Patrick Kane
How could Kane be this stupid? Everyday we hear stories of athletes getting in trouble and you would think that a young man with the world at his fingertips and a family that is looking out for him and is very involved in his life wouldn’t make a mistake like this. Then again, it is another lesson that can be used with our kids on the stupid decisions that people make and the consequences of their actions…
Could Kane have possibly thought that no one would recognize him in his hometown? Is he that foolish? He has to think that being out at 5 am when your name is Patrick Kane can only lead to trouble. When you are Patrick Kane you can’t live your life like a normal 20 year old. – David Kaplan
I understand that a guy writing a Chicago sports blog is going to paint the Patrick Kane story in the best possible light, but this story has nothing to do with stupidity even though it was stupid for him not to realize he would get caught and humiliated for his actions.
The best possible light for Kane is that he is a mean drunk, a guy who is not above physically abusing a 62 year old man after a stupid prank went awry. (Listening to the cabbie, I think the Kanes planned to dash on the fare – just for kicks, you know – and when the driver foiled the plan, the 20 cents became the excuse to bat him around a bit, grab the money and dash on the fare. Just like they planned, you know, just for yucks.)
It might not be the crime of the century, but its enough to make me dislike Patrick Kane as a cruel, self-centred bully. I don’t like being around people who are capable of behaving so poorly. “Take a hike, kid,” is pretty much the way I feel about him.
If there is any good news in this for the Black Hawk fan, success hasn’t changed Patrick Kane – he’s still the asshole he always was. His character flaws haven’t had anything to do with his game in the past and they probably won’t have anything to do with his game in the future. He’s the same excellent hockey player.
The bad news for the Hawks – and for the NHL – is about the marketing opportunity now circling the drain. Wasn’t the plan to have Patrick Kane, All-American superstar driving the hockey bus to a Stanley Cup in big market Chicago? The All-American superstar leading the U.S. team into the Olympics? The All-American superstar gracing the video game box? The All-American superstar marketing hockey in the American market?
None of that scans very well any more, does it?
Update: Dear Tom,
Whatever happened to the idea that everybody is assumed innocent until proven guilty? Shouldn’t you at least wait until you hear Kane’s story before convicting him?
BL
Everyone is assumed innocent in a court of law. I’m not obligated to assume anything. He’s been convicted in my court of personal opinion. I probably should have waited to hear Kane’s side of this story, but short of a completely different – and credible – set of facts from him, he’s guilty in my courtroom. And if Kane did have a completely different set of facts we certainly would have heard them by now. Finally, I doubt if this will end up in a criminal court. Does it make a difference? Not to me.
Update II “Early Sunday morning, Pat Kane was involved in an unfortunate situation with a cab driver in Buffalo. The cab driver’s attorney in recent media reports was quoted as saying that the incident has been blown out of proportion. Kane has retained Paul Cambria as his attorney in this matter. Cambria has told me that, based on the evidence that he has reviewed in this case, there is no doubt that Mr. Kane will be fully exonerated. Since this is an ongoing legal matter, I think it is inappropriate for me to comment further at this time. But I am absolutely confident that, when the legal process has been completed, Pat Kane will be fully cleared. Pat Brisson
The basic facts are apparently not in dispute. That the cabbie’s lawyer said that the incident was blown out of proportion signals that money is going to make this case go away. (And that’s probably the appropriate way to dispose of the matter. This probably wouldn’t end up in criminal court if Kane wasn’t a celebrity and it shouldn’t end up there simply because he is one.) So Kane won’t be convicted of robbery or assault. Big deal.
Fully exonerated, my ass.
Update III: Fauxrumors after agreeing with most of this post:
Where we differ from Tom’s is when he brings in national origin into the picture… Kane was no more an American hockey player icon/represented the nation than Dany Heatley/Theo Fleury, etc is/was in Canada before their legal issues.
Just to be clear, I don’t think we differ at all in this respect. Kane’s nationality is irrelevant to the incident. It is (or perhaps was) relevant to the NHL marketing plan. Kane is (or was) a key part of that plan because he is an American star. Patrick Kane is very nearly the last player Gary Bettman would have in this position.
Update IV: “Pat is like, ‘Why me? I didn’t hit the guy. I didn’t assault the guy. I wasn’t involved in pay or not paying for the fare. I can’t believe I’m in this.’” – Lawyer Paul Cambria commenting on Kane’s demeanor
And here I thought my opinion of Kane couldn’t sink any lower.
Those problems are only created if a league decides it has to market a face to “grow the game.”
This strategy always backfires. Crosby hasn’t done anything as stupid – or illegal – but the approach is real turn off to fans who don’t buy into the “grow the game” malarkey.
I agree that a league – any league – risks a lot when they decide to a lot of their marketing thrust on very few players, but this one is a natural for the league and it was obvious to me that this is where the league was going.
A big star who is an American playing in a critical American market? They would be crazy not to try to sell that, particularly in an Olympic year.
Patrick Kane once killed a man in Reno just to watch him die.
Tom, to me it just goes back to the entire strategy some people think is necessary, “to sell the game.” A league where most owners seem only interested in finding an anchor tenant for an arena, and/or collecting expansion fees?
I agree on the fully exonerated part. I doubt Kane ever forgets again that with the big bucks and endorsements comes a very, very large spotlight. People pay a price when they make that deal.
People pay a price when they make that deal.
Bullshit. People pay a price when they’re born as a human being on this planet. The deal is you treat other human beings with respect and compassion, and you certainly don’t use physical force upon another unless justified under a strict standard. Kane’s spotlight makes the crime more public, but it doesn’t make him more of an asshole, and this incident probably isn’t going to make him a better person. Famous or not, those reasonable people around him likely knew he was a huge dick anyway. I’d rather have Kane not have forgotten how to treat people than remember the perils of the big spotlight. It’ll be fun watching Volchenkov and Nikulin kick his ass in Vancouver.
It’ll be fun watching Volchenkov and Nikulin kick his ass in Vancouver.
Huh? Do you have info or a crystal ball? Volchenkov, as in Sens d-man? Nikulin, I’m not sure you mean the d-man that hasn’t ever played in the NHL, or LW whose played 3 games… Of course, the Canucks have plenty of players to kick his ass, otherwise, but Chi-town has a boy or two to protect him. Byfuglien, for starters.
Sorry to be off topic. On topic, it’s clearly the case that a deal has been made, otherwise the cabbie’s lawyer wouldn’t be out calming the storms. That’s part of the deal.
Good for you, Tom, on calling the writer on the “innocent until proven guilty” canard. The court of public opinion is entirely different from the court of law, and for good reason.
From my POV (and yours, apparently), there is one standard of proof required to convict someone of an offense (with the sentence that accompanies it) and another standard of proof to conclude someone is guilty of bad behaviour. The first one is necessarily much, much higher than the second one, and rightly so.
antro, I think Rajeev was referring to the Winter Olympic Games, not to the NHL when he brought up Volchenkov and Nikulin in Vancouver.
Patrick Kane once killed a man in Reno just to watch him die.
I get the point, and as I said, this was not the crime of the century. Assuming the facts – they seem to be undisputed – a crime was committed, but it is a crime that is probably not worth pursuing as long as the cabbie ends up satisfied.
To me that’s beside the point. I can understand – and ultimately forgive – MacTavish or Heatley. They were stupid and irresponsible and they deserved to be punished. But they did not set out to commit a crime. They did not intend to kill anyone. They deserved to be punished because their stupidity and irresponsibilty had consequences.
Kane is different. His crime was not stupidity or irresponsibility. His crime was that he decided to frighten an old man, bat him around and steal a few bucks from him. The consequences were far less serious than in the MacTavish or Heatley cases, but Kane’s actual sin – his actions and the way they reflect on his character – were worse. MacTavish did not mean to kill anyone. Kane did mean to be cruel.
Nikulin, I’m not sure you mean the d-man that hasn’t ever played in the NHL,
Ilya Nikulin, the defenseman, yes. The best defenseman in the KHL, an important piece of back-to-back World Championship gold medals, and a fabulous player who will likely be an important part of Russia’s Olympic team’s defense. The fact that he hasn’t played in the NHL shouldn’t mean anything to people who like to appreciate good hockey and good hockey players. Ask the Thrashes hockey ops dept if they wish Nikulin would have played in the NHL by now. He’s maybe twice the dman as Toby Enstrom, who’s a nice little player in his own right.
or LW whose played 3 games
a funny thought, but no.
antro, I think Rajeev was referring to the Winter Olympic Games, not to the NHL when he brought up Volchenkov and Nikulin in Vancouver.
Yes, apologies if that wasn’t clear. The implication being that while no NHL team would ever, or really have any obligation to, disqualify or suspend a player, at least more than in a token fashion, for this type of offense, a national team participating in the Olympics would at least arguably have to consider it given the supposed spirit and meaning of the Olympic games, etc. But I think everyone would expect for nothing to happen to Kane with respect to his Olympic status. Which I think will make the USA’s failures there even more enjoyable.
rajeev, not sure which part you think we’re disagreeing with, but for my part all I’m saying is that IF Kane wants the dollars, he has to behave up to a certain standard. I don’t think I ever got into the part about assholes and whether they are bigger or smaller ones when fame comes around.
He may be an asshole, and maybe he has always been an asshole, but sponsors don’t want that part on display.
Kane did mean to be cruel.
Perhaps it does make sense for him to represent the US after all.
snafu, I’m not sure that I was necessarily arguing with you, but what i was responding to, whether or not it’s a fair characterization of what you were saying, is the idea that the take away lesson for Kane is that being a celebrity hockey player and multi-millionaire comes with it added responsibilities and/or moral obligations. I think you’re completely right, sponsors and the league are going to require certain behavior of him they wouldn’t of Adam Burish. That’s certainly true and I’m sure Kane is going to realize if he hasn’t already. But as fans, or as just people commenting on the world around us, the more salient point, I think, is, regardless of who the perpetrator is, Kane or Burish, he’s a jerk and deserves our strongest rebuke (assuming the basic fats are not false, which I assume we’d know if they were potentially false right now). What Kane, and his family, should be thinking about is not how is this going to affect my career, or how can I protect my image, but rather, how have I fallen so far from the standard of conduct required by every reasonable person? He should be asking himself why he is such an asshole?
I also might add that Kane doesn’t necessarily have to clean up his act if he wants the big dollars. The file of asshole hockey players, let alone athletes in general, who acts like dicks without much consequence as to their career or bottom line is rather large. This is going to be a minor annoyance on the way to a long and successful hockey and financial career. If I was Kane’s father, however, I’d be in the basement with a bottle of whiskey and a revolver.
Are we sure Kane is American? Failure to tip properly is usually a Canadian characteristic.