Be calm, breathe deeply, have some chamomile tea.
Aw, hell no!
I had planned to stay above the fray, not get involved in the talk radio ramblings of ESPN’s Colin Cowherd and his inane assertion that African-American men don’t watch hockey. I was fine letting it go until someone sent me an even more witless defense of Cowherd’s dribble from streetcarnage.com.
“He was saying American blacks don’t watch hockey,” the missive posted by John Pittsley said. “I’m not sure if Canada has any. But if they do, I’m sure they watch it. It’s probably required by law. But here in the good ol’ USA, blacks couldn’t give less of a sh**t about hockey.”
To further prove that his finger’s on the pulse of all things minority hockey, Mr. Pittsley observes that if you watch a hockey game “chances are, you won’t see a black guy on the ice.” Then he added that “there are currently 28 black NHL players, some of whom don’t play a prominent role or get a lot of ice time.”
Jeez, what’s a brother got to do on ice to get prominent role status? Win a Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman? Play 33:16 minutes of a crucial 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs game and average nearly 25 minutes of ice time per game thus far in the 2014-15 season? Score a sick, back-breaking wraparound breakaway goal? Check.
Become synonymous with Canadian Olympic hockey excellence? Be one of the first team captains of color in the NHL and a sure-fire first ballot Hockey Hall of Fame inductee with 560 goals, 610 assists – and counting – in 16 seasons? Check.
Be fifth in the NHL in goals, ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos, Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, and Washington Capitals’ Alexander Ovechkin? Check.
Cowherd’s comments and streetcarnage.com’s diatribe contribute to a false narrative that black Americans and other people of color don’t play, don’t watch, don’t like hockey. It’s an old saw and – how many times do we have to say it – a wrong one.
I hope that, if anything, this blog teaches folks about the history and growing impact of people of color in the game on the ice, in the stands in the broadcast booth, wherever.
The good news is that ESPN Chicago observed this week that there’s enough interest in hockey among minorities in the Windy City that the hometown Blackhawks have taken notice and are trying to tap into it. It’s good hockey sense and good business sense. And thanks to ESPN Chicago’s Scott Powers, for the shout-out in the piece.
Before the NHL season began, I asked Color of Hockey readers to share their stories about what attracted them to the game. Toronto’s Garfield Richards, 44, told me he started playing after watching his children enjoy themselves playing in the Greater Toronto Hockey League and a house league at the city’s Victoria Village.
Richards was among several adult hockey beginners profiled in a National Post story last January about hockey’s changing face. He jokingly described himself as “the guy in the blue helmet looking a bit like The Great Gazoo” in the photo that accompanied the article.

Tarasai Karega, far right, with Amherst College teammates.

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Maybe Cowherd is showing his real hockey ignorance or sports history ignorance overall. Blacks have had integration problems with all major sports football, baseball, and basketball to say the least well because we weren’t wanted. To single out black people not watching hockey is a bold face lie. When I went to the Caps game last week I saw a good number of black men at a Thursday night game. Maybe the NHL needs to find a stronger voice (owners where are you?) to speak out against this ignorance. Maybe you need to engage more black business leaders, politicians, sports leaders in football etc to understand the game better and help them be engaged to spread the word. Don’t just let Cowherd walk with studpid comments on such a great game, challenge him publicly. We see this done all the time for example in football they didn’t let Sterling off easy and exposed his foolishness and we’re still challenging the number of black head football coaches there are in NCAA football.
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that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Every team in rec league I’ve ever played on in the Washington, DC area (not even a big hockey town) has had one or more people of color on the team. And we all watch hockey, if only to say “Oh, so that’s how it’s supposed to look.”