It is an unfortunate sign when the wisdom of professional hockey players appears to outweigh that of many of the journalists who cover them. But such has been the case this week in Toronto. While his teammates have taken in stride a minor embarrassment that befell 19-year-old Maple Leafs rookie Jiri Tlusty, some members of the media appear to have lost any sense of perspective.
Mr. Tlusty's lapse in judgment, such as it was, will surprise few parents of teenagers -- or anyone who ever was one. A year ago, at the ripe old age of 18, while playing junior hockey thousands of kilometres away from his native Czech Republic, he snapped a few ill-advised cellphone photographs. In some, reportedly sent to a girl he met on the Internet, he is nude.
In at least one other, he is seen feigning an open-mouthed kiss with a male friend while celebrating his birthday.
The photos found their way online, some of them apparently having been posted on his Facebook page. This week, they turned up on a Canadian gossip website, igniting a bizarre firestorm.
On Wednesday, the photo of Mr. Tlusty and his male friend touching (or nearly touching) tongues was splashed across the front page of the Toronto Sun alongside the headline "Leaf in Nude Photo Flap." The same day, the Toronto Star's hockey columnist accused Mr. Tlusty of having "disgraced what was once a Canadian institution -- a team that once had a member of Parliament in its lineup -- with his amateur porn shots." If the Leafs were truly "a team of pride and tradition," he wrote, "the youngster would be back in the minors."
The media horde covering the Maple Leafs grew even larger than usual, focusing so much attention on Mr. Tlusty that the team had to take extra measures to shield him from cameras and reporters, ushering him out a side door after practice.
Fortunately for the mortified Mr. Tlusty, other Leafs have spoken up on his behalf. "It has nothing to do with anything he does on the ice," Chad Kilger said. "I don't think it's appropriate for any of you to be talking about it." Others have pointed out that Mr. Tlusty's behaviour was far from unique. "It's not a big deal," Wade Belak said. "Everyone's been caught with their pants down."
That may even include some of the journalists taking part in the feeding frenzy, as coach Paul Maurice alluded to when he suggested that "I'm sure that each one of you has a story that you prefer didn't hit the front page of the paper." It is true that, in the Facebook era, celebrities who fail to jealously guard their privacy will be subject to such invasions. But the degree of coverage that Mr. Tlusty has received, and the nastiness that has accompanied some of it, has nevertheless been jarring.
He is a kid -- albeit a highly talented and well-paid kid -- trying to make his way in a foreign country. By all accounts, he is an ordinarily shy teenager still struggling to master English. Yet in a hockey-mad city where a 40-year Stanley Cup drought has brought out a growing mean streak in journalists and fans alike, he has received coverage more commonly afforded to Paris Hilton, a media-savvy publicity hound who has made a career out of being famous.
Yesterday, having escaped Toronto for a game in Boston, Mr. Tlusty broke his silence. "I'm a teenager, I made a mistake and now it is time to move on," he said. If he can understand that, so too should those of us expected to be older and wiser.