Hockey Ping!
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Posted on 09/07/2016 3:19:27 PM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark
COLUMBUS, OHIO -- John Tortorella, the coach of Team USA for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, isn't backing off on his comments that he'd bench any player who didn't stand for the U.S. national anthem.
On Tuesday, Tortorella told ESPN: "If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game." The coach seemed taken aback Wednesday by the reaction to his comment, but he did not backtrack on his stance.
"I'm not backing off," Tortorella said after the team's on-ice workout Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
The US coach and coaching staff has caught a lot of flack here in Pittsburgh for not including Phil Kessel on the American roster. I was one ticked off Penguins fan because of it.
However I so proud that this man, and I do mean man, is coach of our national team in this environment.
If this doesn't make you stand up and cheer for Team USA nothing will.
I always stand and cheer for the US. Something tells me our national hockey team is not exactly a hot bed of radical leftist thought.
I’m a Blue Jackets fan, and I questioned the hiring of Tortorella. Was he really the best guy to replace Todd Richards? But I won’t question his patriotism and his heart is definitely in the right place.
It is well within one’s right to stand or not stand for the Anthem and to salute the Flag or even burn it. We aren’t (quite) a totalitarian government. The First Amendment, after all, is ONLY about protection of hateful and otherwise aberrant speech, since non-controversial speech needs no protections.
However, even while respecting the right of these pampered athletes to stand or not stand (whatever), it makes me very, very happy to see a dude like this coach who excercises the Constitutional right of Assembly by promising these idiots they will not play if they don’t stand. I like that excercise of a Constitutional right, too! A lot, in fact.
The NHL has done an excellent job of bringing the world’s best hockey players together to play a terrific game. It’s way better than the NBA.
Hockey, to me, is one of the last pure sporting endeavors in North America and perhaps the western world.
You so very rarely ever hear of doping, public arrests for drugs, rape, spousal abuse, drunk driving. I don’t recall one time that a player from any national team brought politics on the ice, interviews or press statements.
That goes back to even the cold war Olympics and Canada Cups. Yes, there was a heightened us vs. them mentality, that is undeniable. It stayed in the stands in on the sports pages though. The players just played.
I’m tuning out of so much of anything sports related before the national anthem until 0:00 and we all know why.
The one guys saying something about what if they all sit - he can’t not play them all.
Coach walks out and says “We forfeit.”
Bingo. NHL and this coach in particular have their priorities in order.
Or he can do a Gene Hackman;
“My team is on the ice.”
My thoughts exactly. I think this was a moot point for this squad.
Represent your country and be proud...
“Hockey, to me, is one of the last pure sporting endeavors in North America and perhaps the western world.”
Ditto’s to that. In a tough, physical game one seldom sees the thuggery that permeates the NBA and the NFL, and the fraction of prima donnas in the NHL seems much lower than what one sees in most other sports.
The hockey pros play a long season, especially if they make the playoffs, and they really have to exert themselves when they’re on the ice. They get paid well, but not extravagantly, like their counterparts in the other big commercial sports.
Plus, it’s a really beautiful, elegant game when it’s played right. Of course in that regard it helps if one is a Blackhawks fan and gets to see them all through the season.
This team is representing our country in this tournament. In this case, they have no right to disrespect it. Torts is right.
I posted the original story -
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3466731/posts
I am also the keeper of the “Hockey Ping List”
So if anyone reading here wants me to add them, please let me know.
(let me know if you want on or off the ping list)
They also have a predominantly white group of athletes.
I never thought I’d find myself on Tortso’s side; but on this, I’m 100% in support. Coaches give and take ice time for any number of reasons. Being disruptive to the team is high up on the list.
Your First Amendment right only protects you from retribution from your government. You have no such right in the private sector when it comes to your coach, your employer or your NHL or NFL league officials.......
I saw an interview this morning on GMA with an ESPN dick head who actually chastised coach Tortorella and accused him of denying his players their "First Amendment Rights" for making his statement...........
Hey Big Fail, do you actually think my First Amendment right will protect me if I was sent to a convention of automobile manufacturers, representing my company, and I took the stage and proceeded to make an ass of myself by spouting my political beliefs instead of sticking to the agenda outlined by my employer?
How long do you think it would take my employer to terminate me once it found out what I had did?
Like I said above, when it comes to the private sector, YOUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS ARE NOT A GUARANTEE..........
Yet, ESPN had no trouble denying Curt Schilling his "First Amendment Rights" when he spoke up, did they?
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