Photographer David Guralnick of the Detroit News treated himself to a drink from the Stanley Cup last night and posted this photo on their website. Captioning the original image, Guralnick remarked:

Back during the 2002 Cup celebration, I passed on an opportunity to drink from the Stanley Cup. I always regretted it. So when the Cup came my way in the locker room Wednesday night, I wasn’t going to pass it up again.

But from Puck Daddy, a problem:

His industry peers on SportsJournalists.com are debating the ethics of his actions, with the initial post calling it “particularly fan-boy homerish.”

C’mon ... it’s the Stanley Cup. People love the Stanley Cup. [...] The key phrase in Guralnick’s caption: ” ... when the Cup came my way in the locker room.” In other words, he wasn’t asking for it. Something glorious gets passed your way, you don’t turn it down.

I’d have to agree. If those are indeed Mr. Guralnick’s “industry peers”, they need to get over it. The world of ethical journalism is not rocked to its core because some photographer had a sip from the Stanley Cup when the team was good enough to offer it.