News Article: Friesen on Sawyer and the hazing incident

[sting13]

No, it was mentioned during that game's GDT or post-game discussions.

I meant having a topic on it. I should have been more clear.

 

[sting13]

I have no problems with Ferraro replacing Sawyer based on performance. I think Ferraro is the best colour guy around.

He is busy doing other NHL games for the other TSN channels. Next year is the last year of the TSN contract so we don't even know what network will cover games after next season so he would stick with the other games.

 

[tbcwpg]

He is busy doing other NHL games for the other TSN channels. Next year is the last year of the TSN contract so we don't even know what network will cover games after next season so he would stick with the other games.

I can't imagine it's not TSN. Sportsnet West is already overcrowded with the Flames and Oilers, can't imagine a third team on it. TSN has money to spend, Rogers has theirs tied up.

About Sawyer, I'm not sure firing him is the right way to go just based on what he said, but if he's non-apologetic about it, then they may have to.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

I'll echo those saying Sawyer should not be fired for finding humour in something 10 years ago, but considered tasteless today. Honestly, he should just come out and say I erred in commenting on it and condoning it, and move on with being a half-assed colour commentator.

 

[KCjetsfan]

The fact that he STILL felt it was a funny or cute story today (never mind that he shouldn't have thought that 10 years ago) is what makes firing him acceptable. Had the story come up and he immediately acknowledged wrong doing in participating then maybe it's different because blah blah blah it was the culture, whatever. But I knew hazing was a terrible thing as a 12 year old 30+ years ago so forgive me for not having much sympathy for adults thinking it's funny.

As an employer I wouldn't touch that sentiment/mentality with a 10 ft pole. As a viewer I don't need a poorly performing color guy who ALSO thinks hazing is funny on my tv.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

I'll echo those saying Sawyer should not be fired for finding humour in something 10 years ago, but considered tasteless today. Honestly, he should just come out and say I erred in commenting on it and condoning it, and move on with being a half-assed colour commentator.

Honestly, I'm of the same POV. But I have to balance that with my disdain for Sawyer. He literally ruins the games for me. I find him painfully homer-ish in pretty much everything he comments on. It's like every play a Jet makes is highlight reel, HOF material. Just make it stop!

 

[TS Quint]

You have to assume that he would not be going the route of “no comment” if that were the case.

Any comment short of admitting he is wrong, apologizing and maybe literally falling on a sword would be met with a crap storm from all these people who have no idea what the spirit of this incident was.

Until we hear from the player and how he felt about the situation all these people wanting to burn Sawyer at the stake are over reacting and putting the spin on the story they want to hear. These are the same people who wanted to forego a trial for Patrick Kane. It’s absolutely despicable behavior.

Flame away!

 

[PaulPooley]

I'll echo those saying Sawyer should not be fired for finding humour in something 10 years ago, but considered tasteless today. Honestly, he should just come out and say I erred in commenting on it and condoning it, and move on with being a half-assed colour commentator.

Very reasonable.

 

[Al Camino]

If you are waiting for TNSE to come down on the right side of this, don't hold your breathe. The have a wife beater's number retired, Zinger celebrates the fighting that likely contributed to Rypien's suicide in his public comments about the man and they happily employed a rapist on the blueline. They are every bit the knuckle draggers responsible for this behaviour in the first place.

It should be pointed out that Rick Rypien suffered from mental illness from the time he was 16. In no way do I condone fighting in hockey but please do not diminish the seriousness of mental illness by simply labeling or attributing his suicide to fighting.

 

[Analyst365]

Sure, let's sit back and type into a computer how disgusting this is ... and ignore the next homeless person we drive by on the way to the coffee shop.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Any comment short of admitting he is wrong, apologizing and maybe literally falling on a sword would be met with a crap storm from all these people who have no idea what the spirit of this incident was.

Until we hear from the player and how he felt about the situation all these people wanting to burn Sawyer at the stake are over reacting and putting the spin on the story they want to hear. These are the same people who wanted to forego a trial for Patrick Kane. It’s absolutely despicable behavior.

Flame away!

I get what you are saying - but in today's society hazing is not acceptable, even in those cases where the victim was in on the fun. Hazing will always escalates until it goes way over the line. So I don't think it is necessary to hear from the player.

But in this case we heard that he doesn't want to talk about it. Does that sound like a fond memory from his youth?

That said, I don't want to burn Sawyer at the stake. A good apology and demonstration that he gets it would satisfy me.

 

[LucianoBorsato]

First I'm hearing of this. Do you have a link to a reputable source to back this up?

Yeah, who is that supposed to be in reference too?

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Any comment short of admitting he is wrong, apologizing and maybe literally falling on a sword would be met with a crap storm from all these people who have no idea what the spirit of this incident was.

Until we hear from the player and how he felt about the situation all these people wanting to burn Sawyer at the stake are over reacting and putting the spin on the story they want to hear. These are the same people who wanted to forego a trial for Patrick Kane. It’s absolutely despicable behavior.

Flame away!

I don't think many want to "burn Sawyer at the stake". It's not a huge deal - the guy thought something that may have been funny 20 years ago was still funny. He should have just kept his mouth closed about it. If he's worried about his employment, he should probably apologize.

But I do think you're wrong about the player involved (Spurgeon) needing to speak up. Most wouldn't out of fear of looking weak, implicating others they may still have a relationship with today, and a bunch of other reasons.

Shitty behaviour is still shitty behaviour, whether Spurgeon feels inclined to say it or not.

 

[DeepFrickinValue]

Sawyer is not in a position of authority. He is a color commentator. Dismissing him on account of this? Asinine and short sighted.

Skeletons in the closet of probably every analyst and commentator.

 

[Bob E]

Really? I had been starting to get the impression there was some punative action going on here.

TSN at times has their colour guys do games of other Canadian teams, and usually leading up to the trade deadline.

I just thought it was so they can say during the TD broadcast, “I’ve done a few Jets games recently and...”. Poulin did some games last year, Mike Johnson and Jaime McClennon have done games in the past. Now they maybe filling in for the regular guy if he’s away or whatever, but it does seem like it happens consistently every now and then.

Though it could be because of what Sawyer said and TSN is trying to figure out what to do. And Ray’s schedule was open.

 

[The Blue Baron]

If he wasn’t a yammering bumbling fool on the mic he likely would of never thought of even bringing that incident up. But because he IS a yammering bumbling fool his hockey comments lead to him spew jokingly about this sensitive incident.

I hope he is gone for whatever reason because he is so annoying at his job.

Next man up please.

done tap tap!

 

[Do or Die]

"yammering bumbling fool on the mic." Serves as a pretty good summation....

 

[Edgar Halliwax]

It was a dumb thing to say and he shouldn't have said it. He also should not be fired. What next, every player in the Hockey Hall of Fame who ever participated in hazing should be removed? That would likely be most of them. Those were different times and I'm not excusing the behavior, but it was not frowned upon at the time (specifically the 70's and 80's).

 

[Calendal]

Sure, let's sit back and type into a computer how disgusting this is ... and ignore the next homeless person we drive by on the way to the coffee shop.

There’s no homeless people on the way to coffee shop for me. So I think I’ll ignore world hunger and climate change to keep up with the effort.

 

[SM]

Sure, let's sit back and type into a computer how disgusting this is ... and ignore the next homeless person we drive by on the way to the coffee shop.

?? Pretty sure we come here to discuss all things hockey, no? Is it mutually exclusive to be disgusted by both systemic issues? Or do we need to make a disclaimer on a hockey forum that the things we are concerned with aren’t as bad as “the real world”?

 

[Jedub]

It was a dumb thing to say and he shouldn't have said it. He also should not be fired. What next, every player in the Hockey Hall of Fame who ever participated in hazing should be removed? That would likely be most of them. Those were different times and I'm not excusing the behavior, but it was not frowned upon at the time (specifically the 70's and 80's).

The real issue is bringing it up live on-air in a manner that suggests it is a fond memory. You can't commit to the "new" idea that hazing is wrong (it was against the code of conduct at the time, just not enforced), then turn around and talk about the good ol' days when you used to duct tape 15 year olds to pillars and how that was a highlight of your coaching career. The two are incompatible and he absolutely could be fired for breaching TSN's code of conduct and bringing his employer into disrepute.

 

[blues10]

I see two separate incidents here that are clearly linked.

#1 An important aspect which may be overlooked is the fact that in 2005 under the direction of the CHA the WHL had a no hazing policy. The fact that an associate coach in a position of authority at the time was involved in Saran wrapping a 15 year old boy living away from home to a pole may be problematic for Sawyer.

From the incident involving Moe Mantha during what appears to be the same season.

"The league has a zero-tolerance policy on hazing and the league must make a very strong statement against it," OHL commissioner Dave Branch said Tuesday during a conference call. "Any form of hazing must be eradicated."

Yes, that is the OHL but both leagues were working within CHA guidelines at the time with the policy dating back as far as 2000 and possibly further.

#2 Clearly the 2nd prong to the story is the fact that in the year 2020 Mr. Sawyer found it funny to re - tell the story during a live broadcast audience on TSN3 to thousands of people including children. That is a Canadian Broadcast Standards and TSN problem much like the Cherry situation.

I really do not care either way if Mr. Sawyer continues his career with TSN3. That is for TSN and the CBSC to figure out. However, under the existing WHL policy that he broke in 2005/6 I wouldn’t be surprised if he faces a suspension should he wish to resume his coaching career. The fact that it was a CHA policy may even prevent him from coaching Timbits hockey.

It will certainly be interesting to see how it plays out. Sawyer could actually find himself in a position to make positive strides to helping eradicate hazing from sports when all is said and done.

 

[Duke749]

The real issue is bringing it up live on-air in a manner that suggests it is a fond memory. You can't commit to the "new" idea that hazing is wrong (it was against the code of conduct at the time, just not enforced), then turn around and talk about the good ol' days when you used to duct tape 15 year olds to pillars and how that was a highlight of your coaching career. The two are incompatible and he absolutely could be fired for breaching TSN's code of conduct and bringing his employer into disrepute.

This is the issue. Nothing more, nothing less. Let’s all quit crying about this or that. The act itself may not have been an issue but bragging about it on live TV is very unprofessional. Apologize and move on.

 

[Duke749]

I see two separate incidents here that are clearly linked.

#1 An important aspect which may be overlooked is the fact that in 2005 under the direction of the CHA the WHL had a no hazing policy. The fact that an associate coach in a position of authority at the time was involved in Saran wrapping a 15 year old boy living away from home to a pole may be problematic for Sawyer.

From the incident involving Moe Mantha during what appears to be the same season.

"The league has a zero-tolerance policy on hazing and the league must make a very strong statement against it," OHL commissioner Dave Branch said Tuesday during a conference call. "Any form of hazing must be eradicated."

Yes, that is the OHL but both leagues were working within CHA guidelines at the time with the policy dating back as far as 2000 and possibly further.

#2 Clearly the 2nd prong to the story is the fact that in the year 2020 Mr. Sawyer found it funny to re - tell the story during a live broadcast audience on TSN3 to thousands of people including children. That is a Canadian Broadcast Standards and TSN problem much like the Cherry situation.

I really do not care either way if Mr. Sawyer continues his career with TSN3. That is for TSN and the CBSC to figure out. However, under the existing WHL policy that he broke in 2005/6 I wouldn’t be surprised if he faces a suspension should he wish to resume his coaching career. The fact that it was a CHA policy may even prevent him from coaching Timbits hockey.

It will certainly be interesting to see how it plays out. Sawyer could actually find him in a position to make positive strides to helping eradicate hazing from sports when all is said and done.

Thank you.

 

[Jedub]

This is the issue. Nothing more, nothing less. Let’s all quit crying about this or that. The act itself may not have been an issue but bragging about it on live TV is very unprofessional. Apologize and move on.

Yes and why has this apology taken so long? Tsn doesnt want him to do anything until they say so? Sawyer should get ahead of this thing if he knows what's good for him (cue the jokes about if Kevin Sawyer knows anything at all).