Basic Human Decency vs. Mitchell Miller and the Boston Bruins
I was going to write about the Michigan Wolverine’s men’s hockey team, and frankly, I wish I were still doing that. That would be a far more pleasant thing to write about. Instead, I feel obligated to write about Mitchell Miller and the Boston Bruins instead. This is a horrifying story, one that no one should have to discuss in the first place. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me enlighten you. Mitchell is a piece of shit who has a long history of bullying. He is most famous for committing a hate crime at age 14. Here’s what AZ Central wrote about it:
Four years ago, Miller admitted in an Ohio juvenile court to bullying Meyer-Crothers, who was tricked into licking a candy push pop that Miller and another boy had wiped in a bathroom urinal. Meyer-Crothers had to be tested for hepatitis, HIV and STDs, but the tests came back negative, according to a police report.
Meyer-Crothers, also 18 and who now lives in Detroit, said Miller had taunted him for years, constantly calling him “brownie” and the “N-word,” while repeatedly hitting him while growing up in the Toledo suburb. Other students at their junior high confirmed to police that Miller repeatedly used the “N-word” in referring to Meyer-Crothers.
“He pretended to be my friend and made me do things I didn’t want to do,” Meyer-Crothers said in a phone interview. “In junior high, I got beat up by him. … Everyone thinks he’s so cool that he gets to go to the NHL, but I don’t see how someone can be cool when you pick on someone and bully someone your entire life.”
Mitchell made Isaiah Meyer-Crothers lick the push pop at age 14. Because this incident is often the only thing reported, many losers have tried to defend Mitchell by saying, “it was one incident done six years ago as a teen. Isn’t it time to move on and forgive? You can’t hold a reckless act as a teenager against him forever.” Here are some things these professional victims who all probably were saying “White Lives Matter” during the BLM protests in 2020 conveniently forget:
The victim makes it clear he was bullied for years by Mitchell. I mean, in the article, he literally says, “I don’t see how someone can be cool when you pick on someone and bully someone your entire life.” This wasn’t a one-time thing. This was a life-long pattern.
Most people don’t commit hate crimes at age 14. If you think that’s acceptable, or you did one, you are a heinous person, and get fucked, unless you eventually grew up and made amends with the victim and their family and friends. I’m sorry, but a 14-year-old absolutely knows better than to do all that shit. If they don’t, they’re a sociopath or extremely fucking stupid. Either way, you don’t want that person anywhere near the NHL.
The victimizer, Mitchell, never reached out to the victim or his family, according to Joni Meyer-Crothers, the mother of Isaiah, in a recent article by The Athletic. Mitchell feels no remorse and has never tried to make anything right. So, why should he get a second chance? Maybe instead of centering the victimizer in these types of situations, we should center those who were victimized instead. Just a thought.
So, why is all this important again? Well, the Boston Bruins signed Mitchell and then, as of November 6 (when I am writing this), have parted ways with him. They only did this once their players and a very large chunk of the hockey fanbase revolted. They clearly weren’t expecting such a large backlash, and have come up with the lamest excuses possible for signing him in the first place. The NHL loves to talk about how “Hockey is for everyone,” and then shit like this happens. Now, to be fair to the NHL, they actually did make a strong stand against this and said that Mitchell wasn’t eligible to play in the league. A rare NHL win. But still, the fact that any club in the league felt that they could possibly get away with this is disgusting and shows how toxic hockey culture truly is. Nobody that gives one shit about basic human decency would even consider for a second to sign Mitchell Miller. If you refuse to grow up and make amends with the victims, assuming the victims are even willing for such a thing to happen, then you shouldn’t be allowed to have the priviledge of playing hockey. Plain and simple. The victims are what matters here, not the talented hockey player who is a shitty human being. What he wants doesn’t matter one damn bit. Only the victim and his family. That’s it. So, to end all this and help keep this centered on Isaiah, here is the final quote from his mom in the article from The Athletic:
“Isaiah is just victimized over and over again because Mitchell’s a good hockey player,” she said. “So it’s like you don’t have to show that you’ve grown and you’re remorseful because you’re a good hockey player, so that trumps everything Isaiah’s went through. So it minimizes what Isaiah’s went through and makes him feel like he went through everything in vain. That his life doesn’t matter. And his life does matter. His life matters significantly.”