Hockey Night on the CBC

 

According to this piece from the CBC, NHL players are “ostracizing” gay and transgender people by not wearing rainbow “gay pride” jerseys. We should perhaps be happy they do not go so far as to call it genocide. Brian Burke, of the Pittsburgh Penguins, insists that resistance on religious grounds makes no sense. He was, he says, born and raised a Catholic, and “I don’t see any conflict” between Catholicism and affirming—not just tolerating, but affirming, or, to use his exact word, “honouring”—gay sex.

Anyone who knows the catechism of the Catholic Church knows he is simply lying, or apostate. 

Paragraph 2357: “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”

Paragraph 296: “Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.”

The CBC interviewer, supposedly neutral, asks two gay advocates the leading question, “do you think religion is being used to disguise bigotry?” No advocate for religion, or for the dissenting players, is invited to give their point of view.

But one of the gay spokesmen gives the game away. Cyd Ziegler emotes, “I grew up Christian. I grew up hating myself, because I was gay. Because I felt that I would go to hell for eternity.” Bayne Pettinger agrees with him an endorses what he just said.

Obviously, then they know perfectly well that they are in opposition to Christianity and Christian beliefs. They know that Christianity teaches that gay sex, or endorsing gay sex, leads to hell. They are not prepared to live and let live; they want to ostracize Christianity from the NHL, or crush the conscience of individual Christians.

Cyd Ziegler insists otherwise: “The players have the right not to wear the jersey, if their teams allow it. But guess what? I have the right to criticize them.” 

This is a false parallel. The players are not criticizing gay sex. His demand is that they affirm it, or face criticism. There is a difference between objecting to speech, and objecting to silence. He wants compelled speech.

For a proper comparison, think of requiring the players to wear a scarlet A to affirm their support of adultery, or requiring them to endorse on camera theft or the telling of lies. Or, conversely, imagine him as a gay man required to come on the CBC to condemn gay sex; or risk losing his job and his livelihood.

The important and most interesting question here is why homosexuals and transvestites cannot be satisfied with tolerance, and insist on universal public affirmation. Why do they need to compel assent? Why, for that matter, do they need “gay pride parades”? Why do they even need to “come out of the closet”? Straight people, after all, have no parades on the topic of sex, and are content to and expected to remain in the closet their entire lives, keeping their sexual interests behind closed doors.

It is presumably because they have a guilty conscience. Gays and transgenders must constantly be reassured that they are not doing anything wrong, precisely because they at least suspect they are doing something wrong. And because the problem is their own conscience, they can never be satisfied by any speech or action taken by any other. Their demands will just keep escalating. And they will grow more hysterical, beginning to speak of “revenge” and “genocide.” Ultimately, quite possibly, leading to egregiously violent action, like shooting small children in a Christian school. For the Erinyes pursue them, and they are relentless.

Orestes pursued by the Erinyes

Hockey Memories

Roch Carrier as a young boy, wearing his shameful Maple Leafs sweater.

There is something forever about professional sports. They keep adding new teams; but you can generally ignore them. They start doing sissy things like wearing helmets. But even so, to watch a sports competition is to return somehow to your childhood. Like Christmas morning, or old Three Stooges shorts.

For me, of course, a Canadian, hockey is prime. The sound of a skate cutting ice; the red light behind the goal; the organ playing. I was recently reminiscing. What else can you do when you're bedridden? I started handing out imaginary trophies left and right, in the NHL tradition. But not to players. That would be boring. They'd all go to Wayne Gretzky. Besides, it's been done. To teams, on the PR front, rather than for feats on the ice.

Howie Morenz

Most iconic team: no debate here. It's like Wayne Gretzky. Montreal Canadiens, of course. Other teams have a certain storied history—Toronto, Detroit, Edmonton, Boston, NY Islanders—but no one else comes close. They may be in the same league, but they're not in the same league. The Canadiens are Harvard; and there is no Yale. They are Oxford; and there is no Cambridge. They are Eaton's, and there is no Simpson's. Actually, there's no Eaton's any more either.

Ottawa Silver Seven, 1905

Best logo: Chicago Blackhawks. An amazing work of art; it never gets old. Colourful, yet not garish. Not simple, yet not complex. Of course, they will probably soon be forced to retire it, because it shows an Indian head. Among other logos, the new Winnipeg Jets' symbol seems really classy to me. The St. Louis Blues logo is simple, but strong. New Jersey's is pretty cool. Buffalo's is elegant. 

Chicago logo.

Of the original six, the worst logo was always New York Rangers. It is really no logo at all. Can't afford a designer? More recently, Calgary Flames is pretty weak. The flame motif worked well with the letter “A” for Atlanta, but looks juvenile with “C.” Carolina Hurricanes is worst among newer teams. It looks like something from a cheap 1950s paperback cover when they could only afford two colours of ink. Pittsburgh Penguins' strikes me as embarrassing to have showing on your chest. Granted, Anaheim Ducks' logo also looks cartoonish, but that is okay, because it is intentional. I don't like the Ottawa Senators' logo. Too generic. Are they sponsored by Roman Meal? 

Gretzky as a Ranger.

The logo is not too bad, but Edmonton Oilers should take some sort of prize for the ugliest uniform. Really. It's not Hallowe'en. Vancouver Canucks used to rule this category, and Edmonton used to have a rather nice uniform. But then, they used to win hockey games. How can you take yourself seriously, dressed like a pumpkin?

My trophy for the best team name goes to Buffalo Sabres. That captures something. Chicago Blackhawks and New Jersey Devils are also pretty cool. They make rich references to local history and legend, instead of just naming another sports team after another mangy animal.

Worst team name: Columbus Blue Jackets. Is that a name, or just a description of the uniform? Of course, if the latter, it is wrong. Hockey teams do not wear “jackets.” I've also never liked “Edmonton Oilers.” Profoundly unoriginal, since they are predated by the Houston Oilers of the NFL. Anyway, whats an “oiler”? An Italian teenager getting ready for a date?

Most lamented team: Montreal Maroons. New York and LA. have multiple teams. Toronto and Montreal could certainly support them too. Could be great rivalries. In the old days, Montreal Maroons were the Anglo Montreal team, and the Canadiens were the French. Sadly, that tribe is mostly gone, and they would probably lack a sufficient fan base. But they would be my team, anyway. 

Nels Stewart, Montreal Maroons

I lamented the Minnesota North Stars' move, too. It was a great team name, and an obvious hockey market. Now, of course, they have been replaced in the Twin Cities by the Wild. The market is again served, but it is still an inferior team name. Quebec Nordiques were also a massive loss, for the sake of the rivalry with Montreal. I hope they are revived in the next expansion. Quebec was part of the NHL from the beginning. I also miss the Toronto Maple Leafs.

What, the Toronto Maple Leafs are still in operation? Who knew?