Jamie Nye: These unprecedented times mean mistakes will be made, and that’s OK

As the sports world pauses because of racial injustice protests for a few days, there is a common theme that has become increasingly clear: You’d better say the right thing at the right time or you will be ridiculed.

And the criticism will come swiftly and harshly.

Let’s look at the NHL playing games on Wednesday as the NBA was pausing and some MLB games were postponed. Somehow Gary Bettman and the NHL leadership were questioned, with people saying the league missed the boat.

Then on Thursday, Philadelphia Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault was being honest that he was focused on winning a Stanley Cup and had no real clue what has been going on outside the NHL bubble.

Vigneault was called out for showcasing his white privilege and called worse than that.

I think all of this is unfair. These are hard times and hard things to navigate. The NHL didn’t have a bunch of players showing up Wednesday to boycott; it actually had none. Vigneault was just being honest with how he has spent his time.

So can we park the shame tour? Not everyone can say and do the perfect thing at the perfect time during an event that is simply unprecedented.