Yesterday I learned that Alexander Ovechkin is launching a "social movement" to support the re-election of Vladimir Putin. That one of my all-time favorite athletes turns out to support what is - if all credible sources that exist are to be believed - a murderous dictator.
Now as much as I find this shocking, I can't hold it against Ovechkin. I won't be stop being a fan of his work just because he has views that I would consider deeply disturbing/concerning/offensive etc. I don't like this thing that happens in our society now where if you do one bad thing you're basically dead to people. I think we're way too quick to condemn and to hold a grudge. But someone with the Capitals should facilitate a meeting between Ovechkin and a couple of Russian professors or experts or dissidents.
You can be good at hockey and not be a good person (and there is no grey area with Putin. He is a bad guy, according to the mores of our society). Not that this necessarily means Ovechkin is a bad person, but even if he is, as someone who enjoys the works of Ezra Pound, Wagner, and even O.J Simpson as Nordberg in the Naked Gun movies, I can't stop being a fan of Ovechkin the hockey player just because I found out he is potentially either a terrible person or woefully misinformed. Hell, maybe he has other reasons. Who knows? I can't pretend to know what the guy is thinking, but I think also that when prominent people support something objectively bad, we should at least say something and discuss it.
Understanding that athletes are flawed humans too doesn't make it any less shocking to hear about. And I'm sure Ovechkin is not some kind of monster. I don't want to make this seem over the top, as so much of our reactions to anything we don't like are. He did make a bad decision, and shown incredibly bad judgement, in my opinion. But he also probably has reasons for it that makes sense to him. Without being holier-than-though or completely outraged, I do think it's something that should be discussed, and not necessarily in a positive or judgement free way.
The silence of the media in confronting this is, while not surprising, perhaps a little disappointing. Ovechkin is a huge star, and asking him tough questions might find you with your access revoked, theoretically. This is a problem that has been prevalent in sports reporting for some time. Most people don't care, because it's just sports, but at the same time, it is also a huge part of our culture. Left Wing, Right Wing, doesn't matter. Supporting a dictator openly - in a time when it would be controversial to support the President, seems like a crazy thing to do on so many levels.
Even trying to talk about this with some degree of restraint and empathy for Ovechkin is a bit of a challenge, but I'm trying to not be a jackass about it so maybe somebody can see that it's possible to against something, disgusted by something, or frankly offended by something without calling for anyone's head, without demanding an apology or hyperventilating.
I don't want Ovechkin to repent, be fired, run out of town or anything like that. I hopefully want him to get an education, but other than that, whatever. I just don't think he should get a pass on this, in the sense that no one tells him he's wrong, or strongly condemns his views.
I think it's messed up that people seemed to be more mad about J.T Brown standing up against police brutality than about Ovechkin supporting a dictator.
I will continue to cheer for Ovechkin, but I can't say I'm not disappointed.