Image via WikipediaSean Avery is a moron and has no business being on one of my favorite local sports teams. In less than 30 seconds, the Dallas Stars player further dug himself into a hole of stupid behavior when he had some less than gentlemanly things to say in reference to an ex-girlfriend.In case you missed it, here is what he said along with a few of his teammates' responses. (I don't feel like posting his coverage here, but it is relevant to the thought I am throwing out.) What I find particularly interesting is he starts out by saying, "you got a camera." Clearly he was seeking an opportunity to hold court for an audience of journalists.
Maybe Gary Bettman should thank Sean Avery
This may not be a very popular thought, but considering all of the attention Avery has brought with his comments, maybe on a certain level, the NHL should privately thank him when he meets with the commissioner on Thursday. As of this writing there were nearly 31,000 blog posts (via Google Blog search) and I am sure the topic came up in the media across the country on television, sports (and non-sports) radio, and print. The possible results? Major media coverage and public attention for the NHL, the Dallas Stars, and players.
I like hockey. I consider myself to be an occasional fan of the game. This publicity might just bring some needed interest for a professional sport that quite honestly, could use the influx of interest to increase its relevance. It reminds me of the time when Mark Cuban stated that he "thought the volume of media coverage of the Kobe Bryant [rape] trial would result in higher TV ratings for his games and for the NBA in general." I wonder if this will do a similar thing for the NHL.
In the interest of fairness, I did read that Sean Avery issued an apology via his LA publicist:
"I would like to sincerely apologize for my off-color remarks to the press yesterday from Calgary. I should not have made those comments and I recognize that they were inappropriate. It was a bad attempt to build excitement for the game, but I am now acutely aware of how hurtful my actions were. I caused unnecessary embarrassment to my peers as well as people I have been close with in the past. I apologize for offending the great fans of the NHL, the Commissioner, my teammates, my coaching staff and the Dallas Stars Management and Ownership. As many of you know, I like to mix it up on and off the ice from time to time, but understand that this time I took it too far."I wonder if the Stars will get rid of this guy. I wonder if now Sean Avery will take some time and think before he shoots his mouth off again. I wonder of this little episode will actually end up helping the NHL.
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