Beware, male athletes. The "toxic masculinity police" and their Orwellian media friends are watching you. And reading your lips.
If you're unfamiliar with the term "toxic masculinity," it's what leftists describe as a cultural construct requiring men to be strong, devoid of feelings, mysogynistic and "homophobic." It's the "homophobic" part they seem to focus on most with professional athletes.
You may remember the big uproar in 2011 when Kobe Bryant of the Lakers' blew up at an NBA referee and called him a "faggot." The "toxic masculinity police" went crazy. ESPN showed the video in slow motion over and over, blurring his mouth lest anyone be able to read his lips. The NBA fined him $100,000 -- or $16,666 per letter of the word faggot.
And just this summer, Kevin Pillar of the Toronto Blue Jays' baseball team called a rival pitcher a fag. The tag-teaming LGBT and media allies again rose up with righteous indignation and said they had to rid baseball of toxic masculinity. The team suspended him for two games.
Backlash from the media and LGBT pressure groups forced these two athletes to cower through sniveling apologies. Media sheeple followed in line, bleating LGBT victimhood and the intolerance of bigots.
Flash forward. Cyd Zeigler is the co-founder of Outsports.com -- connected to SB Nation -- and author of the book Fair Play, which "explores how LGBT athletes have claimed their rightful place in sports." He's also one of the "toxic masculinity police" and a person who suspected that Andrew Shaw, winger for the Montreal Canadiens' hockey team, yelled a "gay slur" from the penalty box in a recent game against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Shaw was already on thin ice with these "cops" for "using a gay slur" last year and he wasn't going to easily skate by such a serious allegation.
Like most organizations fearful of LGBT threats and pressure, the NHL whirled into action, launching an internal investigation. It was much ado about nothing. The penalty box attendant was interviewed, along with two other people. The conclusion of the league? Not guilty.
As Rush Limbaugh often says of the Left, though, it's the seriousness of the allegation that trumps truth. So the mere thought that Shaw might have uttered the other f word drove Zeigler and the "toxic masculinity cops" to press forward. Where there's smoke, there's surely got to be homophobic fire. In a story posted on SB Nation's Outsports.com, he explains:
Yet to the untrained eye, there was still doubt. Watching Shaw’s lips without audio, screaming at someone for putting him in the penalty box, it certainly looked like he said “f***ing fag.”
So I decided to ask a professional lip reader to take a look.
When Shannon Sneed Tambolleo first saw the above video of Shaw’s rant from the penalty box, she cringed. She could understand why people had arrived at the conclusion they did.
But lip reading is an art, not a science, and she couldn’t reach any conclusions without seeing more.
Tambolleo studied the moving lips over and over looking for the desired smoking word and concluded there's no "there" there. Robbing the fascists' hopes of launching another firestorm of protest.
So Shaw escaped further attack by the Left and its media comrades. But the lesson was clear and the message served: utter the words fag or faggot at a sporting event and you'll be "busted" by the "toxic masculinity police." You don't even have to be "convicted" of your alleged "crime." Mere accusations are enough for these Orwellians to go after you. So dummy up and get with the LGBT program, if you know what's good for you.
Be very careful what you say, athletes. They're watching you. And reading your lips.
