The NWHL's Early Bubble-Season Test
If the league and its clubs "both-side" misogyny and white supremacy, they reverse all the momentum they've built
B@rfools are gonna b@rfool, that’s a given. How the NWHL and its clubs respond now will determine the future of the league and those teams.
Last night, B@rfool cronies attempted to do what they do best, interject themselves into a sports-related moment then paint themselves as victims when they’re rightfully called out for their peddling of bigotry, misogyny, and white supremacy.
Several players, like the director of the NWHLPA and wife of Metropolitan Riveters captain Madison Packer, Anya Packer, did the right thing last night. It can take longer for organizations to formalize a strategy to the point where they’re ready to go public with it because the ideal course of actions involves handling the matter internally first so the organization shows a united front.
With that being said, the NWHL has come to a crossroads. It can no longer afford to flirt with media outlets whose only intent is to use people to energize its customer base of people who share its horrible “values” to possibly appeal to as many potential fans as possible. How the NWHL and its clubs proceed here could very well make or break its future.
There’s no “both-sidesing” this issue
We’re right to expect a statement from the league sometime today, and I imagine all six of the clubs will at least signal agreement with it. The word choice is of utmost importance here. If the league/teams leave any door open to further collaboration with the people who dog-whistled the harassment hounds of B@rfools on players and members of the media last night, that’s tantamount to approval of that behavior.
In the strongest words possible, the league must make clear that there’s no room for collaboration with such entities or individuals. Normally, I’m all for the “don’t say the name” approach, hence my use of B@rfool, but I think this is an exception. The NWHL, and its clubs, must make it pristinely clear they want nothing to do with Barstool media.
If they choose to mince words here, they risk losing the devotion of players like Saroya Tinker, who commands the loyalty of the devoted fan base.
That leads into a bigger conversation of a rookie player having to do the work of not only dealing with being the target of harassment because of her ethnicity but also stepping into the role that more veteran players, the teams, and the league should fill to moderate the community and call out bullshit when it happens. That’s a common thread within our society, however. White people largely stand on the sidelines and leave the work of censuring bigotry to its victims in US culture as a whole.
That can’t be what happens today if the NWHL wants its “End Racism” armbands to be anything more than the same performative drivel that B@rfool is engaging in with its pretense of supporting women’s ice hockey. If the league and its teams waffle today, they’ll choose the side of the oppressor against their own labor force.
Nothing caught my eye to recommend to you for reading today. You’ve been great. Enjoy these guys eating an ice cream dessert that costs $100,000.