The NHL & Avery
I’ve been glancing thru articles and blogs on this all morning, and most of the people fall into two camps – one camp thinks that the NHL made the wrong call, and the other that thinks that they did.
Obviously, Avery was wrong in saying what he did – whether it was on camera or not, or in front of reporters or not. It was completely disrespectful and crass. The fact that he’s airing personal matters to the public for the shock value just shows how much of a publicity hound he really is.
And, quite frankly, both Rachel Hunter and Elisha Cuthbert I’m sure are patting themselves on the back for being well rid of him. As, I’m sure, most – if not all – of the rest of his girlfriends are as well. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hockey player or not. The fact is, if you’re a bad boyfriend – or a bad husband, no self-respecting woman is going to want to stay with you. Period. And the ones that put up with it and do, well, those aren’t the kinds of girls any self-respecting guy wants to be with, anyway.
However, the way the NHL handled the situation – that’s a topic that’s certainly up for discussion. Frankly, the fact that nothing was done internally by the Dallas Stars immediately tells me that they didn’t consider it to be a big deal. It was just Avery being Avery, and they’d deal with the consequences later. Which is probably why the NHL decided to step in, because Dallas wasn’t going to any time soon – or soon enough, really.
I think a stiff fine would’ve been in order, but I don’t think a suspension was warranted by the NHL. I think the team should’ve sat Avery out for at least the game, certainly, but any other action should’ve been left up to them. If they decided to suspend him or to cut him loose – that should’ve been a team decision and not a league decision. I think the NHL overstepped its bounds with this knee-jerk reaction.
The reality is that nothing is going to stop Avery from doing ridiculous stuff to get attention. No fine, no penalty, no suspension, not even being kicked out of the NHL is going to stop him. He enjoys it too much, and he gets the notoriety he craves.
Can you imagine a sports news company not wanting to snatch him up if he’s kicked out of the league? Of course not. Look at Don Cherry – he makes a living making outrageous and controversial comments on CBC. TSN got John Tortorella specifically because he’s not afraid to speak his mind. ESPN initially picked up Barry Melrose for the exact same reason. Brett Hull, Jeremy Roenick, and Matthew Barnaby have all been recruited as color analysts at one time or another particularly because they are so outspoken. Trust me, Avery will have no problems finding work after he’s done playing hockey.
4 comments:
Speaking your mind - Hull, Roenick, Tortorella, Cherry, etc. - is one thing.
Being disrespectful to women, who make up a large portion of the NHL's fanbase, is completely another.
He was in a profanity-laced argument with fans in Boston already this season. Is he a villain? Yes. But he could be a much better villain by thinking things through.
He premeditated these comments by asking if the cameras were rolling. Because it was planned and not "off the cuff" makes it much worse. He did it for TV and shock value, not as a marketing ploy.
Therein lies the rub and the necessary suspension.
he wasn't just disrespectful to women, but to everyone: himself by starting this farce, the men his exes are with, his teammates, his coaches, his team, the NHL, the fans, hockey players, athletes in general - everybody.
I agree with all of the above. He was deliberately trying to be rude and disrespectful, if this goes by what else will he do?
I think doing ANYTHING immediately is exactly the wrong thing to do. Why give him the attention he sought by making it bigger than it was? There are other players who have said inept, rude things in the past -- and while they have been fined for it or benched/suspended by their teams, disciplinary action from the league would only come if it was a national incident or profoundly profane.
Was it wrong? Disrespectful? Everything you wrote? Absolutely. No argument. My point is that the league, by taking any action at all, amplified this incident. It's giving Avery the attention he wanted when he first made the statement. A bully or a publicity hound wants attention and now everyone is talking about him because the league overstepped their bounds by suspending him outright.
Oh, I do believe action should have been taken but delayed may have been the best choice... or handled specifically by the Stars. If the Stars didn't wish to do anything... Well, we'll wait for his next screw up and act then.
There would be uproar at Calgary Puck and probably nowhere else if the league didn't take action against Avery. That doesn't make his statements any less offensive but were they strong enough for a action from the league? No. Not outright.
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