air force coach's comments racist?

grooboggle · Post by **grooboggle** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 9:47 am

Today I was listening to Spielman on sports being here in Buckeye land and this topic came up. Fisher Deberry recently said:

"It was very obvious to me the other day that the other team (TCU) had a lot more African-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did.

"Afro-American kids can run very, very well. Their (TCU's) defense had 11 Afro-American kids on their team and they were a very good defensive football team."

Now the cohost started on a diatribe about how terribly racist these comments were, when an audibly upset Spielman cut him off with the statement that in his whole career he had never played with a black cornerback or tailback, and how terrible it was that a coach who spoke the truth is being vilified for his remarks.

Frankly I don't think he should be fired(he isn't going to be), but I think its sad that someone who simply speaks the truth as he sees it in response to a direct question of why did you lose is in trouble. Shoot none of the sports shows callers even disagreed with Spielman the consensus was that the coach should have said we need to recruit more athletic players and let everyone interpret that instead of being so explicit.

I really don't know what the positive outcome of this situation could be, I me I personally vastly prefer a coach, or anyone, calling it like they see it instead of the

sterling example of shiftiness we get from a Jim Tressel interview. I don't think that he has ever given a direct answer to any question.

G-man · Post by **G-man** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:54 am

He sounds more like an idiot rather than a racist... I must say though that that's the most interesting excuse for losing I can recall. I don't necessarily believe he should be dismissed for that senseless comment alone... if his team continues to lose he'll likely get himself fired, however... :p

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:55 pm

Melanin has nothing to do with speed.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 8:56 pm

Don't confuse culture with genetics.

grooboggle · Post by **grooboggle** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 8:59 pm

But you can also look at the facts as well whether its motivation or something

else there are no white cornerbacks in the NFL....and I can't think of any white tailbacks the positions that rely on speed and athleticism the most. Is there no reason for this?

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 9:02 pm

grooboggle wrote: But you can also look at the facts as well whether its motivation or something

else there are no white cornerbacks in the NFL....and I can't think of any white tailbacks the positions that rely on speed and athleticism the most. Is there no reason for this?
Why is color so important to you?

grooboggle · Post by **grooboggle** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 9:12 pm

Color per se isn't really all that important, I was struck by the passion people had on the radio program for simply rewording a statement so it felt better for them to talk about it. Saying air force needs to recruit more athletic players was the big favorite. The people who were most upset didn't necessarily want to fix a problem simply to mask his thoughts or feelings behind other words. Why are you so quick to discount genetics and say culture has a stronger role in the creation of better players?

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 4:31 am

grooboggle wrote: Color per se isn't really all that important, I was struck by the passion people had on the radio program for simply rewording a statement so it felt better for them to talk about it. Saying air force needs to recruit more athletic players was the big favorite. The people who were most upset didn't necessarily want to fix a problem simply to mask his thoughts or feelings behind other words. Why are you so quick to discount genetics and say culture has a stronger role in the creation of better players?
I'm with you on the first part, 100%. Coming from the deep south, I can remember six different terms people have use to refer to black people, the latest is, of course, African American. The new term would feel fresh and clean, free of the bad old feelings, but it was like painting over rust. The "bad old feelings," having never been addressed, soon became evident even in the new terms like old rust bubbling up.

I am the only caucasian in my job. We were watching the news when this story came on, we had a great laugh imagining everybody describing black people as fast. "Police are investigating an alleged shooting involving rival Hispanic and Fast gangs." :wah:

There is an Indian tribe, I think they're in Mexico (does that make them Native Mexican or Mexican Indian?) who run everywhere they go. Several Gardeners here can give far more information about them than I can. Anyway, they are all long distance runners. From genetics? From their culture? Probably both, but nobody looks at them as evidence that we need an all-Native American marathon team for the Olympics.

Africa is a huge continent. I'm certain you can find nearly every genetic anomaly there. To find one in one group and suggest everyone with dark skin is similar is just silly. If the team was beaten by speed, they need faster players not darker ones.

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 4:50 am

flopstock wrote:

Talk about PC! The white middle aged male is the only animal left in the good old U.S. of A., that is NOT allowed to give his opinion on ANY subject anymore, because -come hell or high water, someone, somewhere feels justified in being offended. And we can't have that.

But, what do I know...
Maybe not middle age but white none the less was Jimmy the Greek Snyder who spoke his view on why there was a difference and CBS promptly fired Snyder, who had worked for the network for 12 years.

Here is a good, unbiased article on the subject of race in sports:

http://www.science.smith.edu/exer_sci/E ... /Raceh.htm

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 4:56 am

I don't have time to read e-books. As long as we insist on color-coding ourselves, we cannot possibly hope to end the bigotry that comes with it. Let's start by acknowledging that there is no "race."

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:55 am

grooboggle wrote: Today I was listening to Spielman on sports being here in Buckeye land and this topic came up. Fisher Deberry recently said:

"It was very obvious to me the other day that the other team (TCU) had a lot more African-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did.

"Afro-American kids can run very, very well. Their (TCU's) defense had 11 Afro-American kids on their team and they were a very good defensive football team."

Now the cohost started on a diatribe about how terribly racist these comments were, when an audibly upset Spielman cut him off with the statement that in his whole career he had never played with a black cornerback or tailback, and how terrible it was that a coach who spoke the truth is being vilified for his remarks.

Frankly I don't think he should be fired(he isn't going to be), but I think its sad that someone who simply speaks the truth as he sees it in response to a direct question of why did you lose is in trouble. Shoot none of the sports shows callers even disagreed with Spielman the consensus was that the coach should have said we need to recruit more athletic players and let everyone interpret that instead of being so explicit.

I really don't know what the positive outcome of this situation could be, I me I personally vastly prefer a coach, or anyone, calling it like they see it instead of the

sterling example of shiftiness we get from a Jim Tressel interview. I don't think that he has ever given a direct answer to any question.

I wouldnt go as far as to say that his statement was racist in anyway, but rather prejudice in my opinion.

As a high school athlete I would have to say that his response as to why his team lost the game was a cop-out and that he is making excuses for his inablity to scout and coach a football team.

Right now the best Linebacker prospects in college football are white and play for Ohio State, which proves that his opinion is rejudice due to what he has been exposed to personally in the game of football.

I would fire him not for his statement but for what his statement proves, which is his inability to recognize real talent due to his biased opinions. And his lack of respect for his players who are there for a career first and football second.