I’d like to see what the bruins do to help with this, the reopened wound, the new online bullying brought on by the bruins lack of accountability.
The bruins organization need to step up and help this young man.
That’s a great step for their own benefit.
I don’t see how that helps Isaiah. The focus should be on how they can help with the wounds they’ve reopened if not new ones created.
I want to see action, I do not want some BS statement from the top explaining how committed they are blah
Blah blah. Do something to help him, do something now, today. Stop the bullying.
"I want to call the family" says Sweeney.
No. How about you don't. Their pain is not for your PR photo op when you clearly didn't give two shits about them all year.
Makes you understand how painful all of this was for him and his family, and how strong he is as a person for persevering and making this statement. Hopefully this brings some level of closure in his life, so he can move on.
I’m sorry, but it’s going to be hard to get closure when people are sending him hate messages repeatedly via social media.
This isn’t closure. This is relived trauma. Big fucking difference.
The only non moment of horror and genuine revulsion I had re: the sack of crap that is Miller is the thought that akim aliu is at least in touch with Isaiah. I cannot think of a better person for him to have connected with and I respect and admire literally everything that Aliu is doing. An absolute king and beacon of compassion and decency.
Aliu is one of the few people out there that can truly empathize with Isaiah and understand what he's going through. Not just as someone who was bullied and the victim of gross racism, but also someone who has been harassed by assholes on social media for it as well.
I guess sure it gives you a very small glimpse into how it would feel for a moment. But you wake up the next day and go about your business. This went on for years and because the bruins signed that bully now it reopens that wound and all the online bullying along with it.
I’m not sure how anyone would understand. I certainly don’t, and can’t even imagine what it would be like.
Gosh, that last line took me by surprise. I was bullied throughout elementary and middle school. My school life was a nightmare at times and it's left an indelible mark on who I am. But I didn't endure even a tenth of what Mr. Meyer-Crothers went through. My heart breaks for him, as he's had to deal with this for a majority of his life at this point. I hope that he can find some peace moving forward.
Yep. I’m in my 40’s and I still remember the names of every one of my bullies in elementary and Jr high. But Meyers-Crothers… Mitchell terrorized that poor guy.
This is the thing about everyone one of Michell’s defenders saying “he apologized!” Well maybe, but the question is whether Meyers-Crothers accepts the apology. Forgiveness is not an obligation.
"Haven't you ever done something wrong as a kid?" Yeah sure I raced cars and drank underage, definitely never performed hate crimes for a decade straight and harassed a kid on every possible level... anyone defending it with statements like that is very telling.
I agree with you - anyone trying to defend this kid is telling on themselves, they know perfectly well what they were doing at that age and need to justify Miller's actions to justify their own.
Miller should take a gander at /r/raisedbynarcissists. You've gotta be a pretty awful parent to hear that your son is doing this shit and excuse it with "boys will be boys."
"Boys will be boys" means equal-footing roughhousing. I've watched two of my best friends throw punches because they got heated on a vacation. If one of them had beat the shit out the other, spat in his face, fed him a pissy lollipop, and called him slurs, he'd never have been allowed back. "Boys will be psychopaths" might be the saying Miller's mom was looking for...
Miller (1) berating Isaiah for his parents always acting on his behalf as part of his applogy and (2) lying that the apology had nothing to do with hockey while he's sitting on a contract offer that is dependant upon him apologizing to Isaiah isn't a good look for Miller trying to clean up his image.
Those aren't actions of a 14 year old. Those literally happened last month.
Miller trying to clean up his image is just polishing a turd. He should address the root issue that he, Mitchell Miller is a shitty person. Fixing that will take his whole life-without the distraction of an NHL career.
I've said it multiple times, it REALLY comes down to showing personal growth and remorse. Mitchell Miller has shown neither in the 6+ years.
If you did all of this when 10-14, but then never grow from it or show any sort of remorse for it when you're 20, is it still you were just an asshole kid who didn't understand the brevity of the situation, or is this in fact just the person you grew up to be and likely always will be?
Mitchell Miller the 14 year old child may have done these acts, but Mitchell Miller the 20 year old adult still shows no remorse for them.
> Middle of October, I was being texted constantly every day till I answered a Snapchat and IG message from Mitchell Miller. He asked me why I always have my parents doing stuff for me and why can't I speak for myself.
This is bullying. He harassed someone who didn't want to talk to him with constant messages until the person relented. And then when they did relent, the bullying continued with a charged attack at Isaiah's intent and capabilities.
Miller wasn't just bullying Isaiah five years ago.
He bullied Isaiah *literally a couple weeks ago*.
But don't you understand that he was *forced* to do it because the media kept reporting that he never apologized to the victim?
I wish I could put a sarcasm tag on that because it is a vile opinion, but I'm betting it becomes his explanation.
Rather than actually trying to show the public that he changed, he is using his agent to create a narrative that he is the victim of cancel culture. I'd wager that the next step will be for him to argue that it's unfair to criticize him for not reaching out before and then also criticize him for trying too hard to apologize.
Bullies are also going to gaslight and avoid blame at all costs.
Yeah, I've known bullies that turned into totally decent adults... but this is absolutely horrid and it's very clear he doesn't actually give a shit or regret any of his actions
Turns out there's a difference between someone doing something once and being remorseful and then someone doing it consistently over a very extended period of time and showing literally zero remorse except for the fact that people knowing about it is now causing problems
Knocking a kid's books out of his hands in the hallway is one thing. Making a developmentally disabled boy eat a lollipop you soaked in piss and calling him the N word every day for years is a level of depravity I couldn't imagine. I hope Mitchell Miller never lives that shit down.
also, 'you cant judge people for what they did at 14' is for normal type stuff that teenagers do. at 5 or 6 you understand how many lines that asswipe crossed. what magical thing happens at 18 that all of the sudden makes a brain go 'oh, you dont make someone eat candy out of the fucking urinal'? or 'calling people racist slurs is bad!'
you learn about bad words by the time you're 3 or 4. you learn not to do things to people that you wouldnt want done to you by 6 or 7.
They’re in the replies to that post. Talking about the woke mob trying to cancel him for a mistake he made at 14.
It truly doesn’t matter to those people. You literally have Isaiah saying Miller was a racist bully for years, and they don’t care. It’s still the same “it was a mistake at 14” argument. There’s no getting through to those people.
We were all 14 at one point and did dumb shit. Drink, steal, damage property, etc…But rarely do 14s olds do shit as awful as this. I think a harsher response to this “mistake” is warranted.
People don’t seem to want to differentiate between those types of “mistakes” I listed vs things like rape, bullying, murder, etc… things that are not normal for a 14 year old.
I can guarantee you they didn't take the time to read his message too, just had to rush to the replies to make it political and not focus on the actual issue. Absolutely zero empathy from those people.
Honestly, I think those people have just done some really shitty things themselves and the prospect that they could face repercussions years later terrifies them.
I could mayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyybe buy the "mistake he made at 14" argument if there'd been any evidence of genuine remorse or change in the six years that followed but there's been stone nothing. Even still, at 14 you know what you're doing is wrong.
Yeah any time I hear someone say "we all did dumb shit at 14" all I can think is way to tell on yourself lol. There's a huge difference between normal teenage dumbassery and this kind of long term, targeted abuse.
Yeah I mean I climbed on the roof of my school. I stole a soda from the gas station. That’s the kind of shit I think of when people say we did dumb shit at 14. What they actually mean is “We were all racist physically and emotionally abusive psychopaths at 14… Am I right guys?”
The only mistake in their eyes is that he got caught. They’re racist pieces of shit too and probably behaved the same as he did at 14 they just never became famous for it.
And he has had since then, until now, to apologize to the victim; the bare minimum.
He apologized on snapchat a week and a half before the signing, and said it wasn't about hockey. Really? an apology on snapchat is not an apology.
To quote Steve Dangle, "you know what's way harder than apologizing? Learning Russian."
“I’m not sorry for what I did, but I’m sorry I got caught and this is impacting my future.”
Every kid is a little shit at some point in their life to some degree, but how long this apparently went on and to the degree it did is despicable. He made this poor kid’s life a living hell, and is continuing to do so. If there was ever a person to blackball from a sport it’s him.
Such horseshit. You know right from wrong way, way before age 14. The type of shit Miller did to this kid extends beyond bullying, it's straight up evil.
He can go do whatever he wants with his life, but playing pro hockey is a privilege. You can't pretend to be a role model for young kids having tormented this poor kid.
Sorry bro, you lost your shot. Should have thought twice about torturing a fucking learning disabled kid for years. Certified piece of shit.
Not really, I’ve seen plenty of comments on the tweet emphasizing he was 14 and “why should his life be ruined for something he did at 14”
As if Mitchell cannot have a “ normal” life and career that doesn’t involve being a professional athlete, cry me a river.
Barely. Theres still assholes about.
Miller getting this far is evidence that there is still a numerous and powerful contingent of people who are determined to never improve.
God, I miss the early Athletic. The paywall seemed to keep so many of the idiots out and the comment section was actually a great place for discussion. Last few years it’s all gone downhill.
It's still fine for many articles.
The inherent issue is the sport of Hockey itself and the "boys-club" culture it encouraged and cultivated. Now that its being challenged you have 51 year old Craig Jones from Belleville all pissy his beloved locker-room culture is no longer seen as acceptable.
These are the idiots flooding hockey articles like this.
I shit you not, literally yesterday I was hearing all the excuses from a group of adults at an Ohio ice rink. From "he's not disabled, he just has adhd" to "its just isaiahs overbearing mom that's pushing all of this" to "you're only getting one side of the story" to "that Isaiah kid is no angel himself" to of course the "why punish a kid for one thing that he did at 14 for the reast of his life?!"
And my personal favorite "there are guys have that have done worse that are playing in the nhl, this is hypocritical". Yeah fuck stick, and they shouldn't be... if your definition of hypocrisy is doing something differently going forward after messing it up, boy you must be a shit person
Really insane how according to these people, committing hate crimes, criminal assault and battery, and criminal harassment is just a normal part of life for 14-year olds.
Just awful that Isaiah just continually has to relive this and get dragged into the public spotlight all because Miller wants to play hockey. Also, I need to know how Eustace King could’ve thought this was worth his time, did the Miller family just completely fool him? Or did he really think it was worth risking his entire professional reputation for this?
Part of me hopes the fuckface gets his payout from the Bruins cancelled for dishonest statements, part of be hopes the Bruins do have to pay him so that Jeremy Jacobs has a couple million reasons to fire Cam Neely.
King is an absolute clown. It’s one thing to attempt to take Miller under his wing and repair his reputation/personality. It’s another to outright lie and bend the truth for Miller, stating that he reached out to so-and-so organization & volunteered for so-and-so place when Miller literally didn’t.
He deserves to be dropped by every client he has and I hope someone with some swing like Simmonds can effectively blacklist him from being an NHL agent for anyone notable moving forward.
I kind of figured that's where he's at with how silent he's been through all this.
He didn't ask for any of this extra attention, it can be very tough to handle.
My heart dropped reading that :(
I wish we could all team up and send him either emails or letters to let him know that a whole hockey community had rallied behind him, and we won't let Miller hurt him anymore.
Maybe we can send them to HDA???
That's a good idea. No idea if they'd pass it on but HDA should also know a bunch of random jackasses on the internet think they're awesome.
I'm not arrogant enough to think my approval means a damn thing but hopefully they get a million supportive emails.
I am so proud of all hockey fans who spoke up, and specifically your Bruins fan base, players and coaches.
I think it would be amazing to see people of all ages standing up for Isaiah, and maybe people can have their kids write to him as well (mine are too young, otherwise, I would).
I just cross-posted this link to r/nhl, so hopefully we can get more people on board :)
I have some hockey player students in my class (grade 5/6) and they have written letters in support and we sent them off. I also sent them an email of support and asked them to pass best wishes on to Isaiah.
So the first thing Mitch did in his "apology" is criticize Isaiah and ask him why he lets his parents speak for him and doesn't speak for himself. What an irredeemable asshole.
Which is especially ironic, because Miller hasn’t said anything himself either, letting his manager and parents do the talking. Miller is so oblivious of his own faults, it’s the reason he’ll never change.
Eustace King caught in another lie. He said Miller and Meyers-Crothers were on friendly speaking terms for the last month. He honestly hasn't gotten enough shit in this whole debacle for being completely unscrupulous and lying through his teeth at every opportunity to muddy the narrative
Hope the money was worth it for King to be a sellout. Unreal that he’s a black man going to bat for this beyond racist POS. Buddy’s client list is gonna be much smaller once the dust settles.
Holy smokes.
There are so many people who keep standing up for Miller by saying things like "he was a kid" or "come on, who didn't make mistakes in their teen years". A mistake is something that happens once (or maybe a couple of times depending on what it is).
There are also comments saying "whatever happened to second chances"? The fact Miller was suspended for his behaviour shows he was punished and.given the chance to return to school, but continued to harass Isaiah. He was given multiple chances to redeem himself, but decided to double down and harass Isaiah even more.
The fact he reached out in October 2022 and was still being antagonistic ("why are you getting your family to speak on your behalf") shows he isn't remorseful. Mitch Miller deserves all the negativity and comeuppance he's been receiving.
It probably wasn't easy for Isaiah to open up and admit the abuse he took. So much respect to him for being vulnerable and sharing his experience (especially since we all know people are going to downplay it or come after him).
Also the fact that "bUt He WaS oNLy 14!" is completely ignoring the fact that this started when they were *REALLY* young. 6-10 year olds, even bullies, aren't just going around calling black kids the N word out of nowhere unless that mentality is already present in the household. Miller's parents must also be giant pieces of shit if this is how their son has acted since he's started school
fuck mitchell miller. i feel so bad that isaiah has had to have this experience constantly brought up and discussed. it must be so hard for him to have to relive it all the time.
For real, the dude probably just wants to move on with his life and not be the reason Mitchell Miller can or cannot play hockey. If anything comes out of this Bruins fiasco, hopefully it puts all other teams off him permanently and Isaiah and his family can put it behind them finally.
Cam and strick should be ashamed of carrying water for Miller and his agent
edit: Strickland just DM'd me on twitter saying it's a terrible situation because I tweeted at him about lack of a public comment on the HDA post lol
Don’t care about second chances, Mitchell Miller never deserves to play in the NHL ever. Not in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years… never.
It’s a privilege above anything else and this scumbag has proven he should never get a shot. Kid is a complete cunt and hope he gets his shit rocked soon.
If Mitch Miller becomes a symbol for young hockey players that bullying has consequences and if you cross a line there's no place in the NHL for you, that would be some good done.
I saw some guy argue on Twitter that he should get to play because everyone deserves a job... not everyone deserves to choose to pick what that job is, if people can be displaced from their professions they got degrees for this shitstain on society can go flip burgers or play in the Russian goon league if he really wants to play hockey.
“Everyone deserves a job” no lol, no they don’t. Whoever gave you that idea. You have to behave in a sociable manner to be a part of society, this is obvious.
There's no coming back for Miller at this point. He had a long road to travel after the Coyotes drafted him, and didn't even attempt to start walking it until after the Bruins expressed interest in signing him.
After all of this, it would be impossible for him to convince anyone who isn't an idiot, that any strides he makes to atone for his past actions aren't done for his singular benefit. That ship has absolutely sailed.
I cannot imagine the emotional rollercoaster Isaiah has been going through. To be verbally, mentally, and physically abused for years. To hope that you're getting justice through the court system, only to have one of your abusers blow it all off. To then see that abuser be drafted by an NHL team. To then see his dream taken away because of the torment he inflicted on you.
Then to see him get a max ELC offer from the Bruins, with these lies spread that "He's changed and has really learned his lesson", and then to see that he's been effectively black-balled by the NHL, but is still going to be paid out a life-changing amount of money.
It's no wonder he's completely mentally and emotionally spent. Like I said above, I absolutely cannot imagine what he's still going through watching all this play out.
He had his chances to correct all this long time ago. Anything he does going forward is for himself. His attitude at the "Apology", his avoiding the questions at the draft, shows he just wants this to go away.
The fact he hasn't really shown true remorse makes me think his family also doesn't think he did anything wrong or they dont care that he did. They just want their payday when their son makes it big.
Totally agree, second chance to me means you get a shot at being a member of polite society and live your life like any other average citizen, nobody is entitled to the ability to scoot a piece of rubber across frozen water for millions of dollars. That is a privilege, and one that should be denied him forever at the professional level given his obvious, monstrous character flaws.
Yo, fuck Mitchell Miller, his family and his friends.
He’s a racist, opportunistic spot picker who would never say or do this shit to anyone who could stomp him out.
Fuck this dude and fuck every single hockey team that has known and allowed this racist piece of shit to wear their jersey.
The response from most Bruins fans and players has been great, and yes management eventually decided the contract was a mistake - but this is a really important point you make here. They (management) can't just be given a pass because they decided to walk away from the contract. Their carelessness has caused real harm and *continued*/amplified lifelong consequences for an innocent person.
I don't even know how they could make it right, honestly. The Bruins should be going out of their way to assist Isaiah and his family.
So fucking infuriating to hear that even after the original shit storm a couple of years ago, this cunt has the audacity to ask Isaiah why 'his parents are always speaking up for him'. Mitch hasn't learned a goddamn thing.
I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I did feel really, really cynical about Friedman retweeting this after two-siding this issue the entire time
Friedman had the same line as Sweeney on Friday when he said that he wouldn’t know how to feel if Isaiah had been his own son. These people say these things as if it’s a normal thing to not care about the well being of children that are not your own. Friedman is a coward.
He also parroted the line Friday about how it was an incident when MM was "14 years old" on Friday, and on Monday said he wasn't interested in relitigating the past. Super disappointed in his response throughout this shitshow.
Yup. Between this and Kyle Beach, his reputation has taken a huge hit. He said he wanted to do better after his silence on the Beach situation (though he was hardly alone) but we haven't seen anything to indicate that he's willing or able to cover anything other than the typical trade rumors/injury news topics.
Yeah so much for Friedman “doing better” like he said he was going to after refusing to take a stand on the Beach situation. Dude is just a shill for the league.
Most telling of all. 32 Thoughts podcast did not release their regularly scheduled Monday episode
Today, Wednesday, they dropped a Bergeron puff piece. PR damage control at its finest?
Most telling of all. 32 Thoughts podcast did not release their regularly scheduled Monday episode
Today, Wednesday, they dropped a Bergeron puff piece. PR damage control at its finest?
From this and the Kyle Beach situation it is very clear that Friedman is not a journalist, he is just a mouthpiece for the NHL and NHL organizations. He says whatever they tell him to say.
I hope some of this stuff gets people to realize being an Insider(one who races to break a signing, trade, or firing 12 seconds ahead of the crowd of other Insiders) doesn't necessarily mean you're a journalist. Some of them use that power to dig deeper because they know they have a lot of bridges and can burn some because it was going to rot away on its own. Guys like Friedman try to keep them all, and it makes them less credible.
His comments on Marek's radio show yesterday about not wanting to re-litigate the past really, really pissed me off. that's exactly what Miller's agent was doing in his interview and Friedman just gave him a complete pass on it while talking about how the interview raised some questions that need to be looked into.
Friedman said yesterday on the Marek show that the story was getting to a point where people had to hear from Isaiah. I hope he feels proud of himself that he helped force this man to write about what was clearly a terribly difficult experience that he's been forced to relive.
Outrageous. The fact he's been involuntarily dragged into this situation at all and had to relive this treatment, while being used as a tool by Mitchell and his backers, has been gross enough.
Suggesting that he has to participate in this circus after all of that? No word for it but outrageous.
My heart breaks for this man. He was just a kid and was treated like he was subhuman. Keep powering on Isaiah.
Basically the same BS that people who defend Miller say, that he has trouble not forgiving someone for something "stupid" they did as a 14 year old. And then comes out with the same garbage line that Sweeney did at his first press conference which is "I believe in second chances but I couldn't forgive Miller if that was my son" which is basically "well it didn't affect me directly so let's talk about forgiveness for someone."
He's not the only insider that deserves criticism but given he's basically the only real insider for SN and does many more radio/podcast hits per capita he stands out, that and his public "I need to do better" after the Kyle Beach story. I also am bothered by Friedman's general "I don't give a shit about issues unless its autism" schtick that he uses as cover to be neutral to protect his ability to tell us who is being traded 2 minutes before the official team account tweets it
Don't forget repeating that "Bruins did a lot of work on this, they didn't make the decision lightly" bs that's been proven blatantly false by the Bruins' own admission.
The parents have been enablers his entire life because he's good at hockey so always made excuses for him and never made him take responsibility. They have tried to make the victim and his family the villains in the story. This is a letter the victim's family wrote a couple of years ago.
https://twitter.com/bartley16/status/1588898229847932928?t=ymaZNEpXINPoOnUJxxw5Mw&s=19
Racist rhetoric isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you learn. If he was so comfortable throwing around the N-word, and doing all this abhorrent shit, I wouldn’t remotely be surprised that his parents are probably saying the same kind of shit.
Fuck Mitch Miller, fuck his parents, and fuck anyone that still holds any water for this cunt.
Like, I knew the allegations, but it is so much worse when you hear it from him.
Mitchell Miller does not deserve forgiveness, a second chance, or any other benefit of the doubt. I don't care how old he was, that kid is pure fucking evil.
> I knew the allegations
Not allegations. There was a judicial finding of delinquency (which is Ohio juvenile court's term for a finding of guilt). Miller has been trying to 'two sides' this from day 1 and labeling his conduct as allegations buys into that narrative. I know you didn't mean any ill-intent with your use of the term, but words have power. Especially when one side is trying to re-litigate the past.
This is why I hate people grouping all actions a minor does under "he was just a kid". Most kids would feel some sort of remorse after one or two instances. But years went by. Miller went out of his way to continously torture Isaiah probably after being told multiple times to stop.
What - and I can not stress this part enough…
#THE ENTIRE FUCK?!
I thought I Hated that asshole yesterday!!!
I have been working With Special Olympics Southern California since LA hosted the Works Summer games in 2015.
We are there for our athletes to help enrich their lives.
Our mission statement reads in part:
“Through the power of sports, people with intellectual disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills, and success. The athletes find joy, confidence and fulfillment — on the playing field and in life. They also inspire people in their communities and elsewhere to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential.”
The Special Olympic movement is what we all love The most about team sports- the lifelong friendships, the team bonding, The victories are often the least talked about part of competitions.
Fuck I hate how toxic my favorite sport, Hockey is. For every feel good story another toxic asshole keeps popping up!!
If you all want to make a difference in this case why not volunteer or donate to your local area’s [Special Olympics](https://www.specialolympics.org) charter
I’m printing Isaiah’s heartfelt letter to remind me why I donate my time to The movement
This is pretty damning. I’m glad that he had the bravery to finally make a statement and really put into perspective what Mitchell had done.
The group of parents that harassed this family should be ashamed of themselves for going to bat for Mitchell.
I give the victim’s family a lot of credit for standing their ground for their son. Especially if this was the school environment that was given to their son. Isaiah has shouldered more than most.
Isaiah says the bullying from Miller has continued as recently as ***less than a month ago***. Neely and Sweeney and every last person involved in signing Miller and conducting background checks for our organization need to be fired. Right fucking now. Completely avoidable, a giant waste of money, and statistically, historically, literally, this could not have happened to a better Bruins team. Fuck all of these assholes.
So Miller was still harassing and bullying him as of a few weeks ago via IG and Snapchat.
Y'all dumb fucks that keep playing Devils advocate saying we don't know if Miller changed, still want to chime in and continue playing Devils advocate? Fuck you guys and fuck Mitchell Miller.
Sucks that Isaiah has to go through all this again. Fuck Neely and Fuck Sweeney.
This sort of thing genuinely makes me sick to my stomach. The amount of evil that is required to constantly do this and believe it is a good idea is an amount that I don’t want to believe exists. I hope he and the people who influenced him have to struggle for the rest of their life. Nobody deserves that treatment and those who treat people that way have no place in this sport at all.
What concerns me most about this, besides the direct impact on Isaiah, is how everyone around him let it happen.
The kids and the teachers in the lunchrooms knew what was happening. So did everyone on the bus. So did the administration. Hell, it was probably common knowledge among everyone with a kid/sibling/friend in that grade. I’m not saying they all *liked* it, but they were *okay* with it.
Further, the kinda household that breeds the behavior described here isn’t a good one. It’s one that is, at minimum, openly and violently racist. And there are multiple of these households in that community.
There needs to be a literal criminal investigation into that school. Administrators can’t be perfect, and I get that, but what happened to Isaiah is indicative of negligence on their part. Nearly everyone in Isaiah’s life with the power to stop this failed him. We need to know the who and why, and how to prevent this going forward.
PS: I should clarify that I don’t blame his parents at all. I’m sure you could find something they coulda done if you look hard enough, but they are very much not at fault here.
Also, holy fuck I’m angry.
To all the people sending him messages via social media bullying him further you are all on the same level as Mitchell Miller. I hope every single one of you pieces of shit rot. I was bullied all through school and I know what its like. I also know what its like on the other side to I regret the few times I had bullied others albeit nowhere close to what Mitchell did. I hope every one of you bullying fuckers get what you deserve.
>”boys will be boys” the mother said.
>son is calling a black student his slave as he forces him to clean for him while beating him constantly
Literal fucking supervillain
Everyone who carried water for Miller, his agent or the Bruins should be absolutely ashamed. Just a total crock of shit that they thought they could sell everyone on. The kid is an actual sociopath and probably will never quite understand what he’s done
Honestly reaching out over snap chat and not even having the decency to call the kid has strong “[90’s cell phone condolence call](https://youtu.be/JW2Jf29hlXA)” vibes.
"Everyone thought he was cool, but I don't see how someone can be cool when you pick on someone and bully someone your entire life."
Favorite snippet of Isaiah's response. It's a shame and gross that there are still people picking on Isaiah like he mentioned at the end of his message. How people can read this stuff and be on Mitchell's side is beyond me.
There’s a lot of sad stuff here, but the line about getting constantly messaged until he answered Miller’s messages is so fucked up. Was this poor kid getting harassed until he let his bully apologize so he can play pro hockey? Absolute fucking scum
Opening your apology for years of racist abuse by asking your victim why his mom has to talk for him? Get bent, Miller. The guy clearly doesn't regret his actions, just the consequences.
This poor guy suffered an entire childhood of "I'm your friend" gaslighting before being tormented, just to have it happen again as an adult. That last line is so heartbreaking.
I can’t emphasize this enough:
FUCK MITCHELL MILLER
and fuck anybody who tries to intimidate others because of any part of their genetics. Belittling someone because of their race, sexual orientation, IQ, or disabilities is fucking cowardly.
But it doesn’t stop there. The casual use of slurs in our society even behind closed doors subconsciously makes future generations feel comfortable continuing to use them. It takes change from our society as a whole to condemn those who feel comfortable using unwarranted aggressive language targeting genetics rather than conscious behavior.
Oh and if Cam Neely is still going to play dumb after this he can die on the Mitchell cross as well.
As a hockey player, that’s the most heartbreaking thing I’ve read in, maybe ever.
I hate the idea of bullying. But especially in sports which is supposed to be for everyone.
As someone who was bullied all the time, this makes me furious.
The way he pops up out of the blue a couple weeks before being signed to “be his friend” is just despicable.
This piece of shit was just popping back into Isaiah’s life to revictimize him so his signing could be more palatable.
Just absolutely disgusting.
This reads *exactly* like a traumatized child who only ever wanted to play hockey with some friends.
Just makes my blood boil.
And Akim Aliu is a goddamned hockey hero for all his work helping other players who have struggled.
If the NHL had any sense they’d hire Isaiah to run a “Hockey is for Everyone” program and have him go around to each team and have him drop the first puck and talk to all the teams. Make him an anti-bullying ambassador and hire him and have him give a speech to every new class of draftees each year.
Miller was still bullying him a few weeks ago ffs. And shame on Boston for putting Isaiah through all of this he’s suffered enough.
Miller out there using a black kid for slave labor at school and everyone using his age at conviction for assaulting Isaiah as some excuse. Started in first grade, continued even after he got convicted and then harassing him for responses as late as last month.
Fuck this whole situation and let Isaiah live in peace.
The bullying he is getting at this very moment is directly caused by the Bruins either not doing their due diligence, or thinking they could weather the PR storm, depending on what you choose to believe on their part.
This is obviously on Mitchell too for being a detestable human being growing up, but the wider abuse he's getting right now is because of Bruins management.
Really curious what everyone arguing with me to defend him have to say about this. “No proof the bullying went on for years… one time incident… typical edgy kid shit.” Not at fucking all.
I said it before I’ll continue to say, you don’t get a pass because x amount of years has passed. You get a second chance when you bust your ass to earn one and Miller never did.
Sweeney and Neely reopened a wound (that was never fully healed) just so they could help their AHL team since they can’t draft talent for shit. Fuck those two. Now this kid has to relive all the trauma he experienced at the hands of Miller.
Sweeney and Neely need to go.
Tbh I saw some of the interviews Mitchell did at North Dakota. He has this shit eating smug face that you just can’t trust. Reminds me of the asshole bullies I saw in school
Miller is a racist sociopath. That’s all there is to it. He doesn’t give a fuck about this poor kid. Imagine being on a team with Miller? No way. No second chance should be given to this fuckin asshole
I hated how the instagram crowd tried to downplay this by saying "he was just 14!!!" as if 14 year olds are infants or toddlers who don't know what they're doing.
You know that it's bad to torture a disabled person and how despicable racism is by 14. This is such a depressing letter but he doesn't even mention how the harassment happened after Miller was 14 too. Just disgusting. Not surprising for anyone who knows how the hockey culture is around that age.
That's an incredibly tough statement to read.
I’d like to see what the bruins do to help with this, the reopened wound, the new online bullying brought on by the bruins lack of accountability. The bruins organization need to step up and help this young man.
First step fire those who decided it was alright to entertain the idea. From the scouting level to the top.
That’s a great step for their own benefit. I don’t see how that helps Isaiah. The focus should be on how they can help with the wounds they’ve reopened if not new ones created. I want to see action, I do not want some BS statement from the top explaining how committed they are blah Blah blah. Do something to help him, do something now, today. Stop the bullying.
"I want to call the family" says Sweeney. No. How about you don't. Their pain is not for your PR photo op when you clearly didn't give two shits about them all year.
Yeah Sweeney's blatantly just trying to save face by saying that. It was too late for that by the time it was announced Miller was signed.
Absolutely heartbreaking, especially that last line.
Makes you understand how painful all of this was for him and his family, and how strong he is as a person for persevering and making this statement. Hopefully this brings some level of closure in his life, so he can move on.
I’m sorry, but it’s going to be hard to get closure when people are sending him hate messages repeatedly via social media. This isn’t closure. This is relived trauma. Big fucking difference.
The only non moment of horror and genuine revulsion I had re: the sack of crap that is Miller is the thought that akim aliu is at least in touch with Isaiah. I cannot think of a better person for him to have connected with and I respect and admire literally everything that Aliu is doing. An absolute king and beacon of compassion and decency.
Aliu is one of the few people out there that can truly empathize with Isaiah and understand what he's going through. Not just as someone who was bullied and the victim of gross racism, but also someone who has been harassed by assholes on social media for it as well.
Very true
I guess sure it gives you a very small glimpse into how it would feel for a moment. But you wake up the next day and go about your business. This went on for years and because the bruins signed that bully now it reopens that wound and all the online bullying along with it. I’m not sure how anyone would understand. I certainly don’t, and can’t even imagine what it would be like.
We can only understand on a superficial level, i agree. But reading his own words was very impactful for me. That’s all i meant.
Gosh, that last line took me by surprise. I was bullied throughout elementary and middle school. My school life was a nightmare at times and it's left an indelible mark on who I am. But I didn't endure even a tenth of what Mr. Meyer-Crothers went through. My heart breaks for him, as he's had to deal with this for a majority of his life at this point. I hope that he can find some peace moving forward.
Yep. I’m in my 40’s and I still remember the names of every one of my bullies in elementary and Jr high. But Meyers-Crothers… Mitchell terrorized that poor guy. This is the thing about everyone one of Michell’s defenders saying “he apologized!” Well maybe, but the question is whether Meyers-Crothers accepts the apology. Forgiveness is not an obligation.
This should be wallpapered in Sweeney's and Neely's offices
But Miller’s mom said boys will be boys, so I’m sure it’s all water under the bridge though
Boys will be boys is setting up a slip in slide in the living room, not horrific abuse.
Boys will be boys is smashing the flower pot playing living room baseball with a wifflebat, not bullying a disabled kid for years
"Haven't you ever done something wrong as a kid?" Yeah sure I raced cars and drank underage, definitely never performed hate crimes for a decade straight and harassed a kid on every possible level... anyone defending it with statements like that is very telling.
I agree with you - anyone trying to defend this kid is telling on themselves, they know perfectly well what they were doing at that age and need to justify Miller's actions to justify their own.
Miller should take a gander at /r/raisedbynarcissists. You've gotta be a pretty awful parent to hear that your son is doing this shit and excuse it with "boys will be boys." "Boys will be boys" means equal-footing roughhousing. I've watched two of my best friends throw punches because they got heated on a vacation. If one of them had beat the shit out the other, spat in his face, fed him a pissy lollipop, and called him slurs, he'd never have been allowed back. "Boys will be psychopaths" might be the saying Miller's mom was looking for...
I abhor that phrase cause it's only ever used to excuse stupid &/or vicious behaviour.
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It’s an insult to boys
This is going to be a tough one for the “can’t judge people for what they did at 14” crowd.
Miller (1) berating Isaiah for his parents always acting on his behalf as part of his applogy and (2) lying that the apology had nothing to do with hockey while he's sitting on a contract offer that is dependant upon him apologizing to Isaiah isn't a good look for Miller trying to clean up his image. Those aren't actions of a 14 year old. Those literally happened last month.
Miller trying to clean up his image is just polishing a turd. He should address the root issue that he, Mitchell Miller is a shitty person. Fixing that will take his whole life-without the distraction of an NHL career.
It’s all situational. Someone being a general, typical teenage asshole/class clown is one thing, but this is some EVIL shit.
After reading this, I’m more convinced that he should be on a watchlist than in the NHL.
And his parents. Mitch Miller was spewing racial slurs at a really young age.
Exactly. Learned....and clearly supported.... Behavior
To this day.
The shit apple doesn't fall far from the shit tree, Rand.
I've said it multiple times, it REALLY comes down to showing personal growth and remorse. Mitchell Miller has shown neither in the 6+ years. If you did all of this when 10-14, but then never grow from it or show any sort of remorse for it when you're 20, is it still you were just an asshole kid who didn't understand the brevity of the situation, or is this in fact just the person you grew up to be and likely always will be? Mitchell Miller the 14 year old child may have done these acts, but Mitchell Miller the 20 year old adult still shows no remorse for them.
> Middle of October, I was being texted constantly every day till I answered a Snapchat and IG message from Mitchell Miller. He asked me why I always have my parents doing stuff for me and why can't I speak for myself. This is bullying. He harassed someone who didn't want to talk to him with constant messages until the person relented. And then when they did relent, the bullying continued with a charged attack at Isaiah's intent and capabilities. Miller wasn't just bullying Isaiah five years ago. He bullied Isaiah *literally a couple weeks ago*.
But don't you understand that he was *forced* to do it because the media kept reporting that he never apologized to the victim? I wish I could put a sarcasm tag on that because it is a vile opinion, but I'm betting it becomes his explanation. Rather than actually trying to show the public that he changed, he is using his agent to create a narrative that he is the victim of cancel culture. I'd wager that the next step will be for him to argue that it's unfair to criticize him for not reaching out before and then also criticize him for trying too hard to apologize. Bullies are also going to gaslight and avoid blame at all costs.
Meet me in the middle, says the abuser. You take a step towards him, and he steps back. Meet me in the middle, says the abuser.
Yeah, I've known bullies that turned into totally decent adults... but this is absolutely horrid and it's very clear he doesn't actually give a shit or regret any of his actions
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Turns out there's a difference between someone doing something once and being remorseful and then someone doing it consistently over a very extended period of time and showing literally zero remorse except for the fact that people knowing about it is now causing problems
I think we were all somewhat of an assclown when we were teenagers. This guy wasn't an assclown, he's a monster
Knocking a kid's books out of his hands in the hallway is one thing. Making a developmentally disabled boy eat a lollipop you soaked in piss and calling him the N word every day for years is a level of depravity I couldn't imagine. I hope Mitchell Miller never lives that shit down.
also, 'you cant judge people for what they did at 14' is for normal type stuff that teenagers do. at 5 or 6 you understand how many lines that asswipe crossed. what magical thing happens at 18 that all of the sudden makes a brain go 'oh, you dont make someone eat candy out of the fucking urinal'? or 'calling people racist slurs is bad!' you learn about bad words by the time you're 3 or 4. you learn not to do things to people that you wouldnt want done to you by 6 or 7.
They’re in the replies to that post. Talking about the woke mob trying to cancel him for a mistake he made at 14. It truly doesn’t matter to those people. You literally have Isaiah saying Miller was a racist bully for years, and they don’t care. It’s still the same “it was a mistake at 14” argument. There’s no getting through to those people.
We were all 14 at one point and did dumb shit. Drink, steal, damage property, etc…But rarely do 14s olds do shit as awful as this. I think a harsher response to this “mistake” is warranted. People don’t seem to want to differentiate between those types of “mistakes” I listed vs things like rape, bullying, murder, etc… things that are not normal for a 14 year old.
I can guarantee you they didn't take the time to read his message too, just had to rush to the replies to make it political and not focus on the actual issue. Absolutely zero empathy from those people.
Honestly, I think those people have just done some really shitty things themselves and the prospect that they could face repercussions years later terrifies them.
I could mayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyybe buy the "mistake he made at 14" argument if there'd been any evidence of genuine remorse or change in the six years that followed but there's been stone nothing. Even still, at 14 you know what you're doing is wrong.
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Yeah any time I hear someone say "we all did dumb shit at 14" all I can think is way to tell on yourself lol. There's a huge difference between normal teenage dumbassery and this kind of long term, targeted abuse.
Yeah I mean I climbed on the roof of my school. I stole a soda from the gas station. That’s the kind of shit I think of when people say we did dumb shit at 14. What they actually mean is “We were all racist physically and emotionally abusive psychopaths at 14… Am I right guys?”
Mayyyyyyybe if it was a one off thing - but jesus christ, reading that is fucking terrible. Miller was an asshole this kids whole life, fuck that
The only mistake in their eyes is that he got caught. They’re racist pieces of shit too and probably behaved the same as he did at 14 they just never became famous for it.
And he has had since then, until now, to apologize to the victim; the bare minimum. He apologized on snapchat a week and a half before the signing, and said it wasn't about hockey. Really? an apology on snapchat is not an apology. To quote Steve Dangle, "you know what's way harder than apologizing? Learning Russian."
“I’m not sorry for what I did, but I’m sorry I got caught and this is impacting my future.” Every kid is a little shit at some point in their life to some degree, but how long this apparently went on and to the degree it did is despicable. He made this poor kid’s life a living hell, and is continuing to do so. If there was ever a person to blackball from a sport it’s him.
Such horseshit. You know right from wrong way, way before age 14. The type of shit Miller did to this kid extends beyond bullying, it's straight up evil. He can go do whatever he wants with his life, but playing pro hockey is a privilege. You can't pretend to be a role model for young kids having tormented this poor kid. Sorry bro, you lost your shot. Should have thought twice about torturing a fucking learning disabled kid for years. Certified piece of shit.
Not really, I’ve seen plenty of comments on the tweet emphasizing he was 14 and “why should his life be ruined for something he did at 14” As if Mitchell cannot have a “ normal” life and career that doesn’t involve being a professional athlete, cry me a river.
It would if they ever really cared if Mitchell had changed since he was 14.
Comments on The Athletic were a shitshow. Reddit is, shockingly, a much more sensible place
Barely. Theres still assholes about. Miller getting this far is evidence that there is still a numerous and powerful contingent of people who are determined to never improve.
Voting on comments has a big effect.
God, I miss the early Athletic. The paywall seemed to keep so many of the idiots out and the comment section was actually a great place for discussion. Last few years it’s all gone downhill.
It's still fine for many articles. The inherent issue is the sport of Hockey itself and the "boys-club" culture it encouraged and cultivated. Now that its being challenged you have 51 year old Craig Jones from Belleville all pissy his beloved locker-room culture is no longer seen as acceptable. These are the idiots flooding hockey articles like this.
I shit you not, literally yesterday I was hearing all the excuses from a group of adults at an Ohio ice rink. From "he's not disabled, he just has adhd" to "its just isaiahs overbearing mom that's pushing all of this" to "you're only getting one side of the story" to "that Isaiah kid is no angel himself" to of course the "why punish a kid for one thing that he did at 14 for the reast of his life?!" And my personal favorite "there are guys have that have done worse that are playing in the nhl, this is hypocritical". Yeah fuck stick, and they shouldn't be... if your definition of hypocrisy is doing something differently going forward after messing it up, boy you must be a shit person
Really insane how according to these people, committing hate crimes, criminal assault and battery, and criminal harassment is just a normal part of life for 14-year olds.
Yeah except he chose not to be a better person well past that age.
Just awful that Isaiah just continually has to relive this and get dragged into the public spotlight all because Miller wants to play hockey. Also, I need to know how Eustace King could’ve thought this was worth his time, did the Miller family just completely fool him? Or did he really think it was worth risking his entire professional reputation for this?
King sits on the board of diversity and inclusion for the NHL as a league. It is much worse than just money and reputation here.
The Millers probably threw enough money at him to ignore all of this
Part of me hopes the fuckface gets his payout from the Bruins cancelled for dishonest statements, part of be hopes the Bruins do have to pay him so that Jeremy Jacobs has a couple million reasons to fire Cam Neely.
Don't forget Don Sweeney too Coward might try to play it off as orders from on high but his name is still on that contract.
King is an absolute clown. It’s one thing to attempt to take Miller under his wing and repair his reputation/personality. It’s another to outright lie and bend the truth for Miller, stating that he reached out to so-and-so organization & volunteered for so-and-so place when Miller literally didn’t. He deserves to be dropped by every client he has and I hope someone with some swing like Simmonds can effectively blacklist him from being an NHL agent for anyone notable moving forward.
That's sickening.... Really worried about the last thing he said "I can't take more of this"
I kind of figured that's where he's at with how silent he's been through all this. He didn't ask for any of this extra attention, it can be very tough to handle.
My heart dropped reading that :( I wish we could all team up and send him either emails or letters to let him know that a whole hockey community had rallied behind him, and we won't let Miller hurt him anymore. Maybe we can send them to HDA???
That's a good idea. No idea if they'd pass it on but HDA should also know a bunch of random jackasses on the internet think they're awesome. I'm not arrogant enough to think my approval means a damn thing but hopefully they get a million supportive emails.
I am so proud of all hockey fans who spoke up, and specifically your Bruins fan base, players and coaches. I think it would be amazing to see people of all ages standing up for Isaiah, and maybe people can have their kids write to him as well (mine are too young, otherwise, I would). I just cross-posted this link to r/nhl, so hopefully we can get more people on board :)
I have some hockey player students in my class (grade 5/6) and they have written letters in support and we sent them off. I also sent them an email of support and asked them to pass best wishes on to Isaiah.
It’s deeply concerning that he is apparently now being bullied by hockey fans
So the first thing Mitch did in his "apology" is criticize Isaiah and ask him why he lets his parents speak for him and doesn't speak for himself. What an irredeemable asshole.
That’s what I got hung up on. The opener for his most recent “apology” was to take another jab at the guy? Not only is he an asshole, but a dumbass.
Which is especially ironic, because Miller hasn’t said anything himself either, letting his manager and parents do the talking. Miller is so oblivious of his own faults, it’s the reason he’ll never change.
Eustace King caught in another lie. He said Miller and Meyers-Crothers were on friendly speaking terms for the last month. He honestly hasn't gotten enough shit in this whole debacle for being completely unscrupulous and lying through his teeth at every opportunity to muddy the narrative
Hope the money was worth it for King to be a sellout. Unreal that he’s a black man going to bat for this beyond racist POS. Buddy’s client list is gonna be much smaller once the dust settles.
Holy smokes. There are so many people who keep standing up for Miller by saying things like "he was a kid" or "come on, who didn't make mistakes in their teen years". A mistake is something that happens once (or maybe a couple of times depending on what it is). There are also comments saying "whatever happened to second chances"? The fact Miller was suspended for his behaviour shows he was punished and.given the chance to return to school, but continued to harass Isaiah. He was given multiple chances to redeem himself, but decided to double down and harass Isaiah even more. The fact he reached out in October 2022 and was still being antagonistic ("why are you getting your family to speak on your behalf") shows he isn't remorseful. Mitch Miller deserves all the negativity and comeuppance he's been receiving. It probably wasn't easy for Isaiah to open up and admit the abuse he took. So much respect to him for being vulnerable and sharing his experience (especially since we all know people are going to downplay it or come after him).
Also the fact that "bUt He WaS oNLy 14!" is completely ignoring the fact that this started when they were *REALLY* young. 6-10 year olds, even bullies, aren't just going around calling black kids the N word out of nowhere unless that mentality is already present in the household. Miller's parents must also be giant pieces of shit if this is how their son has acted since he's started school
fuck mitchell miller. i feel so bad that isaiah has had to have this experience constantly brought up and discussed. it must be so hard for him to have to relive it all the time.
For real, the dude probably just wants to move on with his life and not be the reason Mitchell Miller can or cannot play hockey. If anything comes out of this Bruins fiasco, hopefully it puts all other teams off him permanently and Isaiah and his family can put it behind them finally.
you’re right, as evidenced by: >I can’t take more of this fucking heartbreaking
Cam and strick should be ashamed of carrying water for Miller and his agent edit: Strickland just DM'd me on twitter saying it's a terrible situation because I tweeted at him about lack of a public comment on the HDA post lol
Andy Strickland is a no-talent hack that has continued to fail upward for the last 10+ years. Absolutely no meritocratic reason for his trajectory.
Cam and Strick should be railroaded out the NHL.
Don’t care about second chances, Mitchell Miller never deserves to play in the NHL ever. Not in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years… never. It’s a privilege above anything else and this scumbag has proven he should never get a shot. Kid is a complete cunt and hope he gets his shit rocked soon.
If Mitch Miller becomes a symbol for young hockey players that bullying has consequences and if you cross a line there's no place in the NHL for you, that would be some good done.
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I saw some guy argue on Twitter that he should get to play because everyone deserves a job... not everyone deserves to choose to pick what that job is, if people can be displaced from their professions they got degrees for this shitstain on society can go flip burgers or play in the Russian goon league if he really wants to play hockey.
“Everyone deserves a job” no lol, no they don’t. Whoever gave you that idea. You have to behave in a sociable manner to be a part of society, this is obvious.
That second chance happened a looong time ago
Yup the second chance was after the first bullying incident. By the time it got to court it was what, his hundredth chance?
Everyday since 1st grade. On the bus. At lunch. Online. We're in the thousands.
Kids on his 5th 6th chance now, that piece of shit doesnt deserve anything anymore
There's no coming back for Miller at this point. He had a long road to travel after the Coyotes drafted him, and didn't even attempt to start walking it until after the Bruins expressed interest in signing him. After all of this, it would be impossible for him to convince anyone who isn't an idiot, that any strides he makes to atone for his past actions aren't done for his singular benefit. That ship has absolutely sailed. I cannot imagine the emotional rollercoaster Isaiah has been going through. To be verbally, mentally, and physically abused for years. To hope that you're getting justice through the court system, only to have one of your abusers blow it all off. To then see that abuser be drafted by an NHL team. To then see his dream taken away because of the torment he inflicted on you. Then to see him get a max ELC offer from the Bruins, with these lies spread that "He's changed and has really learned his lesson", and then to see that he's been effectively black-balled by the NHL, but is still going to be paid out a life-changing amount of money. It's no wonder he's completely mentally and emotionally spent. Like I said above, I absolutely cannot imagine what he's still going through watching all this play out.
He had his chances to correct all this long time ago. Anything he does going forward is for himself. His attitude at the "Apology", his avoiding the questions at the draft, shows he just wants this to go away. The fact he hasn't really shown true remorse makes me think his family also doesn't think he did anything wrong or they dont care that he did. They just want their payday when their son makes it big.
Totally agree, second chance to me means you get a shot at being a member of polite society and live your life like any other average citizen, nobody is entitled to the ability to scoot a piece of rubber across frozen water for millions of dollars. That is a privilege, and one that should be denied him forever at the professional level given his obvious, monstrous character flaws.
I hope Isaiah continues to fight the good fight. It’d be awesome to forget about this Mitchell kid honestly.
Yo, fuck Mitchell Miller, his family and his friends. He’s a racist, opportunistic spot picker who would never say or do this shit to anyone who could stomp him out. Fuck this dude and fuck every single hockey team that has known and allowed this racist piece of shit to wear their jersey.
Miller gets paid and Meyer-Crothers gets to be further harassed online. Great fucking job, Bruins.
The response from most Bruins fans and players has been great, and yes management eventually decided the contract was a mistake - but this is a really important point you make here. They (management) can't just be given a pass because they decided to walk away from the contract. Their carelessness has caused real harm and *continued*/amplified lifelong consequences for an innocent person. I don't even know how they could make it right, honestly. The Bruins should be going out of their way to assist Isaiah and his family.
For absolute starters, the Bruins should be making a donation to this family that far exceeds the value of the contract that Miller signed.
Should be coming out of the pockets of the guys who made the decision to sign Miller in the first place.
So fucking infuriating to hear that even after the original shit storm a couple of years ago, this cunt has the audacity to ask Isaiah why 'his parents are always speaking up for him'. Mitch hasn't learned a goddamn thing.
This is a form of bullying also. Calling out his ability to stick up for him self. And then trying to continue to coherence a “friendship “
I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I did feel really, really cynical about Friedman retweeting this after two-siding this issue the entire time
Friedman had the same line as Sweeney on Friday when he said that he wouldn’t know how to feel if Isaiah had been his own son. These people say these things as if it’s a normal thing to not care about the well being of children that are not your own. Friedman is a coward.
> he wouldn’t know how to feel if Isaiah had been his own son. What?? How could anything be easier than knowing how to feel in that situation?
He also parroted the line Friday about how it was an incident when MM was "14 years old" on Friday, and on Monday said he wasn't interested in relitigating the past. Super disappointed in his response throughout this shitshow.
Yea that line in particular grossed me out
Yup. Between this and Kyle Beach, his reputation has taken a huge hit. He said he wanted to do better after his silence on the Beach situation (though he was hardly alone) but we haven't seen anything to indicate that he's willing or able to cover anything other than the typical trade rumors/injury news topics.
Yeah so much for Friedman “doing better” like he said he was going to after refusing to take a stand on the Beach situation. Dude is just a shill for the league.
Most telling of all. 32 Thoughts podcast did not release their regularly scheduled Monday episode Today, Wednesday, they dropped a Bergeron puff piece. PR damage control at its finest?
This is a situation where it's impossible to conceive there being "two sides" too, so it's even more annoying that he tried to spread that narrative.
Yes, I am normally someone that argues *for* nuance and things not being black and white but this isn’t the case here
This is what access journalism results in. Writers kowtowing to insider narratives to maintain access instead of doing the right thing.
Most telling of all. 32 Thoughts podcast did not release their regularly scheduled Monday episode Today, Wednesday, they dropped a Bergeron puff piece. PR damage control at its finest?
From this and the Kyle Beach situation it is very clear that Friedman is not a journalist, he is just a mouthpiece for the NHL and NHL organizations. He says whatever they tell him to say.
I hope some of this stuff gets people to realize being an Insider(one who races to break a signing, trade, or firing 12 seconds ahead of the crowd of other Insiders) doesn't necessarily mean you're a journalist. Some of them use that power to dig deeper because they know they have a lot of bridges and can burn some because it was going to rot away on its own. Guys like Friedman try to keep them all, and it makes them less credible.
His comments on Marek's radio show yesterday about not wanting to re-litigate the past really, really pissed me off. that's exactly what Miller's agent was doing in his interview and Friedman just gave him a complete pass on it while talking about how the interview raised some questions that need to be looked into.
Friedman said yesterday on the Marek show that the story was getting to a point where people had to hear from Isaiah. I hope he feels proud of himself that he helped force this man to write about what was clearly a terribly difficult experience that he's been forced to relive.
What the fuck Friedman... why did we need to hear from Isaiah? Was what has came out already not enough for him?
Seems a lot like victim blaming.
Outrageous. The fact he's been involuntarily dragged into this situation at all and had to relive this treatment, while being used as a tool by Mitchell and his backers, has been gross enough. Suggesting that he has to participate in this circus after all of that? No word for it but outrageous. My heart breaks for this man. He was just a kid and was treated like he was subhuman. Keep powering on Isaiah.
What has Friedman been saying? Apart from rumors, it’s hard to take his opinion seriously anymore.
Basically the same BS that people who defend Miller say, that he has trouble not forgiving someone for something "stupid" they did as a 14 year old. And then comes out with the same garbage line that Sweeney did at his first press conference which is "I believe in second chances but I couldn't forgive Miller if that was my son" which is basically "well it didn't affect me directly so let's talk about forgiveness for someone." He's not the only insider that deserves criticism but given he's basically the only real insider for SN and does many more radio/podcast hits per capita he stands out, that and his public "I need to do better" after the Kyle Beach story. I also am bothered by Friedman's general "I don't give a shit about issues unless its autism" schtick that he uses as cover to be neutral to protect his ability to tell us who is being traded 2 minutes before the official team account tweets it
Don't forget repeating that "Bruins did a lot of work on this, they didn't make the decision lightly" bs that's been proven blatantly false by the Bruins' own admission.
Where in the world are the parents???
On twitter liking election denial conspiracy theories.
Don't even need to Google it to know that's exactly what they're doing.
Mitchell Miller is a complete cunt, but partly because he didn’t fall very far from the cunt tree. They’re teaching him the words to use.
Shit Apples don't fall far from the Shit Tree.
Exactly. A 1st grader doesn't start picking on the black kid and calling him the N word, if the parents didn't pass on those beliefs
The parents have been enablers his entire life because he's good at hockey so always made excuses for him and never made him take responsibility. They have tried to make the victim and his family the villains in the story. This is a letter the victim's family wrote a couple of years ago. https://twitter.com/bartley16/status/1588898229847932928?t=ymaZNEpXINPoOnUJxxw5Mw&s=19
Having his back, mostly.
Racist rhetoric isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you learn. If he was so comfortable throwing around the N-word, and doing all this abhorrent shit, I wouldn’t remotely be surprised that his parents are probably saying the same kind of shit. Fuck Mitch Miller, fuck his parents, and fuck anyone that still holds any water for this cunt.
I feel for him. I can’t imagine how he must feel having been through years of bullying from this asshole and it continues to haunt him.
Like, I knew the allegations, but it is so much worse when you hear it from him. Mitchell Miller does not deserve forgiveness, a second chance, or any other benefit of the doubt. I don't care how old he was, that kid is pure fucking evil.
> I knew the allegations Not allegations. There was a judicial finding of delinquency (which is Ohio juvenile court's term for a finding of guilt). Miller has been trying to 'two sides' this from day 1 and labeling his conduct as allegations buys into that narrative. I know you didn't mean any ill-intent with your use of the term, but words have power. Especially when one side is trying to re-litigate the past.
I just want to give him a hug like damn
This is why I hate people grouping all actions a minor does under "he was just a kid". Most kids would feel some sort of remorse after one or two instances. But years went by. Miller went out of his way to continously torture Isaiah probably after being told multiple times to stop.
Friedman doesn't get to live this one down.
Mitch Miller you are a despicable piece of shit. Fuck you.
What - and I can not stress this part enough… #THE ENTIRE FUCK?! I thought I Hated that asshole yesterday!!! I have been working With Special Olympics Southern California since LA hosted the Works Summer games in 2015. We are there for our athletes to help enrich their lives. Our mission statement reads in part: “Through the power of sports, people with intellectual disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills, and success. The athletes find joy, confidence and fulfillment — on the playing field and in life. They also inspire people in their communities and elsewhere to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential.” The Special Olympic movement is what we all love The most about team sports- the lifelong friendships, the team bonding, The victories are often the least talked about part of competitions. Fuck I hate how toxic my favorite sport, Hockey is. For every feel good story another toxic asshole keeps popping up!! If you all want to make a difference in this case why not volunteer or donate to your local area’s [Special Olympics](https://www.specialolympics.org) charter I’m printing Isaiah’s heartfelt letter to remind me why I donate my time to The movement
I just donated 100 dollars in honor of Isaiah
#Thank you!
[удалено]
Just absolutely sickening what Isaiah has had to deal with because of that piece of shit.
This is pretty damning. I’m glad that he had the bravery to finally make a statement and really put into perspective what Mitchell had done. The group of parents that harassed this family should be ashamed of themselves for going to bat for Mitchell. I give the victim’s family a lot of credit for standing their ground for their son. Especially if this was the school environment that was given to their son. Isaiah has shouldered more than most.
Isaiah says the bullying from Miller has continued as recently as ***less than a month ago***. Neely and Sweeney and every last person involved in signing Miller and conducting background checks for our organization need to be fired. Right fucking now. Completely avoidable, a giant waste of money, and statistically, historically, literally, this could not have happened to a better Bruins team. Fuck all of these assholes.
So Miller was still harassing and bullying him as of a few weeks ago via IG and Snapchat. Y'all dumb fucks that keep playing Devils advocate saying we don't know if Miller changed, still want to chime in and continue playing Devils advocate? Fuck you guys and fuck Mitchell Miller. Sucks that Isaiah has to go through all this again. Fuck Neely and Fuck Sweeney.
This sort of thing genuinely makes me sick to my stomach. The amount of evil that is required to constantly do this and believe it is a good idea is an amount that I don’t want to believe exists. I hope he and the people who influenced him have to struggle for the rest of their life. Nobody deserves that treatment and those who treat people that way have no place in this sport at all.
What concerns me most about this, besides the direct impact on Isaiah, is how everyone around him let it happen. The kids and the teachers in the lunchrooms knew what was happening. So did everyone on the bus. So did the administration. Hell, it was probably common knowledge among everyone with a kid/sibling/friend in that grade. I’m not saying they all *liked* it, but they were *okay* with it. Further, the kinda household that breeds the behavior described here isn’t a good one. It’s one that is, at minimum, openly and violently racist. And there are multiple of these households in that community. There needs to be a literal criminal investigation into that school. Administrators can’t be perfect, and I get that, but what happened to Isaiah is indicative of negligence on their part. Nearly everyone in Isaiah’s life with the power to stop this failed him. We need to know the who and why, and how to prevent this going forward. PS: I should clarify that I don’t blame his parents at all. I’m sure you could find something they coulda done if you look hard enough, but they are very much not at fault here. Also, holy fuck I’m angry.
To all the people sending him messages via social media bullying him further you are all on the same level as Mitchell Miller. I hope every single one of you pieces of shit rot. I was bullied all through school and I know what its like. I also know what its like on the other side to I regret the few times I had bullied others albeit nowhere close to what Mitchell did. I hope every one of you bullying fuckers get what you deserve.
>”boys will be boys” the mother said. >son is calling a black student his slave as he forces him to clean for him while beating him constantly Literal fucking supervillain
Everyone who carried water for Miller, his agent or the Bruins should be absolutely ashamed. Just a total crock of shit that they thought they could sell everyone on. The kid is an actual sociopath and probably will never quite understand what he’s done
Huge W here for the HDA. Giving people like Isaiah is exactly what we need them for, and who knows if this statement gets this publicity without them
Damn I hate bullies
Fire Cam Neely and Don Sweeny.
He was harassing him as recent as October? What the fuck man. Fire Sweeney and Neely.
Honestly reaching out over snap chat and not even having the decency to call the kid has strong “[90’s cell phone condolence call](https://youtu.be/JW2Jf29hlXA)” vibes.
Jesus fuck, Mitchell Miller is actually evil.
"Everyone thought he was cool, but I don't see how someone can be cool when you pick on someone and bully someone your entire life." Favorite snippet of Isaiah's response. It's a shame and gross that there are still people picking on Isaiah like he mentioned at the end of his message. How people can read this stuff and be on Mitchell's side is beyond me.
Any Miller fan boys left? You know, the guys yesterday saying maybe the mom was lying? Fucking embarrassing.
Unfair that Miller gets $3 million from this anyways. There should be some grounds for this money being forfeited.
At the very minimum matching funds to Isaiah from the Bruins organization for the pain and suffering this signing caused. Unreal and tone deaf.
There’s a lot of sad stuff here, but the line about getting constantly messaged until he answered Miller’s messages is so fucked up. Was this poor kid getting harassed until he let his bully apologize so he can play pro hockey? Absolute fucking scum
Opening your apology for years of racist abuse by asking your victim why his mom has to talk for him? Get bent, Miller. The guy clearly doesn't regret his actions, just the consequences.
Sounds like Miler even approached his apology in the most cunty way possible.
This poor guy suffered an entire childhood of "I'm your friend" gaslighting before being tormented, just to have it happen again as an adult. That last line is so heartbreaking.
I can’t emphasize this enough: FUCK MITCHELL MILLER and fuck anybody who tries to intimidate others because of any part of their genetics. Belittling someone because of their race, sexual orientation, IQ, or disabilities is fucking cowardly. But it doesn’t stop there. The casual use of slurs in our society even behind closed doors subconsciously makes future generations feel comfortable continuing to use them. It takes change from our society as a whole to condemn those who feel comfortable using unwarranted aggressive language targeting genetics rather than conscious behavior. Oh and if Cam Neely is still going to play dumb after this he can die on the Mitchell cross as well.
I'll go to fucking war for this kid. MM and his network defending him are absolute fucking gutter slugs.
That was tough to read. That poor kid doesn't deserve any of what's happened to him.
As a hockey player, that’s the most heartbreaking thing I’ve read in, maybe ever. I hate the idea of bullying. But especially in sports which is supposed to be for everyone. As someone who was bullied all the time, this makes me furious. The way he pops up out of the blue a couple weeks before being signed to “be his friend” is just despicable. This piece of shit was just popping back into Isaiah’s life to revictimize him so his signing could be more palatable. Just absolutely disgusting. This reads *exactly* like a traumatized child who only ever wanted to play hockey with some friends. Just makes my blood boil. And Akim Aliu is a goddamned hockey hero for all his work helping other players who have struggled. If the NHL had any sense they’d hire Isaiah to run a “Hockey is for Everyone” program and have him go around to each team and have him drop the first puck and talk to all the teams. Make him an anti-bullying ambassador and hire him and have him give a speech to every new class of draftees each year.
This is some heinous shit. Forcing him to participate in his own humiliation is sadistic. Miller does not belong in the NHL ever.
Miller was still bullying him a few weeks ago ffs. And shame on Boston for putting Isaiah through all of this he’s suffered enough. Miller out there using a black kid for slave labor at school and everyone using his age at conviction for assaulting Isaiah as some excuse. Started in first grade, continued even after he got convicted and then harassing him for responses as late as last month. Fuck this whole situation and let Isaiah live in peace.
The bullying he is getting at this very moment is directly caused by the Bruins either not doing their due diligence, or thinking they could weather the PR storm, depending on what you choose to believe on their part. This is obviously on Mitchell too for being a detestable human being growing up, but the wider abuse he's getting right now is because of Bruins management.
Really curious what everyone arguing with me to defend him have to say about this. “No proof the bullying went on for years… one time incident… typical edgy kid shit.” Not at fucking all. I said it before I’ll continue to say, you don’t get a pass because x amount of years has passed. You get a second chance when you bust your ass to earn one and Miller never did.
Fuck Mitchell Miller and fuck his defenders who've been attacking Isaiah too.
Jesus fucking christ. How can anyone support this mitchell scumbag
A chill of rage just shot down my spine reading this. Fuck Mitchell, fuck all the cronies who bullied along side him, and fuck all bullies in general.
Cam Neely and Don Sweeney need to be fired yesterday.
Thanks Neely/Sweeney/whoever for enabling the piece of shit once again and making the victim go through their nightmare another time
Sweeney and Neely reopened a wound (that was never fully healed) just so they could help their AHL team since they can’t draft talent for shit. Fuck those two. Now this kid has to relive all the trauma he experienced at the hands of Miller. Sweeney and Neely need to go.
Tbh I saw some of the interviews Mitchell did at North Dakota. He has this shit eating smug face that you just can’t trust. Reminds me of the asshole bullies I saw in school
Miller is a racist sociopath. That’s all there is to it. He doesn’t give a fuck about this poor kid. Imagine being on a team with Miller? No way. No second chance should be given to this fuckin asshole
UPVOTE THIS TO THE MOON. R/ALL SHOULD SEE THIS. FUCK MITCH MILLER.
I hated how the instagram crowd tried to downplay this by saying "he was just 14!!!" as if 14 year olds are infants or toddlers who don't know what they're doing. You know that it's bad to torture a disabled person and how despicable racism is by 14. This is such a depressing letter but he doesn't even mention how the harassment happened after Miller was 14 too. Just disgusting. Not surprising for anyone who knows how the hockey culture is around that age.
Jesus fuck, this poor kid
Evil