Badlands Media will always put out our content for free, but you can support us by becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter. Help our collective of citizen journalists take back the narrative from the MSM. We are the news now.
On the evening of January 17th, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov did what so few have done thus far in pro sports: He took a stand.
The event in question took place before the Flyers were to host the Anaheim Ducks in which both teams wear jerseys showing their support for the LGBTQ agenda during the pregame warm-ups. Provorov chose not to take part in what has become nothing short of a spectacle sweeping across pro sports.
The LGBTQ agenda has crept into every vector of professional sports, with the establishment using Pride Nights and other events in an attempt to force their players to go get involved in the LGBTQ community. The problem is that many of these players are not given a choice to participate. In most cases, they are forced to for fear of becoming a target of cancel culture.
And this is, of course just a smaller segment of the overall agenda that is sweeping the country. Whether it be BLM advocacy, wearing masks or getting vaccinated, or being force-fed an LGBTQ agenda that the majority of the country is against, these agendas have all been heavily pushed in sports. And, if attendance and TV ratings are any indication, Americans are sick of it, and are getting very close to cancelling the cancelers.
What we saw from Ivan Provorov is just a small snippet of what sports need: people of influence in these institutions to take a stand, and to stand firm in their beliefs and convictions.
When asked why he chose not to participate in the Pride Night event, Provorov said, “I respect everybody and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That’s all I’m going to say."
Flyer’s Head Coach John Tortorella—no stranger to controversy himself—came out in defense of his star defenseman saying, “I think the organization has sent out a release regarding the beliefs that we have; it was really a great night. With Provy, he is being true to himself and to his religion. This has to do with his beliefs and his religion. That is one thing I respect about Provy; he is always true to himself, so that’s where we’re at with that."
He would then go on to say that he did not believe that Provorov’s actions warranted the player being benched, and that he was proud of Provorov for standing his ground.
Of course, now we see the cancel culture vultures swarming around Provorov, Tortorella and the Flyers organization.
To no one’s surprise, The Philadelphia Flyers mentioned nothing of Provorov’s faith regarding the incident:
“The Philadelphia Flyers organization is committed to inclusivity and is proud to support the LGBTQ+ community. Many of our players are active in their support of local LGBTQ+ organizations, and we were proud to host our annual Pride Night again this year. The Flyers will continue to be strong advocates for inclusivity and the LGBTQ+ community." — Flyers Statement
Ivan Provorov is Russian Orthodox, and refused to participate in the Flyer’s LGBTQ Night out of respect for his own beliefs and faith. Seeing the Flyers choose not to defend their player’s right to religious freedom isn’t unexpected; however, it highlights the bigger issue in sports, and the world—that God and Christianity are being directly attacked and driven out of public institutions.
That said, Tortorella wasn’t finished defending Provorov just yet.
On Friday, he went on to say, “As I said, Provy did nothing wrong. Just because you don’t agree with his decision doesn’t mean he did anything wrong.”
Having been outspoken against taking a knee—a ‘craze’ former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began during the National Anthem to protest perceived racial injustice toward the black community in America—and a multitude of other topics through his career, Tortorella knows the consequences of standing his ground when it comes to sociopolitical controversy. While he later reversed his hard line stance against taking a knee, he still never endorsed it, but rather left it up to player choice.
Below is an interview with Coach Tortorella addressing both situations:
Provorov is not alone.
We’ve seen various players in various sports begin to stand up, from Aaron Rodgers and Kyrie Irving to Novak Djokovic, and now Ivan Provorov, among others.
Let me jog your memory a bit on what these players did.
Djokovic, who is arguably the best tennis player not just of our time, but in history, chose to forego multiple Grand Slam tournaments as he refused to get vaccinated. He actually faced a potential arrest in Australia for attempting to enter the country unvaccinated.
For his part, Rodgers has been one of the best players in the NFL since he was drafted. He, as well, took a stand against the vaccine. Not just that, but he also went out and spoke about the benefits of Ivermectin and HCQ as alternative treatments for COVID symptoms on famous podcast appearances.
Irving joined them. The NBA star stood up against the vaccine and was not allowed to play home games in Brooklyn because of it. He never relented, and remained unvaccinated, despite enduring public ridicule by the sports media establishment.
In a small sign that America has indeed begun to reach it’s tipping point with wokeism, the day after Provorov took his stand, his jersey sold out on the official NHL Shop. (Source.)
What Provorov did was a reminder that not all athletes will choose to remain silent.
We need more of this. We need more athletes willing to stand strong in their beliefs and convictions. More importantly, we need them to know that they will have an entire digital army ready to support them when they do.
Actions like the one Provorov took are never easy, and are often met with harsh ridicule and anger. However, it is actions like this that begin the snowball toward major, systemic and even societal change.
Was this as seismic as Jesse Owens taking a stand in the 1936 Olympic Games? No. But, it can be argued that the courage shown by Provorov may indeed be a springboard for more players in all sports to do the same. Doing the right thing is often the hardest thing to do, and in Provorov’s case, he chose not to bow to an agenda that goes against everything he believes in, and for that, we should tip our caps and say, ‘job well done.’
Perhaps other athletes will begin to find their courage as well, and can begin to lead pro sports out of the agenda-laden quagmire it has become stuck in.
Athletes are part of the American zeitgeist. They are ingrained in our culture. The stages they compete on are massive, and I firmly believe that some well-placed comments and/or tweets by various athletes could begin to sway the tide against the Marxists we fight against. Whether or not you want to admit it, athletes and their words hold power, which is the precise reason they have been used as a vehicle with which to usher in Marxist messaging to Americans en masse.
We need to support the athletes who choose to take a stand, because as we do, more will begin to stand up.
And as former ESPN correspondent Michelle Tafoya said in a recent interview, “My message is to people: Please be courageous. Speak out. I believe that the majority of the country believes in the goodness of us, in the goodness of Americans—the American people. But they’ve been told to shut up.”
WE need to show them that they are not alone, and that their actions have merit in an atmosphere where so many are manipulated into toeing a corporate line for fear of losing their careers and/or reputations.
What we are seeing is the beginning of a narrative shift. We are beginning to see people and athletes reject the social programming being hoisted upon all of us. And when these athletes choose to break the mold and fight for the truth on a large stage, it deserves recognition, as it serves to fill our glasses with hope and optimism.
We reject the woke agenda. And we choose instead to be ourselves, and to fight for what we believe in.
Mr. Provorov, we stand with you, and we thank you for taking a stand against wokeism.
Badlands Media articles and features represent the opinions of the contributing authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Badlands Media itself.
If you enjoyed this contribution to Badlands Media, please consider checking out more of my work for free at Beyond the Veil.
Great article Absolute!!
My favorite hockey player is Ovechkin and I loved it when he publicly stood up for Putin and the Russian people against the woke Ukraine support.
Keep up the great work my friend and I love your Q stream!!
Finally a push from a real masculine heterosexual man.
We love real men indeed.