The Cadre 
     
    
   
   
    
     ae 
     
    
   
   
    
     Ai 
     
     ” 
     
    
   
   
    
     ie 
     
    
   
   
    
     November 18, 1997 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Is the NHL 
     
     looking to hang 
     
    
   
   
    
     somebody? 
     
    
   
   
    
     or should we feel sorry 
     
     for Chris Simon? 
     
    
   
   
    
     By Colin Bassett 
     
    
   
   
    
     As a devoted fan of hockey I usually find myself only 
     
     defending my favorite team. Recently I put that tenet aside to 
     
     defend the actions of another team’s player. The player being 
     
     Chris Simon of the Washington Capitals. 
     
    

    
     In an incident that occured on November 8th, 1997 
     
     between Mike Grier (African American) and Simon (First 
     
     Nations Canadian), Simon was accused of making racial slurs 
     
     towards Grier after the very intense game that ended in a 2-1 
     
     win for Washington. 
     
    

    
     Tempers on both sides flared after the game, and amongst 
     
     the pushing and shoving common in evey hockey game, Simon 
     
     allegedly lost his temper and called Grier a “nigger”. 
     
    

    
     I certainly do not support or condone Simon’s actions. | 
     
     do, however, have a big problem with the way the media 
     
     handled the incident. In newspapers across the United States 
     
     and Canada, Simon is being portrayed as a horrific racist who 
     
     should be suspended from the NHL indefinitely. 
     
    

    
     Has the media forgotten that Simon is a First Nations 
     
     Canadian who has played hockey for many years? Surely 
     
     during this time he has had to endure some racial slurs of his 
     
     own, including fire-starter, Indian, spear-chucker, chief, wagon 
     
     burner, and spook. | found it strange that the media failed to 
     
     an eenten in their reports while dragging Simons over the 
     
     coals. 
     
    

    
     Yes, what Chris Simon did was wrong. Yes, he should 
     
     have apologized to Mike ae Simon surely should not be 
     
     turned into a scapegoat for the National Hockey League’s 
     
     problems with race relations. =