Anyone want to be a Russian athlete these days? Exactly.

With Vladimir Putin deciding to invade yet another sovereign country with the end goal of recreating the Soviet Union SA国际影视传媒� no matter what anyone else may have to say SA国际影视传媒� the entire world has made their displeasure known in its own way. Banks can no longer do business with Russia, no more flights originating from Russia making landings etc. Here in the North, weSA国际影视传媒檝e decided to take all Russian liquor off the shelves until further notice. A small gesture which most likely wonSA国际影视传媒檛 force PutinSA国际影视传媒檚 hand but, hey SA国际影视传媒� better than sitting and watching.

Since I cover sports, and many of you have been kind enough to tell me to stick to writing about sports (shut up and dribble, right?), letSA国际影视传媒檚 talk about that. Basically, anything involving Russian athletes or teams of any sort have been affected. HereSA国际影视传媒檚 what we know so far:

The UEFA Champions League final, which was supposed to happen in St. Petersburg in May, will now happen in Paris in May;

The World Curling Federation has taken the European Curling Championship in November away from the city of Perm and will host it somewhere else;

The St. Petersburg Open tennis tournament has been moved to Kazakhstan (SA国际影视传媒�OK?) and will happen in September;

Two of the non-Russian teams of the Kontinental Hockey League, Jokerit of Finland and Dinamo Riga of Latvia, have decided to leave the league and will return to their domestic leagues;

The menSA国际影视传媒檚 national soccer teams of Poland, Czech Republic and Sweden have announced they will not play any World Cup qualifiers versus the Russian national side while the Football Association in England have said its teams wonSA国际影视传媒檛 play anything Russian SA国际影视传媒渇or the foreseeable futureSA国际影视传媒�;

The International Olympic Committee, always on the side of whatever you arenSA国际影视传媒檛, is SA国际影视传媒済reatly concernedSA国际影视传媒� about the events unfolding in Ukraine. It has proposed banning Russian and Belarusian athletes and teams from competing under their own flags and not using their anthems, which is confusing because I thought the IOC had already outlawed use of the word SA国际影视传媒淩ussiaSA国际影视传媒� in its programming. But ISA国际影视传媒檓 not the IOC so I guess it makes sense.

Pick a sport or event and chances are Russia will be affected somehow. FIFA, soccerSA国际影视传媒檚 international governing body, was a wee bit late to the game as it only banned Russia from competing in anything only after being bent over by the world over its initial decision to allow Russia to compete as the Russian Football Union, similar to the IOC allowing Russia to compete as the Russian Olympic Committee. Essentially, the non-Russian Russian angle.

When you think of athletes, you first think about the National Hockey League because there is a rather sizable amount of Russian players who make their living on this side of the Pacific Ocean. A lot of the statements ISA国际影视传媒檝e read from Russian players, notably Alexander Ovechkin, have been very vague. Sure, they want no war SA国际影视传媒� who wants war? SA国际影视传媒� but nothing really equaling a condemnation. The NHL condemned the Russian invasion and will suspend business with any of its Russian partners.

I can see their side of it because the last thing they need is to be seen as SA国际影视传媒渢raitorsSA国际影视传媒�. Putin loves his hockey SA国际影视传媒� he even scored eight goals in an all-star game involving some of RussiaSA国际影视传媒檚 greatest players, like, oh my God! SA国际影视传媒� and anything from players like Ovechkin or Nikita Kucherov or anyone with name value speaking ill of the SA国际影视传媒渕ilitary actionSA国际影视传媒�, PutinSA国际影视传媒檚 fancy term for his invasion, would mean a one-way, all-expenses-paid trip to the nearest salt mine in Khabarovsk for those guys and their families.

Though I do like Dominik Hasek and his line about how the players are, well, poultry poop. Use your imagination.

Now that ISA国际影视传媒檝e stopped dribbling for the time being, let me postulate about this whole thing:

This could have, and should have, been stopped well before we reached this point. Diplomacy is the way you do it but people like Putin only understand one thing: strength. Had we helped Ukraine a bit better than simply holding up pieces of paper telling the world that we stand with them and, oh, donSA国际影视传媒檛 you like that pretty hashtag, Putin would have read the tea leaves. Ronald Reagan had it right during his presidency when he said SA国际影视传媒減eace through strengthSA国际影视传媒�. War should be the absolute last option but you also show the other side you mean business by showing them that yours is bigger than theirs.

Had the artillery shown up before now, Putin would have backed off. And if that didnSA国际影视传媒檛 work, then the sanctions kicked in. Yes, the sanctions have crippled the Russian economy to the point where a piece of toilet paper has more value than a ruble, but Putin likely did a cost analysis before kicking off. He probably knew the world wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 do anything to him until after he moved in, giving him ample opportunity to collect his kopecks and count his savings.

Oil and gas is where Putin will be hurt the most, which is why when the troop build-up was first noticed this time last year, any and all oil and gas imports should have been stopped. All that did was give Putin more money for his coffers and more confidence that the world wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 stop him. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline should have been capped and deals cut for oil and gas with allies. Like, for example, Canada. But when you become dependent on an adversary for energy thanks to outsourcing your environmental policy to some Swedish teenager, this is the end result.

Russian diplomats should have been shown the door, embassies closed, relations cut. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 awful tough for Russia to do business around the world when no country wants to even pick up the phone and you canSA国际影视传媒檛 lobby anyone in person. Sure, China can play the run-around on any sanctions, diplomatic or financial or otherwise, but theySA国际影视传媒檒l only buy so much. You think other allies like Iran, Venezuela or Cuba will pick up the slack? VenezuelaSA国际影视传媒檚 currency is toilet paper because thatSA国际影视传媒檚 how some people have been paying for goods and services in that once-prosperous (and very, very oil-rich) nation. The barter system, gang.

Anyway, they claim there are smarter people than I working on this so letSA国际影视传媒檚 let them try and figure it out. In the meantime, ISA国际影视传媒檒l see how I do with speaking up and pitching.