I’ve been neglectful. My plan a number of years ago was to find some time to write in this space, but clearly it’s something that I haven’t done.
This is a restart of sorts. I’ve made a commitment to myself that I’ll update this space at worst on a weekly basis. I’ll write about what I know, share my thoughts, with no specific audience in mind.
If somehow you’ve found your way here, welcome!
My name is Rez and what will follow are my views.
In the world of professional sports no one is untradeable or unmovable and that’s one of the reasons that as a fan loyalty lies primarily with the team. When the Montreal Canadiens traded PK Subban this summer something changed for me that has me questioning my loyalty for my childhood team. Those questions aren’t because I didn’t think he was untradeable or what the team got in return but more because of how the team handled things leading up to his trade and how they handled the fall out of his trade.
Growing up in Montreal during hockey season, one eats, sleeps, dreams about the Canadiens, The ups and downs of the season are felt by all. Every win, loss or player personnel decision scrutinized by a fine tooth comb that everyone has an opinion on. Roch Carrier’s book The Hockey Sweater really encapsulated what it meant and means to be a fan of the Canadiens.
Being born and raised as a visible minority in Montreal nothing created a greater sense of belonging than hockey, and even more so nothing gave a better sense of acceptance than being a fan of the Montreal Canadiens. Everyone from all walks of life had an opinion of the team and watched the previous game. My love for the Canadiens was so much that in recent years prior making the move out of Montreal they were on my list of reasons for staying.
Like everyone growing up I grew to admire some of the players more than others. From Mats Naslund to Patrick Roy to Kirk Muller to Saku Koivu to eventually PK Subban, with each I took a greater interest whenever they were on the ice and their score line. When each of those players eventually moved on though I didn’t feel as bad.
PK Subban through his flair and honesty on and off the ice connected with me on another level. He had an unmatched joy in playing the game that reminded me how much I looked forward to playing every chance I got. The way he conducted himself off the ice was also unmatched. In a sport where players answer questions in cichés, he had the audacity to give direct answers.
As a fan the 2014 series against the Boston Bruins really encapsulates why so many had such a strong affinity to him. There was how he handled the whole thing with the racist tweets. The way he didn’t let it impact his play on the ice. The way he tied the game that eventually lead to the game 7 match up. Then there was the classic quote: “I can’t wait for the crowd, the noise, the energy in the building [in Boston]. I can’t wait to take that all away from them.” The talent, the intensity, the grace, the desire to win, this guy had it all.
Then last year prior to the start of the season when he made his $10 Million dollar charitable contribution to the Montreal Children’s Hospital he went beyond being a generational talent but a generational talent who can transcend even beyond his sport. And as a fan I was fortunate to have him play for my team.
My cousin wrote on social media shortly after Muhammad Ali’s death: “We grew up as underdogs, in so many senses challenged because of skin colour, religion […] People like Ali were icons as they showed us how being an underdog needn’t and shouldn’t matter. We were proud of him and his successes helped define our dreams.” It’s not fair to compare the two, he will not have the same impact in the mainstream consciousness as Ali did, but where he does have a similar impact is in connecting the sport to minority groups or even in demonstrating how generous players can be off ice with in their philanthropical pursuits.
So when the news broke that PK Subban had been traded for Shea Weber, I had to find a quiet spot in office to collect my thoughts. Not since the Montreal Expos had their fire sale of elite talent at the end of ’94 lockout did I feel so bad about something that happened in the world of professional sports. Even that I came to eventually accept the narrative. It didn’t matter what the analytics numbers said, who was older, who was entering his prime, who got paid more, what I needed was for Geoff Molson the owner of the team and for Marc Bergevin the general manager to help me rationalize the trade through my Montreal Canadiens coloured lenses.
Unfortunately what I got from them left me feeling empty on the inside. In my mind what we as fans got was a public relations disaster. (As a business professional I’m surprised no one lost their job over it.) Marc Bergevin could have said a nice word or two about the player or the man he traded. He could have spoken about how he and his management team had identified certain things that were lacking from the team, like leadership or toughness, things that Weber is known for and they had to pay a heavy price to get him. He could have spoken about the talent of Jeff Petry and or Nathan Beaulieu and how he was hoping that their combined contribution and help fill the gap that moving Subban from the lineup creates. He could have talked about the way he wants his defence to move the puck up ice to his forwards a lot quicker and how Weber better fits that style of play. He could have even talked about how he saw the team having a limited 3 year opportunity of winning the Stanley Cup with his group of players and for those 3 years Weber brings them closer to that goal.
Instead of that, we got a bunch of cryptic responses on how fans and media don’t have all the information and if we did we’d understand better. Implying that somehow Subban was bad for the team. What we got from the team wasn’t full transparency or even PR spin that would have gotten the fan base really excited to get Shea Weber. And really it’s not something that was hard to do. Look no further than how Nashville’s general manager David Poile, he demonstrated in one press conference how these kind of trades should be handled demonstrating excitement for the player he acquired and acknowledging and appreciating the contributions the player he traded had on the team and community.
As we head into the start of the season I feel conflicted. While I look forward to seeing how PK Subban performs in an environment that truly embraces him for who he is, for the first time for as long as I can remember, I’m not looking forward to the coming season as a fan of the Canadiens. I feel let down by my team, not because they’ve failed to put a competitive team together (I actually think the team is better season over season), but more because they’ve failed me as a fan. They’ve failed me as a fan not because they traded PK Subban but more because they’ve failed to live up to their own standards of excellence, class, respect and dignity in how they handled the PK Subban trade. When Geoff Molson bought the team a few years ago he described ownership of the team as a sacred trust, somewhere along the way he and his management team have forgotten the responsibilities that come with that sacred trust.
PK Subban Team Canada jersey.
Tomorrow is a big day, one of those milestone days that parents look forward to with hope and dread following the birth of their child. Tomorrow is the first day of kindergarten and the feelings of hope and dread are very different than the ones I thought I’d be feeling.
On the eve of him starting kindergarten, the dread I feel is an irrational fear. It’s not one of fear that my son is growing up, or that he’ll be spending the entire day at school, or whether he’ll be able to make friends and fit in. My fear stems more from how other kids will react to him, or how they might treat him. You see my son is not like every other kid his age. He has a language acquisition delay. He’s been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum and with it all the baggage and limitations that come along with the label in people’s eyes.
Last Friday we were invited to go to his school to attend lemonade day. It’s a day where parents are invited to bring their child to school so they can get familiarized with the school, classroom and the teacher. One of the activities that they had all the students do was to measure their height and weight and write it down on a piece of paper along with their names. The students were also encouraged to decorate their piece of paper by colouring the apples on the page. I observed a couple of kids expertly write their names and the numbers on their piece of paper and expertly colour within the lines. When it came time for my son to fill in his paper, he instinctually started scribbling on his sheet drawing the attention of his peers.
My fear is that his peers won’t understand that his pace is different than theirs. That his lack of conversation isn’t that he’s being rude, he just doesn’t know any better yet. That him not waiting his turn or surpassing his allocated time with a toy isn’t him trying to be unfair with them but more just the reality of where he is in his development.
I’m not sad about his condition. Since his birth and everyday thereafter he brings me happiness, joy and contentment unlike anything I have known before or even thought possible. I am and remain thankful for the blessing of having him in my life. I’m concerned and fearful of the outside world, the world I can’t control, the world that will not be as accepting of him, the potential bullying that he potentially faces.
As a parent we all want the best for our kids, to give them every advantage possible that will help them be successful in life. One of the main reasons behind our decision to move to San Francisco was access to additional services that could potentially get him the help he needed.
On the eve of his first day of kindergarten, I’m also filled with incredible hope about the program that he’s going to participate in. He’ll be given access to a trained staff of teachers, tools and resources that’s designed to help him learn and improve his communication skills at his pace. The hope I feel is that this is the next step in potentially having a non-binary conversation with my son.
Every story has a beginning, this one picks up a couple of months after moving to San Francisco from Montreal. I’ve spent the past couple of months getting settled into my new adopted home and it’s become clear that in the absence of familiar social circle that I need an outlet to share my thoughts.
The subject matter in this space will be scattered. From my mind to this space. I’m Rez and these are my views… my reziews.
reziews.com 