Fighting has its place in hockey

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September 16, 2013

There is a popular expression that goes, “I was at a fight and a hockey game broke out.” This is a casual observer’s idea of hockey, and underscores one of the most controversial issues in the National Hockey League: fighting.

The NHL is the only professional North American sports league (with the exception of mixed martial arts’ Ultimate Fighting Championship) where fighting is legal and sometimes even encouraged. Traditionalists swear by its spot in the game, but this once-popular opinion is dwindling because of the injuries, namely concussions, fighting often brings. But despite its drawbacks, fighting must remain in the National Hockey League (NHL) in order for the league to prosper, and ironically, for the protection of its players.

In order for the league to grow, and as Canadian hockey fans would hate to admit, the NHL needs the American teams to prosper financially, and fighting brings interest to the sport in non-traditional markets because of its entertainment value.

Whenever a fight breaks out, fans rush to their feet, caught up in the unbridled spectacle of adrenaline and testosterone that only hockey provides. Fights are the most watched highlights, as one hockey fight video on YouTube has 400,000 views while Evgeni Malkin’s goal-of-the-year has 200,000. Fighting drums up excitement and interest the NHL needs, especially if it is to compete with other sports in America.

Even beyond its entertainment value, fighting has an almost paradoxical importance: it is integral to the safety of the players because it quells dirty hits. For example, when Wayne Gretzky played for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s, his linemates were skilled forward Jari Kurri and enforcer Esa Tikkanen — Tikkanen’s job was to protect Gretzky and Kurri by way of his fists.

Opposing players wouldn’t dare take a run at either Gretzky or Kurri because they would have to answer to Tikkanen, who is recognized as one of the game’s best agitators. Protection is not just for superstars either, it is for the entire team; Tikkanen would fight any opponent who dared go after a teammate.

The role of the “goon” still exists in today’s NHL, though it is diminishing. It is not a coincidence that with fewer fighters being employed, the number of dirty, blindside hits has risen. There is no Esa Tikkanen to stop perennial rat Matt Cooke from elbowing the head of an unsuspecting opponent. Hockey needs fighters to keep players like Cooke in check, because the oft-inconsistent discipline of Brendan Shanahan (the NHL’s Director of Player Safety) is not doing its job.

The case against fighting is that it is dirty and has a high probability of injury, and therefore should be removed from the game; however fighting is not hockey’s dirtiest or most dangerous play. The most dangerous play in hockey is the blindside hit, where one player throws his body at an unsuspecting victim, who has little chance of defending himself — and is almost always seriously hurt.

Fighting, however, has two willing combatants, both with ample opportunity at self-defense and, often, respect for his opponent: one will often see the two fighters removing their helmets to constitute a level playing field. There is no respect in the blindside hit.

Fighting has its place in hockey: to entertain and defend. Without fighting, the NHL could see less interest in American markets and a rise in blindside hits to the head, either of which could be a bigger blow to the game than any punch thrown. Therefore, fighting is not leaving hockey anytime soon.

5 Gift Ideas for SFU’s 50th Anniversary

By

EIC

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September 16, 2013

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SFU kicked off its celebration for the school’s 50th anniversary last week and although it may have been hinting at wanting $250,000,000, as we all know, we rarely get what we really want. (I made similar hints for my birthday in March and only ended up getting a new sports jacket). But just what do you get for the school that has it all? Well, here are a few ideas that SFU students could get their school for the big 5-0. I know it’s early, but when it comes to getting your university an anniversary gift, you can never start thinking about it too soon.

1. An Engagement Ring

It might be its 50th anniversary but for a lot of students their relationship with SFU is just beginning and what could be a better way to show real commitment than a ring that embodies the school’s favorite buzzword. An engagement ring for SFU is the perfect way to say “I’m willing and ready to spend the rest of my life having you call me asking for money.”

2. Gold-Coating for Terry Fox Statue

For those looking to stay traditional for the “golden anniversary,” there is no better present than a shiny new gold coating for our friend Terry in the AQ. Not only would you be sprucing up SFU’s campus making it the envy of all its friends but you’d also be contributing to Terry’s dream of a golden statue of himself that originally fueled his Marathon of Hope.

3. A 1965 Ford Mustang Convertible

If my predictions about the date of the apocalypse are indeed correct (third time’s the charm) than in 2015 SFU will probably be going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. Hopefully it won’t last too long but can’t you just see SFU, for a couple years, cruising down the mountain in one of these babies reliving the glory days?

4. A SUB Building

Sometimes you buy a gift for someone else that’s actually just for yourself. That’s what this is. Sure, SFU might prefer to get something cool, like a bumper pool table, but what could make it more happy than seeing you happy? (Answer: a bumper pool table).

5. A Campus in the Bahamas

SFU is a hardworking university and it deserves a place to relax. A campus in the Bahamas is a great way to show SFU how much you care about it. While this gift might not seem totally selfless, unless you are able to only sign up for classes at this campus, your commute alone will let SFU know how much you love it.

Decriminalizing marijuana makes perfect sense

By

Peak Web

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September 16, 2013

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I have a confession to make. Like Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, and Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, I have smoked marijuana. If you have not, it’s very likely that you’ve came across the sweet and skunky smell while walking down Hastings, up Granville around Gastown, or through Kitsilano.

You have smelt the “Mary Jane” so much that you might find it hard to believe it’s actually illegal in British Columbia. Sensible BC aims to change this, and if you are like me and have dabbled in the occasional dube, it’s a campaign worthy of your support.

A 2012 Angus Reid survey found that 60 per cent of people in BC wanted marijuana to be legalized, and it’s likely that those people will come out to the polls and support its decriminalization. According to Sensible BC, our province recorded over 19,000 marijuana possession incidents in 2010 alone.

It needs to collect signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in every BC electoral district.

In a National Post article from August 20 of this year, Chief Constable Jim Chu of the Vancouver Police Department said, “when confronted with simple possession of cannabis, [a police officer’s choice] is either to turn a blind eye or lay charges.’’

He is well aware that a ‘’simple’’ possession charge will result in a criminal record, and that future travel, employment, and citizenship opportunities for those individuals involved will be met with barriers. In order to address the issue, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police met last month and decided the best way to handle these simple incidents is to fine marijuana users.

Instead of wasting time, money, and resources on charges the police already want to do away with, the campaign has suggested writing a new law called the Sensible Policing Act. Under the new law, possession of cannabis would become decriminalized in our province. What this means is that our police can invest more time putting real criminals behind bars, making our province a safer place as a result.

Our province recorded over 19,000 marijuana possession incidents in 2010 alone.

Recently, our friendly Washington neighbours decided to legalize the whacky tabbacy, put their police to better use, and cash in on the dispensaries that will be sure to generate economic opportunities. It’s hard to say, but I think the Americans got this one right, and it’s due time for BC to take a small step in a similar direction — which is exactly what the new campaign by Sensible BC is doing.

What does it take for something like this to happen? It is no easy task, I can assure you. The Sensible BC Campaign started last week. In a 90 day period, it needs to collect signatures from 10 per cent of the registered voters in every single one of BC’s 85 electoral districts. That’s about 400,000 signatures. If you compare this campaign to the anti-HST campaign, it’s easy to see how challenging a motion like this truly is.

If you are interested and want to help with the campaign, you can visit www.sensiblebc.ca to find a canvaser in your elector district to register your support. If you are really enthusiastic you can even sign up to be a canvasser yourself. Because at the end of the day, putting our province’s resources where they are needed the most is a change I think we would all like to see.

“M” is for Misogyny

By

EIC

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September 16, 2013

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After hearing the chant used by the students of the Sauder School of Business at the UBC FROSH week, my first reaction was, naturally, of disgust and horror. However, I decided to look into the matter and see why something like this would happen in the first place.

Let me just start by saying that many online articles reported the fact that this chant has been used by students throughout the past 20 years. Seriously, UBC? It speaks volumes about the first impressions that are being given to students that something as atrocious as this chant has been going on for such a long time, propagating rape culture and promoting the worst sort of misogyny.

It may be a chant today, but it could be something as serious as sexual assault tomorrow.

It takes a specific kind of a mindset and a certain kind of an environment to give birth to something as hateful as this. I took the liberty of going through many online comments and several commenters said they couldn’t be bothered about something as “small” as this. Hey, it was just the “energy” there. It was just a bunch of students saying something silly at night — why take it seriously?

I’ll tell you why. It may be a chant today, but it could be something as serious as a sexual assault tomorrow that you’ll be asking me to just “get over.” We need to put a stop to this poisonous way of thinking before it results in real world consequences. “Wild” and “out of control” students need to realize that they can be held accountable for their behaviour. This kind of speech is intolerable in a healthy and developing environment.

According to the Vancouver Sun, Lucia Lorenzi, a PhD student at UBC, was immensely upset about the lyrics of the chants. As someone who had gone through the painful and unimaginable experience of being sexually assaulted in her teenage years, what made her even angrier was the fact that the students who used this chant were instructed to keep it a secret. This kind of behaviour indicates that the students and the leaders both were aware of the fact that this kind of behaviour was wrong and could hurt someone, yet they chose to go ahead with it regardless.

The fact that there are people who have to beg others to take this matter seriously saddens me to the core. Rape is a terrible thing. The fact that there could be students out there on that campus who had gone through this kind of an experience scares me, because it is hard to imagine what they have gone through. Yes, you could say that this is about your freedom of speech, but it is a very dangerous statement that threatens “young girls” on campus — something not to be taken lightly.

Robert Helsley, the Dean of the Sauder School of Business released a much-awaited statement condemning the actions of the individuals involved, stating, “What is reported to have happened at FROSH this year is deeply upsetting and is completely inconsistent with the values of the school and UBC.” Also, two student leaders are said to have resigned after the offensive chant was shouted by the students.

Kudos to The Ubyssey (UBC’s student newspaper) for bringing light to this story and to the students who signed the petition against this chant. However, there were some who had the audacity to defend their school despite the offensive nature of the FROSH chant. Humanity has no bounds, and neither does compassion, which is why it doesn’t matter what school we go to, as long as we hold on to simple, basic human values.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time such behaviour from students has been revealed to the public. Yale University’s Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity several years ago chanted the pro-rape slogan, “No means yes! Yes means anal!” on campus and were banned from carrying out any activities on campus for the next five years. Something similar and equally disturbing happened at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, where students at FROSH came up with a chant that endorsed forced sexual encounters.

Jared Perry, President of the Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association, told CBC News, “These are great leaders. This was simply a moment with a lack of judgment.” Mr. Perry, firstly, I do not think I will ever be able to refer to someone like that as a leader. Yes, I agree that everyone makes mistakes, but it takes a special kind of cruelty and stupidity to say words like “no consent” or “underage” and not realize the kind of impact your words may have.

These are great leaders. This was simply a moment with a lack of judgement.”

– Jared Perry, President of the Saint Mary’s University of Student’s Association

There’s a reason why stuff like this keeps happening again and again, and we need to look into it. Okay, so you might not be in favour of stronger punishments, but there are so many other options on the table that can be explored.

For example, all these FROSH events can be monitored so that something as foolish and embarrassing as this doesn’t happen, something that could give the entire university a bad name. Rape sensitivity training is another solution, where students could be taught about the awful nature of rape culture and the horrible things that it promotes. There are solutions; we just need students who are willing to take this problem seriously enough to find the best ones.

Syrian social media expert credited with getting #Syria trending worldwide

By

EIC

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September 16, 2013

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DAMASCUS — Despite the ongoing conflict/war/uprising taking in place in their country, Syria has still managed to keep a firm grip on their social media presence, an accomplishment that is being credited to the Syrian government’s social media expert, Nazih Mukhtar El-Hashem.

El-Hashem, who was hired in March 2011 to help keep the country relevant has according to the country’s president, Bashar Al-Assad, done an amazing job and Assaad can’t believe how popular he’s been able to make their little country throughout these challenging times.

The demise of Toonie Tuesday

By

EIC

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September 16, 2013

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Burnaby campus’ Highland Pub has cancelled its signature Toonie Tuesday offer, a deal that allowed students to indulge in jalapeno poppers, burgers, fries, edamame beans, spring rolls, or queso sticks on Tuesday nights in return for their pocket change.

The cancellation of Toonie Tuesday was not announced; rather, students who came in for the deal last Tuesday were disappointed to hear that the offer no longer exists. The Highland’s online page, hosted on the SFSS website, is still advertising Toonie Tuesday.

John Flipse, the SFSS Food and Beverage Services manager, stated that the decision to cancel Toonie Tuesday was based primarily on health, not on cost. “To me it’s a health concern. One in three kids in Canada are overweight. I think we should make a bit of a change. I know they are probably gonna buy it anyway, but we don’t have to do that, we have better options for it. I know we can provide those at a good price range.”

When asked whether healthier menu alternatives have been put in place in response to these concerns, Flipse replied that they have not, but that he will be looking at implementing changes to the menu in the coming months. “We have to restructure our menu after September,” Flipse said. “Menu prices haven’t changed for a number of years, but the food costs have gone up considerably. But we would try to keep the changes to a minimum.”

Flipse stated that the decision to cancel Toonie Tuesday was based primarily on health, not on cost.

The Highland Pub, which is a branch of the SFSS Food and Beverage Services, had been consistently losing money for years before Flipse came into the manager position in the winter of 2012. Flipse joined SFSS Food and Beverage Services as a non-unionized, contract manager with 10 years of managing catering operations at UBC.

“The pub hasn’t been financially viable for many years and students are paying for that,” Flipse said on the subject of these losses. “I don’t feel like the students are paying too much on this. So we are looking towards reducing our loss probably to $150,000 a year.”

Flipse’s strategy for reducing the Highland Pub’s financial losses is focused around restructuring the pub’s hours of operation, based on an analysis of sales during different times of day over the previous few years.

“We were running certain services at certain times with very little sales and it cost us more to operate it,” Flipse said. “We would lose some sales in reducing such hours but our margin would go slightly higher.”

Flipse stated that through this method of reducing hours, the Highland was able to lose $70,000 less during the most recent summer semester than the previous year. “I’m hoping we can continue down throughout the year,” Flipse continued, “We can still provide some services at reduced hours.”

The Highland’s other big week-day draw, their 25-cent wing special on Wednesday nights, will most likely be kept even though it’s a “no-match, money-losing deal” according to Flipse. Just last year, Wednesday wing night was amended to require patrons to buy a drink along with their discounted wings.

If there is a special on Tuesday, Flipse says that it will no longer be at the two dollar price point since it doesn’t align with the pub’s sustainable strategy. “In five years the equipment is going to be replaced. If we break even on the sales, we still need to look at the need for replacing the equipment, so we need to look at it in a longer term”, said Flipse, “I’m thinking about how to rhyme three with Tuesday.”

When asked about why the The Highland’s UBC counterpart, The Pit, is able to provide more deals for their students, Flipse answered, “It is a more expensive school. As such the average income per client there is higher. Additionally, the wage they pay their staff is substantially lower. The average rates plus benefits for the employee here is about $20 per hour. The labour cost accounts for 60 percent of the overall cost.”

Flipse concluded: “I don’t want to make all our money from the students. That’s not the whole reason [for this change]. But we need to find the balance between providing service and being sustainable, and hopefully we can do it.”

SFU hosts Day of Reconciliation event

By

EIC

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September 16, 2013

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In recognition and support of the upcoming Reconciliation Week in Vancouver, SFU held its own Day of Reconciliation at the SFU Theatre on Thursday, September 12.

Reconciliation Week, held by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada from September 16 to 22, represents the on-going efforts to acknowledge and rectify the injustices committed against hundreds of thousands of First Nations children and families for over a hundred years by forcibly taking them to residential schools. The Commission aims to compile information and testimonies from residential school survivors.

The event’s organizer, SFSS At-Large Representative Clay J. Gray, commented, “It is an important educational piece but . . . there’s a larger piece that we are raising awareness of . . . almost every university is taking action.” Around BC, universities including UBC, Emily Carr, University of Fraser Valley and TRU are cancelling classes to allow students to attend TRC events. SFU Senate also passed a motion to allow SFU students to attend Reconciliation events during this week without academic consequences.

“Be mindful of the gifts you bring . . . We need all of them to build the future.”

Karen Joseph
director of Reconciliation Canada

The event itself was opened by Margaret George, Elder at SFU, who gave a short speech and a prayer. She was followed by Klahanie Rorick, administrative assistant in the Office for Aboriginal Peoples, who sang a traditional song, and SFU President Andrew Petter, who spoke to the assembly.

“We are proud to support the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” said Petter. “We need to honour Aboriginal culture.” Petter was also named captain of SFU’s Walk for Reconciliation team.

The keynote speaker was Karen Joseph, Director of Reconciliation Canada and daughter of Chief Dr. Robert Joseph. Joseph’s speech frequently drew on personal experiences and anecdotes as she gave a brief history of residential schools and their practices. Joseph emphasized the importance of a reconciliatory attitude and the need to “be mindful of the gifts you bring . . . We need all of them to build the future.”

Fielding questions from the audience, Joseph thanked the crowd, praising its interest and diversity as the seeds of reconciliation and healing. She also made a surprise announcement that Dr. Bernice King, daughter of civil rights legend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will be the keynote speaker at the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Walk for Reconciliation.

“The sequel to this film is the dialogue that we’ve created by having shared this with you.”

Kyle Irving
We Were Children film producer

Once Joseph left the stage, a video titled Language of Reconciliation was shown before five panelists took to the stage to share their experiences as direct and indirect victims of residential schools. The panelists included Cindy Tom-Lindley, Executive Director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, Vera Jones, a member of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, Michelle Quock, an SFU student and William G. Lindsay, Director of the SFU Office for Aboriginal Peoples.

The final presentation was the documentary, We Were Children, a re-telling of the stories of Glen Anaquod and Lyna Hart, two victims of the residential school system. Although heart wrenching for many of the spectators, the film and the event as a whole were meant to be informative and bring to light the pain and suffering caused by this system. The support shown was greatly appreciated, as noted by Kyle Irving, producer of the documentary.

“To me the sequel to this film is the dialogue that we’ve created by having shared this with you,” said Irving.

University Briefs

By

EIC

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September 16, 2013

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Rape-promoting chant lands UBC Sauder frosh in hot water

Just a week after St. Mary’s University in Halifax found themselves in the middle of a nationwide controversy after a rape-condoning frosh chant found its way onto Instagram, a Twitter outing is forcing UBC’s Sauder School of Business to face similar headlines. The UBC version of the chant allegedly goes: “Y-O-U-N-G at UBC we like ‘em young, Y is for your sister, O is for oh so tight, U is for under age, N is for no consent, G is for go to jail.”

According to Commerce Undergraduate Society’s co-chair Jaqueline Chen, the chant has been well-known amongst frosh leaders for years, these leaders being told that, if the chant were to occur, it must “stay in the group.” UBC is currently conducting an investigation, which has already resulted in the resignation of two UBC student leaders. Sauder has also withdrawn their support of any frosh activity that is related to the Commerce Undergraduate Society.

With files from The Ubyssey

Kwantlen’s President’s office faces more accusations of harassment

More allegations of harassment have come out of the President’s office of Kwantlen University, with another former colleague filing a notice of civil claim with the BC Supreme Court against the university.

Laura Legg, the woman who filed the most recent claim, asserts that 2011 was the year when John McKendry’s “behaviour became erratic, violent, and intimidating.” Much of this behaviour was allegedly directed towards his executive assistant, Sandra Kuzyk, who was the first to take legal action against Kwantlen University, and whom Legg will also testify for.

Legg claims that after McKendry left in August 2012, current University President Alan Davis would continually ask about what she “would testify in connection to Kuzyk’s accusations,” resulting in Legg leaving the university. The school has yet to respond to the claim.

With files from The Province

Faculty unrest strikes University of Windsor

As of midnight on Sunday Sept. 8, approximately 300 faculty members of CUPE at the University of Windsor are ofﬁcially on strike. Discussions between workers and the administration ceased Sunday night and picketing ensued. The union will be requesting further meetings but with the aid of a mediator.

The workers have been without a contract since April, with the main issues at hand being job security and the pay-equity system. As a result, various 50th anniversary celebration events have been cancelled. The university maintains that classes are not affected by the strike, though some have been cancelled due to faculty members’ unwillingness to cross the picket line.

With files from CBC News

University of Ottawa opts for spirituality over spirits

Frosh at the University of Ottawa is looking a little different than its counterparts around the country. Instead of doing a traditional pub crawl, 70 or so students joined in on a school organized church crawl.

The aim of this creative new frosh event was to provide students with an alternative to drunken escapades. This scavenger hunt-like activity entailed walking around the neighbourhood getting to know local churches, helping students to explore their faith as well as their community.

With files from Ottawa Citizen

Point / Counterpoint: Student Accountability

By

EIC

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September 16, 2013

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POINT: This isn’t high school anymore, you’ve got to take some accountability

by Dr. Ian McLean, SFU Professor

Listen up, this isn’t playtime anymore okay? You’ve got to start being responsible for your own education and buckle down. Now, I haven’t been to a high school in a long time and my memory may be a little fuzzy but I can tell you that it is completely different than university.

As a university professor, I’m not going to hold your hand. You’re going to have to do your own work. We’re not just going to spoon-feed you answers, or let you hand in an assignment five months late without any consequences and we are certainly not going to pay you $100 every time you bring an apple to class! Do you understand?

Professors here are not going to be your friends like teachers were in high school! Here, you don’t go bowling with your instructors on weekends and call them cap’m, and university classrooms aren’t always going to be filled with balloons and pudding! Okay? This isn’t high school, you need to grow up and face reality!

COUNTER: Oh shit, I’ve been in the wrong place for the past two weeks!

by Jeremy, Student

Sorry, so this isn’t Burnaby Mountain Secondary? Dammit, I’m in the wrong place.Thanks for helping me out.

Oh god, it’s been two weeks, I’m going to be so behind! How could I not have realized this wasn’t a high school earlier.

No wonder everything you were trying to teach seemed like it was about two to three years too advanced for me. I’m sorry for complaining to you about not being clear enough on due dates or reading assignments.

You know, now that I think about it, I thought it was kind of weird when I didn’t see any pudding or balloons anywhere . . . and then that look you gave me when I called you ‘cap’m’ and asked if you wanted to go bowling, it makes sense now. Sorry, for wasting your time.

False idols: Putting athletes on a pedestal for the wrong reasons

By

EIC

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September 16, 2013

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It has become an enduring image: Ray Lewis, two-time Super Bowl Champion, legendary middle linebacker and motivator extraordinaire, driving his troops in a variety of colourful (and family friendly) ways with eyes popped, veins bulging and sweat glistening under lights. His love affair with the public eye has become a crutch for NFL Films.

After his Baltimore Ravens flipped the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game last year, Lewis wobbled out like a man suffering from heatstroke before collapsing to the turf at Gillette Stadium and kissing the grass as he was besieged by a phalanx of cameras. Away from the field, a far softer spoken Lewis took center stage in an endless series of interviews, robotically repeating vague and inconsistent platitudes about family, football and faith.

It’s a serious about-face for Lewis who, in 2000, was charged with murdering two men after a Super Bowl Party. The charges were not substantiated, and Lewis’ agreement to testify against the co-accused helped him escape legal blowback and NFL discipline. Irrespective of how you feel about the case’s outcome, it would be crass to hold the charges against Lewis for the rest of his life. But the rush to lionize him as an ambassador of the game given an over-the-top public persona that became increasingly (and obnoxiously) manufactured over time is bizarre.

Football has become an essential piece of Americana. In a piece for Slate, Jack Hamilton described the game as America’s “secular religion,” where a celebrity-crazy populace elevates its superstars to messianic proportions. Robert Griffin III, the second year quarterback of the Washington Redskins, has been hailed as a franchise savior after a single (albeit electric) season; so much so that fans located his wedding registry and showered the young multi-millionaire with gifts.

The fascination with celebrity is omnipresent, as is the perverse and counter obsession with deconstruction of celebrities when they fall. This zero-sum approach, ignoring all-too-human inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies, breeds a very specific type of character. Those who thrive learn to sling the kind of vanilla that we love to lap up.

Thus Lewis has always fascinated me. He designed a cult of personality that transcended his actual day job even as he declined. Lewis was one of the Ravens’ weakest defenders last year, commanding a starting slot on reputation and an erstwhile lack of options on the inside. Trumpeted as the team’s spiritual and emotional leader by his coaches and the media (universally seduced by his exaggerated modesty and in-game antics), he finally began to grate heavily as the Ravens thundered through the playoffs last season.

Lewis then made the widely expected jump to the media, and immediately flew out of the gate with wild conspiracies about the now infamous blackout that changed the tenor of the Super Bowl. Most former players would be scoffed at by caustic and jaded sportscasters. But Lewis still has us eating out of his hands.

We maintain an odd relationship with team sports. “Greatness” (an entirely loaded and subjective term) is driven by individuals sacrificing for the team, yet we hyper-focus on individuals at the expense of the team (see: Tim Tebow’s Broncos). This antiquated deference to personality cults filters sports-viewing through polarized lenses, confusing shallow narcissism with gravitas and dismissing individuality as distracting egotism (see: Chris Kluwe’s final year in Minnesota).

Saddling young athletes with immense social obligations is unfair. Leaving our expectations of character at the door sheds baggage; why not allow the players to be themselves, instead of automatons coached in delivering the company line?

A love of sports should be measured by the pure joy of athletic skill and intellectual strategy, instead of transient deference. While Lewis has indubitably earned a bust in the NFL Hall of Fame, it is the TV personality that he adopted — sobbing uncontrollably during national anthems, for one — that will define his legacy. That’s a shame, because it detracts from the fact that he was a damn good football player.

It needs to collect signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in every BC electoral district.

Our province recorded over 19,000 marijuana possession incidents in 2010 alone.

It may be a chant today, but it could be something as serious as sexual assault tomorrow.

These are great leaders. This was simply a moment with a lack of judgement.”

– Jared Perry, President of the Saint Mary’s University of Student’s Association

Flipse stated that the decision to cancel Toonie Tuesday was based primarily on health, not on cost.

“Be mindful of the gifts you bring . . . We need all of them to build the future.”

Karen Joseph director of Reconciliation Canada

“The sequel to this film is the dialogue that we’ve created by having shared this with you.”

Kyle Irving We Were Children film producer

Rape-promoting chant lands UBC Sauder frosh in hot water

Kwantlen’s President’s office faces more accusations of harassment

Faculty unrest strikes University of Windsor

University of Ottawa opts for spirituality over spirits

Karen Joseph
director of Reconciliation Canada

Kyle Irving
We Were Children film producer