perfidy

Well, not to sound illiberal, but Larry Bird may be right in his first statement, and has every right, regardless, to be offended if someone puts a white player (deemed by Mr. Bird, after many years at the top of the game, to be less-able than the alternatives) to be unworthy of his stature. Larry may be a hick Indiana boy, but he hasn't historically been guilty of statements he couldn't back up. If he says he smoked every honky ever put on him, I'd tend to believe him. No apology is due, IMHO.

Parcells' comment, on the other hand, is only news because of hypersensitivity. I knew exactly what he meant, and my only quibble was the fact he prefaced it with the qualifier. I would not have thought for an instant that it was indicative of his view, or any view of Japanese folk. And, for the record, they have been known in the distant past to effect a surprise or two, so the comparison was, I think, quite apt.

In any event, it wasn't worth apology, abject or repeated, and it wasn't worth anyone taking umbrage. Most Japanese I know wouldn't have thought twice about it. They, unlike many in the US, aren't so hypersensitive they need to be coddled.

Addendum, noticed during my insomnia-induced web-trawling, from Parcells">http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s6i4396]Parcells Issues Apology for "Inappropriate References":

"On defense, when we want to keep the other team off balance, and I mean no disrespect to the Orientals, we have a few Jap plays. Okay, surprise things. By the same token, whenever we want to really disrupt our opponent's offense, we use our Kraut plays - our blitzes," Parcells said.

When asked if he had any other "special plays," Parcells responded, "Oh sure. Our kicking unit is known as the Frogs, because when they come on the field it means we're surrendering the ball."

Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple apologized on behalf of the organization, and Parcells later issued a statement.

"Some may view my remarks as offensive or insensitive, but I did preface those remarks with 'no disrespect intended.' With that in mind, no disrespect intended, but Terry Glenn is still a bitch," Parcells said in his statement.

Patton, I agree on Bird. He's Larry freaking Bird! However, I think that Bill Parcells is guilty of, if not rank prejudice, than severe rectocranial syndrome. The only way "Jap plays" means "sneaky" is if you are invoking Pearl Harbor, and that is downright distasteful, especially on camera. While I don't think a hands-and-knees crawl is necessary, I'm glad he retracted.

On another note, I've always thought that using war vocabulary in the context of football was more than a little fatuous. "Frogs". I like that.

I guess all I can say is, "So what?"

I understand how special needs kidz will be offended by the "Jap" bit, but what is wrong with Bird's statements?

If, as Patton suggests, Bird is saying that he "smoked every honky ever put on him", what precisely is the source of people's heartburn? Is it not factual?

As for the bit about being a black man's game "forever", well... that's just silly. Nothing's forever, least of all games played by grown men, black or otherwise.

I'm sorry - when did we start thinking that athletes and sports commentators were smart and sensitive to racial issues?

Brdgt,
When considering who one might seek wisdom from regarding questions of race relations, Larry Bird would not be at the top of the list. Nothing against him, just....well...Toni Morrison? Maya Angelou? Kavita Ramdas? Larry Bird....um...

But I still don't know what precisely Bird said that would piss people off. What was it?

I don't know either... I was just throwing this out there. Although sports figures say dumb stuff on a regular basis, the proximity of these two statements, occuring 24 hours apart, was a convenient excuse for me to pose this question.

Parcell's comment caused a furor and Bird's, so far, has not. Despite the fact that Bird WAS speaking factually-- he did "smoke every honky" put against him, and in fact smoked nearly everyone with no-look passes, liquid ball-handling, a ridiculous 3 and superhuman court vision-- he still said something that 9 times out of 10 causes a Politically Correct rain to fall like a gentle shit-mist across the face of American Sport and Our Collective Race Guilt Thingy.

And yet... no outcry. In fact, this morning, the regional cable news network asked, "should there be an outcry"? Their answer was, cautiously, "no."

It's just interesting to me that Bird has once again managed to cross people up, just like he did on the court.

I also think it's funny that affirmed non-liberal Patton also acknowledged the potential third-rail-ness of the question by prefacing his first comment with "well, not to sound illiberal..."

Has Political Correctness turned us all into a nation of pussies, or is merely an epiphenomenon of something else? Last night I was watching a bowdlerized "Blazing Saddles" with every "n**ger" cut out. It wasn't the same movie. Can you even imagine a film like Blazing Saddles getting made today?

J,
That's a great question and worthy of a fresh post to talk about it. But my stepfather and I have talked about that a few times.

I am familiar with that version of the flick. As I recall, the whole bean feast/farting scene was excised as well. The only way you could make "Blazing Saddles" today would be if black characters called each other "nigga", (as opposed to white ones doing it) and taking great pains to swallow the final syllable.

Maybe if Spike Lee made it...? Hell, since every white person in the flick comes across like an utter buffoon the heavy lifting's already done for him.

Favorite line from that movie: " 'Scuse me while I whip this out."

okay. I haven't read this whole thread, but let me explain something once so eloquently put by a Chinese American friend at the freshman dorm cafeteria.

'Oriental refers to rugs and vases. NOT people!'

Is that fair enough to use as the basis for why Bill Parcells got in trouble, but not Larry Bird?

Maps,
I once made a similar mistake by referring to a pair of bonnie lasses as "Scotch".

They set me straight. Colorfully and with great prejudice. The most assertively drunken Marine has nothing on the stream of filth and heavily accented obscenity that came from those two...ladies.

But they were still cool enough to put me and some friends up for the night and feed us toast.

You live, you learn. And sometimes you eat toast.

J:

Ah, it had occurred to me to wonder if my snide inclusion of "well, not to sound illiberal..." would get noticed. Much like the Seinfeldian "...not that there's anything wrong with that", it's a throw-away phrase that I hope you didn't take seriously. I haven't found the HTML tag to indicate "snarkiness" yet, but if I can get accepted at DeVry, I might find it.

Of course, I'm quite liberal, in the classical sense, but attempt to be politically incorrect whenever the situation warrants. And most times when it doesn't. I despise political correctness, particularly when it's used to destroy a movie like Blazing Saddles. It's a freakin' movie, fergoshsakes.

And we're all just a bit too thin-skinned, which has led us to a place where normal discourse, particularly in politics, but also in art, sport, and other areas, is either neutered to the point of uselessness or poisoned to the point of, well, moveon.org, DU, Ann Coulter, KOS, or a whole bunch of other shrieking nitwits. Picture a ballpark vendor: "Umbrage! Get your umbrage here!"

Picture also, if you will, the episode of L.A. Law that dealt with Tourette's Syndrome, and tell me that could even be worth watching in prime-time today.

Occidentally yours,

Patton