Initial Reaction: Patrick Kane is a huge douche bag, but the Chicago Blackhawks, USA Hockey, and certain sports commentators are bigger ones
It’s been only a day since news broke about Chicago Blackhawk Patrick Kane and his cousin allegedly beating up a cab driver in Buffalo over 20 cents, and already the excuses and hurried explanations are starting to fly. For those who aren’t familiar with this story, there is a recap here and a pretty nifty video + mug shot here. I’m not sure who I hate more in this ridiculous story: Kane and his cousin, the Blackhawks organization, USA Hockey, or some of the people who write about sports.
If what’s being reported is true, Kane and his cousin were absolutely and completely out of line. It’s almost too easy to turn this into a perfect example of what happens when young players get too much fame and too much money early in their career, so I’m actually not going to go there. Kane’s alleged actions speak for themselves and it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots.
What bothers me most in this case is the reaction of the media and the professional hockey organizations involved in Kane’s life. Violent acts such as these are allowed to be pushed under the rug and ignored far too often. Is one incident enough to condemn a player for life? No, of course not. There may be something deeper here if these alleged actions are true, and I’m sure there’s plenty of help out there for it. Many players have risen above much tougher problems. But should one incident be looked at closely, with deterrents put in place to prevent more from happening in the future? Absolutely.
Unfortunately, not everyone sees it this way. To me, if these alleged actions prove true, there should be consequences put down to prevent this man’s life from going any further out of control. Now, I’m sure some of you are saying. “aw, come on lady: ‘out of control’? It was just one incident.” Yes, it was, but it was one incident where Kane not only allegedly participated in robbery but was also allegedly involved in a physical altercation with another human being, all over two dimes. Such actions do not sound like ones belonging to a guy in control of his anger.
What should these consequences be? To start with, Kane’s spot on the Olympic team should be given to someone else. Although USA Hockey doesn’t seem to have a problem with the charges filed against Kane—in this article, the organization is quoted as saying they expect Kane to show up to their camp, regardless of any crimes he may have allegedly committed—many Regular Joes feel as though Kane does not appear to represent a good choice at this moment. In a sentiment echoed by myself and others, fellow hockey enthusiast Chuk Styles had the following to say: I think I might speak for a lot of people when I say I don’t want this little douche bag to represent our country.
In another article (located here), the author claims that what Kane did is just another example of kids being kids. He claims that Kane has done nothing more than what twenty-somethings are expected to do in their “youth”:
One thing that Patrick Kane has that works in his favor in terms of redeeming himself (should the charges stick) is his youth. Twenty-year-old guys tend to do stupid things. Young guys like Patrick Kane have a habit of engaging in all manner of youthful indiscretions.
“Youthful indiscretions”? Forgive me, but at the moment Kane has three charges pending against him: second degree robbery, criminal mischief, and theft of services. A youthful indiscretion is getting caught spray painting colorful four-letter words. A youthful indiscretion is egging a car. A youthful indiscretion is going streaking across the city after a wild (or not) night of drinking A youthful indiscretion is not a crime that’s classified as a felony, folks. It’s not losing your cool over two dimes to the point where faces get banged in and money gets stolen (allegedly, of course). Attitudes like this only result in men getting away with behavior that may only escalate as they age.
But what about the Blackhawks? Surely they would be smart enough to keep their support of Kane on the downlow, just in case these alleged charges prove to be true. The NHL certainly feels like that is the best idea, as in their statement they said the following: We are aware of the incident. We don’t condone or approve of what has been suggested the facts are. We are looking into it ourselves.
To me, this was a very fair statement. The NHL condemned the alleged crimes while remaining fairly neutral. The Blackhawks, however, may end up with egg on their face after this gem of a statement: He is a big part of our organization and a team leader and we stand behind him. As we are still collecting all the facts, it would be premature to comment further at this time.
Far as I’m concerned, they’ve said all they need to without commenting any further. Personally, if one of our young stars was accused of something like this, I would want him grounded without any kind of support from the Crunch until the law figured it out. I’m sure I’m not the only fan who feels this way. Emotions run high in this sport, everyone knows and acknowledges that. Although there may be more to this story, at the moment Kane is not the kind of person I would want on the ice representing my team. Yet the Blackhawks are going to stand behind this man—and make no mistake, he is a man and not a youth as some would want us to believe— because he is a star on their team and because he is at the center of their marketing strategy.
The all-mighty dollar is a scary thing to worship at times, isn’t it?
I hope, should these alleged charges prove true, that Kane gets the help he needs to manage whatever problems he faces. I also hope we’re not shaking our heads in ten years, wondering why he just threw his wife down the stairs (allegedly, of course).
~Special thanks to ST for all the help and research that went into this entry.
