Great piece over at Health and Fitness Advice by Sal Marinello titled "Food Police Fighting A Losing Battle."
This past Easter I was treated to an interesting thing. I handed my daughter a small chocolate. My brother in law and wife (both partial to special diets and health "tips" that I don't always agree with. I'm not without my knowledge and opinions as a former athlete) looked at me in horror claiming sugar kills. Yeah, if that's all I feed her. Truth is, and this is why people should mind their business, we have a wonderful diet. My kid loves to eat rapini for crying out loud.
Not terribly off subject, it reminds me of the nonsense surrounding fighting in hockey. Premier Jean Charest has pledged to stamp out fighting in hockey. Gee, one would think he'd be concerned about more pressing matters that face this province. The unions present are far more darker problem than a lousy junior hockey player and his cocky father.
The debate around fighting in hockey is a valid one. But the recent actions seen in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League should not be used as a leitmotif to continue this debate.
I didn't want to discuss this here since we covered it over at InterSportsWire here and here but when Don Machperson - a political columnist at The Montreal Gazette - decided he was going to waste his space with a sloppy comedy on the Patrick and Jonathan Roy affair I decided to take issue with it here. I'm the boss 'round these parts.
He opens his article with these words, "In the aftermath of l'affaire Roy, the strongest case for outside intervention to clean up major junior hockey is being made by the cementheads who oppose it. First there are the cementheads who run the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League."
Call me a cementhead then.
Never mind that this is the harshest suspension ever handed down by the league.
This aside, let's consider a couple of things:
1) Government intervention in sports is misguided. All this is to soothe people who don't even watch junior hockey. More to the point, the casual fans who are the primary targets of the modern sports marketing machine. To say nothing of the unintended consequences of such actions. Seems to me dirty play such as cross checking is far more dangerous than what we saw with Jonathan Roy.
Leagues have rules. They are not lawless and for the most part they have been functional. They just need to be reminded to enforce them from time to time. However, they don't need some pencil pusher who never played sports to sit on their boards having last say on the direction of their private operations and enterprises - that includes sports ministers. To even suggest government be accorded this right is incredibly short sighted and absurd. Think of it, if in sports why not companies? Hell, thought to its logical end why not your home? As for the cops, we often hear there aren't enough of them. So let's over stretch them further by going after hockey players.
The logic of "if there is incompetence ergo allow an outside body to step in" is faulty on too many levels its best to stop here. One person argued, for example, Major League Baseball closed its eyes to the steroids problem. Therefore, they are incompetent and must have a regulatory body overseeing them. I think the problem is a little more nuanced than what these statements let on.
Fret not. Our athletes will be pristine soon enough if we continue on this path.
2) As I alluded to earlier, how many people who hysterically scream about "the children" actually go to "Q" games? I'm willing to bet very little if any.
3) More importantly, fighting is down across the board in hockey. It's remarkable that the editorial big shots at The Gazette didn't think to consider this.
The article had no sense of perspective and was based on selective "facts." As such it's a short sighted piece to the point of being rendered useless.
So, the solution? Bring in the government and the law. Some solution. This is what passes as "smart" these days. This event was an exception and not the norm. Then again, the media loves exceptions and negatives right? Balanced reporting and opinions be damned!
What the Roy boys did was not fighting. It was punking out. We don't see that in hockey on a regular basis anymore. It's not part of the game but we should be careful to not exaggerate our reaction to it.
Moreover, what gave the media the impetus to scrutinize this further and without profound thought was that many (in the public and media) did not feel the punishment fit the crime.
Fair enough. It probably wasn't. But as I mentioned off the top, this was the stiffest suspension ever handed down by the league. It's not like they were blind to what happened.
Who will watch over the guardians who watch over the guardians? Another layer of bureaucracy that's who.
*Hand slapped to forehead.*
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