IDK, I’m kind of mixed on this one. On the one hand, I don’t mind seeing rainbow tape on their stick (I wear pride stuff during pride month), but I’d disagree with seeing political ads or even branding for products.
There should absolutely be some rules here, and a no tolerance policy is the easiest to enforce fairly. If they allow rainbow flags for expression, they should probably also allow political and commercial expression as well. So I’d rather have a no tolerance policy than a subjective one that many will disagree with.
“I wear pride stuff during pride month” is the new “I have a black friend”.
People wanting to be treated equally shouldn’t be seen as political speech. Increasing visibility for a group of people who have historically been largely made to hide shouldn’t be seen as radical.
Based on your logic, we should also no longer allow anything that shows support for the cishet community. No more mention of the player’s wives and children. I think that sounds fair, right?
I’m not saying it’s political speech, I even mentioned commercial speech in there as well. I’m just saying that in a professional sports setting, it should be about the game, not whatever social, political, or economic issue the player is interested in.
No more mention of the player’s wives and children
Agreed. I don’t see any reason for a player to have their wife or children displayed on their sticks or anywhere on their uniform while playing. If there’s a section for a bio somewhere (like when they’re being announced coming onto the ice), it could mention their support for LGBT issues or their family life or whatever. They’d get a small blurb that can say whatever they want, perhaps audited for hate speech or commercial ads that are in conflict with whoever is advertising for that game.
But I don’t really see any reason for players to be advertising anything on their sticks or jerseys while playing. Whether a player is LGBT or supports LGBT issues should have no bearing on how they play the game.
I didn’t say there wasn’t, I said there shouldn’t. If players want to make political or social commentary, they should do it outside of the game itself. But once they’re suited up and playing, it should be all about the game.
What players do off the ice is irrelevant, what matters here is that there are teams that still want to do pride warmups, but they can’t.
You haven’t yet given a good reason for why teams shouldn’t be able to use pride related jerseys during warmups, and that’s because there really isn’t a good reason.
I didn’t say it’s political, I just said it distracts from the game.
I can maybe see it being allowed if all players have the same marking (e.g. an LGBT awareness week), but if each player can have something different, then that needs to be policed, which means someone needs to decide what is allowed and what isn’t. Any time that happens, you get stupid issues like this where they’ll allow one form of speech and disallow another, and the whole thing gets political.
So instead of making a list of things that are allowed, just have a policy of no speech on uniforms and sticks. That’s simple and keeps focus on the game instead of whatever cause a player believes in.
I think you’re missing one important thing about the NHL and Pro sports in general, it’s never been about the game. It’s entertainment to make money, that’s all it’s ever been. There is no “purity” or “for the love of the gave” just business.
If they allow rainbow flags for expression, they should probably also allow political and commercial expression as well.
I just don’t understand where you’re going with this. How is a rainbow, an expression of support for a range of identities of people, equally unacceptable in a sports environment as a literal “Vote [name] for President!” sticker or a political party flag?
It just feels like you’re viewing the existence of certain people as “political.”
Why are you so insistent that no focus be taken away from the game? Would a few players having differently-colored sticks or a little patch on their uniform really take your attention from the game?
Like, they’re not out there doing a Broadway on ice performance, they’re just putting some tape on sticks. The game doesn’t change because of some tape. If you have trouble focusing on the game because the rainbow tape is distracting, that’s probably a you issue. If you don’t like what you see on your screen, you can either ignore it, or change the channel. Easy as that.
IDK, I’m kind of mixed on this one. On the one hand, I don’t mind seeing rainbow tape on their stick (I wear pride stuff during pride month), but I’d disagree with seeing political ads or even branding for products.
There should absolutely be some rules here, and a no tolerance policy is the easiest to enforce fairly. If they allow rainbow flags for expression, they should probably also allow political and commercial expression as well. So I’d rather have a no tolerance policy than a subjective one that many will disagree with.
“I wear pride stuff during pride month” is the new “I have a black friend”.
People wanting to be treated equally shouldn’t be seen as political speech. Increasing visibility for a group of people who have historically been largely made to hide shouldn’t be seen as radical.
Based on your logic, we should also no longer allow anything that shows support for the cishet community. No more mention of the player’s wives and children. I think that sounds fair, right?
I’m not saying it’s political speech, I even mentioned commercial speech in there as well. I’m just saying that in a professional sports setting, it should be about the game, not whatever social, political, or economic issue the player is interested in.
Agreed. I don’t see any reason for a player to have their wife or children displayed on their sticks or anywhere on their uniform while playing. If there’s a section for a bio somewhere (like when they’re being announced coming onto the ice), it could mention their support for LGBT issues or their family life or whatever. They’d get a small blurb that can say whatever they want, perhaps audited for hate speech or commercial ads that are in conflict with whoever is advertising for that game.
But I don’t really see any reason for players to be advertising anything on their sticks or jerseys while playing. Whether a player is LGBT or supports LGBT issues should have no bearing on how they play the game.
How naive to think that there has never been any social or political commentary in sports. No Jackie Robinson, no Muhammad Ali, nothing. Right?
I didn’t say there wasn’t, I said there shouldn’t. If players want to make political or social commentary, they should do it outside of the game itself. But once they’re suited up and playing, it should be all about the game.
That sums up what you’re saying, right?
What players do off the ice is irrelevant, what matters here is that there are teams that still want to do pride warmups, but they can’t.
You haven’t yet given a good reason for why teams shouldn’t be able to use pride related jerseys during warmups, and that’s because there really isn’t a good reason.
How is this political? Is wearing pink for cancer political? Boggles my mind anyone would see it this way.
I didn’t say it’s political, I just said it distracts from the game.
I can maybe see it being allowed if all players have the same marking (e.g. an LGBT awareness week), but if each player can have something different, then that needs to be policed, which means someone needs to decide what is allowed and what isn’t. Any time that happens, you get stupid issues like this where they’ll allow one form of speech and disallow another, and the whole thing gets political.
So instead of making a list of things that are allowed, just have a policy of no speech on uniforms and sticks. That’s simple and keeps focus on the game instead of whatever cause a player believes in.
Is it political or not chief lol?
I think you’re missing one important thing about the NHL and Pro sports in general, it’s never been about the game. It’s entertainment to make money, that’s all it’s ever been. There is no “purity” or “for the love of the gave” just business.
I just don’t understand where you’re going with this. How is a rainbow, an expression of support for a range of identities of people, equally unacceptable in a sports environment as a literal “Vote [name] for President!” sticker or a political party flag?
It just feels like you’re viewing the existence of certain people as “political.”
Why are you so insistent that no focus be taken away from the game? Would a few players having differently-colored sticks or a little patch on their uniform really take your attention from the game?
Like, they’re not out there doing a Broadway on ice performance, they’re just putting some tape on sticks. The game doesn’t change because of some tape. If you have trouble focusing on the game because the rainbow tape is distracting, that’s probably a you issue. If you don’t like what you see on your screen, you can either ignore it, or change the channel. Easy as that.
Sexuality shouldn’t be political nor commercial and it’s folly to say it is.