Monday, December 8, 2008

Was it Really That Bad? Sean Avery Addition


So I read Sean Avery was being suspended for his comments the other day and I was shocked. Mostly because it’s not the playoffs yet so I didn’t know the NHL season had started, but also because he was suspended for comments.

Don’t get me wrong I can understand why the comments themselves were offensive to women, and shouldn’t have been said. As a guy I can’t fully understand how offensive they were but I understand they were offensive.

In all honesty I doubt a good percentage of women where all that offended and this yahoo article details that.

But I don’t want to argue about how offensive the comments are or are not, I’m willing to concede that they are offensive. However offensive they are though they’re still just words, comments, etc. Don’t we usually just fine people for comments? I mean in the NBA people get fined for all kinds of comments about referees and other things. I don't recall anyone getting suspended in this way for just comments.

The NHL has players elbowing each other, fighting each other, taking each other out at the knees and doing all types of reprehensible acts and this is what makes news? This is what warrants a 6 game suspension?

As far as I can tell the NHL made this a much bigger situation than it warranted by suspending him. There’s a good chance if they had just fined him and moved on no one outside of Dallas and parts of Canada would have even known he said it in the first place.

I’ll finish by asking this simple question: Sean Avery was suspended by Gary Bettmen and the NHL. Is it a coincidence that Sean Avery is also the same guy who basically said the NHL didn’t know what it was doing and didn’t know how to market itself?

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