Joel Ward on Salute to the Military Night (Philip Van der Vossen)
As most of you know, last year Joel Ward scored the OTGWG to lift the Caps over the Bruins to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He didn’t accomplish that without taking criticism from racist fools on Twitter, most of whom were presumably not Caps fans.
Sadly, this year he once again was hit with a racial slur after Game 3 – but this time from a supposed Caps fan. The tweet from the twitter user – or should I say ex-twitter user – @pavanm_96 said “@JRandalWard open youre eyes next time you f***ing slave”. Ward later responded by simply quoting the tweet and writing #TrueFan at the end. The twitter account of @pavanm_96 has since been shut down. Pavam had “#Caps|#RockTheRed” in his bio.
“@pavanm_96: @jrandalward42 open youre eyes next time you fucking slave” #Truefan
— Joel Ward (@JRandalWard42) May 7, 2013
Troy Brouwer, meanwhile, jumped in and defended his teammate – but deleted the tweet shortly after. “Way over the line you pigeon. Be a fan not an ignorant prick!”
I understand that the game may get a bit stressful, especially around playoff time. While zeroing in on players’ flaws on the ice may be a way to relieve some of that stress, making racist comments about it is unacceptable. Think before you speak, Caps fans, and let’s try to be one of the classier fanbases in the league.
