IF I WERE KING: CANCEL DIVISIVE CULTURE WITHIN THE GAME

IF I WERE KING of hockey, we would cancel the culture of ridiculousness, division, and simple-mindedness. We would also knock some common sense back into the hierarchy of modern hockey. It’s high time for the gentlemen to reinstall the concept of respect.

Last season a head coach lost his job just for saying a word in response to music heard from the players’ dressing room.

Like any politically charged situation, it is important to get every side of the story. But like many political hatchet jobs, the mainstream media did not want to hear what the veteran hockey coach had to say. When something like that happens, we should all start asking more questions.

The same culture that cancelled National Hockey League prospect Mitchell Miller for a middle school incident (years after he had satisfied the requirements of the Ohio Juvenile Court System) but allowed a number of NHL players who were participants in a gang rape to continue playing, was at it again.

There appears to be an element against old-school coaches that takes a no-nonsense approach to the game. That style of coaching is not always popular with the boys on the ice that often just want to have a good time. Let’s face it, a lot of young people cannot grasp the concept of consequences and refuse to accept direction from anyone they feel should not have authority.

So, what happened?

The coach was not happy with the music being blasted from the players’ dressing room. Knowing that his team is a racially diverse group, the coach somewhat spiritedly suggested that the team stop using music where the “n-word” is uttered in nearly every other lyric.

His crime? Being Caucasian and saying the n-word. Even if doing so was in defense of not having to hear the word, cancel cultures dictates that the offender gets sent to the gallows. Never mind that the same music with that language is being heard in almost every dressing room across the spectrum of sports. Never mind that the same type of music stuffs auditoriums, arenas, and stadiums to the rafters with people of all ages and races. The coach did not direct the word to any individual, he simply asked why we all must hear it. He asked that the players select different music that does not include that word.

Maybe that’s something that society needs to take a closer look at. Since society is so busy trying to govern the words being said, why are they not concerned with the words being heard? Why are we having to constantly hear a word that only Caucasian folks are not allowed to say? It’s in music, on TV, and in every other form of media.

Does the only logical solution involve dropping a microphone into every dressing room and force utilization of artificial intelligence to catch the use of any banned words? It is now very clear that any use of certain words, regardless of context, justifies the termination of the offender’s career.

Is that how soft we’ve become? Should we use that same technology during hockey games to catch any chirping that could be considered racially, or sexually, insensitive?

Imagine if our crazy society started to create new laws that ban certain races from use of other select words. How ridiculous would it be to be cancelled for utilizing the word cracker in any context?

Most North Americans still consider themselves as people of Faith. Yet they are forced to hear a tremendous level of profanity. How is that in any way acceptable? Society is now saying any words describing a person’s perceived sexuality, size, color, or ethnicity are insensitive, or worse, a hate crime. So, how does Faith not make the list?

The one word that is missing from this conversation is respect. That’s respect for others and yourself. It was not long ago when the use of profanity in the presence of women or children could easily end with an emergency trip to the dentist. What our game really needs are more gentlemen with those violent tendencies.

Come to think about it, society can use a few of those guys too.

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