12/5/08
Hey NHL, Make Another Marketing Mistake, I Dare You
I don't like Sean Avery very much. He really is the definition of a bro, and because he has so much money and "fame" by playing in the NHL, Avery seems to enjoy acting like a certain women's hygiene product. It's the cliché example of a guy taking advantage of all his talent and opportunity. Honestly, going back to the incident that caused the “Avery Rule”, where Avery screens Brodeur in the most blatant act of unsportsmanlike conduct since Izzy Alcantra, only to come down the ice on the next possession and score, is there a better example of good things happening to bad guys? It's like how in high school there's always the one guy who is on the football team, gets with all the hot girls, and treats people outside his inner circle like crap, except that he's dumb as rocks and barely graduates and finds himself struggling to find work 2 years out of high school. But not with Sean Avery. No, instead he makes just under 4 million to play in the NHL and gets to gal pal around girls like her and her.
All his “douche-baggery” might just be catching up to him though. He's always been hated by players around the league who he didn't play with, but his teammates usually appreciated his gritty style of play. Until now. Apparently the Stars are fed up with Avery's distractions, and even denied his request to submit his public apology through the team. It really is about time Avery got what was coming to him but...
The NHL was not right in suspending Avery six games for his remarks. For anyone who hasn't heard the actual quote, it goes as follows:
"I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about, but enjoy the game tonight."
Before our very eyes we're witnessing a growing trend in professional sports of leagues trying to polish their image. We've all seen the damage that the NFL's new personal conduct policy has done (read: Adam Jones), the NBA has an off-court dress code for players, and now the NHL is telling players what they can and cannot say. I'm not defending what Avery said but by suspending Avery, the NHL is taking a clear stance on the issue and that stance is against Avery. Condemning his quote is definitely the PC thing to do, but it was a mistake by the NHL. Moves like this are the reason why the NHL won't become NEXT (if you haven't read the NEXT article, you can read it here). but with the league having enough trouble to market itself, the right move isn't stifling the characters and personalities that shine brightest. Every successful league has its successful bad guys. The NBA had the Bad Boy era of the Detroit Pistons, the NFL had Jack Tatum, T.O. (in San Fran and Philly), Bill Romanowski, etc., and the MLB had Kenny Rogers, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds (both before the steroid allegations). These are all guys who rub the media the wrong way but succeed at their sport. These are the guys who fans of the team love, but fans of any other team hate with a passion.
Every league needs villains. You need people to balance out the Golden Children, the Derek Jeter's, Tom Brady's, LeBron James'. Where would Superman be without Lex Luthor? Now, where would the NHL be without Sean Avery?...
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