Please, leave Wayne Gretzky alone

Some people are uncomfortable seeing so many North Americans supporting a Russian whose social media profile picture was long a photo of Vladimir Putin and him…

I’m not one of those uncomfortable people, but they are (very) numerous…

But where human contradiction reaches its peak (politico-sporting), it’s when we hear people calling for the cancellation of Wayne Gretzky.

Why cancel Gretzky? Because he was seen alongside Donald Trump (Gretzky’s son-in-law is close to the Trump family), Trump would like to make him the Governor (American) of Canada, he saluted American players during the 4 Nations Tournament, and he wasn’t wearing a Canadian jersey that evening.

I was talking about contradiction just a few seconds ago: if we allow ourselves to applaud and cheer for Ovechkin, how can we at the same time call for a boycott or the cancellation of everything related to Wayne Gretzky: his wine, the street named after him, etc.?

It makes no sense.

Some will say it’s because Gretzky hasn’t spoken out to distance himself from Trump…

But I’m still waiting for Ovechkin to speak out and distance himself from Putin.

You know what? This contradiction can be explained by another concept, that of the recency bias.

For a few weeks now, public enemy #1 in Canada hasn’t been Vladimir Putin, it’s been Donald Trump. People have already compartmentalized Putin in their long-term memory, while they have Trump right in front of them in their less distant past.

You know what? I hope we don’t cancel anyone. Neither Ovechkin nor Gretzky. And that, sportingly speaking, we’ll applaud both when we have the chance.

Note that I talked about the Ovechkin – Gretzky contradiction on the Stanley25 podcast, with Georges and Gonzo on BPM Sports and with Jeff Fillion earlier this week. Each conversation took a different angle. Note to interested parties.

Ah yes… Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals will host the Red Wings tonight in Washington. Will the main man get a little closer to Wayne Gretzky?

Extension

After repeatedly writing the word Poutine, I’m starting to get hungry.

I think I’ll order a pizza from Salvatoré.

Ah no, it’s true, I shouldn’t do that.

Or at least, I shouldn’t say it. I have to do it in secret so I don’t get judged.

Oh how fragile and emotional we are in Quebec! And how well we compartmentalize with our Apple phones, our Tesla or gas-powered cars, our orders from shady Chinese websites, our American sports, our American restaurants…

But we definitely shouldn’t order pizza from Salvatoré; the guy thinks we’re subsidizing culture too much.