Don't worry, Rick Rypien: Mike Milbury's got your back
He wouldn't be Mike Milbury if he didn't manage to make a salient point and then completely undermine it with some absurd contrarian argument.
On CBC Sports, Milbury offered his take on the Rick Rypien(notes) vs. Minnesota Wild fan incident, which will culminate with an in-person NHL hearing on Friday.
He begins with a laudable examination of Rypien's emotional mindset ("Your heart is racing, your mind is on survival ...") and the altercation's aftermath ("No dripping blood. No ambulance racing the patron to the hospital ...").
He continues with a "blame the arena" rant that questions where the rollout tarp near the dressing-room tunnel and arena security were to prevent the incident. Debatable, but somewhat valid.
Ah, but then we reach the Milburyian climax of his essay, in which a 28-year-old fan who is physically throttled by a professional athlete and becomes an unwitting media sensation was ... what? Asking for it?
From CBC Sports:
So now we are left with a smug fan who has become a bit of celebrity because he got shaken and just barely stirred. He should let it go. He likely won't.
Maybe you believe James Engquist has a right to seek legal recourse for what Rypien did to him. Maybe you believe he should just let this go. But if you believe he's a "smug" fan seeking celebrity status for this by checking his legal options, then you might just be Mike Milbury.
