The Sanctity of Marriage On Ice: Uptown Hockey vs. Sean Avery

*•*Updated [5:17pm] *•*:

There is a big hub-ub in the Hockey Sports Agent world right now and it doesn't have anything to do with the Stanley Cup. In fact, it revolves around the Sanctity of Marriage. Hockey is known for its tough on-the-ice but gentlemen off-the-ice heroes. The sport is often considered to have the least controversial stars of the 4 Major Sports. So this controversy could prove to be a watershed event, in terms of off-the-ice events.

This all started about a week ago when Sean Avery, who might be one of the few players known to have a checkered past, came out in support of "Gay Marriage." Avery made a video, similar to the one Barbara Bush (Daughter of President George W. Bush) made a while back, for the Human Rights Campaign. It was somewhat surprising to see this video come out, mostly because he is the first athlete in New York to do so. As the NY Times puts it:

He recently recorded a video, becoming one of only a few active athletes in American team sports to voice support for gay rights, and is believed to be the first in New York to publicly advocate for same-sex marriage. No active male player in a major American team sport has declared his homosexuality, and homosexual slurs remain in use to insult opponents and officials.

Now, a lot of the time since this came out has been spent discussing the use of Avery in the video. Now, I don't think this is the place to personally attack anyone in this situation, but Avery's record has been the target of some of the joking about using him. The fact that he has been very outspoken off the ice, and has had his share of controversial statements, even including those that are somewhat offensive towards others. I think a lot of this was overblown, but for those in the hockey world, he is often the last person one would consider for their spokesperson. So it was interesting to see him be turned into an insta-celeb for Gay Rights, but I guess there is no fear of a double-standard.

Todd Reynolds

The controversy really started yesterday when an agent, Todd Reynolds  of Uptown Sports, tweeted about the whole thing. His first tweet was fairly straight-forward and simply stated his personal belief that Avery and the HRC cause was not something he agreed with. He did this from the Uptown Sports Twitter account, and instantly people seized the opportunity to attack Reynolds and Uptown. A few hours later, he added (notice he didn't delete) two clarifying tweets. Things haven't eased up and many folks are attacking him for being hateful, bigoted, stupid, a bad business person, etc... The controversy has hit the pages of all sorts of sports sites, and will probably be hitting more as this gains more traction.

Here are his tweets:

The pro-gay-marriage crowd is playing out their usual role and attacking Reynolds. They are applying a double-standard and calling him a bigot and hateful. They say he is intolerant, all this while they themselves are doing exactly what they accuse of Reynolds of. It is ironic and intellectually dishonest. The truly interesting thing is seeing all the Tweets, Comments, and support for Avery. I don't want to attack him, but I do find it ironic that "tolerance" and "respect" are being attributed to Avery, when a simple Google search might make people think differently about such glowing praise for him. Now don't get me wrong, we all make mistakes, but the irony and double-standards here are almost laughable. 

Now, I would be preaching to the choir if I spent my time in this post to explain the "Gay Marriage" debate. I am sure my readers are squarely in support of Reynolds position on that matter. What is interesting though is that he took what is more than likely a multi-million dollar company, and made a personal declaration of belief and threw it squarely into the realm of the business. Many are calling this stupid, but I think if it was done with deliberation and intentionality I would call it courage and conviction. (It sounds like it was done due to convictions! See Below).  Knowing that it came almost a week after the Avery video hit, I would hope that someone in his position knew precisely what he was doing, and if since that is the case I applaud him. In fact, I would love to work for a place that is that committed to its philosophy and conviction of belief. As an attorney, I know it is difficult to hold certain beliefs, especially ones concerning virtues or faith, and at the same time grow your business. The #1 concern in most businesses is not belief but instead, bottom line. There is a question about whether it places other clients in a tough position, but there is freedom on their part to decide to stay or go, I am sure Uptown wouldn't force them to stay on board if they didn't want to.

What is perplexing in this whole situation is that Uptown and Reynolds are being attacked for this as a bad business judgment. Look, I expect attacks against a person coming out against a cause like "Gay Marriage." It's as if folks think Reynolds had no idea that this would be controversial and think he is just some bigoted idiot spouting off nonsense on the company Twitter account. They lack the intellectual honesty and clarity to see that this is a person, and a business, standing up for their virtues and principles. Don't we want businesses and business owners who are ethical? Even if we don't agree with them, so what? We don't have to use them, sign with them, etc... At least we know where he stands, and at least money isn't his master. 

As a young attorney, and as someone who once wanted to be a sports agent, I looked away from that area of practice because I saw that the only way to survive was to compromise values and represent players you might have issues with. Money and success had to rule your decisions. Jerry Maguire was a fairy tale. I knew a couple of NHL agents, big ones in fact, and they were fortunate and did it old school. They represented players they believed in - both on and off the ice. I didn't think that agencies like that existed anymore, but maybe I was wrong. It is too bad that Uptown is a Canadian company, otherwise I would send my resume in to them. 

Maybe you could send Mr. Reynolds an email and let him know we support his conviction, we support his courage, and we are praying for him.

•*•UPDATE•*•:

NBC Sports has statements from both Don Reynolds (Todd's father and President of Uptown), and Todd regarding the controversy:

Don Reynolds in the National Post:

It’s sad. I mean, my personal position is that I do not support gay marriage, and I think it’s wrong, as well. It’s not politically correct to, I guess, give your opinion about a thing like that. It’s politically correct on the other side, for people to say, ‘sure, I support gay marriage.’ But the majority, I think, of Canadians would say that they don’t agree with gay marriage – that man and woman were created to be married, not man and man or man and horse, you know?”

Now I think the 'man and horse' comment is over-the-top, but there are those that think "Gay Marriage" is a slippery slope. I don't think it is a concern that Bestiality will come out of it, so a statement like this will hurt their otherwise strong position. This is what a lot of folks are keying on now, of course taking the issue to the weakest point - again intellectual dishonesty and double standards rule the day.

Todd Reynolds on TSN Radio:

“But I’m a little disappointment in some of the response. If you oppose a viewpoint, you’re immediately targeted by some people as a hater, a bigot, intolerant, homophobic and many other terms. That’s obviously not the case for people who know me… I don’t hate anyone, and I’m certainly not a bigot, but I believe in marriage between one man and one woman. It’s a social debate that’s raged on for quite some time. In Canada and the U.S. it’s a hot-button topic right now. I guess maybe it was how I was raised. I believe in voicing your opinion and not being part of the silent majority."

Looks like Todd Reynolds is sticking by his guns, which is laudable in this day and age, especially when money is on the line. It will be interesting to see what NHL "names", if any, come out publicly one way or another on this issue. We will stay up to date on this issue.


•••UPDATE 2••• (3:40p ET):


ESPN and Pewsitter have stories linking to this issue. I guess this is pretty MAINSTREAM now. I found out about it last night on a tweet.

•••UPDATE 3••• (5:17p ET):
Found this quote on CBCSports.ca:

Could Reynolds represent a player who took Avery's stand? "If this was their personal opinion, yes," Todd said. "But if something was being done in a public position to promote or lobby legislation to change laws ... we would have to sit down and discuss if we should sever our relationship."

This really is the clearest statement of where he stands. This is an honorable position, and I think this is a good way to go about it. This is a belief, a conviction, and a clear standard. Good for him!

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