Time for something serious today, underlying racism in sports.
As I assume most of you have probably read already, Jacques Rogge head boss of the Olympics complained about Usain Bolt having a lack of respect for his rivals:
"However, he still has to mature. He is a young man but he should show more respect for his rivals. That would be more in the spirit of the Olympic ideal.
"He should shake hands with them after the finish line. However, he is only 21 and he will learn. I have no problems with his showboating (prior to the race) but a shake of the hand or a tap on the shoulder immediately after the race would be a good gesture.
"It would be good not to have a repeat of the 'catch me if you can' gesture," added Rogge,
He also tried to give him a compliment at the same time to try and take away some of the negativity from his comments. By itself, these comments would not irritate me in the least. However because it is the Olympics and comparisons between Phelps and Bolt have been all the rage lately, Rogge seemed like a hypocrite to me.
You see Rogge has previously called the American swimmer a legend, an icon, he went out of his way to praise the Olympian. And by all means, Phelps has earned these praises he is in a league of his own. But that is not the issue. Rogge never commented that Phelps had disrespected his rivals by celebrating his wins, especially his 8th medal, where he paraded around with his teammates rather arrogantly.
What am I getting at? Was Bolt criticised and Phelps praise because of their skin colours? Perhaps.
The subject of biased treatment in the media has been explored before, Charles Barkley touched on it in his book “I may be wrong but I doubt it” saying that whenever he spoke about how he thought the 76ers needed to get better and how they had to improve, the media would label him as being angry or mad at his teammates. But when Lenny Dykstra or Darren Daulton, who played for the Phillies and happened to be white, said the same things the media would glorify them and take their side.
Is it possible that the media is subconsciously, or even worst, consciously racist? I don’t have an answer but the evidence is condemning.
As I assume most of you have probably read already, Jacques Rogge head boss of the Olympics complained about Usain Bolt having a lack of respect for his rivals:
"However, he still has to mature. He is a young man but he should show more respect for his rivals. That would be more in the spirit of the Olympic ideal.
"He should shake hands with them after the finish line. However, he is only 21 and he will learn. I have no problems with his showboating (prior to the race) but a shake of the hand or a tap on the shoulder immediately after the race would be a good gesture.
"It would be good not to have a repeat of the 'catch me if you can' gesture," added Rogge,
He also tried to give him a compliment at the same time to try and take away some of the negativity from his comments. By itself, these comments would not irritate me in the least. However because it is the Olympics and comparisons between Phelps and Bolt have been all the rage lately, Rogge seemed like a hypocrite to me.
You see Rogge has previously called the American swimmer a legend, an icon, he went out of his way to praise the Olympian. And by all means, Phelps has earned these praises he is in a league of his own. But that is not the issue. Rogge never commented that Phelps had disrespected his rivals by celebrating his wins, especially his 8th medal, where he paraded around with his teammates rather arrogantly.
What am I getting at? Was Bolt criticised and Phelps praise because of their skin colours? Perhaps.
The subject of biased treatment in the media has been explored before, Charles Barkley touched on it in his book “I may be wrong but I doubt it” saying that whenever he spoke about how he thought the 76ers needed to get better and how they had to improve, the media would label him as being angry or mad at his teammates. But when Lenny Dykstra or Darren Daulton, who played for the Phillies and happened to be white, said the same things the media would glorify them and take their side.
Is it possible that the media is subconsciously, or even worst, consciously racist? I don’t have an answer but the evidence is condemning.
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