In the sports world stats are hard to ignore, unless your actions outside of the game are habitually negative – then those stats mean absolutely nothing. Apparently, to the front office of the Carolina Hurricanes numbers are the only thing that matters.
As free agency opened up, rumors began to circulate around the hockey world that the Hurricanes were interested in signing troubled blue liner Tony DeAngelo – a guy who is not the media darling and didn’t fit the mold of the family-friendly promoted franchise. As it turned out, those rumors were true as Carolina agreed to a one-year deal worth $1 million dollars.
After fans filled social media with messages and tweets of disapproval, GM Don Waddell did his version of “calming the storm,” explaining the move. “We did our research on who this person is, beyond what the perception of him is. There’s no doubt that he has made mistakes,” Waddell said. “We acknowledged that and, more importantly, he recognizes that he’s made mistakes and he knows he’s got to continue to work and grow as a person.”
Was that explanation enough? Many said, no. Of course, there are fans who are ok with the move citing “forgive and forget,” but some fans have gone far enough to look into cancelling their season tickets.
DeAngelo’s rap sheet goes from the use of racial slurs, to disrespect towards officials and even physical altercations with teammates – which is not rare, but was enough to have his previous team say enough was enough and send him away for the rest of the early season.
I wasn’t happy with the team’s recent decisions, but I was able to finally get over them and see them as hockey moves. However, as a minority hockey fan, who the Canes state the game is for all, is associating your organization with someone of this nature the best move?
I’m all for second and even third chances…but when is enough enough?