Tonight's Leafs/Rangers game, the third meeting this month, will feature Toronto enforcer Colton Orr taking to the ice in pink Reebok skates in support of breast cancer awareness month. A noble thing to do surely. Orr is not the only one to flash the pink, Islanders net minder Rick Dipietro ordered all pink gear, pads, blocker, trapper, etc. Other have used pink sticks, tape, coaches have worn pink ties, and I am sure some puck bunnies have pink g-strings on under their easily removed pants.
Showing support is a good thing, however sometimes things go to far. For example, years ago, I worked at a department store, and they brought in a pile of useless merchandise that no one would buy anyway, coloured them pink, and slapped Celine Dion's picture on them. As I predicted while setting up the display, non of it sold.
The above story really has nothing to do with anything except I wanted to poke fun at Celine Dion.
The Idiots that run the NHL actually have done something right they last few years with allowing players and teams to wear pink during the month of October. The NFL also allows this. Not sure about MLB stance on the matter because I haven't watched baseball since the 1994 lockout.
There is one league that is apparently run by even bigger morons then the NHL, and that is the good old CFL (Canadian Football League for those of you around the world that may not be familiar)
On October 23rd, in a game against the Toronto Argonauts, a Winnipeg Blue Bombers player Jon Oosterhuis (don't ask me to pronounce that name, I copy/pasted that shit) was fined $200 for wearing pink gloves in the game to show his support. The fine was for violating the policy that all player must only wear team approved colours as a part of their uniform.
$200 may not sound like a lot, but CFL players make like Mc Donald's money. That was probably this poor bastards yearly beer budget.
This is a great way to get the public to watch the CFL, A league that, outside of the hardcore fans, has a hard time getting people to go to games. This is a PR fuck up if I ever seen one.
The CFL has said that if they were to allow a player to wear pink, then they would have to allow the same level of support for every cause out there, and they would have to have a league wide standard for all teams in regards to how it was carried out. While I can see that they want to be fair to all causes out there, the fact is, with all other leagues out there allowing for things like this, why haven't they had these "standards' already in place? I mean this concept is not new.
And was the $200 fine really necessary? If they really had a problem with it, they could have called a closed door meeting and told the the guy their concern over the matter and avoided the bad press. Or if they were smart, they could have used the situation to their advantage and declared the leagues support for the cause. Total bullshit I know, but the public wouldn't have known the difference.
All the pink gear in all the leagues that are worn in games are auctioned off for cancer charities. The CFL could have also had the player donate the $200 to charity, and then added money themselves, you know, just to look good.
Ultimately, no matter what CFL has to say about their reasoning for the fine, they still come off looking like a bunch of out of touch, heartless assholes. The old saying that bad publicity is better then no publicity may not work in this situation.
here is a link to an article on the subject. The Pink and the Stink
Well that is all for now, I am off to watch some dudes in pink skates chase a chunk of rubber around the old hockey rink...
Till then...
Stay Angry
And Happy Halloween!
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