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Bitch, Please: NHL Dismisses Faggot Claims
A day after the Wayne Simmonds-Sean Avery incident in Philadelphia, the NHL’s “Wheel of Discipline” landed on “no discipline” for Flyers forward Simmonds and his use of the phrase “fucking faggot” towards New York Rangers’ gentleman Avery. To quote Colin Campbell, Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations in a press release issued by the NHL this afternoon:
Since there are conflicting accounts of what transpired on the ice, we have been unable to substantiate with the necessary degree of certainty what was said and by whom. Specifically, Flyers Player Wayne Simmonds has expressly denied using the homophobic slur he is alleged to have said. Additionally, none of the on-ice officials close to the altercation in question heard any inappropriate slurs uttered by either of the primary antagonists. In light of this, we are unable at this time to take any disciplinary action with respect to last night's events. To the extent we become aware of additional information conclusively establishing that an inappropriate slur was invoked, we are reserving the option to revisit the matter.
So Campbell and the NHL couldn’t verify if Simmonds actually said, “fucking faggot,” since Simmonds wouldn’t admit it and no on-ice officials heard him say it. Fine. If you can’t prove it despite there being pretty damning video evidence, fine.
There is one consolation in all of this. Campbell spent the first two paragraphs basically denouncing racism and homophobia and making it clear that such an utterance even in the heat of the game would not be tolerated. That’s nice.
But I have something still doesn’t sit right. Take a look at the video once again:
You mean to tell me that the linesman Tony Sericolo couldn’t hear what Simmonds uttered mere feet away from him? There are no ear flaps to hinder Sericolo’s hearing. Simmonds didn’t look like he was whispering in that shot. There’s no doubt that Sericolo could hear what Simmonds yelled out.
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That brings up a whole slew of issues. Is what Simmonds said so normal in Sericolo’s world that he didn’t take any note of it? Or, even more sinister, Sericolo a big homophobe that he “chose” not to hear what Simmonds said? Or is Sericolo hard of hearing?
So NHL. Bitch, please. Let’s try this again.
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