A lot of thoughts, as this has clouded my day.
1. Focus on the victim. Reading the report of what happened is just disgusting and awful. She was in a hopeless position and treated like a commodity by the players and the “older man” who plied her with drinks. Obviously her healing, recovery, and justice should be first and foremost.
2. Toxic masculinity. When I graduated university and entered the construction industry in the late 90s, I was struggling with fitting into the macho Type A culture. My boss - a very senior executive in a Tier 1 global construction company - gave me this advice: “Go bang some girls. Be a whoremonger. I was a whoremonger when I was your age, and all the guys you work with are.” If that is the culture in the bland industry of construction- imagine what it was and is like in elite/professional sports. (I quit the company shortly after that conversation)
3. Dube. Man I really hoped he wasn’t involved. A Team Canada captain, a top prospect who graduated to become a regular NHLer. He gave us some good memories as a Flame. But now that legacy is tarnished. He will always be tied to this incident, and by association so will the Calgary Flames. His career is over now.
4. The Calgary Flames. I’m sorry but it really bothers me that they issued the statement they did. They covered for Dube. There is no way that the organization didn’t know he had a role in this. It’s been a tough 2 years to be a fan of this team and supporter of the franchise. It’s time for a new approach to fans and the public. It’s time for some transparency and honesty from this team, not constant blunders and misdirection.
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