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Friday TIME: US | UK WEATHER: US | UK HOME THE NEIGHBORHOOD "Life in the UK" American Groups Essential Contacts Money Education Driving WHAT'S ON US Group Events Diary Dates Music Live FEATURES Politics blog SPORTS Features Sideline blog NFL Draft THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE ONLINE |
SIDELINE ARCHIVE Unnecessary Hits To The Pocket / Upset: BYU October 17, 2008 Romo's Pause / Seattle Seahawks October 15, 2008 Weekend Prep: Red River and More October 10, 2008 College Football's 'Crossroads' Weekend October 9, 2008 Gramatical Error October 7, 2008 Turning The Page September 30, 2008 So Cal 'Quizzed — But Who Will Answer? September 26, 2008 3rd Tuesday Panic Button / Forté Yard Dash September 23, 2008 Two and Oh; Oh and Two September 22, 2008 No More NCAAffeine September 11, 2008 Week 1 College Football September 6, 2008 How To Spell Heisman / Chad Ocho Cinco September 1, 2008 Why the Favre story STILL won't go away August 18, 2008 Olympic Notes / Ricky's Still Relevant August 14, 2008 Committee Meetings August 9, 2008 Let the QB Battles Begin August 8, 2008 Slinging The Slinger — More Favre August 6, 2008 Welcome to the 2008 season July 28, 2008 Plus One May 27, 2008 Draft: The Morning After April 28, 2008 Draft: Thinking the Unthinkable April 25, 2008 Draft: Ready For The Long Haul April 23, 2008 Sofa–bound Sport April 16, 2008 Post–Winter Wonderland April 11, 2008 Six Impossible Things February 4, 2008 Brady's Misdirection Play February 3, 2008 Colorful Language January 23, 2008 Let the Romo–bashing begin: Dallas lost January 14, 2008 Bowl Bites: The Wrap January 10, 2008 All About The Coaches January 1, 2008 Bowl Bites 3 and A Communication Breakdown December 29, 2007 Bowl Bites 2 December 27, 2007 Bowl Bites 1 December 23, 2007 The Empty Chair - Coach Situations Vacant December 22, 2007 For Some, The Playoffs Are Now December 15, 2007 A Certain Lack Of Welcome December 13, 2007 Unrelated Notes November 29, 2007 Two Thanksgiving thoughts November 22, 2007 Halftime: NFC November 9, 2007 Halftime: AFC November 8, 2007 London, Part 2 / A Tale of Two Chads / A Game of Intimidation November 4, 2007 Damp Squib / Other London Notes October 29, 2007 Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em / Dolphins – The Aftermath October 23, 2007 The Dolphins Did What? October 18, 2007 Notes on the Defenses October 13, 2007 Habits to be Broken October 12, 2007 Overtime October 13, 2007 This Week's Starters October 6, 2007: USF: Covering The Spread / Fantastic Football September 27, 2007: Grossman: The Final Act? / McNabb, the Epilogue September 24, 2007: Eagles QB in Slight Controversy September 21, 2007: Leftwich's Parting Gift to Jacksonville? / Boos cruise September 18, 2007: Notre Dame M.I.A. September 16, 2007: Looking Beyond NFL Wk. 1 September 12, 2007: Best Hope For Heisman September 10, 2007: Coaching Hot Seats / AP Poll Feeling ’Appy September 7, 2007: The NFL’s Prime Cuts September 5, 2007: Michigan Falls to Killer Apps September 3, 2007: Look Out Couch / The Taint's On You, Bud September 1, 2007: |
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SPORTS SIDELINE 
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale Colorful Language Around this time of year, when the football schedule becomes a little more sparse, I cast a glance over the gridiron parapet to see what's happening with the rest of the sporting world. Not that I'm unaware of NBA standings, a new college basketball poll–topper or upsets in the Australian Open — it's more the other stories and controversies that swirl in place for weeks on end like self–perpetuating twisters. One that seems to have obsessed professional golf this past month is the controversy surrounding comments by Kelly Tilghman on the Golf Channel. Tiger Woods has now commented on the incident for the first time, bringing the story to a close. For any American sports fans who've been living somewhere else for a while, Tilghman made an offhand comment during an on–air chat with Nick Faldo, when Faldo suggested that younger players should gang up on Woods. 'Lynch him in a back alley' added Tilghman, perhaps taking Faldo's 'gang up' phrase in a direction Faldo hadn't remotely intended. Cue the media explosion and several apologies. I must admit, as a Brit, I was caught a little off–guard by the scale of the reaction. I took it as it was probably intended: a throwaway exaggeration of faintly comic intent, conjuring the image of a bunch of golfers merely waylaying a master they can only be jealous of. For me, the word 'lynch' carried none of the race hate connotations it does in the US. If Faldo had made the comment, it might have been more understandable. As it was, it was just clumsy. The outrage that followed was compounded a hundredfold by Golfweek magazine's subsequent cover of a swinging noose. Even if the noose was intended for the Golf Channel rather than Tiger, the insensitivity of that artistic decision cost editor Dave Seanor his job. Tilghman herself served out a two week suspension. While the media fed upon itself like a swarm of injured piranha, Tiger Woods' agent was calling the original incident a 'non–story'. 20 days after Tilghman's original comments, Tiger has spoken publicly for the first time about the furor. "It was unfortunate," he said, "Kelly and I did speak. There was no ill intent, so in my eyes it's all said and done." Kelly Tilghman, like Tiger Woods, returns to work at Thursday's Buick International. It would seem that Golf just had it's 'little monkey' incident. Back in 1983, then–presenter of Monday Night Football Howard Cosell commented of Washington receiver Alvin Garrett, "look at that little monkey go". Many perceived Cosell's comment as a racial slur against Garrett, who is of African American heritage, although those that knew Cosell pointed out that Howard often referred to small, quick players with this term, as he did with his own grandchildren, and as he had some years earlier in reference to Caucasian player Mike Adamle. None the less, that was Cosell's final season of his legendary time in the MNF booth. What I find sad in this latest incident is the context within which the word 'lynch' was received. It relies on the premise that such a word (however tactlessly used) was intended in the context of incidents of racial hatred. That one publication headed straight for an image of a noose staggers me. For the controversy to have legs, some reports referred to Tiger Woods as 'black', and I find great unease in that too. Tiger Woods' mother is of Thai, Chinese and Dutch ancestry. His father was of African American, Chinese and Native American ancestry. Woods is arguably one quarter African American, but one half Asian. Tiger Woods has referred to himself as 'Cablinasian' (Caucasian, Black, American–Indian, Asian), and is under more conventional terms 'multi–racial'. So when the media chooses to define Tiger Woods as 'black', there's little reason for that than a judgment call on the darkness of his skin and the convenience of inserting him into a controversy that relies on being selective about his racial ancestry. That in itself is a nasty reflection of race perceptions, of the definition of 'non–white' as 'black'. And I find it simply astonishing that the US media can be this sensitive to race issues while, back in football–land, the Washington team Alvin Garrett once played for is STILL called the 'Redskins' without equivalent and sustained outrage. |
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