So I heard you wanted more gritty valentines
I am a hockey blog, but tbh this the best Gritty take I’ve seen. Cities should just have monsters, sports or no sports.
enemies to lovers? and they were teammates - and roommates? men’s sports have nothing on women’s sports
and this particular guy... cry harder (imagine if women's sports had the funding, visibility and accessibility men's sports are gifted):
the best thing hockey ever did is put the penalty boxes next to each other so the criminals can talk
“and the fans are throwing celebratory rats on the ice” god I love hockey
the beautiful game!!!!!!
@theshitpostcalligrapher we are in mourning today, can you pls repost the link to your "maybe this year" sticker
@theshadiertwin we got someone who'd like some context
one of these days the nhl is gonna come out and say that the leafs are in fact simply a social experiment and that we were the guinea pigs they studied
today the miami dolphins punter accidentally kicked a ball directly into his teammate’s ass
In response to Slate's article on the possibility having non-heteromative team in figure skating (particularly, ice dance and pairs), Oniceperspective shared a glimpse of Gabriella Papadakis (FRA) and Madison Hubbell (USA) working on their same-sex program. You can see how they switch the leading figure between them.
You can see them trying out lifts in this video.
The rest is on Instagram here:
Gritty’s gotten real weird, and I kind of love it.
Nothing but respect for our troops
Listen if the Bruins Panthers go to game 7 Leafs lightning also has to. Out of solidarity.
PK’s losing a button for every hour he’s on the air I see
Reading sports headlines while pretending sports doesn't exist suggests a fascinating world of magic and whimsy.
so i got a notification today about an article where the nhl is commited to diversity and holding itself accountable.
that's bullshit. but most people know that. and at the end of the article, it says "We as a league are hyper-focused on what the future and growth of our game looks like while also sustaining and maintaining our current fan base."
and that, to me, is so absurdly funny. because hockey isn't growing. it's losing. it's losing to soccer. it's losing to football. it's losing to baseball. it's losing to basketball. i grew up in the united states. i couldn't name you one hockey player. i could name you serena williams, lebron james, kobe bryant, barry bonds, lionel messi, Aaron judge, etc etc. but not one hockey player. and my team has won the cup twice in my lifetime, less than 30 miles away from me.
hockey is losing. it's a niche sport, especially where I'm from. and this line, it encapsulates why it's losing. "while sustaining and maintaining our current fanbase." this operates off an assumption that growth and diversity act in odds with the current hockey fanbase. i have a bonsai. it's a ginseng ficus. in order for it to grow properly, you have to cut parts of it off. this is exactly what the NHL refuses to do.
i am a new hockey fan. i am several of the "diversity" targets the NHL loves to proclaim it supports, im queer and im a poc. I'm also from a "non-traditional hockey market." and i can tell you, this sport actively makes me feel unwelcome. the attitudes of the players often actively makes me feel unwelcome. the commentary from reporters, from fans, from announcers, makes me feel unwelcome sometimes. and no pride night is gonna change that. it's nice, yes, but it doesn't change it.
and what I'm saying is: you cannot grow when parts of you are rotting. if someone can't handle seeing ethan bear play fucking hockey, then they don't have to watch. if someone can't handle the possibility of luke prokop playing a game, then they don't have to watch. if someone can't handle the thought of a female GM, then they don't have to watch. hockey doesn't want to grow, because that means being better.
you cannot simultaneously promise to grow while trying desperately to hold onto racist, sexist and homophobic fans. and the thing the NHL has either failed to realize, or is scared to realize, is that the future has come and gone. they're getting passed, lapped, even, by leagues that have done more. by sports that are capable of change. change means that some people, yes, will stop watching. but the world isn't just made up of sexist, racist homophobic people.
i go to quite a few AHL games. once, i was seated in front of an African American couple. they had season tickets. one of them, is the first in his family to enjoy hockey. and his wife was wearing so much merch her earrings and hairtie were matching. they are fans. they're fans that deserve more than one night and a special jersey. I've been to a pride night. i got a hat. it was a fun game. and alongside me, there were pride flags and hats and jerseys. there were kids from high schools who were openly queer. there were older queer couples. that's your broader audience. and if you make them feel welcome for more than one fucking night a season, they might come to more games. they might bring their friends, like i have. they might raise kids that watch hockey.
it's funny, that the NHL is so scared of losing shitty fans that they're willing to be the biggest losers of the four major sports.
