You may have noted the so-called treatment Chicago captain is receiving in the corporate media today. Seems the captain had the gall to suggest that a female reporter didn’t squat about hockey.
“Oh, no. I don’t think there was,” Keith said when asked if a penalty went undetected. “I think he scored a nice goal, and that’s what the ref saw. Maybe we should get you as a ref maybe, hey?”
Thomson responded with “Yeah, maybe. Can’t skate though,” to which Keith said, “First female referee – You can’t probably play either, right? But you’re thinking the game, like you know it? See ya.”
The headlines vary but are generally “Blackhawks’ Keith taking heat over comments to reporter.” Why not, “Reporter shows incompetence and lack of subject knowledge asking incredibly stupid question.”
Look at the play. It’s obvious Keith was looking to draw a penalty and take away a scoring opportunity. It wasn’t a viscous two-handed slash. The ref let it go after Sedin scored.
I’m wondering why a reporter allegedly qualified to cover the NHL doesn’t know the basics of the game.
Hockey Buzz blogger Matthew Barry, once began a conversation with then L.A. Kings GM Dave Taylor, “I don’t think…” Taylor about fell over laughing, looked the Hockey Buzz blogger in the eye and mocked, ‘You don’t think?”
Fact is, Barry and Thomson got exactly what they deserved when they put themselves on equal footing with professionals.
The single most important life lessons I learned at the rink are humility, respect and some awareness of what I don’t know.
If you never want to be shot down by an expert, show some respect and don’t ask stupid questions.
Karen Thomson to her credit issued a statement that she has moved on from the event. At the time Barry used his blog platform to post a rant about why Dave Taylor needed to respect his vast knowledge of the game.
The moral here is that there’s hope for Thomson.
As we might expect corporate media forms a circle to protect one of its own:
-
Anytime an NHL player uses the “you haven’t played the game” card, the only response should be “and you haven’t written about the game”.
Adam Proteau 
BackCheck @Proteautype Journalism is the only endeavor where people who don’t know anything get to write about it.
