Brutally Misguided

One of the things for which I am truly grateful when it comes to writing this blog is the opportunity to see and hear things before the general public does. Normally, this involves me swearing to uphold my end of the bargain by keeping specific information off this blog, but that's fairly easy to do since I appreciate my sources immensely. That being said, the title and byline written to the left was typed by Adam Waxman of Sports Illustrated on his October 27 article for the website. Adam may need to be reminded of the glaring issue that overshadows anything to do with Carter Hart.

I was lucky enough to be given an advance copy of Rick Westhead's new book, We Breed Lions published by Random House Canada. In the coming days, Jason and I will have the opportunity to speak to Mr. Westhead about his new book for a future episode of The Hockey Show, and my review of the book will be posted on November 5, one day after the book hits shelves across North America. In We Breed Lions, Westhead devotes an entire chapter to the court proceedings that took place in London, Ontario of which Hart was a defendant.

My feelings on the subject aren't unknown: these five men should never have the privilege of playing high-level hockey ever again. However, Mr. Westhead's accounts of the proceedings that took place in that London, Ontario courtroom have peeled back entirely new layers on the onion that was this trial, and I have a hard time believing anyone would ever promote anything with which Carter Hart is involved if they knew the details of what was said during the trial and what allegedly happened in the Delta Armouries hotel room.

I won't post what Mr. Westhead wrote in his new book simply due to respecting the writing process and the opportunity for him to make sales of We Breed Lions, but Carter Hart's text message in response to Michael McLeod's invitation to come to his hotel room should have everyone questioning the morality and honesty of Carter Hart when it came to the trial. Yes, Hart was acquitted for his alleged crimes, but the sexual acts described in detail happened, they were discussed among and witnessed by as many as ten players, and Carter Hart was in the middle of the sexual assault. He cannot deny any of that.

In short, celebrating anything Hart does will now have me questioning the morality and decency of those that do, and that includes Adam Waxman at this time for one major reason. His bio reads,

Waxman graduated from Penn State, a school that was awash in its own sexual assault scandal less than a decade ago. It's the same school where two football players were charged with felony rape after two women came forth with complaints. And yet his article's first paragraph reads like this is can't-miss hockey, stating,

Let me be clear: there is zero rivalry between these two teams. Why on earth would ESPN push to have this game on its main network when it could be showing the Canadiens against the Penguins or the Lightning against the Devils? Whoever made this decision clearly cannot read the room whatsoever when it comes to hockey fans, and I'm quite fine with ESPN never having a game shown in Canada again if this is the excitement they get over the second-place team in the Pacific Division flaunting its new goalie in front of the last-place team in the Atlantic for whom he once played. And that's assuming he even dresses for the game at that point because he still has not.

Waxman's not getting off easy here either since he seems generally to be the living embodiment of Ryan Gosling's character in The Big Short. Maybe he hasn't had the opportunity to read We Breed Lions or maybe he never will, but knowing the outrage that the acquittal sparked in Canada makes me wonder how something like this got past his editors at Sports Illustrated. Waxman can and should report on the game being nationally televised as that is something fans should know, but his general positive tone towards Hart and his complete ignorance of the victim in that case is entirely part of the problem identified by Rick Westhead in We Breed Lions.

There has to be some semblance of morality and decency from people in hockey if this game is going to be better, and part of the responsibility falls entirely on the people covering the game. ESPN has a responsibility not to glorify the circumstances surrounding this rather meaningless game, and Sports Illustrated has a responsibility not to celebrate Carter Hart's tarnished legacy like it's squeaky clean. If anything, they should be downplaying the return of Hart altogether because of everything that's gone on around him. And for the fun of it, he may not even be in uniform that night when the Golden Knights step onto the ice against the Flyers in Philadelphia.

I can honestly say, after educating myself further thanks to Rick Westhead's We Breed Lions, that Adam Waxman's article in Sports Illustrated is brutally misguided, if not woefully classless, in light of everything that's gone on surrounding Carter Hart. For hockey to be better for everyone, we need to start reporting on it better for everyone, and that's a responsibility that we all need to remember.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!