The Chicago Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews had a good run earlier in June, when he was one of the first wave of NHL players who came out and made thoughtful comments about the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the country.
In many instances, Toews has been a leader in the league, speaking up when others have chosen to remain silent, doing his best to represent the sport in the best way possible. For so long, he’s refrained from really saying or doing anything truly objectionable, making him one of the NHL good guys—those players that are unproblematic and hence easy to love.
Well, throw a wrench in that image, because his recent comments to The Athletic’s Scott Powers on the coronavirus pandemic sound kinda whackadoodle!
Jonathan Toews: “Does anybody really know how and when people catch this thing? I think the best you can do is get good rest, eat healthy, take care of your body, kind of do the little things that lower your chances.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) July 13, 2020
"Everyone has their own beliefs, seeing where they stand with all this. It’s up to you to really do the right thing to be respectful of others but also take care of yourself."
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) July 13, 2020
“Does anybody really know how and when people catch this thing?” Toews said.”I think the best you can do is get good rest, eat healthy, take care of your body, kind of do the little things that lower your chances. What else can you do? Sitting around worrying about it is just going to drive you crazy. I think the NHL’s gone to great lengths to create a safe environment. It’s far from perfect at the end of the day.Everyone has their own beliefs, seeing where they stand with all this. It’s up to you to really do the right thing to be respectful of others but also take care of yourself.”
There’s so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to start.
First of all, yes, we do know how and when people catch this thing! According to SCIENCE it’s spread through droplets and transmits from person to person, hence the need to socially distance and wear masks. Here’s a good video breaking it down.
Now, is it a mystery as to why some people remain asymptomatic while others die? Yes. But that’s only a reason to exercise more caution and not less.
Toews’ also says that the best thing you can do is “get good rest, eat healthy, take care of your body,” which, like, is good advice for overall health but doesn’t really do much to help slow the spread of a contagious disease. The best things one can actually do to stop the spread of COVID are avoid close contact with too many people, wear a flipping mask and wash your hands.
What truly boggles me though is Toews somehow handwaving away science as it relates to COVID.
“Everyone has their own beliefs, seeing where they stand with all this,” he said.
There should be no beliefs about COIVD! All there should be is science! This is not like religion or hell, even issues of social justice. These are facts. These are things that are above a person’s subjective views. There’s no need to “both sides” a pandemic and it’s doubly disappointing to see that kind of thinking come from a player who has always been thoughtful in the past.
Toews carries a lot of influence in the league and if he’s got a laissez-faire attitude about this entire thing, it’s easy to see that trickle down to his teammates. I don’t think it’s too late for Toews to walk back his words and be more thoughtful in the coming weeks and months. COVID is some serious [expletive] and it would be nice if more players treated it that way.