Wednesday, September 24, 2014

PC Police In The NFL, $11,000 For The "N" Word That Didn't Happen?

Colin Kaepernick is mad. $11,025 mad. It is bad enough to have a bad day and lead his San Francisco 49er's to a loss against the Chicago Bears. But to add insult to injury, one of the referees threw a red flag claiming that Kaepernick called Lamarr Houston a nigger. (Sorry, just reporting the truth.) This seems a little odd since few white men would want to call Houston names when he is 6' 3'' and weighs 300 pounds. That is asking for a thumping.

The whole issue was clouded as Kaepernick reported on Sunday, that Houston claimed Kaepernick did not say it, but starting Tuesday morning, after Houston was cited for the exact offence Monday night, he remembered that it was said on Sunday. Oh, the power of the PC Police over a big, black man in a small room with a single light bulb.

Whether either or both are lying is of really no consequence. Stupid things people do and say under tremendous stress are usually forgiven (unless you are Mel Gibson). San Francisco received a 15 yard penalty. Infraction noted, penalty paid.

Wrong.

Then next day, the NFL dropped a fine of  $11,025 on Kaepernick. So now it is not only rude and insensitive to use negative stereotypes of blacks and Native Americans, it is punishable by a fine, a big fine at that.

These publicity stunts by small, very small, offended groups of minorities, are gaining traction rather than being shown for the shallow, silly media grabs they really are. Any mature person would not be intimidated or put down by antiquated stereotypes that have long since lost their punch.

I was in a KFC in Las Vegas years ago when a clerk called me a "cracker" under her breath. Everyone in my group was incensed that she would stoop so low, but I laughed at her ignorance.
  1. She didn't have the courage to say it spitefully to my face, 
  2. She had no idea that my ancestors never owned slaves, 
  3. Practice as I might, I never mastered the use of a whip. 
  4. Actually, if she were being maligned by any other weak-minded, bigoted bully, I would be the first to step in and protect her.
The antics by the NBA to force the sale of the LA Clippers for some ignorant comments made by Donald Stirling, the self-imposed sale of the Atlanta Hawks by Bruce Levenson over an email he sent to his staff 2 years ago and the cacophony over the Washington Redskins are all part of this charade.

In the case of Stirling, the recording of his conversation without his permission and knowledge, compounded by releasing it to the public, should have brought criminal charges against his girl friend, according to California Law. For the past 30 years, no one was ignorant of the bigoted, self-promoting character of Stirling, so why now?

As for Levenson, I am sure he saw the hefty prices offered for the sale of the Clippers and decided that it was best cash out while fanaticism was hot. The Hawks are toward the bottom of the profitability chart, barely $7.3 million average over the last 5-year period, home game attendance numbers are falling and they only played 3 home playoff games last year where they did 6 the year before. Looks like a good time to get out.

I read the email he sent in 2012. It was a honest demographic study of the strengths and weaknesses of their fan base. Suggestions were made to increase profitability by discouraging the black market and push the white college crowd because they spend more than the typical black market. Sound business advice for increased profits. The owners need to decide if they want to promote the team to all of Atlanta or just to those who pay the most. That is not racism, it is financial prejudice.

As for the insanity surrounding the Washington Redskins, I just don't understand it. If someone named their team "David Mefford is a blithering idiot", I might be offended, but I would have to accept the truth of the statement. Since I don't have any copyright privilege for the name, I couldn't do any thing to force them to change it.

Isaiah spoke of our day when people would be an offender for a word:
Isaiah 29: 20-21. . . and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that repoveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
Professional sports, the Great American past time has now become the Great Progressive Target.



Bibliography:

The NBS's Most And Least Profitable Teams
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2013/01/23/the-nbas-most-and-least-profitable-teams/

Source: Ref say Coling Kaepernick used racial slur
http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/colin-kaepernick-49ers-refs-racial-slur-bears-loss-fine-092114?cmpid=paid:fscom:ad:outbrain:nfl

Lamarr Houston says Colin Kaepernick did us N-word
http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/lamarr_houston_says_colin_kaepernick_did_use_n_word/17344925

Photo courtesy of:
http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/colin-kaepernick-49ers-refs-racial-slur-bears-loss-fine-092114?cmpid=paid:fscom:ad:outbrain:nfl