Pete, did you honestly just suggest that because Simmonds had a banana peel thrown at him, he gets to call someone else a faggot? You realize ANOTHER young gay man killed himself a few weeks ago because of bullying, right? You've got to be kidding.

I suggested that it should be part of the consideration in the punishment decision. I didn't suggest he gets a free pass. But yes, I'll cut a guy a little slack under the recent circumstances. Not to would be insensitive. Sure, he was being insensitive, but it doesn't mean the recent event should have no consideration in a decision.

Not to mention, if this was the first time this ever happened in the NHL, then sure, suspend the guy and set a precedent. But if Brendan Shanahan wants to mic every player in order to hear what they say in every scuffle, more power to him.

I guess in the end, I don't care, fine him equivalent to what Kobe got fined based on salary, but get any suspension talk out of here. And people are throwing that idea around. That's absurd.

What? Where in your life have you ever seen that sort of logic applied? "Oh, yeah, I robbed that 7-11, but come on, my girlfriend was cat-called the other day."

Except we're not talking about anything illegal, so....

When have you ever seen that sort of logic applied, anywhere?

"Oh, it's okay, he only called those men 'faggots' and insinuated that they are sub-human because someone called him the n-word the other day, no worries."

All the time, Mickey. Say a kid in school is acting out 2 weeks after his dad just up and left his family. Is his dad not leaving he and his family not grounds for sympathy?

Or I show up to work next week after I find out my dad has been cheating on my mom for 4 years. If my performance lowers for a few weeks, is what happened to my family by what my dad did not somewhat a fair reason for my lower performance?

I don't know about you man, but I've never been a black man in an almost all white lifestyle and had a banana thrown at me in front of 15,000 people.

Like I said, to not have some consideration of what happened to him would be wrong.

Yes, it's entirely appropriate to compare a kid acting out or performing poorly at work to a grown man saying "faggot" in a derogatory way. Hey Pete, here's an idea: go call someone a faggot at work, see how that goes for you. See if anyone cares what happened to you a week ago.

I don't know about you, but I don't hate my co-workers in the same way an NHL player hates Sean Avery. Not to mention, the analogy you made doesn't even apply to what I was trying to say. Didn't you graduate already?

It's affect, you fucking clown.

How about I go even this far, maybe Mickey will agree with his.

It would be not necessarily "fair" for the NHL to use the incident of the banana throwing as a consideration in their decision making, but in a way, part of human nature. When someone's pretty down, you give them a bit of a break.