Racial Slurs at MLS Game

The beautiful sport.

The most popular sport in the world.

But, in the US, apparently a magnet for racists wishing to spew their hatred for the Sons of Africa.

MLS will investigate an incident in which a spectator at a Columbus Crew home match directed a racial slur at a black player from the New England Revolution on Saturday night.

Fabulously talented Negro soccer star Kheli Dube, from Zimbabwe, scored the go ahead goal. Much to the shock of no one, the response from the white crowd was foul language and racist venom.

Certainly, this is not a surprise. From pitches across Europe all the way to California, soccer fans are famously racist and belligerent.

In the effort to expand the popularity of the game in the US (read: to make money), soccer has been portrayed as a suburban delight. A game embraced by the mini-van driving soccer mom and her children named Madison and Austin.

But, the capture of this incident and posting of it on YouTube has exposed soccer in the US for what it is: A fetid incubator for racial hatred and potential violence.

As part of a statement, the Crew said "there is no excuse for the reprehensible behavior exhibited by the fan heard in the video clip that has surfaced. That kind of behavior has no place in our stadium, or in our society, and we strongly condemn it. . . . We will continue to evaluate and enforce safety and sportsmanship policies."

Certainly, the expected response. Although, there was no addressing the issue of why, when the vicious onslaught (which clearly was directed at Negroes the world over) took place, no action was taken. It took a posting of the incident on YouTube to generate a response from management.

One is left to wonder if the verbal assault had not been promoted on YouTube, would the Crew have ever bothered to address the issue?

How will the league respond? What is the appropriate punishment for the management of the Crew?

Allowing this to go unchecked sends a message to Negro soccer stars the world over that if they choose to bring their formidable skill and talent to the MLS, they risk verbal lynching.

MLS must act swiftly in levying a blow against the complicit racism exhibited by the Crew and the stadium staff that allowed this action to take place. The fact that the Crew made no statement until the video was available for the viewing of millions on the web makes it clear that the statement about the investigation is nothing but filler and defensive posturing.

We suggest that an appropriate start would be changing the franchise's name. A crew is a mob. And mob's lynch Negroes.

In an effort to demonstrate penance and contrition, the only recourse is renaming the team the 'Clouds'.

Soft, white and fluffy.

SAS: Is Stephen A. A 'Company' Man Now?

One of the most endearing things about Stephen A. Smith was his willingness to go out on a limb. To say what was in his mind. To not mince words. To hit you upside the head with an honest comment or perspective, regardless of whether his perception was not the 'party' line or shared by the mainstream media.

Smith is caricatured frequently in Blogfrica. Screamin' Stephen. Certainly, he played into the role. But, why not? It got him a lot of face time on ESPN. Although, it might have cost him his newspaper job.

And that is why we question his most recent contribution to the ESPN dot com mainstream sports 'news' outlet (and magazine).

The writing is clearly Mr. Smith's. Clearly. The ideas and vision communicated through Mr. Smith's words; however, are foreign.

Mr. Smith says things like, "Enough with the race issue."

And, "Once upon a time, I was inclined to believe that the NBA, in an effort to ingratiate itself with its viewing public, wanted more white players to serve that purpose—until, that is, common sense taught me otherwise."

Certainly, these are Mr. Smith's words. But we wonder, where did these postulations of common sense teaching anyone about race come into play?

This takes us back to our previous statement about Mr. Smith losing an income source from his newspaper affiliation. While we understand that Mr. Smith has a need to feed his family, we wonder if this gig writing for ESPN has boundaries included.

Is Mr. Smith being forced to conform to the mainstream media or espn view of the world? Is Mr. Smith gun shy, and afraid to allow Screamin' Stephen to have a go at the key board?

I've heard such noise emanating from African-American communities in the aftermath of the Brawl in Auburn Hills, nearly four years ago. The argument goes like this: The NBA hasn't had an American-born white superstar since Larry Bird, and teams will travel to any and all corners of the earth to find a Dirk Nowitzki, a Peja Stojakovic or someone else without a remote connection to Ron Artest. The noise has been echoing again this spring, as 13 of the 16 playoff teams have at least one white international player in at least a supporting role.
If the argument made sense, the NBA would be the definition of hypocrisy, considering all the hip-hop booming in arenas around the league. Except the argument doesn't make any sense at all.

Does Mr. Smith really believe that there hasn't been a concerted movement to supplant the young Negro as the face of the league? That it is just coincidence or a response to a shifting market?

We are great fans of common sense, as is Mr. Smith.

So, we step back and ruminate on the words submitted.

Which is to be expected: Mr. Smith exposing the racist tactics of the NBA and loudly complaining about them? Or, Mr. Smith supporting, in calm language, the NBA's death sentence for the young Negro as the face of the league?

Clearly, it's more shocking to see Mr. Smith support the direction the white rulers are taking the Association.

Certainly, we at NOIS wouldn't even be discussing this if Mr. Smith had written the type of column we expected.

Adding to this righteous analysis, we can find additional comfort in a statement Mr. Smith made in an interview right here on NOIS:

I consider it my responsibility to express a point of view -- even one I may admittedly not necessarily agree with...

Indeed.

We can take solace in Mr. Smith's words.

This instance of conformity and compliance to the white ruling class can only be a veiled act of contrarian resistance.

We salute Mr. Smith for taking this stand to demonstrate just how misguided, misdirected and miscalculated the NBA's business plan is.

In playing into the mainstream notion that Screamin' Stephen is wrong thinking and loud mouthed; he has effectively turned the tables on the powers that be.

They have his endorsement.

How can they hate on him and hold him down now?

And at the same time, how can the rest of us agree with what he says on this issue?

Well played, sir.

Checkmate.

Referee in Ravens-Patriots Game Insults Player

Samari Rolle is a respected player and man in the NFL. Unfortunately during the course of MNF's Ravens-Patriots game, Rolle was subjected to not just the indignity of botched calls and phantom time outs which led to the salvaging of the Patriots tarnished quest to finish out an undefeated season (in good conscience, we can't call it 'perfect'...that would mean turning our backs on the Patriots early season cheating), Rolle was also verbally harassed by a referee.

"The refs called me a boy. No. 110 called me a boy," Rolle said in the locker room after the game. "I will be calling my agent in the morning and sending my complaint. I have a wife and three kids. Don't call me a boy. Don't call me a boy on the field during a game because I said, 'You've never played football before.' "

Of course, the usage of the term 'boy' in referring to an adult Negro male by a white* male is meant to be as disrespectful and degrading as using the N-word. It is designed to figuratively castrate the adult Negro male and reinforce the notion of being powerless. Of being an impotent slave.

We certainly hope the NFL will look closely into this circumstance and come down with swift and meaningful action.

The next player a referee refers to as 'boy' might not remain as level headed about the situation as Rolle has.


*No. 110 head linesman Phil McKinnely, a former player for three NFL teams during the 1970s and '80s, who played collegiately at UCLA, is black.