We have repeatedly discussed on this website, the outright need for political correctness, not only in sports and media, but in our everyday lives. While annoying and superfluous to some, these parameters exist mainly to protect us from ourselves and our own ignorance.
The meteoric rise of Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin has just re-opened a whole new brand of awareness. Recently, Fox Sportswriter Jason Whitlock and WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. both Tweeted some racially insensitive comments about Lin’s success, and this week, ESPN either fired or suspended employees responsible for using racial epithets to describe Lin’s performance. (With the amount of coverage the network has been affording Lin lately, I’m actually surprised more didn’t slip up!) The network has since apologized for its inappropriate comments. Of course they did. They’re owned by Disney.
In case you missed it, ESPN.com ran the internet headline “Chink in the Armor” with a picture of Lin dribbling the ball through traffic. Good luck finding a job with that on your resume, scriptwriter.
Fortunately, I learned at an early age to judge people, as best stated by Martin Luther King, Jr., not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. What can I say? My parents taught me well.
That being said, let’s tear down a few walls Dave Chappelle-style, shall we?
Since “Chink in the Armor” has already been used, I thought I’d come up with a few totally inappropriate and racially insensitive headlines to describe other recent goings on in the world of sports, only because nobody can fire me for doing so. I run the website.
So here goes. You may want to turn away now. You’ve been forewarned.
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If there’s anyone I forgot to offend along the way, please let me know.
And feel free to leave your headlines down below.
Of course all of the headlines are bad, but the worst offender has to be ESPN. The organization that’s #1 in the field of sports reporting has been on a downward slide since they agreed to participate in the dumbest TV show of all time, “The Decision.” There are no ethics or morals at ESPN. In fact (just my opinion), Sportscenter hasn’t been good since the day Keith Olbermann left. It felt good to vent. Thanks for the opportunity.
Wow, all that, Snake, and no discussion about how your Celtics tanked one to the Pistons yesterday?
Ok, we’ll let that slide. They probably thought it was the late 1980s.
You’re right though, sir, and that’s the biggest problem with ESPN owning a monopoly in televised sports coverage.
Don’t get me wrong, I watch. What else is there for a sports fan to do? That being said, I watch their programming with a skeptical eye, as we all should.
Hey, there’s a reason there’s a billion sports bloggers out there these days. Fortunately, mine was voted best in all the land.
Stay tuned for the SportsChump channel coming soon. Just hope you don’t mind Family Guy and Barney Miller re-runs.
Well, that’s actually 2 to the Pistons, but who’s counting. 🙁
The Pistons, a .333 team (probably for years now), haven’t been relevant since Joe Dumars opted for Darko over ‘Melo.
In the early 2000s, Joe D. would regularly land the finest seat in any Detroit steakhouse.
Now I have visuals of him sulking over burgers and soda in the back of your local fast food, joint with Pistons fans throwing using burger wrappers at him.
Wow, that was harsh, huh?
FYI, re: Lin, J.A. Adande just said on Around the Horn “This just goes to show how unprepared we were to deal with this culture in this context.”
Well said, sir.
I actually felt that when the ESPN reporter said “chink in the armor” on air, it wasn’t an intentionally racist statement. But, the headline on ESPN.com is worse because they had time to think about it, and they just left it as “Chink in the Armor”. They should’ve just saved themselves the trouble and said “weakness” or “flaws”.
JM…
Aside from Adande’s comments on ATH, I also heard Wilbon just correctly mention, that these people are in the language business, and they need to be more careful, or at least thoughtful, or perhaps just think at all, before coming out with comments like these.
I didn’t hear the ESPN reporter on air. I can’t imagine there was spite in his voice, which for me has always determined levels of racism. Perhaps the internet guy didn’t mean anything buy it and just thought it was a play on words.
Either way, he’s looking for work now and here we are again discussing race. That’s okay. It makes for good conversation.
ESPN was turning into a good ole boys network clique. Kinda like the old MLB recycling white managers. To both their credit, things have changed. Where the fck did they came up with this scriptwriter to slander the Chinese? Must be a holdover from that old regime.
I am a blessed mom to my wonderful South Korean born son and I have heard many stupida$$ comments, and unfortunately, so has he in his short 8.5 yrs of age. Glad your parents taught you right, there, Triple SC.
Political Correctness can also be overkill, but I found your sample headlines pretty amazing that such things can still be in print or TV. I’ll share a situation that needed true correctness-I was working in the loan department at a bank 20+ yrs ago and the abbreviated name on the credit bureau report??? FriedJew….for Friedman’s Jewelers. I contacted the Credit Bureau and they fixed it immediately.
Dee Dee
Chris
Should we be at all surprised by anything that’s said or done by the media when it comes to race and sports to begin with ? They have always perpetrated the incidents that we tend to see reported by way of the airwaves and print media . If there’s one thing to be learned it’s they simply don’t hold themselves to any standards whatsoever !
ESPN is now simply for entertainment purposes only with very little credibility coming from the outlet by way of their reporting or for that matter journalistic integrity !
tophatal …………….
“Media messages more moronic missives”
“Puns proclaim pundits prejudice”
Forrest’s mom was right, “Stupid is as stupid does”
I vote for the Sportschump channel!!!
Great idea!
Need a TV producer? 🙂
M
Maybe I’m heartless, but I feel like people are too sensitive. Does that mean I agree with what people say potentially hurtful things? Not at all, I’m sure Jeremy heard worse things on the court in the form of trash talk than any article anyone wrote…
I would not be shocked if we learned someday ESPN created the “headlines” on purpose so they could then “break them down” for the next six months. Like I’ve been saying for quite sometime now, even if they have the rights to just about every sporting event, that doesn’t mean you have to watch the sideshow they call “reporting.” Watch their games. Then people…step away from the set.
News Flash!!! This just in:
The weirdest Jeremy Lin betting line came out yesterday, courtesy of Bovada.com.
The odds of the New York Knicks point guard sensation and ex-Harvard star dating Kim Kardashian were posted at 5-1.
RB….
Major League Baseball wasn’t the only professional sports league to recycle retreads. The NFL and NBA also did that aplenty.
The names Doug Moe and Bill Fitch come to mind.
Dee Dee…
Great perspective.
And Fried Jew? I’m not too sure I’d order that on a menu.
Al…
As we’ve talked about it in the past, unfortunately it’s the only sports network out there.
I learned early on to get my information from various news sources and media outlets to remove any slant in coverage.
Aero…
You gotta admit, Sally Field looks pretty good for 75.
SA…
Well said. And I love a good conspiracy theory.
I don’t think any of us would put it past them to do that, even if it meant the loss of credibility.
They’re already losing enough as it is.
Snake…
Aren’t those the odds of ANYONE dating Kim Kardashian?
Ouch. These are definitely some headlines that would get a lot of heat if they were to hit the front covers of newspapers.
I gotta admit, I can see “Jap of all trades” being released. People are printing whatever the heck these days.
first time check out your site Chris, very nice. I agree with Chappy, but also agree with people need to really think about what it might sound like to others or mean to them.
also I agree with Bruce, ESPn is getting a little goofy, more power to use bloggers!
I strickly read blogs and blogs almost 90% of the time for my sports info now.
Thanks Chris, looking forward to more from you, great work.
BS…
I keep waiting for J-Dub to swing by here and say we’re too sensitive and that we all over-reacted to the “Chink in the Armor” line.
Trust me, it’s coming.
Thanks, BC.
Welcome to the fracas.
It’s true, though. The media is changing. Think about it. How many big new stories have you heard broken on Twitter, a social media site, and not one of the traditional networks? It’s how I found out Michael Jackson died.
It’s another reason why sports writers are so intimated by bloggers. We may not have the contacts, the journalism degree or the media credentials, but we’re sports fans, have been watching sports just as long and have opinions that are just as founded.
Chris you said,
“You gotta admit, Sally Field looks pretty good for 75.”
Come on, you know women don’t mind if you error on the short side.
RB…
I’m a bartender. Of course, I know that.
FYI… for the sake of accuracy, she’s actually 65.