Harassment and Hockey

           

          The article, “Next Time Someone Says Women Aren’t Victims Of Harassment, Show Them This” talks harassment of women and examples through minimal words and pictures. A majority of the time, people don’t see harassment going on or know that they are doing it, because it’s almost like second nature.

 

            In hockey, forms of harassment are constantly going on. It’s happening on and off the ice. Players on opposing teams will chirp each other to get under each other’s skin. They will trash talk each other to try to throw off another’s game. “There is nothing wrong with a little playful banter, especially if the end result is your team winning. It doesn't always have to be harsh words either. A simple knock on a guy's inability to score can put a player over the edge” (McSween, 2010). McSween continued by ending his article with a list of Top 20 Hockey Chirps. A couple examples are, “Hey goalie, I’ve seen coupons that save more than you” and “I’ve seen better hands on a digital clock” (McSween, 2010). While these examples are light-hearted jabs, there are also some more vulgar ones on the list.

               Harassment also happens up in the stands. It seemingly happens when a person wear’s the opposing team’s jersey. For example, at a New Jersey Devils’ game, a man wore a Team USA jersey with Parise’s name on the back. Parise was a former Devils player who now played for the Wild. I’m assuming that fans were unhappy about Parise leaving the Devils, and because this man was wearing a jersey supporting him he was harassed. Some of the people in the stands shouted things at him like “Jump off a bridge f--got” or “Next time sit in section 123 and it will be your life that you lose” Wyshynski, 2014). There were many other insulting things listed on the website. Eventually, the man was escorted out by security.

               In conclusion to the question my group researched, we found that harassment definitely happens in hockey. Although some may be intending it to be fun and non-offensive, we see that it clearly can go too far.

McSween, Steve. "Trash Talking: A Look at Some of Hockey's Greatest Chirps." Bleacher Report. 23 Apr. 2010. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/383071-trash-talking-a-look-at-some-of-hockeys-greatest-chirps

Wyshynski, Greg. "Fan Wears Parise Jersey to Devils vs. Wild Game, Tells Horrific Harassment Tale (Update)." Yahoo Sports. 21 Mar. 2014.  http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/puck-daddy/fan-wears-parise-jersey-to-devils-vs--wild-game--tells-horrific-harassment-tale-182602189.html