Charles Barkley got it right in the early ’90s when he said- “athletes aren’t role models.”
Right now, many parents of kids with #88 Chicago Blackhawks sweaters are learning or re-learning this lesson. A lot of grown up adults are getting a re-education as well. ย What’s even sadder is the fact that it’s Patrick Kaneย providing the teachable moment.
This isn’t “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
This is “Kaner.”
He’s a man who was already arrested for an assault. He’s a person possessing a party reputation befitting the Social Chair of the wildest fraternity on campus.
It’s a very bad idea to make an athlete your role model, but if you insist on doing so, Patrick Kaneย was about as terrible a choice as you could have made.ย The Buffalo News published an eye-opening article on Sunday which followed up the huge story which broke Thursday morning.
An unnamed woman is claiming Kane raped her in his waterfront mansion the very same night that he met her in a Buffalo nightclub. The report includes bite marks, scratches and a second witness supporting the accuser’s story.
This situation looks awful for everybody involved, the Blackhawks organization, Patrick Kane, and most importantly, the unnamed woman and alleged victim.ย An excerpt from The Buffalo News:ย
Shortly after she and her friend arrived at Kaneโs home on Old Lakeshore Road, the accuser alleges that she went by herself into another room, where Kane followed her, overpowered her and raped her, the sources said.
The woman left Kaneโs home with her friend and used a cellphone to call a relative immediately after the alleged attack. She then went to a local hospital for examination, and police were called afterward, the sources said.
As we wait and see how this plays out in the court of law, let’s remember a very important important issue raised by Tim Baffoe of CBS Chicago:
A lack of charge, prosecution, or guilty verdict over sexual assault does not mean sexual assault did not occur. Itโs entirely possible no wrongdoing on Kaneโs part went on, but innocent until proven guilty applies to this particular celebrity avoiding jail time. It does not exonerate him from what he and his accuser know happened between them.
See Bill Cosby.
See Jameis Winston.
Most Importantly, see Bobby Hull.
If I have to explain the first one, you’re living under a rock. If I have to explain the second name, you’re extremely naive about the motives and methods of the Florida State University police and Tallahassee police. ย If I have to explain the third gentleman, who’s statue adorns the very same home arena of Kane’s, I suggest you read this link.
No member of this unholy trinity- Cosby, Winston and Hull, have ever been convicted of a violent crime against a woman. Patrick Kane might beat the rap here, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. Let’s look at what we already knew about him before this case broke.
Several years ago, Patrick Kane took a picture of himself with two women that he deemed to be mediocre looking. The snapshot, along with several other “risque” photos of Kane and the team, went viral, and Kaner (that affectionate nickname needs to be retired now after this) made t-shirts of the photo for him and his buddies when they went binge-drinking on Cinco de Mayo 2012 .
The bender, conducted at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, included t-shirts that read a Spanish phrase which:
1.) ย calls these young women average looking and
2.) not so subtly implies that he had a three-way with them.
These Patrick Kane party photos also broke the internet.
Many of us laughed at the time and excused his behavior with one, two or perhaps a whole troika of cliches: “boys will be boys,” “hey, we did similarly stupid stuff like that when we were that age” and “Kane is young, he’ll grow out of these youthful indiscretions.”
Still, not of it was model behavior, and this is why Patrick Kane wasn’t a role model to begin with.
To be fair, some of these photos were legitimately funny, and none of this behavior was illegal. It was uncouth, classless, and conveyed a socially regressive attitude towards women, but all of it was legal. (Actually, those last three adjectives perfectly describe Donald Trump, a man who was emerged as the runway favorite to land the Republican Presidential nomination.
Today, these pictures aren’t funny, and neither was a Patrick Kane incident in 2009. The Blackhawks star was arrested for assaulting a taxicab driver over an argument for the minimal monetary sum of 20 cents. In that incident, Kane and his cousin pleaded guilty to ย a much lesser charge of disorderly conduct, a noncriminal violation. It occurred in the wee hours of Sunday morning, following a long Saturday night of partying.
The following Monday, team USA training camp opened to a media circus in the far west suburbs. The event began with Kane giving his mea culpa and owning up to what he had done.
You became aware of who Patrick Kane might be that morning six summers ago. Kane gave you another glimpse into his character three summers later in Madison, Wisconsin.ย What he’s being charged with now is extremely serious, and whether the outcome is prison time for Patrick Kane, or complete acquittal, one reality remains the same:ย Patrick Kane should not be iconic to anyone; man or woman, adult or child.
Kane may or may not have a court date in his future. The court of public opinion is already in session, and the jury is currently deliberating.
Paul M. Banksย owns, operates and writesย The Sports Bank.net, which is part of theย FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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