Do You See What I See?

The Capitals current #1 goalie Braden Holtby just welcomed a new baby boy, Benjamin Hunter, with his fiancée Brandi Bodnar. I offer hearty congratulations to both. Unfortunately this is where the blog stops being nice. At the risk of sounding catty, I’m going to speak candidly about the new mom’s image.

I’ve been watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix. The womanizer of the series, Barney, goes through elaborate schemes and stories to get women to go home with him. It’s a running joke in his group of friends that most of these women are a special kind of stupid to fall for his obvious ploys. One of Barney’s favorite groups of women to go after are the ‘i instead of y’ girls. According to Barney, women who use i (Kelli, Holli, Sherri) are dumber and sluttier than the average girl.

I don’t agree with these sort of generalizations as a whole but the character isn’t totally wrong about what people will assume.  When first seeing a Kelli as opposed to a Kelly or Kellie, a lot of people deduct IQ points. It’s like having a southern accent. You’re simple until proven smart. (Yes I know what happens when you assume but honestly tell me you’ve never thought this.)

Since I follow a few Caps and Bears (Caps AHL affiliate) players on Twitter, I found the new mom’s Twitter account. The new mom’s picture is of her side-boob in a bikini showing off her tattoo. That picture is on her main page and paired with all her tweets. Her Twitter account wasn’t exactly an intellectual saving grace either. Ignoring the picture, she didn’t sound stupid but didn’t sound like science consultant for The Big Bang Theory either.

Holtby is 22; a rising star just out of the minor leagues. Bodnar is his fiancée, not wife. People will assume something there, merited or not. Add in the atypical, sorority girl spelling of Brandi and the tacky Twitter picture, the new mom’s image isn’t a good one. (Yes I know your body was awesome pre-baby but the picture is still tacky.)

John Erskine’s wife is on Twitter and she presents herself well from what I’ve seen. I haven’t seen or heard much of anything else from the other wives on the team. For a fan, that’s probably a good thing from a PR stand-point. If you’re not seeing them and hearing them, the wives aren’t having a direct correlation to their husband’s image.

I’m not saying sports wives shouldn’t be seen or heard. Far from it. They just have to be careful about how they’re seen and what everyone hears. What they say and do publicly reflects on their husbands reflects on the team as a whole.

If a sports wife is taking a vocal position on gun ownership or reproductive rights, that’s going to mean a lot for her husband and his relationship with the public. It could even affect his career. That’s life with a SO in the public eye. Remember Gisele after the Super bowl when she mouthed off to the press? That was less than helpful.

I will give the couple points for choosing a great name. The mock-ability is low and the history and meaning of the name is high. I think they did well there. From all the positive things I’m seeing toward Bodnar on Twitter, I’m sure she’s a nice and likable person.

However, teen girls are asking Holtby to the prom. If you want ugly, catty, and vicious things said about the new mom, they’ll be the ones to do it. They just discovered this woman exists and they aren’t going to like it. Bodnar should at least change the Twitter picture to stop fanning the inevitable fire. She doesn’t deserve anyone’s ire (jealousy maybe).

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