Point Of No Return

We've seen a number of hockey personalities held to better standards recently as previously-held views and poorly-chosen words by outspoken individuals have cost those individuals money and jobs. Recognition of these ill-informed statements and the subsequent apology for the words spoken is usually the right way to handle these situations, but occasionally we'll find someone who forgets to think before speaking and then doubles down on mistake by claiming innocence. Today, NBC corrected the statement made by NHL analyst Jeremy Roenick by dismissing Roenick from his position.

Back on December 23, 2019, I wrote about Roenick being suspended indefinitely by NBC after he made some rather crude remarks about his colleague, Kathryn Tappen. In that article, I stated,

"I don't know if Jeremy Roenick returns to his job working alongside Kathryn Tappen after objectifying her in the way he did. And while NBC has done the right thing in keeping Roenick away from the NBC Sports studios, it might be time to send a clear message to the rest of the on-air and off-air employees that this sort of garbage won't be tolerated. It might be time to fire Jeremy Roenick."

It seems that NBC made the decision today to hold Roenick accountable for his words, and they fired him from the network.

Roenick took to social media to express his dissatisfaction with the dismissal, stating in a video posted to Twitter, "I'm very disappointed and angry today. I will not be returning to NBC. Though disappointed, I'm also grateful that I've had the opportunity to share my love, passion, my knowledge of the game with millions of people, millions of fans. And for that, I thank you."

People can point to NBC's reaction over all of this and claim that they're participating in "cancel culture," but Hemal Jhaveri is entirely right in her article on USA Today's For The Win where she writes,

"NBC severing ties with Roenick isn't about 'cancel culture' coming after a tv personality, but rather about holding someone to a minimum professional standard. If there's a baseline for workplace conduct, it should be that you can't sexually harass your co-workers. Even among friends, there are lines that shouldn't be crossed."

With the way that society swings to extremes, Miss Jhaveri's comments are the sobering reality that comes with being a professional. If I were to talk like that about my co-workers at my day job or colleagues when working for the Bisons, I would face some serious repercussions for my remarks. There are no exceptions to this - words have meaning, and actions have consequences. If I fail to use my brain before speaking, I'm liable for the consequences those words bring.

I've seen some cite that Roenick's freedom of speech was being violated, but the freedom of speech does not guarantee freedom from consequences. Yousef Munayyer worked to define this in The New York Times on January 10, 2015 when he wrote,

"Should writers and artists be able to express themselves in any way they choose even if it is provocative and offensive? Sure, but they should also expect that provocative expressions will provoke and what exactly it provokes is impossible to know."

The problem is that Jeremy Roenick had to have known that his story was provocative, if not shocking, for most people, and he was seeking a reaction. While NBC's and Kathryn Tappen's respective reactions were likely not what he was seeking in telling his story publicly, they provoked a response from each of them nonetheless. Just because it wasn't Roenick's desired response doesn't make those response invalid or wrong.

With Roenick not recognizing that what he said was wrong in the eyes of both NBC and Tappen, his failure to apologize for telling the story on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast left NBC with very few options, and the option to fire him from the network is a consequence for him choosing not to apologize and make amends for his poor choice of stories to tell.

If Jeremy Roenick wants to be "disappointed and angry," he only has one person to be disappointed with and angry with, and it's the guy who stares back at him when facing a mirror. At the end of the day, his poor choices from the moment he told the story to his failure to recognize the humiliation that Tappen may have felt to failing to apologize for his humiliating his colleague and friend left NBC with the choice they made today.

You can be unhappy that Jeremy Roenick won't be analyzing games for NBC any longer. If you found him entertaining and informative, there's nothing wrong with that side of Jeremy Roenick. However, we shouldn't let anyone get away with humiliating someone publicly for the sake of entertainment as Roenick did.

Welcome to the real world, JR.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!