Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
The reason the ad was being discussed because it was brought up with the follow up: "does she need more?"
The answer, obviously, is yes. Not that there isn't more, but that the mere suggestion that people shouldn't need more than a Scotiabank advertisement as a means of showing seriousness about an issue is ridiculous.
The problem Slone brought up is that the NHL is reactive, not proactive. Issues like racism persist until it is called out and brought to light by people pushed out. Sexual assault gets covered up and homophobia runs free until the victim files a lawsuit ten years later. Ten years! And no one said anything!
That's the silence she's talking about. Ten years and not a peep. Not from the people who covered it up, obviously, but neither from bystanders like Chevy, or the players who knew and the players who were still calling Beach a f***** years later. Absolute silence. And who speaks up every time? People outside the league.
Culture is tough to change. But telling me it takes more than a decade to make racism, homophobia, and sexual assault unacceptable? I'm not buying that, sorry.
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Okay, here's where I have a bit of a problem with her assessment of the NHL being reactive. How many organizations, sports or otherwise, proactively tackle things without there being some spotlight on it? I'd argue not many. Hell, the NBA with predominantly black players took a long time to recognize a movement. I'm not saying they're the measuring stick, but if you think about the average corporation, who truly does it right? Her own corporation f'ed it up royally and continues to do so, but she won't talk about that.
As for sports culture of silence, we know the adage of what happens in the room stays in the room for almost any sport, not just hockey. Pertaining to this matter, rather than a blanket statement of each player knowing everything, the question is what is the story the players heard at the time, and specifically, were they aware of the rape? There is a difference between being told he got his butt pinched to a rape taking place. Context matters. Additionally was there an impression management was taking care of it which is why nobody talked about it after the guy was let go? If the plausible chance was the players didn't hear about the full blown rape, and the guy was gone a couple weeks later, was it that big a story at the time? Those are things we don't know, so how can we all chalk it up to a widespread problem attributed to the whole league? Some can assume all they want but I'd seriously doubt there's a sexual assault problem happening at the NHL level. Homophobia, racism/discrimination, sure, but who's to say there aren't guidelines in place right now?