The next time a black professional athlete says something really stupid, stop and compare it to the tirade of one Jeremy Roenick, NHL star.
Roenick, captain of the Philadelphia Flyers and a player who thought the NHL Players Association should have accepted the NHL’s February offer that would have saved the 2004-05 season, said last week, “Everybody out there who calls us spoiled because we play ‘a game,’ they can all kiss my (rear end). They can all kiss my (rear end), because we have tried so hard to get this game back on the ice.”
Roenick said everyone – the league, the union, and the players – are all responsible for the lockout. He just wishes the NHLPA listened to its constituents more closely.
Roenick noted that two young stars, the St. Louis Blues’ Chris Pronger and Calgary’s phenom player of color Jarome Iginla, also pleaded for the union to accept the deal. But neither of those players felt compelled to lash out at fans.
The SportsEye asks: Has Randy Moss ever said something this distasteful to NFL fans? While Terrell Owens is being barbecued for his contract flap with the Philadelphia Eagles, he isn’t blaming the fans or telling them to kiss his behind.
How about Latrelle Sprewell’s “I gotta feed my family” comment? That pales in comparison to Roenick’s disrespect of the fans that support the game.
An African-American sports superstar will certainly have something to say stupid fairly soon, but maybe the national media will compare it to Roenick’s attack on the ticket-buying public and realize that black athletes don’t own the franchise on idiocy.