Update: As of Sunday night, the Bruins have backed out of this. At least it won't go further, but it's still a terrible thing to have done, and the statement is just pathetic. Complete non-apology.
Let me try to gather my thoughts here.
I was appalled Friday to read that the Bruins had signed a player to a contract--a player who, after he was drafted by another team two years ago, was revealed to have been a racist, abusive bully to a developmentally disabled classmate (the stories tends to say it was "when he was 14," but the victim's mother said it started much earlier and went on for years). It's not just a boys-will-be-boys thing: he was convicted in juvenile court. The team that drafted him dropped him when the full story came out, and the college hockey program that he was supposed to go into did as well.
And now the Bruins have signed him.
I commented in a few places on how awful I thought it was, because I did (and do). And some people agreed with me, but a non-zero number on Facebook (not Twitter, interestingly) took the stance that he was just a kid, and weren't we all imperfect as kids, and why should his life be ruined by what he did when he was a kid.
Bullshit.
I stopped reading the replies to my comment when someone accused me of trying to ruin his life--which, what? First of all, he's paying no attention to what I say, and neither are the Bruins, I'm sure. Second of all, not wanting him to have a pro contract is not me "ruining his life"; it's me wanting him to face the consequences of his actions. His horrific, heinous, repeated-over-years actions, which he got away with because he's good at hockey. Talent should not override being a decent human being, and that's what the Bruins are doing.
Sigh. I sent a letter to the Bruins this morning; I have a slight hope that if enough people do that, it will help the Bruins realize what an awful thing they have done. Not a lot of hope, but a little.
After my hometown football team didn't take any actions against a dirty player who was purposefully kicking and hurting people on the field (Detroit Lions, Ndamukong Suh), I just broke up with all professional sports. The leagues are in it to make money and obviously they don't care about their talent, the community, or the people being abused and I just stopped. It's opened up my weekends, but probably made me a terrible person to be around because I always start railing against professional sports.
ReplyDeleteMy football team has brought on a person who is... awful. It sickens me, and makes me feel so disappointed... it is really all about the money with these professional sports teams. All they care about is winning. And apparently most of us are willing to overlook some awful people to support our teams. It is one of the reasons I feel so deeply conflicted about football this year. I love my team. Most of the players are good, solid people who just want to play football while still being ethical human beings. But then there is this guy... UGH. It's awful.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I see posts (even my own in my Facebook Memories) I repost those about Brock Turner - the college student who was raping a girl behind a dumpster, was stopped by two foreign exchange students who held him for the police, and was treated lightly by the judge because he was such a great a great swimmer and this incident shouldn't ruin his life. This was the young man whose father said his life shouldn't be ruined because he was getting "20 minutes of action." Don't give up on your moral outrage - it's justified.
ReplyDeleteAs a hockey fan, I completely agree with you, and I'm glad to see they cut him today.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing that letter. It's such a rare thing to have happen that when it does it makes a difference, and don't doubt that you played a part in the outcome.
ReplyDeleteAs for Leslie's comment above: I had the great privilege of being able to vote to kick Judge Persky out of office in a recall election, and he was thrown out in time to not be the judge in a case where a member of the high school track team got separated from her teammates, was grabbed by someone lying in wait for the kids to go by, and was raped. And caught, because that quiet-looking road is the route to the freeway for a bunch of high-tech companies. No way no how were we going to let that man judge that case, too.
And then he had the chutzpah to get a job coaching girls' high school volleyball across Silicon Valley from here! Didn't take long at all for parents here to tell the parents there just whom their school had hired, and he was out of a job again.