With the entire Hockey universe weighing in on the Pronger Stomp, I was originally going to avoid this battle, but I see there is really no where to hide from it and still be part of the Blogosphere. So… sigh… here goes….
What everyone is eluding to but not saying is that Chris Simon got a raw deal from the NHL because he is of native origin. Ta-Da! Here on Long Island I don’t think we can grasp THAT sort of bias because we just don’t see it. It seems to be a rampant problem in Canada, the home of hockey.
So while there are those that are saying that the unprecedented severe punishment to Chris Simon had to do with the logo on his jersey at the time, which may not be the real case. Certainly conspiracy theories are fun, especially when you’re the underdog looking for a reason that things go so poorly for you. But there could very well be a much darker secret behind it called bigotry.
Ted Nolan has had to deal with it all his life and his son was just victim of it a few months ago. I’m certain Chris Simon has had similar situations that perhaps are not as widely publicized. If the Canadian Native community had their own “Sharpton type” representative, then reports on these incidents would look a lot different. But they don’t.
Having grown up on Long Island, every summer as a kid I went to the Shinnecock Powwow in the Hamptons. I loved it. I had dark hair down to my waist that my mother would put in braids and then buy me beaded leather braid holders when I was there. I’d always come home with a few more items to put in my collection and a wish that I was Native American instead of “just Italian.” In junior high, we actually had classes on the tribes of Long Island and were lucky enough to have two native students in our school, so I cannot get my head around the bigotry that exists. But it’s painfully obvious from press reports out of Canada that it certainly does.
The NHL got this one wrong; with luck they’ll look to fix it. Pronger should be suspended for the rest of the season. And as EJ said on NHL Live yesterday, if Chris Simon had to go to anger management classes, Pronger should TOO! Now THAT’S fair.
So that’s my $1.50 worth. Not even enough to buy a Starbucks today, but two cents can’t even get you gum.
What everyone is eluding to but not saying is that Chris Simon got a raw deal from the NHL because he is of native origin. Ta-Da! Here on Long Island I don’t think we can grasp THAT sort of bias because we just don’t see it. It seems to be a rampant problem in Canada, the home of hockey.
So while there are those that are saying that the unprecedented severe punishment to Chris Simon had to do with the logo on his jersey at the time, which may not be the real case. Certainly conspiracy theories are fun, especially when you’re the underdog looking for a reason that things go so poorly for you. But there could very well be a much darker secret behind it called bigotry.
Ted Nolan has had to deal with it all his life and his son was just victim of it a few months ago. I’m certain Chris Simon has had similar situations that perhaps are not as widely publicized. If the Canadian Native community had their own “Sharpton type” representative, then reports on these incidents would look a lot different. But they don’t.
Having grown up on Long Island, every summer as a kid I went to the Shinnecock Powwow in the Hamptons. I loved it. I had dark hair down to my waist that my mother would put in braids and then buy me beaded leather braid holders when I was there. I’d always come home with a few more items to put in my collection and a wish that I was Native American instead of “just Italian.” In junior high, we actually had classes on the tribes of Long Island and were lucky enough to have two native students in our school, so I cannot get my head around the bigotry that exists. But it’s painfully obvious from press reports out of Canada that it certainly does.
The NHL got this one wrong; with luck they’ll look to fix it. Pronger should be suspended for the rest of the season. And as EJ said on NHL Live yesterday, if Chris Simon had to go to anger management classes, Pronger should TOO! Now THAT’S fair.
So that’s my $1.50 worth. Not even enough to buy a Starbucks today, but two cents can’t even get you gum.
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4 comments:
THEY CAN TRY AND PUT ANY SPIN THEY WANT ON IT. IF PRONGER DOESNT GET 30, THERE SHOULD BE AN OUTCRY FOR CAMBELLS HEAD. NO IF ANDS OR BUTTS ABOUT IT. AND THE NHL POWERS WONDER WHY THE LEAGUE DOESNT GET ANY RESPECT. YOU DONT DESERVE ANY
BUT I'LL SAVE THE REST OF MY RANT WHEN THE 2 GAME SUSPENSION COMES DOWN
WOW 8 GAMES SO LETS SEE ITS EITHER AN ISLANDER JERSEY OR ITS A BIGGER ISSUE THATS WORTH AN EXTRA 22 GAMES. AS AN ISLANDER FAN I'D LIKE TO USE IT AS THE WORLD AGAINST US RALLYING CRY,BUT FOR FUN OF IT I CAN ONLY HOPE ITS THE BIGGER ISSUE SO WE CAN SIT AND WATCH THE EXPERTS SQUIRM AND SWEAT WHILE THEY'RE CALLED ON THE CARPET BY A HIGHER AUTHORITY
You know for all the sh*t the NFL, NBA and MLB take, at least their commissioners have a steel set of cahones and actually DO something when players in their leagues go rogue ie, Michael Vick, Yankees/Rays, etc.
It's time for Gary Bettman to lay down the law to Campbell and tell him to either grow a set or he's fired. 8 games! Give me a freaking break! And yes, this has bigotry and racism written all over it.
Yeah, I think there's a case to be made for the bigotry angle, especially given the struggles Nolan has faced. Campbell's comments in the two cases would seem to support that: with Simon, it's all about him having issues, but with Pronger, he just made a mistake. It can't be definitively isolated though, as there's also the role player vs. superstar bias so common in the NHL, and also the impending playoffs (which shouldn't affect the decision, but invariably do). What I found really interesting was looking over the suspension histories of Simon and Pronger. Simon's always been portrayed as a thug, but Pronger's suspensions are mostly for similar things (including sticks to the head), and more of Pronger's suspensions are for things that directly hurt players. In my mind, Pronger's stomp was as bad or worse than Simon's, especially given how he hit Kesler's leg while Simon only caught Ruutu's skate. Thus, justice would only be served if he was punished equally. Perhaps the league realized that they punished Simon too harshly, but there shouldn't be different rules for different players.
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