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Keep Your Politics Out Of My Rink

by Mike Chen on 10/11/08 at 10:00 AM ET
Comments (10)

A wise man once said that if you don’t bring up religion or politics, you can get along with anyone. I’m a pretty firm believer in that philosophy, and that’s why the whole notion of Sarah Palin dropping the puck at tonight’s Flyers/Rangers game as part of a “promotion” doesn’t sit right with me.

Sports, by and large, are supposed to bring us together. We go to our home teams to cheer together, regardless of age, race, religion, politics, or any other demographic denominator. You like Team A, I like Team A, we both hate Team B, then we can put everything else aside and high-five an awesome goal. I’m sure I don’t totally agree with the politics or philosophies of the people who sit around me at Sharks games, but I know when Jonathan Cheechoo makes the Anaheim Ducks look stupid, we can all cheer with each other.

Now, when you bring a politician into this world, you’re going to cause a divide—a divide that can be anywhere between uncomfortable to downright ugly. And it doesn’t help that Sarah Palin is currently one of the most polarizing figures in the United States.

It’s no secret that Palin’s supporters and detractors are equally ferverous. Just bring up the name to almost anyone and you’re bound to elicit a love or hate response. According to the latest poll numbers, about 45% of people don’t approve of Palin, 40% of people do, and the remaining people don’t care. That means that about half the people at the Flyers game, in theory, will be somewhere between uncomfortable to disgusted. The most extreme of those fans will probably boo, yell, or do something worse depending on how many beers they’ve had—this is, after all, the city that booed Santa Clause, a much less polarizing figure.

On the other hand, you’ve got probably about half of Flyers fans who do like Palin and they’ll cheer her. This will only incite the angry fans, which will then ignite a vigorous defense by her supporters, and on and on. Basically, you’ll have a certain percentage of fans yelling and angry at each other when they’re supposed to be gathered together for a fun time cheering their team’s home opener.

And, for what it’s worth, Pennsylvania’s currently polling strongly in favor of Barack Obama. That might make the scene even worse.

Is this a worst-case scenario? I don’t think so. People tend to be pretty vocal when their political beliefs are challenged, especially during a crazy propaganda-driven election season. For evidence of this, check out any hockey blog post that has mentioned Palin since she came on the national scene; while the actual post may not have had any partisaned content, the comments turned into a near-instant flame war between both sides. It’s not pretty.

Ultimately, I’m really against mixing politics and sports, especially during election season. If you want to celebrate Palin as a hockey mom, do it after the elections (regardless of the outcome) when the agenda-filled commercials and 24/7 media attention disappears. I want my hockey highlights on sports networks, not cheesy photo ops that can be construed in some circles as semi-propaganda on CNN and Fox News (especially since Ed Snider is a big GOP donator).

Now before anyone jumps right to the comments and starts calling me un-American or any sort of curse-word synonym for liberal, hear me out. I think if you look over this post carefully, you’ll find that I haven’t advocated any candidate or agenda. I’m just saying that politics should stay the hell out of sports because it divides rather than unites.

To counter any haters, I’ll say this in all honesty: if John Kerry tried pulling this stunt in 2004 had there been an NHL season (Kerry played defense for his college team and is a big Bruins fan), I’d be saying the same thing. And I bet the way people would have felt about that would have been the exact opposite of their current position (Palin supporters = Kerry haters, and vice versa). In other words, you’d have the same amount of people pissed at each other and really, that doesn’t belong in sports.

Any way you cut it, whether you’re red or blue (not Red Wings or Rangers), mixing politics with sports simply does an injustice by inserting a dividing wedge into a fanbase. Any topic that can turn fan on fan just shouldn’t be introduced into the arena.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Philadelphia+Flyers,

Comments

Well said. To be Ed Snider doesn’t have your good sense.

Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 10/11/08 at 10:15 AM ET

You’re about two day late beating this horse to death, Mike.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 10/11/08 at 11:01 AM ET

I’m right with you Mike. In fact, one guy sent me an e-mail asking for a commentary about what I thought about the political landscape. When I was confused as to where he found me, it turned out that he contacted me through my blog.

Sports and politics don’t mix. We argue enough about the sports stuff as it is! :-D

Posted by PB from Gilbert, AZ on 10/11/08 at 11:35 AM ET

You’re kidding right. She dropping the puck at a hockey game, not saying the lords prayer at a school. She’ll get mercilessly booed, wow… she might cry. And the Philly fans will have wedge driven between them? That’s sad, they were always such a tight, lovable group. I don’t think the Wings should visit the White House either. George Bush is a very polarizing figure right now. Wow.

Posted by Mike P from Tampa on 10/11/08 at 01:29 PM ET

Very well said, Mike.
We have that same rule at work. No discussions about politics or religion. This applies equally to our employees as it does to our patrons. Just as sports and politics don’t mix, neither do beer and politics.

Posted by David Lee from Greensboro, NC on 10/11/08 at 01:47 PM ET

You’re kidding right. She dropping the puck at a hockey game, not saying the lords prayer at a school. She’ll get mercilessly booed, wow… she might cry. And the Philly fans will have wedge driven between them? That’s sad, they were always such a tight, lovable group. I don’t think the Wings should visit the White House either. George Bush is a very polarizing figure right now. Wow.

That’s a bunch of crap. It’s an honor to meet the President, it doesn’t matter how you feel about his policies. The whole team goes, they all enjoy it, and the ones who don’t like him hold their tongue and smile anyway. And they all tell their grand kids about it years from now.

Someone running for office is a totally different. It’s a political stunt. Ed Snider is pushing his political viewpoint on his fans, pure and simple. If she is the Vice President, it’s neat. If she’s running for the office, it’s shit. This is shit. She should get booed.

Posted by monkey from Waiting for the lambs to stop screaming on 10/11/08 at 02:03 PM ET

Monkey, those are pretty much my thoughts. Mike P is missing the point of the visit to the White House. Anyone should be honored to visit the White House and be given that special day. It has nothing do to with the man in office. Just the office itself.
Anyway, it’s a tradition that shouldn’t be messed with.

Posted by David Lee from Greensboro, NC on 10/11/08 at 02:10 PM ET

If she’s running for the office, it’s shit. This is shit. She should get booed.

And, once again, the Obama supporters show that they have absolutely no tolerance for anyone who doesn’t believe exactly what they believe. If Obama was tossing up the first tip-off of the NBA season, these same people would have a completely different take on the event.

The one thing that has stood out for me in the “discourse” that this event has generated in the past week is (surprisingly) the intollerant attitude of the Obama supporters. I think even Obama himself would be surprised at this. His whole “mantra” has been tolerance. Maybe his supporters aren’t bright enough to get that. Maybe.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 10/11/08 at 10:16 PM ET

@ OTC: I’m sorry you seem to have had some bad experiences with Barack Obama supporters, but they aren’t all as rigid and intolerant as they ones you seem to have encountered - and an awful lot of independents and Republicans also do not like Sarah Palin and would have booed her, too.

And I’d be happier if before the McCain campaign gets all bent out of shape over intolerance, they might want to consider cracking down on the nutjobs showing up at their rallies calling Obama an Arab, a Muslim, a terrorist, and threatening the safety of a sitting United States senator - as well as the Palin supporter who told a friend of mine with an Obama pin that she could never vote for him because she wasn’t a “n*****-lover.”

The extremists are always the loudest, no matter how much of a minority they might be.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/12/08 at 05:34 PM ET

If politics ans sports don’t mix I guess a lot of people are cancelling the Hockey News and Adam PRoteaus continual leftist views.

Posted by Dale Stewart from moose jaw on 10/13/08 at 10:54 AM ET

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About Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog

Mike Chen prides himself in being the only hockey writer integrating puck discussion with both Morrissey quotes and Star Wars references. Since 2004, he’s blogged about all things hockey and currently contributes to FoxSports.com, the Battle of California, and RotoRob.

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