight--as a mother, I learned this lesson early on--and find it hard to come down on one side or the other.  It is very easy and justifiable to find fault when a player is doing less than what he should be doing--yet, I can understand where there may be extenuating circumstances.  I really wonder how each of us would be evaluated at our jobs if we were under the microscope of fans.  I know that I don't do my best after The Husband and I have had an argument, or when I'm not feeling 'quite right.'  I find myself being distracted if there are 'issues' in the lives of my kids or close friends.  But, we don't want to give the players any consideration when they fall short of their best--we don't want to accept that they are mere humans like the rest of us.  Of course, I also can see the side that feels that these guys are being paid big money to do their jobs and the hell with what else is going on in their lives.  Both sides are valid, to an extent. 

The other big argument that seems to crop up periodically is the one between the 'homer' and the fan without blinders.  (I know that is being simplistic, but it gets my point across.)  There does seem to be a group of people who feel if a person is a fan of a team, then there should be no criticism of the team whatsoever.  While I don't agree with this way of thinking, I DO agree that some 'fans' take the criticizing a bit too far--and can't seem to find anything good to say, ever.  And each type of fan seems to think the other isn't a 'true' fan.  Ridiculous.  I wish some people would find a happy medium and stay there.

When these fights start and go on, no one 'wins.'  Hard feelings usually last for a long time after the fight cools down, and that is just sad.  I realize that people are passionate, but sometimes things just go too far.  Sometimes the two who began the fight agree to disagree and move on--but that is a rarity.  Fighting about something that is JUST opinion is crazy.  It is just as crazy as fighting about religion or politics--everyone has an opinion, every opinion is just as valid as the next, and fighting about it just causes hard feelings, without any resolution.  In all my years, I can't really remember a time when someone has actually gotten me to change my mind about an opinion of mine, no matter how well their case was presented.  And so, I will continue to be spineless and try to ignore the in-fighting that will continue throughout the year.  And that makes me sad.