• sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    10
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    IDK, I’m kind of mixed on this one. On the one hand, I don’t mind seeing rainbow tape on their stick (I wear pride stuff during pride month), but I’d disagree with seeing political ads or even branding for products.

    There should absolutely be some rules here, and a no tolerance policy is the easiest to enforce fairly. If they allow rainbow flags for expression, they should probably also allow political and commercial expression as well. So I’d rather have a no tolerance policy than a subjective one that many will disagree with.

    • dmonzel
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      “I wear pride stuff during pride month” is the new “I have a black friend”.

      People wanting to be treated equally shouldn’t be seen as political speech. Increasing visibility for a group of people who have historically been largely made to hide shouldn’t be seen as radical.

      Based on your logic, we should also no longer allow anything that shows support for the cishet community. No more mention of the player’s wives and children. I think that sounds fair, right?

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        I’m not saying it’s political speech, I even mentioned commercial speech in there as well. I’m just saying that in a professional sports setting, it should be about the game, not whatever social, political, or economic issue the player is interested in.

        No more mention of the player’s wives and children

        Agreed. I don’t see any reason for a player to have their wife or children displayed on their sticks or anywhere on their uniform while playing. If there’s a section for a bio somewhere (like when they’re being announced coming onto the ice), it could mention their support for LGBT issues or their family life or whatever. They’d get a small blurb that can say whatever they want, perhaps audited for hate speech or commercial ads that are in conflict with whoever is advertising for that game.

        But I don’t really see any reason for players to be advertising anything on their sticks or jerseys while playing. Whether a player is LGBT or supports LGBT issues should have no bearing on how they play the game.

        • dmonzel
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          it should be about the game, not whatever social, political, or economic issue the player is interested in.

          How naive to think that there has never been any social or political commentary in sports. No Jackie Robinson, no Muhammad Ali, nothing. Right?

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            7
            ·
            1 year ago

            I didn’t say there wasn’t, I said there shouldn’t. If players want to make political or social commentary, they should do it outside of the game itself. But once they’re suited up and playing, it should be all about the game.

            • dmonzel
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              1 year ago

              Please feel free to protest, but only in the way I want you to.

              That sums up what you’re saying, right?

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                1 year ago

                I guess, if you take it to an extreme.

                I’m just saying that a sporting event is not the place for social or political commentary, it’s a place for sports. I also think we shouldn’t play the national anthem as well. I feel the same about actors in a play, so I’m not treating sports special here.

                If they want to push for some cause they believe in outside of their performance time, that’s fine, but during a performance, they should merely perform.

                  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    I sure hope not, because I absolutely cannot stand that woman.

                    Players should be free to say or do whatever they want on their own time, but when they’re playing, they should just play. If LeBron wants to run for office or something, more power to him, but he should keep that kind of thing off the court.

            • joshhsoj1902@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              What players do off the ice is irrelevant, what matters here is that there are teams that still want to do pride warmups, but they can’t.

              You haven’t yet given a good reason for why teams shouldn’t be able to use pride related jerseys during warmups, and that’s because there really isn’t a good reason.

    • iegod
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 year ago

      How is this political? Is wearing pink for cancer political? Boggles my mind anyone would see it this way.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        I didn’t say it’s political, I just said it distracts from the game.

        I can maybe see it being allowed if all players have the same marking (e.g. an LGBT awareness week), but if each player can have something different, then that needs to be policed, which means someone needs to decide what is allowed and what isn’t. Any time that happens, you get stupid issues like this where they’ll allow one form of speech and disallow another, and the whole thing gets political.

        So instead of making a list of things that are allowed, just have a policy of no speech on uniforms and sticks. That’s simple and keeps focus on the game instead of whatever cause a player believes in.

        • TheOakTree
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          If they allow rainbow flags for expression, they should probably also allow political and commercial expression as well.

          I just don’t understand where you’re going with this. How is a rainbow, an expression of support for a range of identities of people, equally unacceptable in a sports environment as a literal “Vote [name] for President!” sticker or a political party flag?

          It just feels like you’re viewing the existence of certain people as “political.”

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            I also said players shouldn’t have symbols of other things as well. I named politics and companies, but the same fits for religions, philosophies, etc.

            If you’re playing a professional sport, acting in a play, etc, you should wear your uniform or costume, and then focus on the performance. If it’s not related to the game, players shouldn’t do it during the game.

            I’m completely fine with players wearing rainbow flags or wherever during interviews and other appearances, that’s completely fine. I just think the game should be all about the game, not about individual players’ beliefs.

        • David_Eight@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          I didn’t say it’s political

          and the whole thing gets political.

          Is it political or not chief lol?

          I think you’re missing one important thing about the NHL and Pro sports in general, it’s never been about the game. It’s entertainment to make money, that’s all it’s ever been. There is no “purity” or “for the love of the gave” just business.

        • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Why are you so insistent that no focus be taken away from the game? Would a few players having differently-colored sticks or a little patch on their uniform really take your attention from the game?

          Like, they’re not out there doing a Broadway on ice performance, they’re just putting some tape on sticks. The game doesn’t change because of some tape. If you have trouble focusing on the game because the rainbow tape is distracting, that’s probably a you issue. If you don’t like what you see on your screen, you can either ignore it, or change the channel. Easy as that.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        And I didn’t say it is. I just said it isn’t relevant in a sporting event. But more specifically, I said any kind of speech from a player isn’t relevant in a sporting event unless it’s directly about the game (e.g. a poor call).