The New York Rangers may have beat the Flyers 3-2 in a shootout, but an ignorant fan made some disgusting comments during the game that need to be addressed.
By Chris Wengert
The New York Rangers beat the Flyers in a shootout today by a score of 3-2.
We should be talking about Mats Zuccarello’s great shootout goal and Henrik Lundqvist’s heroic saves. But today hockey and sports are going to take a backseat.
There are times when real world topics and sports collide. Unfortunately these subjects are often the result of a tragedy or loss.
But today New York Rangers fans witnessed a different type of tragedy.
WARNING: The pictures you are about to see have disturbing content.
At 10:33 of the third period, Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds scored a great goal on the power play.
The usual banter on twitter began with Rangers fans spilling their thoughts on the goal. 99.9% of these comments were very innocent and appropriate.
But one ignorant and disgusting person found his 15 minutes of fame for this comment:
For those readers that are not hockey fans, Wayne Simmonds is an African-American hockey player, something that is not all that common in the NHL.
Simmonds influence goes way beyond the Philadelphia Flyers, as he is paving the way for black athletes on the hockey rink.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Simmonds has dealt with this type of ignorance:
This incident happened back in 2011 when the Flyers were playing the Detroit Red Wings. When Simmonds was skating during a shootout attempt a fan threw a banana at him.
To say that the incident was unfortunate would be an amazing understatement.
Juan Cena was not done with that one comment though, because after he was questioned about the statement he had this to say:
A joke? He thought he was telling a joke? That word is a horrible, HORRIBLE word.
Let me be clear. I am very aware of this specific societal issue and I personally have no idea the what it feels like to be subjected to such degrading and racist comments.
There is nothing about that word or it’s history that is a joke. NOTHING. That word is rooted in unfathomable hate and should never be a punch line.
New York Rangers fans wear their jerseys with pride. We are a crazy and irrational bunch that think our team can win the Stanley Cup every year.
We laugh, cry, and scream together because we love our team.
But today we need to come together for a different reason. New York Rangers fans cannot allow this type of hate to take place.
Something we should never ever tolerate is hatred towards humanity. And whether Juan Cena realizes it or not that is just what this statement is: pure hate.
Call Simmonds a bum, goon, clown, ugly, or whatever snarky word you prefer.
But the minute someone crosses the line like Juan Cena did today, we all have a responsibility to stop the hate.
Juan Cena, you are not a hockey fan, you are not a New York Rangers fan, you are not a person.
You are a monster, and I’m embarrassed to be wearing the same New York Rangers sweater as you today.
