Come on!

I do not like professional sports.  I do not follow any of them.  I am simply not an affiliate.  You will never see a jersey on me or the people I buy clothes for.  I do not need to find masses of people to agree with me on any topic in order to feel like I belong or my opinion is valid.  Not a team choice, not a direct marketing scam, not anything.  The larger the number of people of that are into something the less I tend to like it.  I am neither a fan nor a fanatic.

I am not claiming to be some anti-TV-activist.  I can consume with the best of them.  I just prefer to chose things that have a relevance in my own life.  (Like House.  That medical information could save my life some day!  And maybe yours too if you are with me and you suddenly experience a spontaneous tension pneumothorax.  I would feel confident stabbing a needle between your ribs to siphon off the air pocket in your pleural space.)  

I will occasionally enjoy part of a game of whatever is on.  I actually like sports.  I just really dislike the whole biz surrounding professional sports.

Which is why I don't know why I clicked on the news this morning about the NHL declaring its outrage and coming to the defense over some actress' reputation.  Maybe it was the irony in the NHL displaying indignation over anything, especially over how one of their players talked badly about an ex-girlfriend.

From what I can surmise, Sean Avery is a jerk and has been for years.  But there were a dozen reasons to suspend the icehole before this.  So what changed?  Don't try to sell me the PR spin about damaging the reputation of a young lady.  She is currently dating her third pro-hockey player and regularly poses like a seasoned porn star.  She is clearly not interested in "nice guys".      

What he looks like is a petulant brat.  The kind of guy who will talk smack because his own shallow self-worth is tied up in beating other people.  And even if she is an ex, he can't handle the mere thought that the public might think she chose someone else over him.  He looks like the kind of person who has no tools to feel good about himself without putting someone else down.  

Pro athletes are, just as the rest of us, products of their environment.  The icehole makes money for someone.  His behavior has been tolerated because he sells tickets and jerseys.  The only reason they are coming down on him now is that they fear his new comments will damage their own bottom line.  

When will we ever learn that it is a rare exception that is actually worth half the attention they receive?  Pro sports is not a deep pool of role models, folks.  But even I can see that there is something appealing in the stories of the few good guys out there.  The players who stay grounded, treat their wives with respect, build up those around them, and use their platform to improve things.  But they should have to earn the adoration.  Smacking people instead of the puck takes you off the list.  And occasionally, it would appear, off the ice.