The Rant: Hayley Wickenheiser in the CIS
The blog is back! And even though time will tell whether or not it’s a successful comeback or a massive failure a la Randy Moss in Minnesota, I promise you it will be fun while it lasts. So let’s just enjoy the ride, however short it may be.
Something's wrong with this picture.
Today, I’m going to talk about something that’s really irked me for a couple months, and bothers me more and more as it is ignored by media – Hayley Wickenheiser, perhaps the most well-known women’s hockey player in the world, is current playing for the University of Calgary Dinos. Leading the CIS in points scored, actually.
Now, as soon as I heard this story, I had some questions. The first of which seemed rather obvious: hasn’t Hayley Wickenheiser played professional hockey? Shouldn’t this make her ineligible to play intercollegiately? It certainly seems plausible – Wickenheiser has been such a dominant force internationally for so long that, in terms of women’s hockey, it’s comparable to Kobe Bryant coming back to college because he hasn’t played in the NCAA yet, which would certainly raise a few eyebrows in the media.
Yet, when it comes to Wickenheiser, nobody bats an eyelash. Incredibly, she is eligible under CIS rules, which only prohibit professional players in men’s hockey or basketball to return to their ranks, leaving the door open to athletes in any other sport. Hey, Adrian Peterson! I heard U of A has an opening at running back! McGill, did you hear Lionel Messi is available?
CIS recruiters, start your engines!
The reasons to prohibit professional athletes from playing interuniversity sports are purely in the interest of competitive balance – it’s silly to assume that 18 year old college freshmen are prepared to play against grown men (or women) who have already risen to the pinnacle of their sport. Wickenheiser’s contributions to the Dinos are already obvious to the naked eye: a team that was 12 and 16 last year is all of a sudden 6 and 2 and leading the Canada West conference.
Now, you may be able to argue that since women’s hockey is a non-contact sport, the talent disparity between Wickenheiser and the rest of the CIS is a non-issue. It’s not like anybody will get hurt, right? What I find most troublesome about this is the precedent that it sets for other potential crossovers from the pro game back to the amateur one – I’m not saying Ray Lewis is coming back to play for UBC, but he could if he wanted to (I have a feeling there would be a bit more media coverage in that case). Imagine a 35-year-old Pro-Bowl linebacker wrecking 19-year-old Canadian receivers over the middle – it’s not a pretty picture. And it’s one that the Canadian interuniversity system willingly fosters.
Hey, he's got a year of eligibility left!
In my opinion, the whole Hayley Wickenheiser instance was both an attention grab by Wickenheiser and a cash grab by both the University of Calgary and CIS. If Wickenheiser wanted to finish her degree, which she is certainly within her right to do, she could have just as easily attended the University and practiced with the women’s team, as well as the men’s (hell, she’s probably better than most of them anyway). They’d probably even make her an assistant coach if she asked for it. Instead, she removes the chance of a U of C student to achieve their dream of playing college hockey, as well as a potential scholarship, and completely altering the competitive balance of CIS for however long she decides to play. Hayley, you’ve proved your point – you’re good enough to set the Canadian University scene on fire. Congrats.
The biggest problem here, though, lies with the CIS, as well as the University of Calgary. Afraid to say anything while one of their members exploited a loophole in their eligibility system, the CIS instead decided to stand pat. Maybe it’s because Wickenheiser is a Canadian hero. Or maybe it’s because the league will enjoy more media coverage, more interest from fans, and more advertising revenue as a result of her participation. If so, it’s nothing but a cash grab, and a transparent one at that.
To be honest, I’m shocked that no member of the media has called the CIS out on the issue up to now. Well, I’m saying something. It’s wrong, and the eligibility rules should be changed immediately. There’s a reason Wickenheiser didn’t go to the NCAA in the United States, where the talent level is higher – it’s because she couldn’t. She would be ineligible. And it’s time for CIS to get with the program. College sports are for college athletes. Not for pros.
Pro hockey in Finland - still pro hockey.
Anyway, there’s my 2 cents. I guess I’ll just shut my mouth.
G
I suspect the number of comments here demonstrates that you have hit a nerve with us soft spoken Canucks but I completely agree that someone who has reached the pinnacle of their sport should not be allowed to return to CIS or CCAA as their integrity should be maintained as a stepping stone in athlete development. We adore Hayley for what you have done for Canada’s game but playing CIS is just plain wrong. It is time to update the rules before other Universities start looking for other “eligible” veterans to be more competitive.
Who wants your two cents? Who are you? A nobody. Hayley is increasing the game for everyone in the league. You have no real facts and no real sources for any of this. Its ridiculous, almost comical. People like you disgust me and if you would like to talk details i would love to. I can refute almost everything you have said with fact. Good use of your time though, pulling down not only a Canadian Hero, but someone who has made it possible for the female hockey player to make it as far as they can today.
ps. The only reason this article was brought to my attention was because a student i was tutoring had to find the most ridiculous, easy to contest article on the internet to use in a refutation paper. Congrats.
Well Shannon, I’m sorry I’ve upset you with this post. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the blogging medium before this but as far as I can tell it is an avenue for opinions – not hard line, sourced facts. I’m sorry I haven’t sourced my blog and won’t do so in the future – if that upsets you, then please stick to reading academic journals or on refutable news sites. I don’t claim to be any of these.
A very quick google search confirms that you are a member of the U of C hockey team – I’m sorry I’ve touched a nerve, I didn’t intend for this article to be inflammatory. Perhaps I am a “nobody” and nobody wants my two cents but this is the internet and fortunately you don’t need to be “somebody” to have a voice. I am simply stating an opinion.
Perhaps I may have made some mistakes in the article (I didn’t claim to have done extensive research) but the general point of it was that I think it is unfair for somebody who has played professional sports to return to the amateur ranks. It is not in any way intended to put down Hayley Wickenheiser – she is following the rules and I don’t blame her at all for this – it is that I find fault with the system. I’ve actually recently found out that Mike Danton is playing for St. Mary’s as well – I could have just as easily written this article about him.
I’m sorry that I “disgust” you. Perhaps your time would be better spent elsewhere than bashing blogs on the internet – maybe you could even start one of your own and share your own opinion. Or, rather than throwing barbs at me you could have spent your comment actually refuting the points in my post and contributing to the discussion, rather than name calling and attacking me personally (who you do not know at all). I’m a bit offended by your response and think it’s pretty childish – I’m sorry again that what I’ve written has upset you so much.
ps. This is a blog post, not an “article” – I really hope your student doesn’t use this for a class, that would be a bit silly. Not academic, does not claim to be. How easy is it to refute an opinion?
pps. Any other derogatory comments you post on here will be deleted – I’m not going to spam my comments section with a bunch of name calling. If you really want to talk to me you can email me at garretthinchey100@hotmail.com or facebook me.
ya im not going to read all of that. waste of time. but best of luck with future posts. maybe some more research in the future?
Maybe – like I said, it’s opinion. Obviously you had enough time to read the article and comment on it so I’m a bit disappointed you don’t have time to read my response – I had time to read your insult-laden reply and comment on it in a mature manner.
But anyway, to each his/her own. Thanks for the page views! I appreciate the second comment – at least it had some constructive criticism inside instead of personal attacks.