Avery made crude comments about another NHL player, Dion Phaneuf, dating his ex-girlfriend. Lets just say his comments may have been appropriate for a Wal-Mart men's room, but not for a pre-game interview.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman handed down a six game suspension, then Dallas Stars management informed Avery he no longer plays for the team.
At first I thought, who cares? Words don't hurt as much as a high-stick to the teeth or fist to the temple. In a game with such violence, how could an off-color comment land a guy out on the street?
Through Avery's discipline, the NHL and the Dallas Stars made the best possible statement to their players and fans: unlike other leagues (any guesses?) the NHL does not welcome those who embarrass it with their stupidity.
On the contrast, take a peek at the NFL. Remember Randy Moss admitting to smoking pot in the off-season? Oh yeah, and running over that police officer with his SUV. Both incidents went without punishment from the league.
Micheal Vick flipped off Atlanta fans after a loss....as expected, no suspension.
It only gets worse in the National Felon League.
Prior to the '08 season, Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Matt Jones is arrested for posession of crack cocaine. He is then allowed to play through week 14 before finally being given a three games suspension. The NFL was even courteous enough to wait until the Jaguars had been eliminated from the playoffs to suspend Jones.....how nice, seeing that he was leading the team in receptions with 65.
Roger Goodell must be so out of touch he doesn't know posession of crack is a felony. Jones faces more years in prison than missed games from the NFL.Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes was arrested in October for marijuana possession and missed a grand total of zero games. It is Holmes' second arrest since 2006, yet neither the Steelers or the NFL have punished the star.
I guess the only argument the NFL has is if they suspended every player who did or said something dumb, they would be filling rosters with Arena Football players by November.
The NFL could care less about player conduct. Last year's Super Bowl was the highest rated in history and attendance - except at Lions games - is rising. If fans don't care when their stars smoke pot, have litters of children out of wedlock and run over pedestrians while driving drunk, then why should Roger Goodell?
It seems the Dallas Stars and Gary Bettman, through the Avery punishment, decided to care.
Some old-school fans -who'd likely prefer players not wear helmets and grow thick Burt Reynolds-like mustaches - may say the NHL is going soft. On-ice trash talking is part of the game, but degrading the game, as Avery did, is unacceptable for any professional athlete.
The NHL is following a path made by the NBA, who has taken a stand against it's gangster reputation. The first step for the NBA was putting a dress code in place. For some reason, it has been effective. We've seen a reduction in baby-momma-related wage garnishing, Plexi-gun incidents and less arrests for activities most promoted by Bob Marley and Snoop Dogg.
Lets hope the NHL continues to enforce player conduct and further leads us to believe there is a chance ticket prices dont outweigh players' IQ's. Maybe it might even influence the NFL to start kicking players out....OK nevermind, that's asking too much, I know.
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