Marc Crawford caught screaming slur at referees, will face punishment

Former long-time NHL head coach Marc Crawford is under fire in the Swiss National League after screaming a "homophobic slur" at a referee during a game earlier this week.

That slur?

Listen for yourself:

Did you hear it?

The alleged slur was the words, "cock sucker".

I mean... I guess that that's homophobic, but c'mon... we all know that Crawford wasn't insulting anyone's sexually and actually suggesting that the referee engages in oral sex with another man. He could have used any number of insults there to convey the same meaning. Cock sucker, asshole, piece of shit, etc... the list goes on an on. When I read initially that Crow had used a homophobic slur my mind went to the most offending words. You know the ones... those don't belong in hockey in the year 2023. Period. 

I've played hockey my entire life and I'm not proud of some of the things I've said out on the ice. I can't recall and particular examples, but I'm 100% certain that I have used homophobic slurs and I've had them used against me. After all, I grew up playing hockey in the 80s and 90s when homophobia was running rampant, especially in a tough physical sport like hockey. But, if I ever heard my children using language like that in this day and age I would be shocked and very disappointed. Cock sucker though? I dunno... maybe I'm a dinosaur but I don't have a problem with it. Is using the word 'pussy' to describe your opponent sexist now too? Again, maybe I'm a dinosaur but I don't have a problem with it. 

Then again, maybe in 5 or 10 years time I'll reflect back on these feelings that I have/had and I'll feel just as bad about using them as I did about using openly hateful words back in the 90s. If nothing else, I'm open to learning and experiencing as much as I can about this game so that I can be a life-long fan. I find that too many hockey fans are stuck in the past and reminisce about the good old days far too often. Live and learn, people. Live and learn.