I probably shouldn't be typing this post and it will likely come out all wrong and incoherent, but some things have been bugging me the last two days and it has literally given me a headache. I won't get any work done until I do this, so I'm just going to do it.
So there's this:
Garret Ross Suspended Over Sex Charges
Yeah, here we go again, right?
The Blackhawks assert that they only got wind of this on March 19th despite charges having been laid on Feb. 2nd, which I find difficult to believe. Why the big gap? I cannot imagine that the folks in Rockford kept this situation under their hat all that time.
I guess it's a good thing that The Hawks have done something, but the fact that nearly seven weeks passed before they responded makes it seem half-hearted and somewhat of a hollow gesture.
This revelation, of course, brought forth another wave of commentary on the Patrick Kane assault investigation and the intensely polarized reactions which that story has generated. I'm sorry to say that neither the Kane defenders nor the Kane detractors have covered themselves in glory.
I still don't know, exactly, what to think or what to feel about the allegations leveled against Kane; it's something I've struggled with since the investigation was made public. I've tried to just enjoy the games (which has become increasingly difficult for other reasons, but that's not for now) but it hasn't been easy.
People are people, and there are stupid people, cruel people and horrible people among us. In any group, in your neighborhood, your school, your job, there are always going to be men and women who do or say rotten things. Pro athletes are no different. People may hold celebrity athletes to higher standards, or at least hope for "more" from them than regular citizens but in the end, and as that guy from the trailer park says, "A shit leopard can't change its shit spots."
There is also a sense of invincibility or entitlement that some of these individuals acquire as they achieve success and admiration, and we can point to a distressingly large number of athletes, entertainers and politicians who have been accused and often found guilty of doing all manner of dirty deeds.
In our own little hockey microcosm, though, Garret Ross was caught and charged with a crime.
Patrick Kane was investigated for having possibly committed a crime.
Anyone who believes that Ross and Kane are the only guys within The Hawks' organization who are capable and/or guilty of doing horrible things are simply kidding themselves. Ross and Kane are likely just the only ones that have been stupid enough, careless enough or arrogant enough to put themselves in a vulnerable position.
I've been around athletes or varying skill levels for 30+ years and have been exposed to the unfortunate "lads culture" that often (but not always) prevails, especially among the more skilled athletes. No, I'm not saying that the better athletes are all dicks, but there is a disproportionate number of lowlifes among the elite performers, in my experience, at least.
And this goes back to what I typed about entitlement.
And it manifests itself in small and large ways, from guys breezing through school without accomplishing much, to the commission of actual crimes and never being taken to task for any of this, simply because they're "on the team". They become accustomed to getting a free pass from responsibility, whether it's at work, school or from the rules that guide our society.
It's a ridiculous double-standard that, at best, makes you shake your head and, at worst, makes you sick to your stomach.
With all this in mind, and I remind you that it may all be horseshit, think about the locker room of your favourite sports team. In that room there are likely to be one or more thieves, woman-beaters, liars, tax cheats and adulterers, just as likely as you'll find these types in practically any group of people, anywhere.
And putting the guys who are inherently jackasses on a pedestal won't make them sweet, respectable young men, either. In my experience it only makes their bad qualities worse.
I'm not comfortable with the manner in which The Hawks organization handled either Kane's or Ross' cases, but I suspect the sad truth is that any other sports franchise would do more or less the same thing. I suppose the day-late-and-a-dollar-short acknowledgement of the charges laid against Garret Ross is a small step forward, but it doesn't make The Hawks all bright & shiny, either.
In case there's any misapprehension, I'm not defending or excusing any misdeeds committed by Ross, Kane or any other elite athlete who may have been misled to believe they can get away with stuff that regular folks cannot. I only type this to remind myself that these young men are as unfortunately human as any of the rest of us, but with the benefit of an extra layer of protection from condemnation. Sometimes knowing this makes me feel better, sometimes it makes me feel a lot worse.
Yet, I'm still uncomfortable with the widespread assumption that Patrick Kane did what he was alleged to have done in his home last Aug. 2nd. Only a handful of people know what actually occurred that evening, possibly as few as two people, and it seems presumptuous and heavy handed, to me, for anyone who was not there to declare Kane guilty of the alleged sexual assault. Yep, Kane has a history of idiotic behavior and a less than sterling reputation where his attitude toward woman is concerned but, at the same time, Kane's accuser and her family were determined, it seemed, to destroy their credibility at every opportunity. I've tried to reconcile myself to the fact that, unless one of the two aforementioned parties declares that they lied, I'm never going to know what to think about Kane, exactly. This conflict may yet steer me away from The Hawks.
I'm reminded of a Hawks-oriented blog that, until recently, I read and enjoyed regularly. I can't even look at it anymore, unfollowed them on Twitter...all that stuff, because one or more of the contributors on that site had determined Kane to be guilty since the get-go and, quite frankly, I find that vain and tiresome. One of the contributors has been particularly vitriolic and, given the tone of some of his anti-Kane and anti-Hawks Organization sermons, I hope he's lived a good and virtuous life, because of that whole thing about people in glass houses not throwing stones.
It's too bad, too, because the writing on said blog was mostly smart, funny and insightful, but I'm just not comfortable with opinion and conjecture being passed off as truth, I guess.
I could be wrong on this, but my impression is that one or more of the contributors to the blog in question makes a living from that endeavour, so they're kind of biting the hand that feeds them, at least a little bit. I get that there's a lot of disappointment out there among Hawks fans, though, and I suppose there's more than a bit of disillusionment shining through.
Like there is here.
I'm not sure if that helped or not, but I shall click "Publish", regardless.
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