“great people have died so that I can say what I want”
I assume he means that people have fought and died for his freedom but he won’t commit to saying they died for equal rights of gay people too.

“I’m a live and let live guy, I have no problem with Sean doing that”
So you’re a live and let live guy but you won’t say that you support equal rights of gay people.

What a cowardly retort Barry. Hard to believe you were just outclassed by freakin’ Sean Avery.

Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 05/11/11 at 10:40 AM ET

Puck, Barry holding back might have something to do with not letting personal feelings be used in a corporate media, very much unlike what the agency firm did (and got burn for it)

Then again, I didnt see the video yet, its blocked at work, so I might be wrong
I’ll try to watch it later

Posted by Zqto from Brazil on 05/11/11 at 10:45 AM ET

I am Libertarian So I couldn’t care less what a Persons Sexual choices are !

But there are People who like little boys & girls should that be accepted too? I don’t give a F&%& what you do in your Bedroom, But they feel the need to splash it all over the place & there are Gays who just want to live their lives in privacy & peace

Posted by Evilpens on 05/11/11 at 10:53 AM ET

But there are People who like little boys & girls should that be accepted too?

Slippery slope much? If you actually believe that and are equating homosexuality with pedophilia, you’ve just lost a seat at the adult table of this conversation.

But they feel the need to splash it all over the place

Yes, deny a citizen equal rights and discriminate against them and expect them to just sit in the closet or bite their pillow, LOL!. You are a funny man.

Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 05/11/11 at 10:58 AM ET

Barry holding back might have something to do with not letting personal feelings be used in a corporate media,

If his personal feelings are that he agrees with Avery but then won’t admit it, then he is a coward and won’t stand by his convictions when the results may draw ire. I hear you and totally understand that it can be delicate issue for some. But in my opinion you have to make a stand for what’s right. That agency should be mocked in the public arena for it’s sad, hateful rhetoric.

Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 05/11/11 at 11:04 AM ET

Puck, I totally agree with your points, but what I mean is that, he works for ESPN, and as a huge company, they might have policies that prevent him from saying what he wants to say…  It might be just PR regulations from ESPN, perhaps, and in that case, no matter how strongly he wants to give his personal view of it, he just cant

Posted by Zqto from Brazil on 05/11/11 at 11:17 AM ET

I am Libertarian

Is it the party that makes the person?
So I couldn’t care less
You used a double negative, so what you’re saying is that, deep down,  you really do care.

Yeah, I went way off topic and got all psycho-analytical. I couldn’t resist, it is too much fun.

Posted by SnLO from the slopes of the Hindu Kush on 05/11/11 at 11:18 AM ET

Posted by Evilpens on 05/11/11 at 10:53 AM ET

The only thing that this post is missing is the phrase, “The Gays.”

Yes, deny a citizen equal rights and discriminate against them and expect them to just sit in the closet or bite their pillow, LOL!. You are a funny man.

Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 05/11/11 at 10:58 AM ET

Careful, Puck.  There are some people who like pillows.  Should that be accepted too?

Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 05/11/11 at 11:19 AM ET

“I couldn’t care less” is not a double negative

=P

“I couldn’t not care” would be

Posted by Zqto from Brazil on 05/11/11 at 11:20 AM ET

 
SnLO Nope don’t give a rats Ass what people do !

Puck
Whether you or I do, there are a lot of people who find Homosexuality just as despicable as Pedophilia

Posted by Evilpens on 05/11/11 at 11:21 AM ET

Posted by Zqto from Brazil on 05/11/11 at 11:20 AM ET

You may be correct. I understand the correct phrase to be “I could care less” but then I suppose that implies there is still less caring to give, and “couldn’t care less” means there is no more caring to give. I will have to give it some thought. So EvilPens, I retract my fun. I stand corrected.

Posted by SnLO from the slopes of the Hindu Kush on 05/11/11 at 11:26 AM ET

Whether you or I do, there are a lot of people who find Homosexuality just as despicable as Pedophilia

True. The problem is, they’re absolutely, 100 percent wrong. Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion, but that doesn’t mean every opinion is valid.

If you (the general you—not insinuating anything about anyone here) want to be a bigot, that’s your prerogative. But when free speech is used to justify actually denying equal rights to human beings in the real world, we have a major problem. And when we appeal to “free speech” and “live and let live” as a way of getting out of taking a stand, we enable and affirm the bigots and participate in the cycle of injustice through our own cowardice and inactivity.

Posted by Sven22 from Grand Rapids on 05/11/11 at 11:39 AM ET

Puck
Whether you or I do, there are a lot of people who find Homosexuality just as despicable as Pedophilia

Yes, and those people and their way of thinking need to be mocked and ridiculed in the public forum because of their asinine fatuity. You can’t possibly equate what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes to inherent non-consent of a child being taken advantage of. I don’t believe I actually have to spell that out.

Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 05/11/11 at 11:41 AM ET

Is it the party that makes the person? Beavis go study Libertarianism & what it stands for & then get back to me

Posted by Evilpens on 05/11/11 at 11:42 AM ET

Please try to keep this on topic, that of what Melrose had to say and its relevance to hockey.

Thanks.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 05/11/11 at 11:44 AM ET

Please try to keep this on topic, that of what Melrose had to say and its relevance to hockey.

Thanks.

Posted by Paul

Sorry for threadjack, but it was only slight drift into great context.

Still think that Barry had a chance to expand and broaden Avery’s comments and open the door for better dialogue and understanding on this larger social issue than just wishing it would go away and not be in his locker room to deal with. Every work environment has to learn to deal with these type of issues and hockey is no different.

Heading out to mow 10 acres, plan for my Bday BBQ tomorrow and hopefully Wings game 7 comeback. Have a great day KK posters.

Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 05/11/11 at 11:56 AM ET

Puck said what I was going to long before I could.

What a cowardly retort Barry. Hard to believe you were just outclassed by freakin’ Sean Avery.

NAILED IT!

Posted by redxblack from Akron Ohio on 05/11/11 at 12:37 PM ET

Sorry but Barry has exposed his latent homophobia by discussing gay players as “problems” to deal with. It’s time to get over it. Scratch that… it’s past time to get over it. If anyone thinks that there aren’t gay players and coaches and officials and people at all levels in the sports world, you’re fooling yourself. And what on earth does it mean to “splash it all over the place”? It’s always the ones that complain the loudest about gay rights that turn out to be self-hating closet-cases.

Posted by Jennemy of the Skate from putting the b*tches in the box on 05/11/11 at 12:53 PM ET

I mean if we’re just looking at Melrose’s comments then all we can do is conclude he believes there’s a culture of homophobia within hockey as he keeps saying the coach would have to deal with other player’s reactions, as if the gender of who their teammate goes home to matters.

It’s hard for me not to see these comments as just nothing more than repackaged homophobia.  This issue just circles over and over and until its handled on a very large scale these debates will just keep spinning.

Posted by JBM on 05/11/11 at 12:56 PM ET

Melrose might theoretically be right about how a locker room would react, but it’s also worth noting that, aside from a disastrous month in Tampa in which he was exposed as woefully out-of-touch with how to handle today’s players, Melrose hasn’t been in a locker room for almost 20 years.

My own gut feeling (this is based on nothing) is that most NHL locker rooms would respond the same way Britain’s Rugby team did when that Rugby dude said he was gay, which was something like this.

GD: I’m gay.
Team: ....
...
...
...
Well…alright.
...
Are you still gonna play in the playoffs?
GD: Yes.

*Team begins good natured ribbing using gay jokes instead of bald jokes*

Posted by steviesteve on 05/11/11 at 12:58 PM ET

Posted by Zqto from Brazil on 05/11/11 at 11:17 AM ET

When you see the video, you’ll understand. Melrose is about to jump out of his skin he’s so uncomfortable with the topic.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 05/11/11 at 01:03 PM ET

The media, including Barry, need to stop acting like they don’t have power over these things. Sure, he’s right when he describes a locker room as a potentially hostile place for a homosexual, but he also has to power to say something like “but it’s inevitable, so people should adjust and get used to it.” People, for better or worse, will take stock in what he says, and I can’t imagine how that statement would be detrimental to ESPN.

The other thing is there are many examples of athletes NOT GIVING A S*** if their teammate is gay; a real professional just wants to win with a good group of guys. Hell, Glenn Burke was out to his teammates in the 70s—a gay black man, no less—and nobody cared.

Posted by Ian! from Somerville, MA on 05/11/11 at 01:18 PM ET

Whether you or I do, there are a lot of people who find Homosexuality just as despicable as Pedophilia

Posted by Evilpens on 05/11/11 at 11:21 AM ET

Grown ups call those people ignorant bigots.

Posted by CaptNorris5 from The Winged Wheel, stuck in Chicago on 05/11/11 at 04:22 PM ET