Astonishing Idiocy

For a guy whose career probably lasted four years too long, I'm not sure if Jeremy Roenick has ever seen the writing on the wall in any situation. Usually, when using that phrase, it means seeing the very obvious, but Roenick seems to be very near-sighted in his attempts to salvage some face after his situation with NBC surrounding his rather stupid comments on a podcast that led to him being fired from NBC Sports. While he has always maintained that he was speaking in jest while trying to fix both his innocence and his reputation, it's pretty clear that NBC, with all the issues they had regarding sexual misconduct in their workplace, had no choice to but to resolve the matter with Roenick being dismissed. And that's where we pick up this story as it takes another turn thanks to the Roenick camp.

According to a report in Variety, Roenick is suing NBC Sports "for wrongful termination on Friday, claiming the network discriminated against him as a straight man after he made off-color remarks on a Barstool Sports podcast."

Let that stew for a second as you collect your thoughts on how NBC Sports discriminated against him because he's a straight, white guy. Is there any group in the history of this planet who have NEVER faced less discrimination than straight, white men? And perhaps showing his true colours, Roenick doubled-down in the lawsuit he filed by also alleging "that the network retaliated against him because he was an outspoken supporter of President Trump in 2016."

I'm no lawyer, but if I were his representation in this one, my advice would be, "Just take the loss on this, JR. It's not going to end well".

Look, Jeremy Roenick is free to do what he wants with his time and money, but when he posts a video on Twitter while suspended where he tells everyone that he won't be coming back to work after NBC chose to terminate his contract amidst all of the #MeToo news, this lawsuit now seems a little ridiculous.

What a Joke!! pic.twitter.com/Evis1XR2cD

— Jeremy Roenick (@Jeremy_Roenick) February 12, 2020

"I'm very disappointed and angry today I will not be returning to NBC," Roenick said in the above video. I guess he's also disappointed that NBC Sports held him to what amounts to common decency when referring to his work colleagues and he's likely disappointed that NBC Sports is showing moral standards that they didn't show when dealing with people like Matt Lauer.

His jokes on the podcast diminished Kathryn Tappen and Patrick Sharp from NBC Sports hockey analysts to sexual objects. There's no place for those comments in public that simply embarrass and humiliate his two colleagues, and his apology to all involved in this debacle came two weeks after being suspended for his comments. NBC Sports stated they were "glad" he apologized, but his suspension continued as it rightfully should have.

The question that needs to be asked is why he was "disappointed and angry" with NBC's decision to fire him when we've seen men accused of sexual harassment fired from networks across the continent, and how this became discrimination against him for being a straight man. Honestly, he was the one who made sexually-suggestive comments about Patrick Sharp, not the other way around, so how exactly is he going to play that off as discrimination for being straight? And if he's "disappointed and angry" he can no longer work on NHL broadcasts on NBC any longer, does that devalue the apology he issued in January since he may have done it only to try and save his network job?

Proving there's discrimination against him for his sexual orientation is going to be rather difficult when one considers his own words that he used to land in the hot water he was in prior to his dismissal. It takes an astonishing level of idiocy to claim discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation as a straight man when Roenick made sexual comments about another man who he worked with on a prominent podcast. What else may be revealed if it gets to trial where Roenick's sexual history may be reviewed?

Just take the loss on this one, JR. You messed up bad, and there are consequences for your actions that need to embrace and understand. That last part - "embrace and understand" - might be the most important part of the equation.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!