mark6mauno / CC
It’s my Parting Shot for my two cents worth when it comes to an on-going, controversial story from off the ice…..
First thing, I am a proud person of Ukrainian descent. Four Lazaruk siblings emigrated to Canada in 1900, my great grandparents to Western Manitoba to be precise. My late father made two trips back to Ukraine the homeland, back in the 1990s while on the executive of the Canadian Ukrainian Committee.
What does that have to do with sports, you ask? I unequivocally disagree with the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that says Russia should be reinstated to international hockey, starting with next month’s World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer! Not as long as Vladimir Putin insists on waging war with Ukraine to feed his imperialistic goals and give his over-sized nation unfettered access to Black Sea ports for shipping as well as the Steppes, a close second to Canada’s Prairies for being the most fertile agricultural land in the world!
I applaud all the European nations that oppose Russia’s inclusion and return to the international hockey scene, as well as the positions taken by the Canadian government.
Now, is it right to deny Russian athletes the ability to compete internationally? Isn’t that cruel that they are caught in the middle of this controversy and are collateral damage as a result? Wouldn’t the quality of hockey tournaments be enhanced with Russian participation? Absolutely, so this isn’t about fear of Canada losing to Russia on the ice. And I do feel bad for the Russian athletes caught in the cross-fire, but there has to be a consequence for what Putin and his cronies have insisted on doing for the last four years and one of those consequences is to not allow the flag, the anthem and the jersey logo of Russia to be involved in international sports, hockey in this case!
This is a principle thing and, while I don’t like the notion that sports and politics get mixed together, at some point there has to be a pushback – showing solidarity in standing up to a bully, kind of like standing up for a team-mate on the ice against a guy who’s pushing your star player around and trying to intimidate him!…
We’ll see how this evolving story goes over the next six weeks, but I fervently hope that there will not be a Russian jersey, flag and anthem being used at the World Juniors on December 26!!
That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!
