https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/nhl-pride-tape-ban-lgbtq-rcna120332
It may seem like just rainbow-colored athletic tape, but it’s much more.
It's fucking hockey. How can someone be into hockey and be so precious and fragile with their feely feels that rainbow tape upsets them?
"This is Bob. He's our fourth line filler. He's a bit emotional about some things but his mother comes to every game to make sure he's okay and the ref isn't being too hard on him. You'll need to take your pride tape off too. Also, we need him effective and not sulking on the bench, so he asks everyone call him Alpha from now on. If he trips and calls slashing on you, yes, even though you're on his team and no where near him, just apologise so we can keep the game flowing."
One of the most hateful snowflakes I know is a former pro hockey player. Maybe hit in the head too many times?
So part of this is reaction to anti-gay laws in other countries where players come from. Part is just cowardice. It's basically an open secret that many Russian players have family held "hostage," mandatory participation could be problematic for them. Banning all participation doesn't make any sense though.
Good point. Though, I think anyone moving to another country should respect the people there and acknowledge the situation—regardless if they disagree or not—before making the leap.
Of course, that's all hippie bullshit and it doesn't work that way, but it's true. Maybe one day, in many, many generations from now, we'll get there and everyone can just enjoy hockey as it is and participate how they like. Sounds pretty righteous duuude ✌️
Huge hockey fan and this has really disappointed me. Really hoping to see a player break it here soon now that season is underway.
The NHLs take a knee moment, how inspiring for them.
Target showed the way now other corps are walking back 10 years of diversity statements and commitments that were empty markering to begin with for most.
Shit, what did I miss with Target? They’ve def always seemed pretty open and let their employees wear little flag or pronoun pins. Or do you mean them removing pride merch in June after all the threats on their employees/stores?
Yes, that's what I was referring to with Target. In the face of ignorance and hate speech and threats, folding like a stack of cards because you're worried about your margins isn't a commitment to diversity. Bigots threatening employees is not a cause to remove the reality making them uncomfortable, it's cause to get security to throw them the fuck out of your store if you're "committed to diversity" not just changing your LinkedIn logo once a year.
The problem is that when someone as big with as many resources as they have abandons their stated values so quickly, it just sets the tone for many other companies; and the bigots know if they just act like assholes, many smaller companies wont' have the resources to be able to support their employees, call the cops, hire security, etc.
I'm straight, and that looks like a Megadeth tee shirt at first glance. Pretty awesome.
I can see why that might be. While LGBTQ+ rights are a political issue, this is technically about a sports league decision to disallow Pride displays.
Still sucks, and it is sports politics, but it's not really politics as it pertains to matters of government and law.
One doesn't even have to know what hockey is to automatically identify this as stupid as fuck.
As someone who likes hockey, holy fuck. Tape? Yeah, if that's the mentality of whomever is running the NHL, fuck y'all. This isn't like players are changing the dynamic or anything important at all to the game, and quite frankly in support of a very important message.
I'd like to demand that the staff who passed this all step the fuck down in disgrace. All of them.
It's been pretty much dead since the league expansion in the 90s-00s diluted the talent pool, and put enough teams in markets that can't support a hockey team that the league had to change the rules (salary cap) to prop up these failing teams and "fix" their mistake.
During this time there was also a bunch of stupid rule changes made that completely interrupted the flow and intensity of the game, with the purpose of increasing scoring to make the game more "TV friendly" for the non-hockey orientated viewers.
Lets make gay special again. in another sport.. let you wanting everyone to know you like the same sex be the focus point instead of the sport.. hey look at me.. enough already we dont care one way or the other what youre into in that way. ITS PERSONAL !! aka none of my business
Good news, this shit has zero impact on the game you're trying to watch.
Which is why banning it is so stupid. If you're such a huge bigot that being reminded that people who are different from you exist, and that reminder is enough to ruin hockey for you then that's on you.
Welp as other industries have learned when you pander to a small minority and alienate other fans your industry starts to collapse. Look at comic books or bud light.
You throw words like bigot around. But your just showing your ignorance. I just want to be able to enjoy entertainment without having causes shoved down my throat.
Would you be happy of the NHL allows Isreal flag tape and do Isreal pride night's? I don't want that shit either.
Bud light and comics are doing just fine.
Who told you otherwise? You might need to reevaluate your news sources.
You must be living under a rock
https://www.comicsbeat.com/idw-layoffs-goes-dark-on-the-nyse/
Sales are going to continue to decline , they are down again over 2022
None of those give any connections to the drop in sales and then being inclusive.
The whole economy has been slowing down and people have less spare money. Did you know that when people have less money to spend the first thing they stop spending money on are luxuries.
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.
it should be about the game, not whatever social, political, or economic issue the player is interested in.
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.
Please feel free to protest, but only in the way I want you to.
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.
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."
I didn't say it's political
and the whole thing gets political.
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.
Those are two different types of political, one is about government policy, and the other is about drama in some group. I'm saying that if there are rules to what kinds of speech are allowed, then the choice of what types of speech is allowed becomes political. So if they allow pink for breast cancer awareness but not rainbows for LGBT awareness, we end up with this type of conflict.
It's better to just not allow expression like that during games.
it's never been about the game. It's entertainment to make money
True, but it's entertainment where the game is front and center. It's not like comedy where I'm there specifically for the jokes and social commentary. I'm there to watch the game and my favorite players perform, not see/hear their political, social, religious, etc views. If I want that, I can watch interviews with them, read books by/about them, or engage with whatever charities/causes they endorse.
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.
Why? It isn't even a rainbow flag anymore. It's filled with shit now and is just a hot mess. The lgbti whatever group needs to hire better designers
