The Players' Tribune: Patrick O'Sullivan details years of abuse UPDATED with article

[authentic]

Did you read the article? It said Pat's father would beat the crap out of him on a parking lot and once pulled him out of the team bus to beat him up. Don't tell me no one ever saw it. How could anyone not notice what was going on? Even the other parents knew Pat's father was a psychopath.

When you have a kid who shows up to the rink with a black eye, scars on his body and signs of abuse, you must do something more than just asking the kid if he's okay.

I agree. I mean his father is basically 100% to blame here, but I just cannot imagine how no one called the cops on him. It's disgusting that someone was able to get away with that for so long. If he was doing this in public multiple times someone should have stepped up and made a phone call, plain and simple. Stories like this make me sick.

 

[Quack Shot]

The dad is a...there's no word to even describe him. Who cares if your kid is an NHL player or plays for the beer league. As long as your son or daughter is doing what they love is all that matters. Beating your son for your own failures in life is terrible and I hope Patrick never has to see that low life again.

 

[StrictlyCommercial]

God that article makes me mad/sad/angry/depressed. Awful stuff.

 

[Poochie_D]

It blows my mind that no one intervened. I don't consider myself "better" than the average man but I would have never let that pass. Family friend, acquaintance, whatever... I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

I think I speak for others that this story really bothered me. Was about to go take a nap and I couldn't sleep after I read it.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

It'll probably never happen, but I would love for this article to be displayed prominently in every minor hockey arena in Canada.

Powerful article all around, but this is what really stood out to me:

Once you get to the pro level and you witness how fast the game moves, you finally realize that no amount of running or weight lifting or private lessons is going to change one simple question: Do you understand hockey? Do you really understand the game? Do you know where that puck is going next?

Either you have it or you don’t. Screaming at your kid in the car on the way to a hockey game isn’t going to get them to the next level. Having a 12-year-old kid run six miles after practice isn’t going to turn them into Jonathan Toews.

It's amazing how many parents just don't get this; your kid either has it or they don't. And based on sheer numbers, there's about a 99.9% chance they don't, and that they won't make a dime playing hockey. Stop acting like complete ditch pigs in an effort to "push your kid to the next level".

 

[Cult of Hynes]

It's not that black and white. They weren't aware of the whole sutuation. They asked Patrick. He said everything was fine. Stop blaming all the other parents for not being all knowing.

Are you outraged at Patrick for not intervening when he witnessed 12 year old boys being screamed at by crazy parents putting the kid through avprofessional style workout?

You clearly didnt read the article. The fact youre trash talking a victim of abuse is beyond sickening. No one is saying it is a black and white issue, if you read the article, you would see that he stated that parents and other players saw him being abused both physically and verbally, and they did nothing. You're more pissed off at the fact he said something about that than the fact the father abused him in such a manner.

O'Sullivan clearly wrote the article for people who see this type of thing happening, or have a gut feeling. He also wrote it for parents so they realize no matter how hard they push their kids, it isnt going to make or break them since it is ultimately on the child.

 

[bossram]

Absolutely awful story but disgustingly its not that surprising or uncommon.

 

[mrcshlbrstrm*]

It's not that black and white. They weren't aware of the whole sutuation. They asked Patrick. He said everything was fine. Stop blaming all the other parents for not being all knowing.

Are you outraged at Patrick for not intervening when he witnessed 12 year old boys being screamed at by crazy parents putting the kid through avprofessional style workout?

Do you have any kids? I hope you don't have any kids. Your comments on here are at best, really really stupid, and at worst, disgusting and REALLY REALLY REALLY STUPID.

 

[Baemon Severson*]

I can't imagine going through all that at the hands of your father. Really sickening.

I had an indoor soccer game last night and there was a game of 13 year olds playing on the field before our game. I was seriously shocked at how intense some of these parents are. Screaming, *****ing at the refs, even insulting opposing players. These kids were THIRTEEN. Obviously that little anecdote isn't a perfect parallel to what O'Sullivan went through but that mentality is sadly prevalent in youth sports today.

As an aside, why did O'Sullivan go 56th in 03? I know it was a stacked draft but he put up 92 in 68 as a rookie and 81 in 56 as a draft eligible player. Combine those numbers with his pedigree of being the #1 OHL pick it's sort of mystifying

 

[Hurricane28]

Pretty powerful story, my favorite quote and it holds true is that "a 12 year old running six miles after practice won't turn him into the next Jonathan Toews".

 

[I Am The Stig]

I can't imagine going through all that at the hands of your father. Really sickening.

I had an indoor soccer game last night and there was a game of 13 year olds playing on the field before our game. I was seriously shocked at how intense some of these parents are. Screaming, *****ing at the refs, even insulting opposing players. These kids were THIRTEEN. Obviously that little anecdote isn't a perfect parallel to what O'Sullivan went through but that mentality is sadly prevalent in youth sports today.

As an aside, why did O'Sullivan go 56th in 03? I know it was a stacked draft but he put up 92 in 68 as a rookie and 81 in 56 as a draft eligible player. Combine those numbers with his pedigree of being the #1 OHL pick it's sort of mystifying

I noticed this when I was reffing a youth hockey game one day. It was a 14 year old Tier 2 girl's game (so really just girls that are still fairly new at playing or whatever) and one team's parents were heckling the opposing goalie by calling her a sieve and what not. I was like wtf.

 

[Scrub*]

So where is the father now? He basically ruined him, brings back minor hockey memories, people are so ****ed up.

 

[King In The North]

So where is the father now? He basically ruined him, brings back minor hockey memories, parents are so ****ed up.

Some users said he's free, I believe there is still a restraining order in place.

 

[29dryden29]

My Dad yelled at me once from the stands. I told him yell at me again and I'm done. He said sorry and never did again. I got very lucky when it came to how my Dad watched my hockey.

I got used to it and eventually tuned him out so I didn't really care but he was one of those hockey dads that yelled and cursed at the other parents and the refs one of the kids on my team had his dad jump the boards and punch a ref for a bad call so I felt I had gotten off easy lol.

 

[ShootIt]

Very sad.

 

[beowulf]

Sad, I never knew of any teammates that were in this bad of a situation but I did know of a few who would get verbally abused by their dad's and in one case mother. These parents that all think that their kid will make it to the NHL and push them to the point of abuse need to have their heads checked. At times I think hockey, or kids sports in general, would be more fun for the kids if parents were not allowed to watch the games.

 

[Fazkovsky]

Wasn't there a thread about it even like 7-8 years ago?

absolutely awful but he must be in another point of his life

 

[I Am The Stig]

Sad, I never knew of any teammates that were in this bad of a situation but I did know of a few who would get verbally abused by their dad's and in one case mother. These parents that all think that their kid will make it to the NHL and push them to the point of abuse need to have their heads checked. At times I think hockey, or kids sports in general, would be more fun for the kids if parents were not allowed to watch the games.

That would be ideal in all honestly lol. I know Gareth Wheeler had said that the Toronto FC youth academy does not allow parents to attend practices. That's a start.

 

[jorbjorb]

I remember dad's being pissed off at their kid after each game. Disgusting.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Everyone should read that article.

 

[Felix Unger]

As a parent, I hate to say it, but parents have almost ruined youth sports. Kids used to play multiple sports, but now, they play only 1 sport, and usually under the close watch of their parent in the hopes that they'll make it big. Maybe I'm pessimistic, but I'm afraid we'll see more stories like this down the road

Forgetting talking about individual parents, etc. It does seem as if the incentives structure drives a lot of this. College is incredible expensive, and - at least in the US - I think a lot of these people are driving their kids toward getting a scholarship or something. I'm sure that doesn't explain cases where there is clearly a pathological vicarious living or abusive situation, but I'd speculate it's often involved.

 

[MsMeow]

Are his parents still together? I also wonder if he abused his wife and daughter.

 

[King'sPawn]

As an aside, why did O'Sullivan go 56th in 03? I know it was a stacked draft but he put up 92 in 68 as a rookie and 81 in 56 as a draft eligible player. Combine those numbers with his pedigree of being the #1 OHL pick it's sort of mystifying

Incidentally, the issues with his father made teams think he was a headcase.

 

[Minor Boarding]

Everyone should read that article.

The Book is actually way better...
It's Patricks whole journey through "hockey" life with the focus on the abuse and the fact that people can help by not looking away.
I thought O'Sullivan an Joyce did an excellent job at making the book informative/insightful rather then a thriller/drama that would sell...

 

[Knave]

You clearly didnt read the article. The fact youre trash talking a victim of abuse is beyond sickening. No one is saying it is a black and white issue, if you read the article, you would see that he stated that parents and other players saw him being abused both physically and verbally, and they did nothing. You're more pissed off at the fact he said something about that than the fact the father abused him in such a manner.

O'Sullivan clearly wrote the article for people who see this type of thing happening, or have a gut feeling. He also wrote it for parents so they realize no matter how hard they push their kids, it isnt going to make or break them since it is ultimately on the child.

Did you? Because it's pretty clear to me that you didn't read carefully as evidenced by this emotional tripe.

You're going to call the cops every time someone shoves another person because there may be more extensive abuse taking place? Really?