Saturday, June 20, 2009

Sean Avery on Fallon's Show - why the first 5 seconds told us everything

Our man Sean Avery paid a visit to Jimmy Fallon last week. For those of you who are either drinking (like Nugman) or sleeping (like Dave Pucks) at that hour - Jimmy Fallon's show comes on at 12:30am on NBC. It used to be Conan O'Brien's time slot - but he moved an hour earlier into what used to be Jay Leno's slot. Now Jay Leno is also moving forward to 10 pm in the fall. It's almost like NBC is switching time zones.

Anyway - Sean's appearance was mighty odd and very interesting. In fact - let me just talk about the first five seconds:

Just coming out from behind the curtain - at the moment Fallon is expecting to shake hands - Sean fakes a punch at Jimmy, making him flinch. What a way to start. I think someone like Sean would see someone like Fallon as weak - like not a classic tough guy male. And Sean would want to establish dominance right away and throw Jimmy off - which is exactly what he did. So Avery approached the interview as combat and began by psyching Jimmy out.

It's a lot like the way Sean plays hockey - as a mind game - trying to get an advantage. It also shows something of Avery's view of the world:

Sean almost lost his hockey career over a remark he made to the media - putting two words together ("sloppy" and "seconds") that are harmless on their own - but together are now considered something of an anti-female slur. In Sean's head it was a joke to make fun of an opposing hockey player and a ex-girlfriend - but it started a chain of events that got him suspended - off the Dallas Stars and eventually back to our NY Rangers (bringing so much joy to Pucks and Nugs that we started up this blog)

Anyway - given Avery's history with the media, an interview show where he could be asked any question could be stressful and a risk for Sean. So his reaction - when feeling threatened and out of his comfort zone - in Fallon's territory - was to fake a punch - intimidate Fallon and establish Sean as the top dog in the room.

Strange way to start - but 100 percent Sean Avery - revealing the exact kind of aggressive, combative, instinctive behavior that always seems to get Sean in trouble.

All in all - a very revealing five seconds of Sean's life.


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