Can Two People Be Right At The Same Time?

 Can Two People Be Right At The Same Time?

2021 does not seem to be letting up on 2020, especially in the lunacy that is the Hockey world. In the last week, news broke that the NWHL would not be pursuing a sponsorship opportunity from Barstool Sports, and in particular it's CEO, their "Girl Boss", Erika Nardini. This could easily be a situation of right versus wrong. Good versus bad. However this story, as with life itself, is not so easy to determine right and wrong. 

                                                                           Barstool

Founded in 2003 as a print publication by Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports was distributed in the Boston Area, focusing on gambling and fantasy sports predictions. What it has morphed into over the 18 years since is nothing short of a miraculous success story, and as with such sudden and unexpected success stories there has been no end of controversy. In the time frame since, Barstool has launched into the Internet stratosphere, created a multitude of heavily listened to Podcasts and media shows, entered the public conscious and been bought out by the Chernin Group in 2016. On July 19th of that same year, the company announced that they would have a new CEO, Erika Nardini. 

This is an important step in the future of the company. For a company that prided itself on some blatant sexism and misogyny, along with some other social ills that they have been accused of, Barstool moved into the 21st century, kicking and screaming. This led to a more mature content outlook, better production of their podcasts and videos, and a better standard of guests and hosts for their content. Barstool hit the mainstream. However, to many, these social ills committed by the company, in particular founder Dave Portnoy, have been too much for forgive. For every fantastic podcast such as Spittin Chiclets (arguably the best and most listened to Hockey podcast on planet Earth), controversy has always followed Barstool as a conglomerate at every step of the way. This may be for alleged slurs used by Portnoy while quoting song lyrics, which can be explained away. Others that cannot are off the cuff comments on race and gender, as well as the clear strategy of Frat House humor that determined that, indeed, Saturdays are for the Boys. The content on their website and shows to some is harmless jock humor, to others massively out of line and this has led to Barstool becoming one of the most polarising sporting topics of the 21st Century. 

Now, it is not my job to be critical of Barstool at this point. Certain aspects, such as calling Samantha Ponder a, direct quote, "Slut", are inexcusable. As are the multiple slurs by personalities on their network. The rape jokes are inexcusable. Abhorrent behaviour in every way shape or form. However, in the same vain, there are many aspects of Barstool Sports as a network that are very positive. In recent years, it would appear Portnoy has matured a fair bit. His series on Pizza Reviews are very good, and give a shout out to restaurants that may not be in the wider public conscious. While his humor is still sophmore-ish in it's nature, the more egregious transgressions from Barstool have been widely eradicated in the more recent past. As stated earlier, Spittin Chiclets as an example, is a very fine podcast, and the sheer status of their guests, such as Sidney Crosby, Nathan Mackinnon, Chris Pronger, Duncan Keith, etc, show their standing in the Hockey World. It is a Hockey podcast, for hockey fans, by people who know Hockey and clubhouse humor. It has also been suprisingly progressive in it's championing of Women's Hockey and minorities in Hockey. The credit needs to be placed on Paul Bissonnette, Ryan Whitney, Real Admiral, Mike Grinnell, Dave Portnoy and Erika Nardini. 

This background leads us to where we are now. The NWHL rejecting an offer of investment and sponsorship from Erika Nardini, a vocal ally of women's hockey. While this topic has been beaten to death in recent hours and days, there can be a case that neither is incorrect in this issue. Barstool has mostly cleaned up it's act in recent years, and is moving slowly away from the rape jokes, the slurs. It has focused more on providing quality content. However, as a League, the NWHL cannot be blamed for wanting to distance themselves from Barstool Sports, despite it's best intentions. While Barstool can feel rightly aggrieved, as their initiatives in helping small businesses and Spittin Chiclets shining a brighter light than many towards Women's and Minorities hockey can only be applauded, they can also not be truly shocked by the snub. The hate and vitriol showered towards Saroya Tinker of the Metropolitan Riveters is nothing short of disgusting. While her words may have been strongly worded, and may have been some generalisation of Barstool Sports as a whole and was in no way nuanced, it is her opinion. She does not deserve hate for that. The reaction from certain Barstool employees has fueled this, and they need to acknowledge this and apologise to Tinker directly. Anything less is unacceptable.

However, this is where the main issues lie. How much do we hold individuals and organisations accountable for former actions, if the good actions are becoming louder on the whole than the bad actions? Do we deem Barstool irredeemable for good? In my opinion, no. There is room for a Barstool to operate, especially when the content being produced in certain areas such as Spittin Chiclets is superior to most competitors. However, to do this, Barstool needs to denounce a large area of it's fanbase. Racism and sexism is not acceptable at any time, and especially not in 2021. 

On the second part, should the NWHL have accepted the offer from Barstool? In my opinion, they maybe should have, albeit in the guise of Spittin Chiclets. Having a team sponsored or ran by Nardini, with the Pink Whitney branding front and centre, this would have helped the League grow. Whilst understandable that the League decided to not align itself with the controversial brand, the fact remains. There was wiggle room on this, and the decision to refuse and denounce Barstool was naive by the League. This does not include Tinker. Her words were her own, and she does not deserve the hate. However, the League could have maybe focused less on virtue signalling, and more on negotiation or polite refusal. Especially when partnered with NBC Sports, and the shady past of abuse, the collusion to hide said abuse, and multiple instances of racism and sexism within the ranks of NBC. It feels like Barstool was an easy target, as it can be turned down and no repercussions, which is not the same as the NBC deal. 

 How can we move on?

Overall, this is one big mess. A mess that has led to hate and vitriol all around. Generalisations of those towards the Barstool brand, ignoring the good in their ranks, and focusing on the bad and grouping them all together. The racism and sexism shown towards Tinker and the NWHL as a whole is disgusting too. Hockey has a racism and sexism problem. That is plain to see. However, society's refusal to let people change, and the toxicity of a section of the Hockey fanbase, these issues will rumble on for the foreseeable future. Something needs to change. Racism cannot win. Sexism cannot win. In my opinion, should Barstool apologise to the NWHL and Saroya Tinker for the abuse they have received on behalf of their fans, a huge statement can be made. And if the NWHL can be open to working with Nardini, there may be common ground found. It's 2021 folks, it may be time to open our minds. It's high time.