In some fun city v. city jabbing, the Chicago Tribune printed a poster yesterday featuring Philadelphia Flyer Chris Pronger in a figure skating skirt and labeled “Chrissy Pronger.” Ha ha. So funny. When was this poster created, 1982? It’s dumb for sure, something I’d expect to hear in my fraternity house. But count me among the people who aren’t offended. Thankfully, the gays haven’t gotten too bent out of shape about it, but some women have…
“I’d like to see that editor out on skates. I’ll take them one-on-one on the ice any day,” three-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero told The Associated Press. “They obviously have never seen women’s hockey and are living in the dark ages.”
Is the poster sexist? Are they saying “figure skaters don’t make good NHL players” or “women are bad athletes”?
on Jun 9th, 2010 at 1:58 PM
Yes, it’s sexist, because they are equating women with weakness. I don’t think it’s a homophobic take, but they are clearly making the implication that Pronger is “as weak as a woman”. Having lived with the coach of the women’s hockey team in college and getting to know several of the players, I can personally attest to how wrong the editor is specifically about women hockey players.
on Jun 9th, 2010 at 2:49 PM
Surprised you’re not offended by it. It’s a poster that insinuates the worst thing you could do to a hated opponent is to call him a woman. Sorry, I don’t find that misogyny “fun.” It was stupid when Jim Rome called Jim Everett “Chris” Evert, and it’s even more annoying in 2010.
on Jun 9th, 2010 at 3:41 PM
I don’t care for hockey but I wouldn’t mind seeing Sidney Crosby in a dress. You wouldn’t even have to change his name.
on Jun 9th, 2010 at 4:07 PM
The New York Post did this last year with Shane Victorino of the Phillies during the World Series. So we have the Chicago Tribune now on the same level as the New York Post. It’s sad and pathetic.
on Jun 9th, 2010 at 4:49 PM
That might be your take on the post, but it’s not mine. I don’t take it as “women are bad” or “women are bad athletes.” The fact is, though, there are no female defensemen in the NHL for good reason. They’ve put them at goalie at time, and I applaud that. But they’re not defensemen becuase they’re not big or strong enough to compete with the 6-foot-6 guys like Pronger. They’re just not. And figure skaters (it is a figure skater’s outfit they put him in) CERTAINLY aren’t NHL defensemen.
So you take it as an afront to women; I took it as much less nefarious.
on Jun 9th, 2010 at 5:35 PM
Cyd, sorry, but the issue here isn’t whether women should play in the NHL. (And I guess I don’t understand what that has to do with this player anyway.) The point is that the Chicago Tribune looked for the biggest, most insulting way they could insult Chris Pronger, who’s been a thorn in the Blackhawks’ side.
So they decided the best way to mock him would be to call him a woman’s name, say he skated like Jane, and dress half his body in a female figure skater’s uniform. And you don’t see why that’s offensive?
You know, I expect fans to act stupid with the “Cindy Crosby” type jokes. I don’t expect newspapers to offend half their readership with such blatant misogyny.
on Jun 9th, 2010 at 6:25 PM
i see no difference between this poster and the “fan” at a hockey game who shouts at a Pronger or a Crosby or whomever, “Fag!” I think that putting him in a dress and calling him “Chrissy” only condones and encourages this sort of behavior. I’ve been at games where Blackhawks fans, stumped at what to shout at an opposing player, have simply yelled things such as “Crosby, you faggot!” Those sort of meatheads are the people who’d find this funny.
I’d like also to know what gay hockey players think of this. As someone who is gay and who played hockey in high school and who is hoping to play in an adults league in the future, this offends me, but I’d like to know what other hockey players/fans think.
on Jun 10th, 2010 at 6:09 PM
Wow, Cyd, really? There is no “good reason” that a woman couldn’t play as a defenseman in the NHL-they’re not all 6’6″ monstrosities. Take a look at Brian Rafalski, one of the best defensemen in the game. He measures in at 5’9″ and 191 pounds. Angela Ruggiero, of the US Women’s Olympic team, is also 5’9″ and weighs 192 pounds. If Brian Rafalski can shut down the top players in the game, I’m sure that there’s the possibility that she could too. Don’t tell me that she is physically incapable of competing alongside men because she isn’t big or strong enough. Obviously, someone that size, man or woman, just needs to adjust their style of play so that they don’t have to rely overly much on their size.
And yes, as a woman, and a female hockey player, I find the “Chrissy Pronger” story offensive.
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 12:40 AM
I’m not offended. It’s a pretty weak joke, sure, but I don’t think it should be taken as seriously as it has been.
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 12:46 AM
Wow people. Stop being so uptight. People get offended way to easily these days. It’s sad really and it will only have bad implications in the future.
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 8:21 AM
I for one am so upset by this. Like Chris, I, too, am a crossdresser. We should be able to express that special feeling we get wearing women’s clothes without ridicule. As for my my special tall and burley friend, you go girl!
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 11:52 AM
This from a New York city hockey fan…
I don’t like Pronger’s style of play. In fact, I don’t much like Pronger after he threw a puck into the garbage.
I think that Philadelphia has a disproportionate share of people who need to discover and live a richer life outside of the realms of professional sports.
And I think what the Chicago Tribune did was lower itself and the game in my opinion. I’d have expected it from the Philly papers.
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 2:06 PM
Having seen Prongers wife and kids I doubt he has any doubts about his manhood. He is a difference maker, if you dont believe me ask the guys behind the blue line with the Anaheim Ducks. Having watched him with the Ducks I say he is not a dirty player, he is a tall player. Of course his elbows are going to hit a few heads. Why is he singled out any way. Everyone respected Scott Stevens’ elbows and that guy really is an a-hole. Pronger appears to be a good guy. He pisses everyone off because of his reach and ability to lift everyone’s stick at just the last second. Wow he has really nice legs too!
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 2:24 PM
I wasn’t offended, but I get why people are. It was a stupid thing to do.
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 3:10 PM
Dear women,
I’ve watched women’s hockey before and it’s laughable at best.
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 3:21 PM
Point #1: This is in no way offensive, but it is pure classless by the Chicago Tribune.
Point #2: I agree with Bartholomew. Women’s hockey, or women’s sports in general, can not and SHOULD not be compared to men’s sports. I even imply that a woman could exceed the talent of a man on the ice on a professional level or succeed at a high level, is laughable.
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 5:02 PM
Pronger is a Biotch! So are you pussies
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 10:00 PM
The Tribune is still on the verge of collapse. They are a train wreck waiting to happen ever since Zell took over. The editorial section is useless. Just ignore what they do or say until the Zell-era has passed. Same thing with WGN radio, owned by the Tribune, Inc. too!
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 11:03 PM
“And I think what the Chicago Tribune did was lower itself and the game in my opinion. I’d have expected it from the Philly papers.”
You’ve never read a Philly paper in your life, have you? What you should have said was “I’d have expected it from the NY Post” because, as I pointed out, they did the same thing just last year.
Sounds to me, Geoff, like you’re the one who needs to “discover and live a richer life.”
on Jun 11th, 2010 at 11:31 PM
This is a joke that people are upset over this. Did you watch “The Sandlot” and call the producer upset because of the line “You play ball like a girl”? Seriously, just understand the fact that women are not as athletic as men in essentially every sport (I dare you to try to argue that), and it will always be an insult (and at times funny) to compare a man to a woman in the sport he plays.
on Jun 14th, 2010 at 5:32 AM
all you whining bitches need to stfu and make me a sandwitch