In February of 2005 world renowned soccer star Samuel Eto'o of FC Barcelona was playing an intra-league match against rivals Real Zaragoza in the away stadium of La Romareda in Zaragoza, Spain. There were only about 15 minutes remaining in the game when Eto'o abruptly and infuriatingly began to storm off the pitch, while his teammates and other Real Zaragoza players attempted to restrain him, coaxing him to remain on the field. But not even the incessant buck-toothed grin of unmistakable teammate Ronaldinho could entice Eto'o to stay.
So just what exactly caused this sudden outburst? A large sea of fans at the match had been taunting the rival striker every time he had possession of the ball. So what's so bad about that? Well, you see, these were no ordinary taunts that one might hear when attending a Duke home basketball game or at Fenway Park when the Yankees are in town?no.
These taunts comprised monkey noises and the hurling of peanuts at Mr. Eto'o whenever he came in range. You see, Samuel Eto'o, the 2003, 2004, and 2005 African Player of the Year was just that: African. Born in Nkon, Cameroon, on March 10, 1981, one of the globe's best footballers was now being targeted by fans purely for the color of his skin.
As Eto'o continued to try to break away from the congestion of players and referees trying to calm him down, the Cameroonian wagged his right index finger and definitively proclaimed multiple times, "No más." No more.
Eventually, Eto'o was pacified and persuaded just enough to remain in the game to finish the match, reluctant and unhappy as he was. "This is a struggle beyond the football field," Eto'o commented at a press conference a few days later. "I made my decision [to leave] because fans attacked me for my color."
Fellow teammate Thierry Henry and S.L. Benfica's Marco Zoro are just two of the numerous soccer players around the world that have experienced similar incidents of racial prejudice both on and off the field; sadly, those are incidents just pertaining to the pitch.
During the 1997-1998 National League Hockey season, the Washington Capitals were playing a regular season game during the Edmonton Oilers. At some point during the game, Caps left wing Chris Simon was skating by Oilers' forward Mike Grier, arguably the most prominent African-American hockey player in the league at the time, when Simon had the audacity to address his black opponent as "nigger."
Are you getting all of this? Are you like me? Is it making you absolutely sick to your stomach? And yet incredibly, somehow, it goes on.
On February 14, 2007, former Miami Heat legend Tim Hardaway was making a guest appearance on the Dan Le Batard show near South Beach. Hardaway, who had made a name for himself thanks to his famous crossover dribble and clutch shots, not to mention being one of South Florida's memorable sports figures, was about to tarnish his name for good.
Le Batard suddenly broached the subject of retired NBA center John Amaechi and his recent decision to come out, and asked Hardaway how he would feel about having a gay teammate. Tiny Tim then went on an unremitting rant: "First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team. Second of all, if he was on my team, I would really distance myself from him because I don't think that's right and I don't think he should be in the locker room when we're in the locker room.... I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it."
I was fortunate in my youth to witness one of the greatest rivalries in NBA history, between my beloved New York Knicks and the Miami Heat in which Tim Hardaway played a massive role. One year he threw up a miraculous three-point shot at the buzzer over Knicks guard Chris Childs to win the Atlantic division, and another saw him throw some punches in a scuffle between both clubs.
Simply put, Tim Hardaway had always been one of my least favorite players, and so his comments on Amaechi had only sharpened my abhorrence of him.
Several other players around the league like Steven Hunter and Shavlik Randolph vouched for Hardaway by making similar comments like "[I] would accept an openly gay teammate as long as he [didn't] make any advances toward me," and, "as long as [the teammate] [didn't] bring [his] gayness on me, I'm fine."
In October of 2005, three-time Olympic gold-medalist and three-time WNBA MVP Sheryl Swoopes came out as well, becoming one of the first high-profile athletes to ever to do so.
And you can be more than assured that there are lots of others out there who wish they could, but hold back in fear of what their peers might think.
And I'm not even talking about just sports anymore here?I'm talking about everyone.
Being a sports columnist, I found it difficult at the beginning of this week to write about this subject while simultaneously incorporating sports?I'd say I have that area covered for this week. Now for what I really wish to impress upon you all:
I am not gay. I am not black. I am not Jewish. And I am not a Scientologist, no matter how much Tom Cruise might want me to be. I am neither Chinese nor Japanese, nor from Kazakhstan, neither asexual nor transsexual. I am not Hindu, nor am I a big fan of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (sorry). I don't watch NASCAR, nor do I listen to Dave Mathews Band (sorry, again).
I could tell you all what I am: A heterosexual, white, Christian male from Maine who is a big fan of "The Shawshank Redempion," watches every sport but NASCAR, and listens to Kanye West and "Crank That" by Soulja Boy (YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!). But what should all of that really matter?
More definitively, I am a person, as are the billions of others I just barely described above me, as well as you readers. And because we are all people, we will inevitably have different opinions about countless things, as well as intangibles that we just can't control because they are so innate?that's just the way it is.
But that doesn't mean you should act like the Real Zaragoza fans, Chris Simon, or Tim Hardaway whenever you disagree with something or someone concerning a certain issue.
Just walking around this campus and being around all kinds of different people, and listening to the way some of them talk sometimes makes me want to puke.
I struggle to remember a day this year when I did not hear the word "gay," "fag," " homo," "queer," "nigger," "gook," or "spic" used at least once?and this is Bowdoin College, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country, maybe even the world; just think of what it's like on the outside.
I even once heard one of my high school classmates' mother refer to another classmate as a "fag"?I couldn't believe it.
It is highly plausible that the reasons most of these people use this offensive language so frequently because they haven't had much (if any) contact with those kinds of people that the derogatory names pertain to, so they think saying them is no big deal.
They disagree with something that that person cannot control. Or perhaps they've had one, or a couple of bad experiences with those kinds of people and find comfort in resorting back to the slurs, or maybe it's just a habit?I know that when I was in middle school, I regrettably succumbed to the over-usage of the word "gay" for just about everything I disliked or found unfair. Whatever the case though, the usage of all of these words really needs to stop now.
I have since permanently removed each of those aforementioned epithets, as well as all of their nuances, from my vocabulary, and I strongly recommend that if you haven't already done so, you all do the same.
It's like I said before: We're all people. No matter what our differences, no matter what we think is right versus what we think is wrong, no matter where we come from, we still all have a responsibility to respect each other; it's not hard to be civil with others if you just try.
Sure, you can brush everything I'm saying to you right now aside, and resort back to your previous slur-infested vernacular?maybe you're too good for my advice. But just know that by doing so you will undoubtedly be both embracing and condoning bigotry, insolence, and callowness, but above all, idiocy and will sound like an petulant, uneducated fool.
The Greek dramatic Aristophanes once wrote (roughly translated), "Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, and drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever." Don't be the one to fall into the trap, be as magnanimous as possible, and please, just show some respect and remember to say it right.
Thank you.