LGBTQ+ Outlet Officially Gives Gary Bettman a Hilarious Award
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has been the winner of many awards since taking over the reigns of the NHL 25 years ago. None of them has been like this, though.
NHL Commissioner Received Hilarious Award from LGBTQ+ Organization
With 2023 quickly coming to an end, Outsports, which covers LGBT issues and personalities in amateur and professional sports, has named Gary Bettman its 2023 A**Hole of the Year.
"The only way a future A**hole of the Year could more clearly lap the field would be if they somehow figured out a way to distill all of the a**holery encompassed by FIFA into one person and do it all year long, undermining over a decade of hard work by a lot of people aiming to build inclusion in their sport."
"Just one year later, Bettman has topped FIFA. In terms of sheer a**holedom, the only thing separating these two absolute legends is that Bettman has yet to sell the NHL's soul to anti-LGBTQ nations like Qatar."
"Just one year later, Bettman has topped FIFA. In terms of sheer a**holedom, the only thing separating these two absolute legends is that Bettman has yet to sell the NHL's soul to anti-LGBTQ nations like Qatar."
Outsports pointed specifically to the Ivan Provorov incident and the NHL's response as a major factor in Bettman winning its "award."
"Things began to unravel in January when then-Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to wear a rainbow warm-up with the rest of his teammates during Pride Night."
"In the wake of one player telling an entire community of fans that their humanity wasn't worth acknowledging for just 20 minutes, the NHL responded by issuing a statement saying 'we continue to encourage [players'] voices on social and cultural issues.'"
"In the wake of one player telling an entire community of fans that their humanity wasn't worth acknowledging for just 20 minutes, the NHL responded by issuing a statement saying 'we continue to encourage [players'] voices on social and cultural issues.'"
Organization Gives Gary Bettman the A**hole of the Year Award
Rather than tackle issues on a case-by-case basis, the NHL's attempt to stop it from getting shamed was to ban jerseys, tape, and anything else supporting any cause during warm-ups and games. Some players chose to put Pride tape on their sticks anyway. No one was punished for it. In the meantime, the league looked incredibly weak in its response.
| POLL | ||
DÉCEMBRE 19 | 90 ANSWERS LGBTQ+ Outlet Officially Gives Gary Bettman a Hilarious Award Does Bettman deserve this award? | ||
| 100 percent | 38 | 42.2 % |
| No | 40 | 44.4 % |
| Not sure | 12 | 13.3 % |
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