Send in the Clowns!

NHL Commissoner Gary Bettman has handed Sean Avery a six game suspension for the "sloppy seconds" remark he made earlier in the week. 6 games for sloppy seconds? Surely, I'm not the only person flabbergasted by the length of this suspension. I've heard sports related people throughout the week talk about how the suspension wasn't about just this one incident, but a combination of previous indiscretions. That is ridiculous. If the NHL really worked like that, Chris Pronger will be suspended half a season the next time he commits a suspendable offense. Just compare the last suspension that Pronger served to the suspension that Avery will serve.

In March 2008, Pronger was suspended 8 games for intentionally stepping on the calf of Ryan Kesler with his skate. Pronger committed an act that could have seriously injured or possible worse to Ryan Kesler and all he served was 8 games. Sean Avery says that someone is dating his "sloppy seconds" and he gets 6 games. Am I missing something here? How can a juvenile comment be considered as appalling as a stomp to the back of the leg?

And let's face it, the NHL needs all the attention it can possibly get at this moment. The sport has been passed over by NASCAR as the fourth major sport in the US. We're talking about guys making left hand turns being more popular than hockey. That's how far hockey as fallen in this country. I'm not saying that the NHL should be embracing idiots like Sean Avery, but at least he has people talking about the sport again.

In all honesty, maybe I shouldn't be all that surprised by the suspension. We're talking about a league that allows Todd Bertuzzi to earn a paycheck even after he ended Steve Moore's career in a premeditated attack. I guess stupidity will always remain in the NHL as long as Gary Bettman is around.