I’ve decided to pull the New York edition of Top 10 Tuesday that was going to go up today due to an incident that has been brought to my attention. It seems as though one person decided to take last week’s list too seriously and mount a back door campaign to harass several of my loyal readers, followers, and friends who verbalized their appreciation for it over Twitter. I’ve never had a problem with people expressing their opinion, and I’m not expecting everyone to love what I do here at Psycho Lady Hockey. If you don’t like what you’re reading, then don’t come back and read it again. That should be a concept that even a five year old can understand.

My issue here is that this individual was too gutless to actually tell me that she found the list offensive. I would have respected her opinion. The fact of the matter is I’ve only heard positive feedback from last week’s entry, so it would have been nice to know if there was a humourless minority out there that were offended. Instead of talking to me, the person who actually has the power to take the feedback and use it constructively, she decided to sit on her ass all day, like a horrible mother neglecting her children, and stalk anyone who @ replied to my post on Twitter. For some reason, this individual seems to be on one of those social media power trips that appear to be afflicting the Twitter community above all others. There have been instances in the past where I have seen her tweet to others to unfollow individuals for whatever reason because she seems to think she rules the Twitter universe, and can control the lives of anyone nice enough to follow her. What gives her this power you ask? Well, apparently cracking a thousand followers can lead those of unstable mind to believe that they actually have power and influence in the real world. What is even more amusing is that this individual doesn’t even have a blog, she is just a hockey fan who is addicted to the Internet and spends every waking moment attempting to peer into the lives of others 140 characters at a time.

Another issue I have lies in the hypocrisy of her arguments against me. First of all, one of the things that I find EXTREMELY offensive in the hockey community are fans that seem to think that they have the right to declare who is and is not a real hockey fan. There are all sorts of reasons out there like, not sitting in the nosebleed section, not being able to afford to go to live games, or admitting to being infatuated with a certain player. At some levels, I find these allegations to be cute; like when a Rangers fan thinks a fan on Long Island isn’t a real fan because he is an Islanders fan. I get that. It’s cute. It’s a rivalry thing. BUT when someone, who claims to be pro women’s lib, decides to come out and use the “puck bunny” word against me to prove why I don’t really love the game and treat it like a “meat market,” well, let’s just say that I’m not going to allow anyone to use such misogyny against me.

While Psycho Lady Hockey was only born in January 2009, the fact of the matter is that I have been going on the hockey adventures that you have all been following since I was sixteen years old and finally got my driver’s licence – that’s eight straight years of road trips for those who don’t know how old I am. However, I was a hardcore hockey fan for years before that! So, if anyone says that I’m not a real fan, then (s)he must either be stupid or extremely jealous. And while I won’t undercut my own argument by pointing the not-a-real-fan finger at this individual, I will just say that she has apparently only been following the sport for two years. Bravo, do you want a trophy for your dedication/obsessive compulsive disorder?

Back to the misogyny of “puck bunny” that boils my blood worse than anything in this world. I don’t have a problem with the word “puck bunny,” I have a problem with it being used inappropriately. After writing Down the Rabbit Hole: A Guide to Puck Bunnies and several university papers on “puck bunny” as a misogynistic epithet plaguing women, I have learned to be comfortable with the word, while, at the same time, being a fearless warrior ready to battle anyone who uses it incorrectly or for hate. Some people pass off Psycho Lady Hockey as a puck bunny blog, and that’s fine. They say things like, “Everyone loves a puck bunny” or “She’s the fun-loving puck bunny.” I don’t have a problem with these people, they aren’t using the word in a negative way, and I’m not about to get on my high horse and tear them apart because I think they have the wrong ideas about me. Truthfully, in my research on this subject, I have learned that a heterosexual female hockey fan NOT guilty of “puck bunny” tendencies DOES NOT EXIST –PERIOD! I put quotations around “puck bunny” there because I think a more fitting word is “biological.” To say that any woman is not a hockey fan because she is red blooded and likes to look at some of the players sweat is just as ridiculous as saying women don’t have the capacity to understand sports, and don’t belong in a place outside the kitchen. So, it is interesting that this person would choose to say that my entry was “degrading to women” when she then proceeded to use the most sexist argument against me as a hockey fan.

Quite frankly, while my entry was CLEARLY introduced as a joke and a Halloween special, I am offended as a woman by the stereotypical hockey wife/girlfriend that the majority of players do get involved with. Any woman whose motivation in life is to be plastic and have fake body parts to keep the (stupid) men folk happy (or get ahead in her career) is not only very pathetic, but also an offensive testament to the desolate state of society and the root cause of well rounded, intelligent women being held back. If you are dumb enough to believe that these women are somehow good people because they show up to the mandatory annual wives charity event, then I don’t even know where to begin with what is wrong with you. It’s like a few hours of MANDATORY service makes up for the rest of their lives. Now SOME wives do get involved in charities on their own time, but most don’t, and it’s the ones that don’t that I am addressing in last week’s entry. It’s actually quite comical to me that people are easily blinded by the word “charity.” These are the same sheep that are offended by something (my post) because they think they are supposed to be. Anyway, not all hockey players get involved with these types of women, but an overwhelming majority do, and as a hockey fan it can be difficult at times to respect the players in this game for that very reason. In my entry, I was able to speak to this in a satirical way. If you don’t understand that, then you must be completely ignorant to the game.

Most people are smart enough to have caught on at this point that my Top 10 Tuesday is usually something outlandish intended to be a welcomed change of pace from the rest of the week. I also think that most of my regulars are intelligent enough to understand that Psycho Lady is a character for the most part. I choose not to analyze hockey on my site because I have always been fascinated by the underground subculture of the game. That is the reason I wrote the book, and that is the reason I continue the blog the way that I do. This is not a site you visit to find out who won what game and why – there are thousands of sites out there more than capable of feeding that need. Psycho Lady Hockey is where you come to find out about me. My blog is my story – it says that right in the descriptor. This individual and her minions seem to be too ignorant to understand that NOT writing about hockey stats/analysis doesn’t mean that I CAN’T.

Anyway, I would like to clarify that I am not actually upset over this incident, and the fact that I am writing about it right now should not be misunderstood as this woman having influence over me. I chose to pull today’s Top 10 not to satisfy her or to punish my readers, I just want this incident to have the attention it deserves. Truthfully, I had a LARGE spike in attendance on the day that I posted last week’s list, whether that had something to do with her, I don’t know, but thanks for the traffic! No publicity is bad publicity. Top 10 Tuesday will resume next week.

I am mostly upset by the fact that this individual was causing grief to a handful of you, my readers, followers, and friends. You are very important to me, and I don’t like to hear that someone has been harassing you and demanding that you apologize for being my “fan” or liking what I do. To this woman and her lobotomized minions, please leave my people alone. They are big boys and girls and are intelligent enough to think for themselves, and no amount of bitching or cold-shouldering is going to influence their opinions and perspectives. Truthfully, I should be thanking you for what you are doing because, quite frankly, I don’t want anyone dumb enough to be influenced by your hypocrisy to be reading my site in the first place. So, please, continue what you’re doing. Psycho Lady Hockey is doing just fiiiiiiiiiiiine without you.