Yet another television sports commentator has had to apologize for something he said on live TV - something that was meant one way, could have been taken a number of ways, and so was immediately taken badly. And most of these "slip-ups" have to do with golf - pretty much every one of these incidents has had to do with a golf commentator - and Tiger Woods has been at the center of every last one of them, whether he wanted to be or not! I truly believe that, had he not even been playing when this latest episode happened, the press would have found a way to involve him!
I don't watch sports and I sure as hell don't watch golf (most people I know who watch sports don't watch golf), so I have no idea who any of these guys are, but I want to go-off on this because I am sick to death of it!
NBC's Johnny Miller described golfer, Rocco Mediate, as looking "like the guy who cleans Tiger's swimming pool." I have no idea what that meant, but I don't see how in hell it could be considered racist; classist, maybe - elitist - but not "racist." He went on to say, "Guys with the name 'Rocco' don't get on the trophy, do they?" Again, I have no idea what it meant because it's out of context, but I fail to see anything even remotely racist about that.
Further, it appears that most sportsfans get this and agree with it, as well. So who is it that keeps stirring this shit up!? My first guess is the media, in general - the news, specifically, with the networks close behind - but I do have to wonder if anyone actually complained. I just can't imagine black people watching golf enough to catch all this - I don't know anyone who watches golf!
Regardless, if everyone is going to constantly take umbrage with every, little thing these guys say, let's bring up a few details they missed so far:
- People who call the games are COLOR COMMENTATORS.
- Tiger Woods is basically the only black guy who plays professional golf (Michael Jordan, etc., don't count).
- While there may be some racism "in the booth," as some claim, people sometimes mean something one way and it doesn't translate well - people make mistakes, especially when working without a script; if you are looking for something to offend you, it isn't hard to find. I just don't believe that racism is anymore or less prevalent amongst sports commentators than any other group.
- These racial "gaffes" happen so often in golf BECAUSE THE AUDIENCE IS SO BORED, IT INCITES FRUSTRATION WHICH LEADS TO ANGER, AND THEY HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO GET UP AND WRITE A LETTER; get rid of the color commentators and no one will watch golf... NO ONE WATCHES GOLF, ANYWAY!
But absolutely none of this matters because there was no incident! The real racism here is that this was ever a story:
To say, "This guy is black and that guy is white" is not racist in most contexts, but to label someone "The White Guy" is pretty close. And that's precisely what these stories do. Rocco Mediate could not hear what Johnny Miller said and likely knows him personally; he never got a chance to weigh-in on the matter or give his personal assessment, so all in all, the media collectively referred to him as "That Poor, Little, Italian Golfer" and he had little choice but to roll with the punches.
In a similar recent debacle involving Tiger Woods, he knew the commentator and publicly said he did not think she meant any disrespect by what she said, nor did he think her comments were racially-motivated; that did nothing to stop the story and she still had to apologize and face suspension.
EVEN FURTHER, did I miss a White Guy meeting; I thought Italians (excuse me: Italiano-Americans - or is it Italian-Americanos?) were white!? Who is white nowadays? I was shocked to learn that Mexicans and Latinos, in general, are non-Whites. Are there a lot of Italian poolboys? Let's say there are - what then: is there something wrong with being a poolboy?
I mean, WTF!?
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
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