Do you know why actions happened so quickly? Because if they hadn't acted quickly, after the Yankees had, and more evidence was found that was critical, it would have been a huge black eye (no pun intended) for Flyers and Comcast. People would have asked them wtf they were dragging their feet for.

They had no choice under the circumstances as a business entity.

I personally think a reasonable course of action would be to have a discussion and then a quiet reinstatement.
- PT21

What people ?

I'm sorry... but this really hurt me as a long-time fan.
- ForeverFlyer16

If you don't mind me humbly asking - what did you do about it?

The way to face bullies, whether it be right or left, is to stand up to them. Same thing with corporate entities. The same fears that led them to go one way can cause them to go the other.

Why not set up a Facebook page, leading to a petition, and a GoFundMe, leading to the coverage of costs? Buy a plot of land for a burial plot, and set up a gravestone to the memory of Kate Smith, killed by the Flyers?

I cannot give time, but I will be among the first to donate.

Well put. Comcast doesn’t get a dime from me anymore. They bent over so fast it’s sickening. Works both ways though.
- Angus4444

I'll take your tickets and your Flyers gear. TY.

Player of the game. 2 goals on 2 shots.
- Ftown19125

Yeah I don't get that at all. Zegras 5 pts 2 goals... but I digress he's a Duck pick so he gets lost in the discussion.. Good for BB.

I'll take your tickets and your Flyers gear. TY.
- BenderRodriguez

Sorry no tickets but I do have autographed hockey sticks from the bullies era. Prized possession though is a piece of the netting on one of the goals that was pulled off the ice when the Flyers beat the Bruins in the Stanley Cup. My father was in the tunnel and he took out his pen knife and cut a piece off.

Sorry no tickets but I do have autographed hockey sticks from the bullies era. Prized possession though is a piece of the netting on one of the goals that was pulled off the ice when the Flyers beat the Bruins in the Stanley Cup. My father was in the tunnel and he took out his pen knife and cut a piece off.
- Angus4444

That's awesome, especially the netting. I have a game used autographed Joe Watson stick and several Clarke, Lindros, and LeClair autographs hung in the man cave. Love collecting that kind of stuff.

That's awesome, especially the netting. I have a game used autographed Joe Watson stick and several Clarke, Lindros, and LeClair autographs hung in the man cave. Love collecting that kind of stuff.
- BenderRodriguez

Yea the netting is cool. Father was a cop. Snider wanted a police presence inside. He had seats next to the goal judge both ends for the police. Also my father had to bribe another cop to sit in the opposing penalty box. Things were so crazy because the glass was so low people would spit on the opposing players. I have a million stories. My dad stood right under the box where Gene Hart and Bobby Taylor called the game. I seem to remember talking to Hart with my dad. I was young everybody was nice. Just normal people going to work. Including the players.

If you don't mind me humbly asking - what did you do about it?

The way to face bullies, whether it be right or left, is to stand up to them. Same thing with corporate entities. The same fears that led them to go one way can cause them to go the other.

Why not set up a Facebook page, leading to a petition, and a GoFundMe, leading to the coverage of costs? Buy a plot of land for a burial plot, and set up a gravestone to the memory of Kate Smith, killed by the Flyers?

I cannot give time, but I will be among the first to donate.
- PT21

I have big, Big...BIG plans... now that you gave me those nifty ideas........ I will PM you with a contact point for you to drop off large denomination, unmarked bills--Thousand dollars minimum in each envelope, please--and I promise to bring you back a personalized trinket...once I do eventually return.

I have big, Big...BIG plans... now that you gave me those nifty ideas........ I will PM you with a contact point for you to drop off large denomination, unmarked bills--Thousand dollars minimum in each envelope, please--and I promise to bring you back a personalized trinket...once I do eventually return.
- ForeverFlyer16

No, please don't be facetious. Seriously, if you care so much, why not muster up some passion in pursuit of your cause? Try this group, HFboards, Reddit as launching pads.

If you don't mind me humbly asking - what did you do about it?

The way to face bullies, whether it be right or left, is to stand up to them. Same thing with corporate entities. The same fears that led them to go one way can cause them to go the other.

Why not set up a Facebook page, leading to a petition, and a GoFundMe, leading to the coverage of costs? Buy a plot of land for a burial plot, and set up a gravestone to the memory of Kate Smith, killed by the Flyers?

I cannot give time, but I will be among the first to donate.
- PT21

I, for one, have not given a dime to Comcast since. Canceled my triple play package, not attended a single event ( much easier to do currently) down at Xfinity & Center and while I still enjoy the sport for my own entertainment I am still writing letters every month to Mr. Roberts, Mr. Scott, Ms. Camillo, Mr. Fletcher, etc... without one response. Still no one has explained this total hack job and why they ignoring the facts, cowards, all of them, IMHO. I can't help but wonder if this would have happened like this with Mr. Snider still in charge?

Yeah I don't get that at all. Zegras 5 pts 2 goals... but I digress he's a Duck pick so he gets lost in the discussion.. Good for BB.
- dozerD10

GWG's matter.

I, for one, have not given a dime to Comcast since. Canceled my triple play package, not attended a single event ( much easier to do currently) down at Xfinity & Center and while I still enjoy the sport for my own entertainment I am still writing letters every month to Mr. Roberts, Mr. Scott, Ms. Camillo, Mr. Fletcher, etc... without one response. Still no one has explained this total hack job and why they ignoring the facts, cowards, all of them, IMHO. I can't help but wonder if this would have happened like this with Mr. Snider still in charge?
- jtb3rd

You seem surprised.

I am curious. What's your opinion of this:

Hey Bill, what's the status of Nolan Patrick?

You seem surprised.

I am curious. What's your opinion of this:


- PT21

It was a different time and I don't have a problem with it. Holding a role she played against her is the height of hypocrisy. Especially a song that was sung by other famous people such as Paul Robeson.

To hold it against her and not call out every white actor who ever said the N word on screen as part of a role is ridiculous.

You can not fairly hold a new set of morality against a person who was living long before that morality even existed. Would someone here call Quenton Tarantino a racist for uttering that word on screen as part of a role he was playing? Or any of the white actors who uttered that word in Blazing Saddles. She didn't even say it. And it was a cowardly act in that she couldn't even be here to defend herself.

And on top of that, Kate Smith was well known to not be a racist, and her performance of that song was not considered an endorsement of racism even then! To apply that in hindsight is not only unfair, but silly, and it belies an immaturity of those who get bothered by something that happened before they were even born, as if it effects their life in any way.

I think the ONE GUY who complained should have been told to sit down and STFU, along with the rest of these weak minded, thin skinned, cancel culture babies.

These cancel culture morons are the people that believe they can change the future by erasing the past. Seems to be that Orwell was just a few decades early in predicting our future in "1984".

BTW... PT, I logged into my Xfinity only to find out that NHL Network blocks viewing of content I pay for when I am not at my house. I effing despise Comcast.

- Letterkenney

The deletion of Kate Smith in this way infuriates me. How can someone say that she wasn’t a large part of the Flyers family for so long when she clearly was. Ask Clarke. Shameful decision.

Glad to see pictures of the boys practicing. Still rubs me the wrong way how we were knocked out of the playoffs. I love Ivan Provorov, Carter Hart, Sean Couturier. It isn’t a question of talent. The Islanders simply outworked us. Reminds me a lot of the 2012 Devils. A round we should have won but were outworked. Niskanen dropping outside. If G were 7 years younger and playing center, we’re legit. We’re just missing that top impact center.

It was a different time and I don't have a problem with it. Holding a role she played against her is the height of hypocrisy. Especially a song that was sung by other famous people such as Paul Robeson.

To hold it against her and not call out every white actor who ever said the N word on screen as part of a role is ridiculous.

You can not fairly hold a new set of morality against a person who was living long before that morality even existed. Would someone here call Quenton Tarantino a racist for uttering that word on screen as part of a role he was playing? Or any of the white actors who uttered that word in Blazing Saddles. She didn't even say it. And it was a cowardly act in that she couldn't even be here to defend herself.

And on top of that, Kate Smith was well known to not be a racist, and her performance of that song was not considered an endorsement of racism even then! To apply that in hindsight is not only unfair, but silly, and it belies an immaturity of those who get bothered by something that happened before they were even born, as if it effects their life in any way.

I think the ONE GUY who complained should have been told to sit down and STFU, along with the rest of these weak minded, thin skinned, cancel culture babies.
- MBFlyerfan

First of all, calm down.

I have been doing some research, and I would like to offer a different view.

1) The issue of Kate Smith’s song being uncontroversial for her times appears to be untrue.

From https://www.usatoday.com/...bless-america/1132237001/

“Make no mistake, Decker said: “That’s Why Darkies Were Born” isn’t just racist in retrospect. It was openly criticized as racist by African American audiences in the early 1930s, too. Singer Mildred Bailey received a wave of letters urging her to stop performing the song in 1931, according to Variety Magazine, and African Americans called for radio stations to take it off the air. When a white actor hired by New Jersey’s governor tried to perform the song for an African American company of the New Jersey State Militia in 1935 – entertainment that was intended to boost morale – the soldiers booed and walked out, according to The Philadelphia Tribune.

2) About Paul Robeson also performing that song. Paul Robeson apparently renounced in very strong terms his singing of the song (same link as above). I know Kate Smith made a general declaration in 1945 of the evils of racism. But she never acknowledged or apologized for her active role in precisely such racism. That song was a hit for her. While she may have been a victim of her times then, she also lived into the modern age, when a lot of people acknowledged such actions. Kate never did. Why not?

The deletion of Kate Smith in this way infuriates me. How can someone say that she wasn’t a large part of the Flyers family for so long when she clearly was. Ask Clarke. Shameful decision.
- Hextall271

Certainly a difficult situation.

How would you (and others) have handled it? Would you have still allowed her to sing the national anthem?

EDIT: I would just like to add something I am puzzled by.

Many times people who are in families disown others, or become estranged. Lets say a relative of yours sent out a Christmas Card which included every member of her family except a disowned daughter.

Sad, but her business, no?

Certainly a difficult situation.

How would you (and others) have handled it? Would you have still allowed her to sing the national anthem?

EDIT: I would just like to add something I am puzzled by.

Many times people who are in families disown others, or become estranged. Lets say a relative of yours sent out a Christmas Card which included every member of her family except a disowned daughter.

Sad, but her business, no?
- PT21

My problem is the way it was handled, the way a member if 'our Flyers Family' ( yes, I consider myself a member of that family as Mr. Snider mentioned on many occasions, we, the fans, are part of the family) was buried. If they wanted to distance themselves from Ms. Smith until ALL the evidence was out, do that. But don't bury her and call her a racist ( as even Lauren Hart did in her tweet ) right off the bat because you are threatened by some media hungry bully. She did much for minorities in her time on her radio program and IMO those actions speak louder as to her views then a couple satirical songs sung earlier in her career.

My problem is the way it was handled, the way a member if 'our Flyers Family' ( yes, I consider myself a member of that family as Mr. Snider mentioned on many occasions, we, the fans, are part of the family) was buried. If they wanted to distance themselves from Ms. Smith until ALL the evidence was out, do that. But don't bury her and call her a racist ( as even Lauren Hart did in her tweet ) right off the bat because you are threatened by some media hungry bully. She did much for minorities in her time on her radio program and IMO those actions speak louder as to her views then a couple satirical songs sung earlier in her career.
- jtb3rd

I deeply respect your fondness for Kate Smith and I understand how the many memories of some of the best days of the Flyers are mixed in with her presence. I agree with some of what you said. Having said that:


1. There is no evidence whatsoever that the songs were satirical or tongue in cheek. Nor with the cartoon I posted. I watched the songs on Youtube again.

2. Even if the Flyers had waited, based on what I see, its utterly absurd that she would be able to perform the national anthem ever again. Whatever her career, however non-racist she apparently was in reality, you cannot, cannot, cannot have someone singing a national anthem with this kind of baggage.

It doesn't matter that everyone was doing it. It doesn't matter that she was a good person, or was cash strapped at that time. She never disowned that part of her life, only racism in general. As soon as those videos attained publicity, she was done. Even if they had waited, the outcome would be no different.

The national anthem is supposed to embody higher virtues, and E Pluribus Unum. You can't have someone who has sung about pickaninnies and all that other horrendous stuff singing the national anthem. It would be surreally absurd morally. Those who cannot see this, who think this is an excess of woke culture, simply do not realize the gravity of the offensive symbolism of those songs.

3. Hockey has a pretty big diversity problem that it is desperately trying to overcome. Both in terms of image and in terms of future viability. It makes no sense to jeopardize their attempts to overcome this.

4. Who did the bullying exactly? It seems like the potential threat of negative publicity made the Flyers and the Yankees act.

5. Having said all that, I agree Flyers handled it poorly. She deserved much more respect imo. I believe there should have been a statement from the organization acknowledging her positive contributions while distancing themselves from what has come to light.

6. I am afraid the inclusion of her in the "Flyers Family" in memoriam is tricky. The organization was in a bind. How do you essentially banish someone, even if respectfully, and then also consider them family? Its clear the video is not just a chronological roll call of the departed but also a tribute. How do you include someone in that who you have just relegated to obscurity based on what has come to light?

I am afraid I don't see any huge insensitivity or cowardice on the part of the Flyers here. I think they were in a very difficult position and kind of muddled through and did what had to be done, frankly.

So, I am retracting my offer to donate all those large bills in brown paper bags to Forever Flyers. My offer was based on ignorance.

Whole thing is a tragedy, really, likely with no villains. We will never know.

I deeply respect your fondness for Kate Smith and I understand how the many memories of some of the best days of the Flyers are mixed in with her presence. I agree with some of what you said. Having said that:


1. There is no evidence whatsoever that the songs were satirical or tongue in cheek. Nor with the cartoon I posted. I watched the songs on Youtube again.

2. Even if the Flyers had waited, based on what I see, its utterly absurd that she would be able to perform the national anthem ever again. Whatever her career, however non-racist she apparently was in reality, you cannot, cannot, cannot have someone singing a national anthem with this kind of baggage.

It doesn't matter that everyone was doing it. It doesn't matter that she was a good person, or was cash strapped at that time. She never disowned that part of her life, only racism in general. As soon as those videos attained publicity, she was done. Even if they had waited, the outcome would be no different.

The national anthem is supposed to embody higher virtues, and E Pluribus Unum. You can't have someone who has sung about pickaninnies and all that other horrendous stuff singing the national anthem. It would be surreally absurd morally. Those who cannot see this, who think this is an excess of woke culture, simply do not realize the gravity of the offensive symbolism of those songs.

3. Hockey has a pretty big diversity problem that it is desperately trying to overcome. Both in terms of image and in terms of future viability. It makes no sense to jeopardize their attempts to overcome this.

4. Who did the bullying exactly? It seems like the potential threat of negative publicity made the Flyers and the Yankees act.

5. Having said all that, I agree Flyers handled it poorly. She deserved much more respect imo. I believe there should have been a statement from the organization acknowledging her positive contributions while distancing themselves from what has come to light.

6. I am afraid the inclusion of her in the "Flyers Family" in memoriam is tricky. The organization was in a bind. How do you essentially banish someone, even if respectfully, and then also consider them family? Its clear the video is not just a chronological roll call of the departed but also a tribute. How do you include someone in that who you have just relegated to obscurity based on what has come to light?

I am afraid I don't see any huge insensitivity or cowardice on the part of the Flyers here. I think they were in a very difficult position and kind of muddled through and did what had to be done, frankly.

So, I am retracting my offer to donate all those large bills in brown paper bags to Forever Flyers. My offer was based on ignorance.

Whole thing is a tragedy, really, likely with no villains. We will never know.
- PT21

You are such a POS . How about we discuss you posting racist cartoons. To prove your point I’m sure.

You are such a POS . How about we discuss you posting racist cartoons. To prove your point I’m sure.
- Angus4444

I am afraid I don't see any huge insensitivity or cowardice on the part of the Flyers here. I think they were in a very difficult position and kind of muddled through and did what had to be done, frankly.

- PT21

The insensitivity (IMHO) is in the way they handled this and that has been my point from the beginning. They threw Kate under the bus because they allowed themselves to be bullied by someone trying to make a name for themselves by playing 'the race card'. I would have been fine ( a little sad ) if they no longer performed the duet but to have them label Kate a racist is wrong on so many levels and then to go silent on any response ( numerous request for by myself and others ) is just equally wrong.

What really bothers me is the fact that this Team/Organization/Family has always looked out for it's own and to in one fell swoop it did a 180 and gone completely silent on the matter, cowardice as far as I am concerned.

That would have never happened in the past, any request for information or concerns I had were always met with a response from the team. Some I agreed with and others just a quick note, but I always was treated fairly and politely whether it be Zack, Scoop, Lou or even a letter from Mr. Snider (most likely form from what I can tell ) at one point. All I get now is crickets.

The insensitivity (IMHO) is in the way they handled this and that has been my point from the beginning. They threw Kate under the bus because they allowed themselves to be bullied by someone trying to make a name for themselves by playing 'the race card'. I would have been fine ( a little sad ) if they no longer performed the duet but to have them label Kate a racist is wrong on so many levels and then to go silent on any response ( numerous request for by myself and others ) is just equally wrong.

What really bothers me is the fact that this Team/Organization/Family has always looked out for it's own and to in one fell swoop it did a 180 and gone completely silent on the matter, cowardice as far as I am concerned.

That would have never happened in the past, any request for information or concerns I had were always met with a response from the team. Some I agreed with and others just a quick note, but I always was treated fairly and politely whether it be Zack, Scoop, Lou or even a letter from Mr. Snider (most likely form from what I can tell ) at one point. All I get now is crickets.
- jtb3rd

I completely sympathize with this perspective. She certainly deserved a better relegation than the one they gave. I don't understand why they did not provide a dignified statement acknowledging how she has been part of so many of their glory days.