We talked about the hit Crave show Heated Rivalry a few weeks ago, when season one was still rolling out, and the craze was just setting in. Even then, before the season’s final episodes were released
and the show hit international notoriety, there was just something about it that felt different. It was honest, something so very rare when it comes to covering professional sports. While the show definitely becomes a little less about hockey as the season progresses, turning into a beautiful and intimate love story between the show’s two leads, its impact on the sports world continues to prove itself.
Back when we first talked about the show here, it was more about how the show was causing a shift in the way the media was talking about these topics. I was so pleasantly surprised seeing legitimate hockey podcasts like What Chaos! and Empty Netters were doing in-depth, honest reviews of the show in a way that was respectful and joyful. It became a part of the viewing experience, watching the episode when it dropped on Crave, and then watching the podcast boys break down their favourite parts. Maybe my favourite moment of these wonderful review shows was during an episode of What Chaos! where they put up a graphic with the odds of where Ilya Rozanov would sign as an MLH free agent in the show. Perfect, brilliant content. 10/10 no notes.
Also, yes, I did reach out and pitch myself to be the official WNBA correspondent for the What Chaos! podcast, since my guys, DJ and Pete, kept referencing that they enjoy covering the WNBA. They seemed open to the idea, so here’s hoping.
As the season of Heated Rivalry progressed, it got even better (which is saying a lot because it was so good from the start), and eventually hit the global zeitgeist. It’s been breaking the fourth wall of sports, and continues to do so more each day, even weeks after the season finale aired. Hockey teams are legitimately interacting with the show, playing “All The Things She Said” at NHL games, inviting the cast to Pride Night celebrations, and posting parts from the show on social media. Hilariously enough, the Buffalo Sabres have gone on a TEAR since Heated Rivalry jokingly jabbed them in episode four, when Shane and Ilya talk about hockey cities they love or don’t love to play in, and posted about it on their social media.
Another sidebar to say that I keep trying to get them to play “All The Things She Said” at a Raptors game, with no luck so far. The quest continues. I will keep you all updated.
Yet, maybe the biggest impact the show has the potential to make is within athletes themselves, and the culture around talking about LGBTQ+ topics as professional male athletes. As my new favourite hockey podcasts have proven to me over the past month, sports media guys are (for the most part?) pretty chill. As I said in my last post about Heated Rivalry, I knew that. I work with some incredible guys on the Toronto Raptors beat, who would have engaged in the same way should Heated Rivalry been about basketball instead of hockey. Also, if Crave wants to explore the idea of a basketball spinoff of the same subject, I would like to submit my name to write it.
Yeah, the media has been great about it, but the reality remains that there is still a rift when it comes to the teams, leagues, and athletes themselves and the topic of LGBTQ+ existence in these leagues. There are currently no openly LGBTQ+ athletes in the major men’s sports leagues. Heated Rivalry’s take on honest, human love just made those of us who follow sports IRL reflect on how these leagues and athletes are so taboo about these topics. Having these open conversations about Heated Rivalry, about the existence of Queer love in professional male sports, will hopefully continue the work of breaking down the stigma that still exists in this topic in these sports leagues. It’s more than just putting on a performative Pride Night every year; it’s normalizing these topics in conversation, in locker rooms, and removing the hateful stigma that still exists when you breach these subjects.
The truth is that there are definitely Queer athletes in the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB and other male sports leagues; they just don’t feel safe being open about it. That’s the main conflict in the show, something the characters are constantly fighting against. Hudson Williams, the Vancouver-based actor who plays Shane Hollander, says on a new episode of Andy Cohen’s podcast that closeted professional athletes have anonymously reached out to him and the creators of the Heated Rivalry books and show. While respecting the anonymity of these players, he calls the messages “lovely,” and says they have made them realize that their “fun show” is also hitting people in a real place.
Of course, in the fictional world of Heated Rivalry, (spoiler alert) a player does end up coming out publicly as gay, and the joy is palpable through the screen as Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything” blasts through your television speakers and likely through the walls into your neighbour’s house. You’ve told those neighbours they need to tune into the show, though, as you’ve told basically everyone in your life by now, so it’s fine. The reality is, we don’t know if that same joy would be reflected if a pro-athlete in one of these major men’s leagues were to come out in real life.
Yet, the response to this show from fans, casual sports people, and the teams themselves trepidly interacting with it, is the most anyone has ever talked about the topic of Queerness in men’s sports in recent years. Maybe some of these players who watched Heated Rivalry and saw themselves through Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, and Scott Hunter begin to warm, ever so slightly, to the idea of being as honest in their own lives. Of course, it’s not their job to, as the pressure of being one of the first to do so is not something to be taken lightly, and they deserve their privacy to come out on their own terms. Yet, if that’s something they wanted to do, it almost feels like Heated Rivalry has started a conversation that may lead to the normalization of those conversations.
So yes, we love a spicy show about sports. We love joking about the show’s little quips about hockey, inviting ourselves to the cottage, and making too many burgers because the recipe says so. Yet, this show has started a crucially important conversation as well. It’s continued to help normalize talking about Queer content in television and Queer content in sports. It’s bringing the romance genre, something we all know sells and is wildly popular, into a new audience. It’s proving the saying “love is love,” while a little overused, is still very true; you don’t need to directly relate with the identities of Shane and Ilya — as hockey players or Queer people — to enjoy watching their love story. It’s just good television. Yet, if you do relate on either front, it’s also showing that there are a ton of people who will love and support you.
While we eagerly wait for season two information and rewatch season one a million times, hopefully, the important conversations Heated Rivalry has sparked will cause some genuinely good change in the culture of male professional sports.
Also, if they need someone to come play a sports reporter on season two, this is me formally submitting myself for consideration.
