Transcript: Episode 60

Hi, everyone, welcome to this dicta sports podcast. I’m your host, Jashvina. Shah, it’s nice to speak to you all for the first time. And who knows how many months, I know it’s been a while. First off Happy World, juniors Eve. This is kind of this is probably going to be short. But I really wanted to talk about world juniors before it starts. I was actually going to record this yesterday, but then I got sick. If you can’t tell by my voice, I’m still kind of under the weather. So just bear with me. Obviously, the podcast is kind of in hiatus because of the book evident I did send our manuscript in about a month ago, which are a little over a month ago. But there’s still a lot of work to do with that and edit. So it’s been pretty busy, but in a good way. I hope everyone’s you know, hopefully, you all are staying safe and healthy. You know, I know this is just a horrible time for everyone. So and you know, speaking of it being a horrible time for everyone, I’d really want to talk about oral juniors and what the hell is happening with World juniors? So for those of you who follow my podcast, or follow me, but don’t necessarily know what will juniors is, or doesn’t really follow hockey very closely. World juniors is basically like, the most important thing in the world, to people who I don’t know to people who follow hockey people of all prospects like, and it’s the one time of the year we’re, like grown adults get way too invested in the outcomes of things that 18 and 19 year olds are doing. Because it’s, it’s ridiculous. But it’s basically the World Championship for under 20 players, for players who are under 20 years old. And hockey. And it’s really big. Like, it’s especially if you cover prospects, but it’s just like, really, really big. It’s especially like the US Canada rivalry. But you also you have a lot of kids and major juniors and you have a lot of kids for college hockey that are playing. So for me, it’s important because I mean, you know, these are the players that I cover. These are the players that I knew when I was in school. And so I’ve always been really, really keyed in with World juniors. And it is my favorite sporting event period. Like I care more about world juniors and I care about the Olympics, or any other hockey tournament, except for maybe the Frozen Four, but I don’t know if that counts, we’re just gonna table off for now. But anyway, I love the world juniors now. Unfortunately, like I mentioned earlier, world, juniors is still happening. It is world juniors Eve, and it’s it’s going to start tomorrow, which is fantastic, because everything is just not good right now. And you know, I mean, the world juniors has essentially been falling apart there are Alright, so here’s the deal. COVID is basically, you know, wreaking havoc, obviously, with these teams and with these players so you know, Team Canada was ended up being quarantined because someone had tested positive. You know, there are Germany, I think had eight players test positive, like the teams were sharing flights on the way over to Canada, because Canada is hosting this year, which Canada wasn’t like they had to change it because they still wanted to have world juniors, which is inexplicable to me why, but they’re so obsessed with fitting it into this timeline of doing it the same time it happens every year. Even though COVID is just spreading like crazy throughout these teams and throughout these players, and I can’t no world juniors is always like, so here’s the thing about sports, which I’m I’m sure most of you know, I think it’s very relevant in hockey. I’m sure it’s relevant in other sports, but it’s so political. And I don’t mean political isn’t everyone supports Trump. I mean, political isn’t. You have to be nice with the governing bodies, or your chances at playing on a national team are slim to none. And I mean, if you, you can’t, you can’t go if you’re a player and say, Hey, I’m not going to play in your tournament. Like, I can go to USA hockey and be like, no, because guess what, that’s not going to end well for me. So that’s not an option. Players can. And I was actually writing a story about this from a kings hockey because I was talking to Ivy League players and they’re not playing and, you know, it’s really easy to sit here and say like, Okay, um, you don’t play hockey because it’s not good. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, which is true. It’s not but it’s not up to the kids. Like you can’t tell, you know, a kid who’s playing who’s, I don’t know, 17 1819 years old, who’s playing who’s been drafted, who hasn’t been drafted but wants to play after, you know, after they’re done with major juniors or after they’re done with school or wherever they are, who wants to continue their career because if they don’t play For a year, that’s it, their career is over. Like they don’t have a choice. You know, and I was talking to Harvard’s goaltender Mitch Mitchell Gibson, and he was, you know, I was telling him the same thing, like, you know, he’s a goalie he needs to develop, he can’t afford to miss a year. You know, you just can’t do that. Because you’re the whole, the whole hockey is so competitive. And everyone Pun intended is looking for that extra edge that, you know, people go to all which is a whole other story. But people go through all these things like skill camps, and you know, whatever crazy stuff they do, they pay money for and they’re obsessed with like specific gyms and like, they need to have all these like workout routines, and they need to be able to do this. And then each workout in the summer, like there are all these things that people need to do to be competitive and to be at the top of their game. And unless you’re like, I don’t know, a generational star. And I mean, like Wayne Gretzky, I don’t mean like how now every year, we seem to have a generational star, which isn’t how that works. But even then, like you can’t miss a year, but you just can’t be isn’t your whole future is going to get waylaid. And what you wanted out of your future is going to happen. And you can’t tell you know, you can’t tell an 18 year old kid who wants to play hockey professionally, like, you shouldn’t play because it’s safe for everyone if you don’t, but you need to make that decision. You can’t ask them to make that decision. You know, the adults have to be the ones to make that decision. Unfortunately, we seem to not have adults at the IHS because no one’s making that decision. No one’s putting their foot down and saying this tournament can’t happen. It at least cannot happen right now, at this moment. can it happen at a later date? Possibly. But it there’s absolutely no reason why right now, when cases especially are spiking. Here, I mean, I’m in the US in the US, but in Canada to bars where they’re hosting the tournament. There’s no reason for it to be being held right now. Like it’s absolutely crazy. And like forget about the players and not being able to say no, or having to go or, you know, what about the staff that also doesn’t have a choice in this, you know, the staff is also being put at risk. And you know, we talk so much about people, not we but you know, people like to say oh, they’re athletes will be fine. But one, we don’t know that too. We know that’s not actually true, they can very well not be fine. But we don’t know other long lasting effects getting COVID might have. And for like, at the end of this at the end of all of this, what the hell is the point of going through all this and all the quarantines and all the rules and all the testing protocols for a tournament that’s going to be half assed anyway. Because you’re not even going to have the same caliber of players in the same amount of players or teams that you would normally have. What is the point of doing that? You’re putting everybody at risk, you’re making everyone go through hell. For something that’s not even what world juniors is, whereas you could have just waited for everyone safety and for the integrity of the tournament, if that’s what you care more about them people safety and hosted at a later date. It is absolutely unconscionable to get up there and say that 18 and 19 year old kids have to play in this tournament. And like I said before, I mean, no, technically they don’t, quote unquote, have to, but they can’t say no, they really can’t. And again, it’s everyone’s looking for the edge, that extra edge, you need everything you can get. It’s not as simple to say it’s like, it’s not safe for me by you can’t really do that. I mean, and you know what, like, I was a college kid, and I cover games. Well, I had like the flu and stuff like that. Because, one, I loved it. And I was a college, I was kid, you know, like I was gonna do anything. Like I tell people this example all the time. Like, you can’t ask a kid to not do something that they want to do. Okay, let’s say that they Okay, safety aside. Let’s say that they still want to go, you know, I went scuba diving with a blocked ear. And I almost died. Because I was 20 years old. And I was at the Great Barrier Reef and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And there was no way that if you gave me that choice, which they did, they gave me that choice. They said, See, if you feel comfortable doing this, that I was going to say no to going scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef. It’s the same thing. They’re not going to say no, if it’s something they really want to do, even if it’s not safe for them, their kids, someone has to make that decision and it shouldn’t be up to them. It has to be up to the ihf to say this isn’t safe, we’re not doing it. And for some reason, no matter how many people catch COVID they’re just married to the fact that we’re gonna have the world juniors and it’s, it’s really unconscionable to be putting 1819 year old kids through this. Like, I mean, you shouldn’t be putting anyone through this but they’re kids. They’re really kids. You know, and as a His world juniors is crazy with like, sorry, I shouldn’t say crazy world juniors is like wild in terms of like adults, you know, harassing teenage kids online. Like, seriously, like, it’s bad if you’re not, if you’re not familiar with juniors like it gets bad. You know, like, if Canada doesn’t win gold, like it’s bad. But I mean, you know, these kids are like, You’re, you’re quarantining them, and then, you know, some kids are being quarantined, and then you’re sending them home, because you’re cutting them from Camp like that happened. And like, how horrible is that? You come here, someone gets infected with COVID. We make you quarantine for 14 days, and then we cut you anyway. Like, it’s just terrible, you know, or you’ve kids that are getting sick and have to quarantine and can’t play. And it’s like, you know, you have kids, it’s just ridiculous. I mean, then you even look at like, here, you know, looking at the US team, like there was a positive test at BU, within the team, be a player, a member of the staff. And because of that three kids who were going to go to camp couldn’t go. And it’s like, you know, maybe not all of them had a shot at the team. But, you know, for the they still they’re not gonna get that chance. And this could have all been avoided. You know, and looking at Wisconsin, you know, Caulfield’s there Cole Caulfield is there, but Wisconsin hasn’t played in a while because of positive tests. And things are not great at Wisconsin right now. And it’s just, you know, like, the borders are close, the borders are closed, and they’re making all these exceptions for a tournament that really does no one any good whatsoever. Like at all. And I can’t, I mean, I love world juniors more than anything in the world. Like, I love it to death. But I shouldn’t even say that, I shouldn’t even phrase it like that. But I care a lot about the tournament. And I love it. I do, but how can we be so selfish? How can the ihf be so selfish, and you know, I keep seeing people out there, like, they’ll be fine, but it’s not just their lives, you know, it’s the lives of them, possibly their families, definitely the staff. But again, like we don’t know, the the effects is gonna have and if they get really sick, and you know, the hospitals already overburdened. And that’s the thing like I, you know, I have, I have friends, my parents have friends who are doctors, and you know, knowing them get seeing them get sick, because other people aren’t taking precautions, and other people are increasing the spread of COVID. And seeing them get sick and having to pay for someone else’s selfishness is really hard. It’s really hard to see. And I mean, there’s just there’s no reason that the tournament should be being helped right now. Like, at all. It’s ridiculous. And it’s just, it’s not safe. And it doesn’t even make sense because the tournament’s not even gonna be like, you know, it’s not even a real tournament anymore, because they’re like, yeah, we need we need eight teams during the tournament. But it’s just, it’s not like I don’t know, I can’t I mean, I know because I’ve been in the space for so long that athletes are treated like commodities. And I and I know because I talked extensively about this in the book, athletes are treated like commodities. And think at the end of the day, like, you know, you look at something like kids are gonna play for concussions. You know, they’re gonna lie about it and play their concussions because they love playing the game and because it’s what they’ve been taught to do and because the top that if they don’t play, then they risk not having a future in this war. In the sport, sorry. So I mean, obviously, they’re still gonna go try and play it world juniors, but then you know, what about, you know, we love to say that sports is great for kids and their mental health, which is the argument I see a lot of people use now. But like, Listen, can you explain to me In what world it’s good for players mental health to go to world juniors camp, get stuck in quarantine and then be cut from camp and sent home? Like, how is that? How? You know, and for the kids who are genuinely scared of catching COVID How is that safe? how, you know, like, teams were sharing flights on the way to Canada. Not great. You know, Germany has like a it’s like ridiculous, the amount of positive tests that are floating around and the likelihood I just, I don’t know like it’s it could be like an even bigger disaster than it already is in terms of people being sick. And I really do not want to see that. And it makes me think of, I mean, it’s not anywhere the same thing, but it makes me think of the outdoor game. And we’ll walk with got her while playing in it. And it’s like, nothing’s like that they do because they want to do them or because they think it looks cool or because like, that’s just how, you know, hockey organizations run things like, but they don’t care about the actual safety of the players. And I mean, I can’t even please don’t get me started on resources being used, and you know, where they’re being allocated. Because, first of all, I don’t think any sport should be being played right now. Not for anything else for the fact that the resources need to be going to society as a whole and not to like sports teams to play or like professional sports. It’s, it’s just, I’m worried about the players, I’m worried about the staff. I mean, the easy decision, and it would have been like a sensible decision to just say, we’re gonna postpone it, not even, we’re gonna cancel it, just we’re gonna postpone it. Because right now, at this point in time, the way cases are spiking, you cannot hold it. But and then, you know, sports likes to go above and beyond in terms of the rules don’t apply to us. So we’re gonna get special permission and all that garbage. And it’s really upsetting. It’s really upsetting to see celebrities like this being taken. Given that, we see cases spiking. And given, like I mentioned, you know, the people who work at the hospital, hospitals and our essential workers and our frontline workers whose lives are being put in danger, because of other people. It’s really unconscionable. It’s just, it’s negligent and unconscionable, and I, I can’t believe it’s happening, because this is what hockey is, but like, you know, for me, I just feel like I’m gonna forget, like, I’m not gonna watch because I will watch but it’s like, you shouldn’t be here. You know, how can you enjoy, like, as a fan can enjoy it. I’m watching as a reporter, so it’s just, it’s bad. But I wanted to share some thoughts about how I feel about world juniors because, Ah, well, long sigh everything is terrible, pretty much. But I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. I do have an episode that I had recorded with Leah Frazier, which hopefully i’ll post sometime next week. Other than that, I think the podcast is going to kind of be sort of, not doesn’t have it won’t have a set schedule until the book is like really finished, because there’s just a lot of different look. Oh my god, I can’t even speak. There’s a lot to do now in terms of, you know, editing and stuff like that. And, you know, who knows I have a puppy for those of you who don’t know, so, I don’t know, everything’s pretty tied up right now. But anyway, I appreciate you all still sticking with me through all of this. And for listening to this, and if you’re not familiar of world, juniors, I mean, it’s a fantastic tournament. I love it. I’m very sad to see what’s happening right now. And I really just hope that everyone else who’s there, stay safe about it. Your questions, comments, concerns if you’d like to see a topic spoken about or addressed. Please hit me up. My Twitter is at ice hockey stick. Easy to remember. And yeah, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. I guess for those of you who do celebrate Happy Christmas Eve Merry Christmas Eve. I don’t know. I celebrate Christmas but I’m not Christian. So there you go. Happy Hanukkah. Happy. Whatever you celebrate. I celebrate the volley. It happened a month ago. So hey, but have a good New Year. Hopefully 2021 will be much better than 2020