Katie Strang is one of the best investigative journalists and writers in the sports industry, and she proved it once again on Friday when she published a fantastic article on The Athletic about Mike Milbury’s unacceptable comment on the air on NBC on Thursday night.
During the broadcast of Game 5 between the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals, play by play announcer John Forslund was waxing poetically about the NHL’s “bubble” in Toronto and how great of an environment it is for the players so that they can properly focus and get down to work. So what does Milbury do? He butts in with a ridiculous comment about how “there are no women around to distract you.”
Strang could not believe her ears, thought carefully before replying to the tweet. And then wrote this wonderful piece. She manages to knock out Milbury in the best way possible, with intelligence, strength and pure honesty.
“Think about how insulting and insidious those comments are. Does Milbury not understand how many women probably were integral in making sure this whole bubble hockey experiment works? From the league? The NHLPA? The NHL clubs? His own broadcast? There are women doing advance scouting and using data analysis to ensure their teams are prepared to play. There are women working to handle every logistical nightmare within this bizarre environment and every awkward Zoom press conference we see. There are likely women gathering, distilling and providing him with the very information he uses each broadcast!
“And let’s not forget those who are sacrificing and doing the yeoman’s work outside the bubble, too. There are women who are balancing school and work while plagued by uncertainty about a partner who will be gone for an unknown length of time and incurring risks we probably have not even begun to understand. There are women who are supporting entire families on their own without a partner to help shoulder the exhausting work that entails, especially amid a global pandemic.
“Women are not distractions. They are essential.”
Take that Milbury and I hope you remain on the floor.
NBC announced that Milbury will not work Game 6 between the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers Friday night and also mentioned that it will announce their commentary teams for this weekend’s games tomorrow morning.
Let’s hope Milbury’s mouth is too sore by Strang’s hit to speak ever again on an NHL broadcast.
