Chelios runs mouth about Bettman

[CarlRacki]

Me. The only context I've ever heard "gassed" was to refer to the act of killing. Granted I am pretty certain Chelios meant "fired" but I can see how some would take it otherwise ---- his choice of words was poor, to say the very least.

Yes ... and that's the point. Nobody's saying he is suggesting Bettman be executed or that he's making an intentional reference to the Holocaust. Rather the whole point, or at least my point, is that he's a dimwit who made a terrible word choice that might understandably offend some, particularly when the target of said comment is Jewish.

On a related note, I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to gscarpenter for instructing myself and all others here on how to think. Without you, my friend, we'd be lost.

 

[SuperNintendoChalmrs]

Chelios should chime in on other players too.


On Stephane Quintal: "I heard the Kings are going to guillotine him.......I mean, he is going to retire."

On Owen Nolan: "Word is the Leafs are going to knee-cap him......I mean, they are going to let him go to free agency."

On Donald Brashear: "The word on the street is that the Flyers are going to whip Brashear to the curb......errr......they are going to release him. Good thing he doesn't have cancer....he might get "weird" on them."


Poor Chris, if he had ever been able to get a pair of wings to go with his beak he could have caught up with his ego and mouth by now.

 

[Boltsfan2029]

Interesting.

What I find truly offensive is that there are so many people here who feel it is their right to tell other people what they may or may not say, may or may not think. They are outraged and totally offended if someone says something they construe as critical of someone/thing they support, but have no qualms about returning the favor and seem to think that's somehow... different. They lecture people how they may and may not interpret remarks, statements, situations. They instruct people how they should and should not react to things.

The amount of juvenile name-calling and otherwise childish behavior amongst adults (technically) here is mind-boggling. Stupidest post ever. Biggest idiot in the forum. Shut up about this. Shut up about that. You're a moron. Leave the forum. Yada, yada, yada, blabbity-blah-blah-blah.

To think I began posting here because I was told HF had the most intelligent and mature hockey fans around participating in their forums.

 

[Montrealer]

Interesting.

What I find truly offensive is that there are so many people here who feel it is their right to tell other people what they may or may not say, may or may not think. They are outraged and totally offended if someone says something they construe as critical of someone/thing they support, but have no qualms about returning the favor and seem to think that's somehow... different. They lecture people how they may and may not interpret remarks, statements, situations. They instruct people how they should and should not react to things.

The amount of juvenile name-calling and otherwise childish behavior amongst adults (technically) here is mind-boggling. Stupidest post ever. Biggest idiot in the forum. Shut up about this. Shut up about that. You're a moron. Leave the forum. Yada, yada, yada, blabbity-blah-blah-blah.

To think I began posting here because I was told HF had the most intelligent and mature hockey fans around participating in their forums.

Stupidest post ever by the biggest idiot in the forum.






KIDDING! I'm just KIDDING!

 

[GSC2k2*]

Yes ... and that's the point. Nobody's saying he is suggesting Bettman be executed or that he's making an intentional reference to the Holocaust. Rather the whole point, or at least my point, is that he's a dimwit who made a terrible word choice that might understandably offend some, particularly when the target of said comment is Jewish.

On a related note, I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to gscarpenter for instructing myself and all others here on how to think. Without you, my friend, we'd be lost.

Instructing you on how to think? I am trying to ask you TO think, and to stop being such a giant phony. It is certainly a more constructive message than your message of trying to tell people how to speak AND how to think (much more carefully and more conscious of people's imagined feelings, sez you), particularly when yours is wrapped up in such a blanket of complete and utterly false empathy that in truth is nothing more than a transparent passive-aggressive shot while you actually have no clue how other people think and feel.

Your "thanking" me is just another example of your apparent need to take a shot at someone while hiding behind the written equivalent of a smile.

Again, stop being such a giant phony. "Might understandably offend some". Please. You are so completely full of **** your back teeth are floating in it.

"Lost"? I fear you are already lost in your own swirl of self-congratulatory claptrap, sir.

"All others"? Again you flatter yourself. As the starter of this baloney, my comment is squarely directed at you and the few others who jumped on to deliver a shot to the players. My post was not directed to the many other posters who know very well what a load of crap you were and are spewing.

 

[Tawnos]

Wow...

Gassed is a pretty common term for getting fired around here... so I don't know where people get off thinking it has ANYTHING to do with the Holocaust. Actually, it has to do with Capital Punishment and the term itself is harmless. There is NO difference between gassed and canned.

And just so you know, I'm Jewish. Using slang that has nothing but the slightest ties to the Holocaust will never offend me. This is unreal.

It might be local slang... don't you think you're all jumping the gun just a little? And besides, no one has a right to say anything about his comments being offensive (in that aspect) except Gary Bettman.

 

[Timmy]

5...4...3...2...1...

 

[Boltsfan2029]

Again, stop being such a giant phony. "Might understandably offend some". Please.

I'll pass that along to one of my dear friends, who is Jewish, and was extremely upset by Chelios' use of terminology. Go figure.

 

[Boltsfan2029]

Stupidest post ever by the biggest idiot in the forum.






KIDDING! I'm just KIDDING!

 

[HockeyCritter]

Interesting.

<< snipped most of a well written post >>

To think I began posting here because I was told HF had the most intelligent and mature hockey fans around participating in their forums.

Methinks lack of hockey has made some members of our fair community rather punchy.

 

[Cawz]

When people have to start apologizing because something completely harmless is taken the wrong way, then we've got a major problem.

But how do you know it was completely harmless?

Maybe it was, or maybe the fact that Bettmans a jew was in the back of his head while he was spouting off. If someone calls a black man a monkey, or a native a savage, it could be construed as racist even if it wasnt meant as a racial slur. But those words would be said becasue when youre spouting off, your brain grabs words that are relevant.

Sorry, but if you think that there was a 0% chance that Chelly meant it a racial inspiried insult, then thats the "blind love" that was talked about a few pages back, where you complained about the phantom insult. Maybe it was inadvertant, but its likely that he used the term get gassed instead of get axed becasue of the target of the rant. Thats sort of the way the brain works when youre spouting off.

 

[Cawz]

... and anyone here defending Chelios, did you not see the absolute hypocrisy in his quote? To fight tooth and nail against a cap, then say its not a victory since other sports leagues have it... thats the new dumbest quote of the lockout.

 

[GSC2k2*]

I'll pass that along to one of my dear friends, who is Jewish, and was extremely upset by Chelios' use of terminology. Go figure.

With all due respect, I would observe that your dear friend might consider finding things to get upset about in the real world. There are many such things here in the real world about which one can get upset, and those things are not based on imagined slights. To repeat the astute response of another poster yet again, does your dear friend get perturbed at baseball announcers proclaiming that such-and-such pitcher has been sent to the showers? How does he react when the attendant asks him if he wants to gas up his car? They are as related to the terrible plight of WWII jewish people as Chelios' words were.

To reply to your other post about people reacting to each other, I must observe that your statement is circular. It is not unlike an intolerant person chastising others for not being tolerant of intolerance.

The fact is, there are some positions which are not deserving of respect or a measured response. Distinguishing those positions is also part of participating in a discussion with adults. To suggest that everyone's views are of equal worth is to abdicate responsibility for critical thinking, which is of course the essence to any discussion of issues. When a position is demonstrably ill-informed or phony (as in the post to which I responded earlier), it is perfectly appropriate to respond to it with a worthy response. Phoniness is a quality that I think qualifies as being worthy of scorn. I doubt many would differ with that view. Using the powers of critical analysis that are essential to any adult discussion, I felt that the original post, and those posts here and there that were feeding the original post, were based on phoniness and thus worthy of scorn.

 

[GSC2k2*]

Maybe it was, or maybe the fact that Bettmans a jew was in the back of his head while he was spouting off. If someone calls a black man a monkey, or a native a savage, it could be construed as racist even if it wasnt meant as a racial slur. But those words would be said becasue when youre spouting off, your brain grabs words that are relevant.

Sorry, but if you think that there was a 0% chance that Chelly meant it a racial inspiried insult, then thats the "blind love" that was talked about a few pages back, where you complained about the phantom insult. Maybe it was inadvertant, but its likely that he used the term get gassed instead of get axed becasue of the target of the rant. Thats sort of the way the brain works when youre spouting off.

Exactly HOW do you KNOW that Gary Bettman is Jewish. Have you spotted him at the synagogue? Are you simply stereotyping him because of his last name, or because he is a short New York lawyer?

Even ASSUMING he is, that is about as far a reach as could be. There are plenty of offensive racial slurs that get used about the Jewish people. Gassing is not among the common racila slurs that I have heard of. Matter of fact, I have never heard tell of anything remotely like what you are suggesting.

 

[GSC2k2*]

... and anyone here defending Chelios, did you not see the absolute hypocrisy in his quote? To fight tooth and nail against a cap, then say its not a victory since other sports leagues have it... thats the new dumbest quote of the lockout.

100% with you there ... even though I am not defending him...

 

[Boltsfan2029]

With all due respect, I would observe that your dear friend might consider finding things to get upset about in the real world.

I'll pass that along to her. I imagine she'll probably figure how she feels is pretty much her business and no one else's, however.

There are many such things here in the real world about which one can get upset, and those things are not based on imagined slights. <snip> They are as related to the terrible plight of WWII jewish people as Chelios' words were.

Counselor, is this your opinion or a factual statement? I would respectfully suggest that you actually don't know what Chelios meant unless, of course, you have asked him and received a response. Until then, only he knows what he meant and by putting his remarks out there for the public to read, he is opening himself up to scrutiny. This is the bad part of being a public figure.

To reply to your other post about people reacting to each other, I must observe that your statement is circular. It is not unlike an intolerant person chastising others for not being tolerant of intolerance.

I suppose this is true. I ask the Court's forgiveness for suggesting that we consider being civil to one another.

When a position is demonstrably ill-informed or phony (as in the post to which I responded earlier), it is perfectly appropriate to respond to it with a worthy response. Phoniness is a quality that I think qualifies as being worthy of scorn. I doubt many would differ with that view. Using the powers of critical analysis that are essential to any adult discussion, I felt that the original post, and those posts here and there that were feeding the original post, were based on phoniness and thus worthy of scorn.

To each his or her own, of course, but childish name-calling, condescending remarks, sarcasm, scorn, etc., always make the "speaker" look a bit foolish and I know I cannot take them as seriously as they apparently would like everyone to do.

But that may be a southern thing. The old "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" bit. I believe you have pointed out how controlled and professional Bettman has acted toward Mr. Goodenow & the PA throughout this whole ordeal, I suppose I think it's just a shame the fans can't behave similarly.

I've been accused many times of just being too nice. I guess it's been proven once again.

 

[CarlRacki]

Instructing you on how to think? I am trying to ask you TO think, and to stop being such a giant phony. It is certainly a more constructive message than your message of trying to tell people how to speak AND how to think (much more carefully and more conscious of people's imagined feelings, sez you), particularly when yours is wrapped up in such a blanket of complete and utterly false empathy that in truth is nothing more than a transparent passive-aggressive shot while you actually have no clue how other people think and feel.

Your "thanking" me is just another example of your apparent need to take a shot at someone while hiding behind the written equivalent of a smile.

Again, stop being such a giant phony. "Might understandably offend some". Please. You are so completely full of **** your back teeth are floating in it.

"Lost"? I fear you are already lost in your own swirl of self-congratulatory claptrap, sir.

"All others"? Again you flatter yourself. As the starter of this baloney, my comment is squarely directed at you and the few others who jumped on to deliver a shot to the players. My post was not directed to the many other posters who know very well what a load of crap you were and are spewing.

Sigh ...

Sorry, but your two-bit, half-wit pop psychology ascribing my reasons for raising this point is pathetically off base, as is your outrage over this. I'm no more interested in displaying empathy than you are in displaying humility and tact. Build all the straw men you like by foisting false motivations upon me, but it won't make you right.

That said, it's ironic that you claim that I "actually have no clue how other people think and feel" while in the same post declaring (in your infinite wisdom) how I think and feel. Apparently what's good for my gander isn't good for your goose. Either that or you possess a special level of clairvoyance the rest of us lack.

Unlike a certain poster, I've never told anyone what or how to think about this. I've said what I think. Whether you agree is irrelevant to me. Certainly your reliance on name-calling and insults rather than persuasive argument isn't going to change my opinion. Also, unlike a certain poster, I've not instructed others on what points are up for legitimate discussion and debate. Let me say this without a written equivalent of a smile: You're an arrogant and smug person who hides behind insults and faux intelligence to cover for a lack of reasonable argument. What you possess, I'm afraid, isn't a special level of clairvoyance, it's a special level of conceit and self-worth.

Oh .... and you're so full of *** your eyes are brown.

 

[Captain Conservative]

Show of hands for people who honestly believe that "gassed" meant anything other than Bettman being fired.

I've never heard the expression "Get the gas". With what Chelios said during the last lockout, and his history of saying off the wall things, it took me a second to realize what he meant.

My feeling is that it was a dumb thing to say, but why should he apologize? He says stupid **** all the time.

 

[Pepper]

I think it's pretty safe to say that Chelios is just too dumb to understand that it might interpreted the wrong way but he didn't do it on purpose.

 

[Captain Conservative]

This thread has been extremely entertaining, so I hope that the Mods can restrain their "Lock Thread" finger for awhile longer at least.

Bettman deserves (and will get) a huge bonus for a job masterfully done in relation to the CBA negotiations.

I still think the NHL would be well served to move him to a different position to help the relations between these new business partners. Chelios is not alone among the players in his blind hatred for Bettman, so his removal could help facilitate the healing process.



As you well know, I've been a staunch supporter of the owners throughout this process. Like you, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the level of hatred heaped on the players. I understood the basis of the player's trust of Goodenow, but was frustrated with their inability to see the folly of his tactics this time around.

I feel no great sense of vindication in the result and take no pleasure in watching people bash the players for fighting a losing battle. I'm sorry they had to learn this harsh lesson and will gladly go back to cheering myself hoarse for them when they return to the ice. I happen to agree with Bettman, Daly et al. when they talk in glowing terms about having the sport whose athletes are the best ambassadors. As with any large group there will be bad apples, but in general the players are decent, hardworking people who love their sport and deserve far better than to be kicked while they are down.

I'll celebrate when Goodenow is fired for his incompetence, but only because of the arrogance with which he went about his job. Hopefully he has more success in his next postition and learns some lessons from his Waterloo.

One of the best summations of my own feelings i've read during this entire painful process.

Bravo!

 

[colonel_korn]

I think it's pretty safe to say that Chelios is just too dumb to understand that it might interpreted the wrong way but he didn't do it on purpose.

I think that's a pretty likely explanation. "Get the gas" is certainly a hostile way of saying you hope someone gets fired but I'd hesitate to say there's an intentional racist subtext to the comment. This kind of reminds me of an incident people were arguing about here a couple years ago where someone on Toronto radio (it might have been Bill Watters) was praising Wade Belak for taking on "that big gorilla" on the other team, who happened to be Peter Worrell. I think in context it was pretty clear he was using the term to mean someone who's big and strong, not someone who's black...but it was still a fairly insensitive remark. Mind you in Watters' case he's a broadcaster so you'd hope he'd be aware of stuff like that, I don't really hold a dummy like Chelios to the same standard.

 

[Scheme]

Oh .... and you're so full of *** your eyes are brown.

Sigh. Can we call Godwin's Law on this thread already?

 

[ColoradoHockeyFan]

Has anyone else noticed if their media outlets have really started running with Chelios' "get the gas" comments, by the way? In particular, your respective local media outlets. I noticed just now that our station here in Denver is. Just wondering how much the media might play it up and how much it might take off around North America.

 

[PecaFan]

To suggest that Chelios' remarks pertain in any way to the holocaust is outrageous and offensive in its own right. Unbelievably offensive. It trivializes the holocaust to connect it to a remark about gassing someone, particularly when the previous remarks pertained to how Bettman HAS A JOB. He was not talking about how Bettman should be executed.

Sorry gs, can't agree. First of all, it's not a common expression. You can tell just by the reaction here, and the lack of references. I personally have heard "being gassed", but I'd venture that was at least 20 years ago. At best you might say "it's not unheard of".

Secondly, regardless of if it was intended, it was extremely tasteless. Should we just let everything slide? Not pointing out these things just leads to their perpetuation. I think it's a good thing that a whole bunch of folks here are learning something about the origin of phrases, and how insulting they can be. I don't use "Indian giver" or "Gypped" for that reason, because they're racially stereotyped phrases, etc. (Gypped means Gypsies, for those who don't get it).

Finally, I personally think Chelios knew exactly what he was saying. He has a personal history with Bettman, has issued threats before, and I find the wording "get the gas" way too perfectly constructed as to not be intentional.

 

[Hoss]

I hate Chelios! Because he doesn't play for the Canucks.