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TRAIKOS: Maybe Jordan Subban wasn't the victim of a racial gesture. But that's not the point – Toronto Sun

Published

3 years ago

January 24, 2022

Harry Miller

Publishing date:

Jan 24, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 5 minute read • 11 Comments

.Jacob Panetta maintains that he was not making a racial gesture toward Jordan Subban, a black hockey player, during an ECHL game on Saturday. Photo by Ed McPherson /OJHL Images File Photo

I’ve watched — and re-watched — the video of Jacob Panetta shrugging his shoulders towards Jordan Subban during an ECHL game on the weekend many times in the past 48 hours.

To me, it did not look like it was racially motivated. But I wasn’t on the ice. More importantly, I’m not black.

So I don’t know — and I can’t know — what must have been going through Jordan Subban’s mind when he saw an opponent making what looked like “monkey gestures” at him. To Subban, who is black, it must have looked similar to the racist gesture that occurred days earlier in the American Hockey League, when a player made a racial gesture towards Boko Imama.

Panetta, who was released from his team and suspended indefinitely, said that wasn’t the case.

In an interview with Postmedia on Monday night, the 26-year-old claimed he was only making “a tough-guy, muscle-flexing pose” towards Subban and that it got misinterpreted. It’s the same gesture Panetta said he has made many times before. There’s even video evidence to back that up, as well as of Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson doing the same thing at the NHL level.

It was only after the game ended and Panetta was in the dressing room that he realized that Subban saw it differently.

“I heard him in the hallway and I kind of clued in that it was perceived like that and he took it that way,” said Panetta. “I was kind of in shock. It’s not my character. It’s not what I intended. That thought never crossed my mind.

“It’s tough hearing things. But actions are perceived differently by everyone. Unfortunately, those actions were perceived as racial. I want to emphasize that that was never my intention. My parents raised me to treat people with the utmost respect. That’s exactly what was going through my mind and what’s been going through my mind for the past 36 hours or so.”

As tough as the past couple of days have been for Panetta, who has been branded a racist and who many believe should be banned from playing professional hockey altogether, the Belleville, Ont., native said he can only imagine how difficult it has been for Subban and anyone else who viewed his gesture as racial.

“I’m sure it’s caused a lot of mental and emotional damage to Jordan and his family. It’s something that I’m sincerely sorry for,” said Panetta. “I just want to emphasize again that I’m sorry that he viewed it that way and I’m sorry for all the anger and hurt I’ve caused him and anyone else in the (arena) or anyone that’s had a chance to view it on social media.”

Maybe this is just one big misunderstanding, a case of crossing your signals and thinking something is worse than it actually is. Maybe Panetta is completely innocent. If that’s the case, we owe him an apology for blaming him for something he did not do.

At the same time, that doesn’t mean Subban is to blame. Nor does it mean that what Subban saw — and felt — is less important or less valid.

There’s a reason why Subban assumed he was being racially targeted. It’s because it has happened to him before. Many times. Over his career, he has been called names and felt like he didn’t belong. Talk to his brothers — PK is a defenceman with the New Jersey Devils and Malcom is a goalie with the Buffalo Sabres — or to Wayne Simmonds, or countless other black hockey players and they will tell you the same thing.

“The unfortunate thing isn’t just the incident,” PK Subban told reporters on Sunday. “The unfortunate thing is how many kids deal with this every day and it doesn’t come to light.”

There’s a reason why the Hockey Diversity Alliance partnered with Budweiser Canada to launch the #TapeOutHate campaign. There’s a reason why the NHL hired Kim Davis as its executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs.

Last January, Brandon Manning was suspended for five games in the AHL for using a racial slur against Imama. A year later, Krystof Hrabik was suspended for 30 games after he pretended he was eating a banana in front of Imama. That was in the same week where Willie O’Ree had his jersey retired in Boston as the first black NHLer.

In other words, we’ve come a long way as a sport and a society. But we’ve also got a long way to go. These are not isolated incidents. And they are not going away.

As Maple Leafs captain John Tavares told reporters on Monday: “We have a lot of work to do with learning and discussion — and something we addressed with the team as well.”

That might be the only good thing that comes out of this.

Regardless of Panetta’s intentions, this is a teachable moment for hockey. It’s yet another opportunity for the sport to work at being more and more inclusive to everyone.

A similar moment occurred three years ago, when TV microphones caught what sounded like a homophobic slur coming from Toronto’s Morgan Rielly. He claimed he was shouting for a teammate to “rag it” — a hockey term for ‘hang on to the puck and kill the clock.’ It could have ended there, as a simple misunderstanding.

Instead, Rielly and Leafs GM Kyle Dubas held a news conference a day later where they used the incident as a way to deal head-on with LGBTQ rights and matters of inclusion.

“I think it’s an opportunity for us as a team to realize that there’s really no place for slurs like that in sport and in life,” said Rielly said at the time.

That’s the direction the sport needs to take now with this.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

“It’s definitely been a great teaching point for me,” said Panetta. “Even though those gestures were never meant to be racial, I’ve definitely learned that actions can be perceived differently and taken in different way. I just want to keep learning from it. I hope that we can have a conversation and I can talk to (Subban) and begin to work through this.”

It’s the kind of gesture we need more of these days.

mtraikos@postmedia.com

twitter.com/Michael_Traikos

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Sports

Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

15 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

15 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

15 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.

It won’t be an easy assignment.

Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.

“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”

Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”

Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.

After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.

“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”

Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.

“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.

A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.

“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”

But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.

“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”

Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”

“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.

Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.

“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”

While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.

“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”

The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.

“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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