Ivan Provorov and Tony Dungy committed the unpardonable sin this week, a pair of sports figures who refused to bow to the leftist political/media monolith. Now they reap the whirlwind of outrageous criticism.
Provorov, a white defenseman on the Philadelphia Flyers, refused to participate in the team’s pregame virtue signalling to the gay community. Specifically, Provorov refused to do the pregame skate with Gay pride-themed costuming, even rainbow stick tape.
Provorov cited the inconsistency of it all with his Russian Orthodox Christian faith. Provorov’s coach, John Tortorella, had no problem with the stance.
Truth be told, Tortorella probably is in the majority of the population. Sales of Provorov’s jersey skyrocketed after this. But the tyrannical minority in the lamestream media and social media, were aghast. HOW DARE HE?
The Woke crowd, and those who go along out of fear of facing their wrath, accused Provorov of hiding behind his faith, or failing to be a team guy in celebrating this greatest cause on the face of the Earth.
The NHL, which has turned into something of a Woke coffee klatsch (iced coffee, of course), has not announced any specific penalty.
The outrage over Provorov is ridiculous. What if the Flyers decided to have a Second Amendment night, with a pregame skate in attire sporting gun logos and miniature examples of our Constitution?
You think a player opting to skip that would be criticized. More likely, he’d be celebrated by our leftist thought leaders.
Yet both the gay and gun examples, at their base, are supporting constitutionally and legally mandated freedoms.
Were these Provorov critics incensed any time a player in any sport decided to kneel to protest during our National Anthem, or simply to remain in the locker room for that pregame display of Patriotism?
Provorov is to be respected for being true to his religion. If that offends you, sit in the corner and suck a thumb.
I never have had any personal contact with Provorov, but I did deal with Dungy when he played and coached for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dungy, at his base, is a gentle, soft-spoken, thoughtful person. He was and is just a decent guy who probably leans toward the liberal side of the spectrum, at least in the traditional sense of liberalism being outspoken on the rights of others, not just those who agree with you.
Dungy’s mistake was to announce he would be participating in Friday’s March For Life in Washington, D.C.
For Dungy’s effort, someone writing for The Nation, a publication somewhere on the left of Chairman Mao, referred to Dungy’s “right wing extremism.”
The writer also managed to pillory Dungy for allegedly being an “anti-gay bigot.”
Because Dungy, who happens to be black, works for NBC as a studio panel member and sometimes announcer, the screed in The Nation lamented his having such a widely watched platform.
It’s not like Dungy tries to inflict his personal beliefs on the viewers, unlike the NFL which, for example, has virtue signaling messages on helmets and the borders of the playing field, where they are captured by cameras and relayed to viewership maybe a thousand times or more per broadcast.
Dungy’s speech Friday linked the reality of a nation praying for the health of Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin after his life-threatening episode during a game, while virtually ignoring the multitude of aborted lives that take place daily in this country.
In these times of ridiculously hyperbolic and incendiary commentary from keyboard warriors, Provorov could have taken the easy road and just put on the gay apparel. Dungy could have just stayed home and kept his thoughts to himself.
That neither was cowed by the mob and took the easy way out speaks well for both men.
Sam Ross Jr's site 