Are you serious? They were a bunch of guys sitting around shooting the sh!t. You're gonna tell me you've never made a comment along those lines, or even worse? He didn't bash gays, he didn't say because the guy is gay he was gonna beat the sh!t out of him. He was asked a question about if he heard someone was sucking cock what would happen, DURING a conversation about fighting, he said he'd beat the sh!t out of him. What's the issue here?
The problem is all the people who are overreacting to something that is a non-issue. I don't care if he's a public figure or a paid athlete or whatever. He's just another guy chilling with his friends and shooting the sh!t. Get the fvck over yourselves.
Have I said that stuff. Yes. But there is a huge difference as Tri pointed out. Anyway lets recap the event. I don't think anything has been written on any major news sites but a ton of blogs are all over it. Lets recap the response:
Cam Janssen Makes Gay Joke, Calls Kings 'Fat Broads You Regret Bangin''But man, talk about crossing the line. At least it's a real look into the mind of Cam Janssen -- and, unfortunately, likely the minds of many other players in the NHL -- but sometimes it's best if this stuff just stays out of public view.
You have to imagine that Patrick Burke, the founder of the You Can Play Project, will be furious with the outward homophobia here. You have to imagine that the New Jersey Devils -- the team that just signed Janssen to another one-year contract -- will be furious as well. And the NHL? Well, given the ongoing crackdown when it comes to player safety, a player talking openly about injuring other players may not go over so well.
And as for the repuation of Cam Janssen? Well, this will make him much more popular with some ... but with most, he's now a villain.
One Possible Line Reading That Doesn’t Make Cam Janssen Sound Like A HomophobePeople are angry, and they ought to be, but it's assumed that Janssen is saying he would taunt or fight or fvck with a player just because they're gay. But what if—just what if, man—he's speaking from a broader, third-person perspective, and pointing out, completely objectively, that in 2012's NHL a gay player would probably and unfairly be given a hard time? He'd better say he is, because if that's not the way he meant it, he's a wannabe gay basher or at least a guy not smart enough not to make jokes about being one.
Cam Janssen gives stupid, homophobic, sexist podcast interview"You wanna be scary. You wanna put the fear of f------ God in people's eyes. And not just 'Oh I'm gonna beat you up.' No. I'm gonna catch you with your f------ head down and hurt you, because you're not gonna know I'm coming," Janssen said.
Tomas Kaberle and Matt Bradley are among the players Janssen has hurt. They didn't see him coming because they'd gotten rid of the puck for several seconds before he hit them. That's illegal. Janssen's comments on that end are close to being as tone-deaf and misguided as his ideas on trash-talking, considering that the NHL has cracked down on illegal hits in the wake of a concussion problem that has bordered on epidemic. Keeping physical play in hockey while cutting back on injurious hits remains a topic of debate. It's fair to say, though, that deliberately trying to injure opponents shouldn't be part of the game.
And on twitter:
ryan lambert @twolinepass
for the record, there's a big difference between being a piece of garbage on the ice and off it. cam janssen is one of the few who are both.
Patrick Burke @BurkieYCP
We'll be trying to reach out to Cam and the Devils over the next couple days to get a chance to educate Cam on what we do.
Final thought: If players weren't using this language, we wouldn't have launched. Changing the culture is a slow process- requires patience.
Justin @jtbourne
Steering clear of Janssen talk for today (someone else is on it for tomorrow a.m.), but a quick note: Cam Janssen is a hockey dressing room.
I could go on and on with your average twitterer or blog comment writer who is absolutely killing him. Anyway, Cam is good friends with Andy Strickland. He tweeted that Cam will be joining him tomorrow on the radio on 590 The Fan St Louis at 10:30 AM. Should be interesting.
