Sagittarius
Darius Kasparaitis, born October 16, 1972 in Elektrènai, Lithuania, grew up like most kids in the Soviet Union…cold and hungry. At the age of 8, he began skating at the free public rinks, and a year or two later, he was learning how to play hockey. At the age of 14, he headed to Moscow to further his professional career in hockey.
Twenty years later, he finds himself in New York City, a naturalized citizen of the United States and playing for one of the original six NHL hockey clubs, the New York Rangers. This is where this story begins, 20 years after his move to Moscow to begin his career.
In the summer of 2006, a few weeks after the NY Rangers were swept by the NJ Devils in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Kasparaitis went in for his first of two surgeries of the summer. Shortly thereafter, he underwent his second procedure to fix an abdominal muscle tear (groin). After the surgery, he found that he was unable to move around or walk. He spent the remainder of the summer rehabilitating from his injury. Just two weeks before training camp began, he was able to begin walking with a little more ease for the first time.
When training camp finally arrived in September 2006, Darius was not prepared. “I had no time to recuperate…no time to regroup. Everything was at the wrong time.” From the very start, he felt like he was being penalized for not being in shape when he arrived in camp.
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Comments
Re: The Flip Side Of The Third Most Hated Player In The NHL: Exc
By Michelle Kenneth, October 2, 2007 at 17:29Thanks, Robyn.
I find it interesting that these men are taking jabs at the fact a woman wrote this, but then continue on to say that the article was good in the same sentence. What is that???
It's sexism.
The thing is, even though this industry is male-dominated, I find that my biggest supporters happen to be men in this male-dominated industry. They have been so encouraging and pushing me to write. They're the ones standing outside of Madison Square Garden giving me tips or ideas for upcoming articles. They're the ones passing this article along to the next person. They're the ones encouraging my dream b/c they see that I could make a change in this male-dominated industry.
What matters the most to me is the encouragement I'm getting from those individuals working in professional hockey...not some derogatory remark a hockey fan says about the article being written by a woman....but it's a good article!
If I had made a comment talking about how hot Darius looks or how hot he looks w/ his haircut...I would have been put in my place by every man on the face of this planet telling me how puck bunnyish that was of me. Then again...I am not that kind of person to make those comments.
There are articles I've seen in the past weeks written by women about Darius. Imagine my shock reading in the first paragraph how great his biceps looked underneath his shirt. I had to stop and say...what publication am I reading and am I reading the sports section? I couldn't believe a man would write that. I said to myself, "this has to be written by a woman." Imagine the look on my face when I realized it was a woman writing that.
I was HIGHLY disappointed to read an article that kept referencing his biceps. [rolling eyes] It was an article I would expect from a woman writing about hockey. Believe me, I hate saying that, because she just reconfirmed to the world that women only watch hockey for the HOT hockey players with missing teeth.
When a woman is writing about sports, the sports figure is not hot. He does not have hot biceps. He is a sports figure. He is not a sex object. He is an athlete. He is an individual. He is a human being. A woman has to write about that sports figure, not the sex object (unless he posed in Playgirl or something). The majority of the audience reading a sports article just happens to be MEN, not WOMEN. A man does not want to read about how HOT a player is. They want to get down to the nitty gritty. They want facts. They want quotes.
This article touches home a little more for me because I watched a lot of what happened to Darius from the get-go. My heart just went out to him. This article was my way of giving back to Darius for all the great hockey memories he's given to me over the years. I still believe in him and have faith in him. I expect to see him in the 2010 Olympics, 2014 if God allows.
Because of the timing of the release of this article, I knew I was not reporting on anything new, but I decided that fans needed to understand the situation a little better. The fans needed an explanation. Darius has tried to explain in the past few weeks to the media why he showed up to camp ill prepared last season, but he didn't completely explain the situation to the press like he had to me. I wanted the fans to really see the challenges he faced, and how he overcame them.
I've watched him play for a few years now, so I know a new Darius when I see one, and this Darius is new and improved. It is no joke that he's playing like a 20 year old. He is busting his derriere because he loves this game and he loves his job. This is his passion. He's not ready to go away quietly. He wants to play and he'll do whatever it takes to make the team.
Re: The Flip Side Of The Third Most Hated Player In The NHL: Exc
By Robyn Stubbs, October 2, 2007 at 14:54Michelle, you and I were discussing the bias men have against female sports reporters earlier, and I had to share my story with you.
I did the odd bit of sports reporting at a paper here in Vancouver, and I'll never forget the time I was sent to the head office of the BC Lions (football team) for a presser with the head coach, Wally Buono. Since I hadn't watched the game the night before, I thought I would be safe to listen in on what the other reporters were asking (not the greatest reporting technique, I know, but I had no warning I was going to be sent out on a sports-related assignment!).
Once I got there, however, I discovered only myself and one other journalist (a seasoned sports reporter, no less) had showed up. I suddenly found myself sitting across from Wally's corner office desk and unable to come up with a single intelligent thing to say. Um, awk-ward!
For all Wally or the other reporter knew, I wasn't even in the room. Neither of them even so much as glanced my way - and I was sitting two feet away! I know I didn't have anything to add to the conversation, but I resented the fact that if I did, it wouldn't have been heard - what does a girl know about football, anyway?
I actually do know a lot about football - I just didn't know a lot about the game the previous night. I left feeling entertained and annoyed by the whole process. So hats off to you, MIchelle, for being one of a precious few women with enough patience and strength to forge new ground for females in such a male-dominated field.