The fact that a "series of concussions has placed" the
career of Flyers C Eric Lindros "at immediate and well-
publicized risk didn't prevent ESPN" from running a promo
this week that "portrayed him as a menacing purveyor of
violence," according to Brian Lewis of the N.Y. POST. The
promo, which features narrator Susan Sarandon speaking of
the "unwritten rules" of hockey, appeared on ESPN2 Monday
night, "well after Lindros' career had been deemed, at best,
tenuous." Lewis calls it "sad" that Lindros, "given his
history as a multiple concussions sufferer, would allow
himself to appear in such a come-on," and adds that for
ESPN, a network that "prides itself on being alert to
current sports conditions," to run "such a promo at such a
time in Lindros' life is pathetic" (N.Y. POST, 3/31).
GOOD, CLEAN FUN? In Vancouver, Ed Willes writes that in
an effort "to tap into the ... Gen X market," the NHL and
NHLPA have licensed a video game to EA Sports called "NHL
Rock the Rink," and "key features" of the game "you can
enjoy" include, "hockey with no rules slowing you down or
limiting your fights. Pair up goon against goon or have the
big guy lay a pile driver, straight-arm or clothesline on a
finesse player for a quick and painful annihilation of the
opponent." Willes writes that while the NHL, NHLPA and EA
Sports "insist it's all good, clean fun," the NHL, which is
in a "prolonged public-image nightmare," is "endorsing a
video game which reinforces the sport's worst stereotypes
and even creates new ones." But NHL VP/Communications
Bernadette Mansur added the game is "not a replication of
the NHL game. The violence is actually very cartoonish.
You don't look at the game and think you're sitting in
Montreal watching the Canadiens." EA spokesperson Trudy
Muller: "There's no reference to violence in the game. It's
aggressive and hard-hitting" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 3/31).
