Understanding Sean Avery
After reading Chris Botta's accounts of Sean Avery today, I may have to change my tune about Avery's suspension. If you look at it as a one time thing, as I did at FanHouse earlier, it may be over the top. If you look at it in the context of an entire career and prior incidents, it looks very different.
"Two things shocked me about the incident. I knew Avery was off-center, but always figured the sideshow routine was just a role he played at the rink and for the cameras. During this confrontation, the media were gone from the hallway and there was no one around to entertain. The look in Avery’s eyes told me there was a whole lot more going on with this man.
But what surprised me more at the time was the Rangers’ reaction. As I’ve written, the NHL is a league where the teams take the mantra of you’re-on-our-side-or-you’re-not to cult-like levels. When Rangers higher-ups went out of their way to find Snow and apologize for Avery’s behavior, you realized how seriously out-of-control he must have been for a while."
- Chris Botta, Point Blank
Read the full article at Botta's blog, NYI Point Blank. It's a good read and sheds light on what's actually going on in Avery's head.
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ReplyDeleteIt's fixed now. That's the second time I've done that in two days... Sorry
ReplyDeleteI have had a few teammates like this guy.
ReplyDeleteI initially wondered why a suspension for remarks that were boorish and crude, but didn'tstrike me as suspension worthy. I see now it was a 'straw that broke' kind of thing.
I hope he gets the mental help he needs.
The guy helped the Rangers win, I don't care if Shanny thought he was the antichrist. Plus, Avery realized who he had to cater to - not to his critics but to the fans. When he was hurt he came up and hung out in the blue seats - when was the last time an athlete did that? When Scott Gomez took his vacation earlier this season and now that Wade Redden is taking some time to himself, we haven't seen hide nor hair of either. I'll take Avery any day.
ReplyDeleteAnd if Avery decided to pour beer on one of those fans in the blue seats, simply becase he looked at him wrong, what would you say then?
ReplyDeleteAvery is a loose canon. And considering that his team mates, his coaches, his employer and many of the women he's been with don't have any kind things to say about him.... I'm thinking.. the man has a screw loose.
Scotty Hockey - Did you play the game yourself? Didn't you have some teammates through the years like this guy? All totalled up, they did not help the team win in the long run (they inevitably caused more losses than win - but the losses they caused were not as obvious as the occasions where one of their antics happened not to backfire).
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