Twitter got in a frenzy today when during the game day skate Morgan Rielly came forward with this gem of response.
TSN 1050's Jonas Siegel set's off the storm
Morgan Rielly today said positive approach, strong work ethic during tough time was key. "You're not here to be a girl about it."
— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) February 20, 2015
Naturally Twitter exploded and the condemnation rained down on Rielly for some poorly chosen words.
It was not used to offend anyone and I'm sure deep down everyone is aware of that but it's going to be made into a big deal as many women are trying to change the perception of female athletes and females in general from being used as a symbol of weakness. Women are strong and also proud athletes who are in a constant fight to prove they belong and can rival male athletics. Many females will take offense to the comment and suggest that this why women are not taken seriously.
A perfect example of a guy putting women down is when UFC president Dana White once laughed and said "never" when asked if females would ever fight in the Octagon. Now women have gone from an experiment in MMA to the grand stage even headlining PPV cards.
Adam Proteau of The Hockey News
I don't want Morgan Rielly suspended or crucified. I do want the entire NHL to know these comments aren't going to go unchallenged anymore.
— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) February 20, 2015
Many people have lost sight of the fact that while Morgan Rielly may be a professional hockey player he's also just 20 years old. He's a young man in a male dominated sport where often times the way you talk with your teammates spills over into how you speak to the media and a slip up like this is only human.
Looking at it from an outside perspective do you feel talk like this is keeping women from shaking this perception that being a girl signifies weakness and fragility or do you feel Twitter and Toronto radio's reaction has been overblown?
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I don't get what this is such a big deal. Well I get it but it is what it is nowadays; you can't really say something that might offend others. We all want to know what's really going on in the players' minds (especially when they're losing) but when it happens it causes a stir that will most likely influence Reilly to dance on the politically correct ''apology beat''. Reilly refers to reactions, or plainly said: emotions. It is not an insult but a fact, women think differently than men and react also differently; no matter how the equality advocates would like that ideology to change, it will never happen - our brains are wired differently. Does it mean that there can't be some sort of exceptions? Of course not, but up to a certain extent; but generally speaking, it is the case. In his quote he's basically saying that his teammates shouldn't be whining, complaining about the hard work and strong work ethic (because some might inquire the reason why they'd commit to tough or long practices or even why bother bringing an ''A-game'' when they're at the bottom of the barrel) they must manifest on and off the ice, especially when it comes to tough and/or long practices if it is ever the case, but more importantly when they're playing a game. In hindsight, some people watch reality TV which we all know is scripted and arranged from the first frame to the season finale, but when we get real, heartfelt comments from players who do care (have some of you ever watched his reaction when they lose or more recently when Bernier's shut-out got blown in the dying seconds when they played the Oilers?) or at least show it - I believe he really does care - some people get all up in arms because of it. His comment more importantly shows that specific players don't have a strong work ethic nor a positive approach when it comes to giving your all despite the losing streak (it might be one of the reasons why some fans throw their jerseys on the ice - I do not condone it nor am I saying it is valid, but it might still be a reason). Heck his comments are in the same wagon as Horachek who recently said :''The give a shit meter has to be higher''. Some guys don't care anymore and that's really really bad. Toronto is mainly a hockey city and not only that it has hardcore fans who stick to the team through thick and thin, secondly we should be proud that we are part of the original six and that we have the most amount of Stanley Cups after Montreal. It's about pride - if you don't have a lot or any, and also if you lack confidence in yourself (so much so that you won't believe in the necessity to train hard in the hopes of annihilating your weakness and hopefully gain new skills) you won't most likely have any for the team you're playing nor its town, nor want to give your all when things go haywire. Some people might say that they've seen more hard work from an all female squad but no matter what they say, the toughness that's displayed in an all male league cannot be compared (I'm talking about the various kind of hits, the hardness and velocity of shot and so on). So all in all kudos to Reilly for stating an excerpt of the real reason why things aren't getting better so far.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting!
DeleteI agree for the most part. When a 20 year old is the one basically saying the team needs to grind it out and suck it up it's kind of shocking and speaks to the level of leadership around the team right now.
Lupul the other day was talking about how everyone's rumored to be traded and asked if they'd ice draft picks... The real issue he should have addressed is why is it the team needs to clean house? Because of a lack of heart and determination to push through a slump and come out of it. This team rolls over and plays dead after new years and it's been going on for a numbingly long time... you give them the benefit of the doubt, they start hot they're playing well this might be the year they push through and then they collapse again.
Rielly used the wrong words to say the right things. Unfortunately in Toronto this is magnified and then dissected by radio shows and tv panels and in the end all it ends up doing is belittling a future star player.
I do believe strongly that women deserve more respect and Morgan wasn't using this to disrespect women but when you look at all the people coming to his defense most are saying he did nothing wrong.
Physically men are usually stronger than women they're more aggressive but women work their ass off for the little respect they do get. You don't see women's hockey highlights or WNBA every night on tv unless something spectacular happens so women really fight for every inch of respect and as such the use of girl as a negative is in turn a negative for women everywhere who want respect.
I can see both sides of the coin and having watched Rielly since Moose Jaw I know this kid means no harm. What's become the issue is how we talk about one another and how he may have been talking about his team sucking it up and pushing on but put women down in order to do that albeit unintentionally.