GREG GUTFELD: Wokeness is taking over hockey and baseball, but pride can't be mandated

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Gutfeld: Politics is destroying hockey

'Gutfeld!' panelists react to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suggesting the league will reevaluate its Pride-themed jersey nights.

So this week, the commissioner of the National Hockey League, or NHL, said they will evaluate whether to continue Pride Nights, where players are expected to wear rainbow-colored jerseys to show support for the LGBTQ community. 

He says, "Players may not feel comfortable wearing the uniform as a form of endorsement," and he calls it a "distraction." So once again, like a virus, wokeness invades an arena and creates unnecessary conflict — and not the fun kind of conflict.

To think politics is destroying the sweet wholesomeness of hockey. But it's true, this obligatory virtue signal is now forcing some players to defend their beliefs. 

Earlier this year, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov made headlines when he refused to wear a Pride Night jersey, citing his faith. He didn't condemn anybody or try to tell anybody how to live their lives. He just refused to participate. I bet he respects everybody's choices.

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IVAN PROVOROV: And I respect everybody's choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That's all I'm going to say.

Still from 2019 "Hockey is for Everyone" NHL pride month ad. (NHLPA/YouTube)

And that's all anybody should need to say in the United States of America. But he was condemned as a homophobe anyway. It was quickly followed by a lifetime ban of Broadway musicals and shopping at Pottery Barn. 

Then there's Eric and Marc Staal from the Florida Panthers, who sat out warm-ups during last week's Pride Night game. They too cited religion, but also said, "We carry no judgment on how people choose to live their lives... All people should be welcome in... hockey." 

And the entire Chicago Blackhawks team decided against wearing pride jerseys because its Russian players don't want to be killed when they return home for embracing a lifestyle that Putin doesn't — even if Putin does love riding bareback and shirtless. Tell me that's not gay. Yeah, man, please don't kill me. 

So now you got at least six NHL teams deciding to nix the pride jerseys altogether. Now, I really don't care what they wear. In a perfect world, they'd all be shirtless. But what a stark contrast to the wimps at Major League Baseball who bowed to the woke when they moved the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver because activists had called the new voting law racist and it wasn't. 

But we should have known that MLB would have no balls ever since they started taking steroids. But libs seem to always drop the gloves when they hear someone won't conform. But now maybe that's over because it went too far. 

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The fact is, the word "pride" has been tainted by the relentless demand to celebrate it. Pride can't be mandated. How can you be proud of something you can't control? It's a deadly sin for a reason. Instead, be proud of what you do, not who you do or who you are. Sure, I may be a 10, but I was born this way. 

But you should see what I can do with my uvula. See the difference there? It's what I do, not who I am, that matters. And really, why expect players to express loyalty to something that they might not believe in? You're not changing anybody's minds. You're just making them resent you for pushing them around. 

I mean, do you really think anybody will stop being a bigot thanks to a different jersey? That's like expecting "The View" to be slowed down by a nutritional label on a bag of Doritos. Nope, the people forcing this on you expect you to be afraid, like when Brian Stelter asks to use your bathroom. It'll never die. 

Oskar Lindblom #23 of the San Jose Sharks skates during warmups wearing special Pride Night jerseys. ((Photo by Kavin Mistry/NHLI via Getty Images))

Look, we all believe in live and let live, but enough of the compulsory oaths, pride days, pride months, replacing pronouns, activist preying on confused kids, the bullied are now the bullies and your obedience is their lunch money. 

But look, there's a fundamental human reaction when you're pressured to do something, and that is not to do it. Even when it's right, anything that smacks of forced behavior always ticks us off. It's why I hated school or when Larry makes us empty our pockets when we leave his house. 

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At Fox, there are days when the hosts are asked to wear a specific color to represent an illness. "Wear red," reads an email, "It's for heart disease." "Wear pink," reads another for breast cancer, "And please bring a banana to commemorate Peyronie's disease."

But I never take part, mainly because I am a jerk, but also everyone else does it often without questioning or perhaps caring, so I think it's lame — and there's no color or jersey for that.