07-28-2019, 02:49 PMFordyford Wrote:

07-28-2019, 10:08 AMEggy216 Wrote: You want us to suspend someone for having a bad opinion?

Yea but it’s not a bad opinion it’s a discriminatory opinion. What if he’d said I don’t think gays shouldn’t be commentating hockey.

No.

He first made a joke that women were invading hockey or sports commentating (I don't recall exactly, doesn't matter). I am convinced this was a joke since he "blamed Bettman", a popular joke among hockey fans. It's akin to the "Thanks Obama" meme. It's a joke. If you think it's something else, I don't know what to tell you.

He then clarified his stance, saying that the women play-by-play/colour commentators he's listened to just aren't up to par to the seasoned, male, commentators that have traditionally called hockey games for years. I don't know if he made this clarification publicly, but this is what I gathered after speaking to him directly.

He prefers to listen to game audio only if they're calling games. His main gripe is that the on-air chemistry between the male and female commentators he's listened to is mediocre at best. Lots of dead air, poor flow of conversation, etc. It's to be expected for these women who are new to the game. It's the same for male commentators as well, you're working with someone new and you need to develop that on-air chemistry.

This is why I'm in awe of the outrage mob over this. You're just looking for a reason to demonize someone. I stop following after I spoke to him because I already knew how it was going to end. The pressure wouldn't let up, the mob would flame him wherever he made a comment and ultimately leaving the site would be the only option to escape the backlash. I don't blame him at all for reacting the way he has. If you have proof of him explicitly saying that women shouldn't be in hockey or sports broadcasting, I'd love to see it. But as far as I'm concerned this has been a massive overreaction.

Have I summized this clusterfuck pretty accurately, PK? @PenKnight