Following up on my previous post about the erstwhile 'Great' One, Number 99 himself, it is clear that the odium he sparked by his appearance in Boston as the ceremonial captain of Team Canada is not subsiding. His alignment with the American cause, his affinity for the man threatening our sovereignty, his obvious disdain for his country of birth, have all become part of the backlash directed against him.
Is traitor too strong a word? The Globe's Cathal Kelly has some thoughts:
It started on social media with news that Mr. Gretzky had been booed in some Canadian bars showing the game. That spread to fringe outlets using words like traitor. Which allowed mainstream outlets to use the word in quotes.
By Saturday, the contagion was airborne. Everybody wanted to talk about it, even people who don’t care about hockey. Being less inclined to cultism, they’d had their suspicions for a while.
Kelly suggests the former hockey player could have avoided all of this by doing a few things differently.
He could’ve traded out the suit jacket for a sweater. Sidney Crosby’s No. 87 would have been a nice touch. Showed he isn’t a me-me-me guy.
Emphatic gestures to the Canadian team? Sure. At the very least, don’t be seen encouraging the enemy camp [a reference to the thumbs-up he gave the American team as he walked onto the ice].
Slapped a great, big smile on his face? It gets a bad rap these days, but you can get away with just about anything with a genuine smile. It would have been better than the expression of concentrated neutrality Mr. Gretzky settled on.
His shoddy performance allowed people to see him as he really is.
He’s an other-direction carpet bagger, a golf world hanger-on and a Mar-a-Lago regular. When you see Mr. Gretzky up close now, the first word that leaps to mind is “louche.”
Thursday’s appearance sealed an impression of Mr. Gretzky most have had for years, but did not publicly express. That he’s the sort of guy who got out of here as fast as he could, and never comes back unless it’s to make a few bucks or get his tires pumped.
He’ll show up for any gala dinner, but when his best buddy the President is threatening to annex the country? Oh, you wouldn’t believe how busy he is then.
By his actions and inactions, he has destroyed the mythology that he is a good Canadian living in a foreign land. He has been unconvincing for years, but recent events have sealed his ostracism in the minds of many.
Things were probably irreparable after the first time he was pictured in a MAGA hat, gone full sycophant. But when he would not wear our uniform after wearing theirs, that was truly it.
If you will excuse an uncharacteristic crudeness on my part, Number 99 did a Number 2 on our country. The stench of that act will linger well into the future.
