In Response to Big Steve
Dave Betancourt | Sports Section Manager
3/01/02
Ok, since I created the sports section for Whim, I have received more negative feedback than any section probably in the history of Whim. I rarely get feedback in my articles unless it's from friends and usually when I do get feedback, it's stuff like "sports sucks" and "what's up with the lack of articles" and "why don't you talk about RU stuff," all kinds of crap like that.
The stupid comments in the feedback forum can come until the cows come home. I have done everything in my will to remain calm despite the fact that a certain few people make a weekly effort to completly trash the work that I do once a week. It bothered me at first, but now it doesn't. If you don't like the fact that the Whim sports section doesn't cover RU sports, get over it.
Ever hear of the Tartan? Yeah that's the Radford University newspaper. They cover pretty much every sport at RU. You know how I know, because I'm the friggin sports editor of the sports section for the Tartan and oversee covering all of RU's major sports. There's no point in having two Tartan sports sections. That's why I decided that the Whim sports section would cover everything from the pro's to major college sports, trying to talk about what is big in the sports world. Of course everything that's happening in the sports world isn't going to get covered because in case you haven't noticed, I'm the only writer I've got.
Sure every now and then I get an article from the Fresh Prince himself Mr. Doug McKinney, but Doug's a staff writer for me at the Tartan and is also a freshman, so I'm not going to rag him to much. So if my section isn't up to par with espn.com every week, forgive me. I'm only one man. So as I've stated, dissing my section isn't going to get folks anywhere. Contrary to the two people who have a problem with it, some folks actually enjoy it. One thing I will not tolerate however in my section is ignorance.
In my tidbits section there was a remark left about the statement I made about an African American woman winning a gold metal at the Winter Olympics. Here's what I said.
Vonneta Williams became the first African-American in the history of the world to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. By typing that sentence I became the first African American in the history of the world to admit to watching the Winter Olympics.
Now anyone who reads tidbits knows that it is not meant to be taken seriously. It's for humor. It even says "a sarcastic and comical look at the world of sports". Obviously I was talking about the fact that there just aren't many African-Americans in the winter Olympics and that some African-Americans may not find the winter Olympics interesting. That of course is not true, just a theory. My mother is black and she watched all of the winter Olympics just to give you an example. However one response I got just really disturbed me. Here is the response, unedited.
Name: Big Steve
Year: Junior
Major: History
Comments:
FIRST OF ALL WHAT DOES IT MATTER THAT SHE IS "AFRICAN" AMERICAN. SHE'S AN ATHLETE WHO WON A GOLD MEDAL REPRESENTING HER COUNTRY. THE TERM AFRICAN-AMERICAN HAS NO RELEVANCE ANYWAY. YOU'RE AN AMERICAN. I'M OF IRISH ANCESTRY AND I DON'TR TO MYSELF AS IRISH-AMERICAN. NEXT OLYMPIC HOCKEY IS NOT BETTER THEN THE NHL. THE OLYMPICS ARE JUST THE NHL WITHOUT THE FIGHTING. FIGHTING WOULD'VE MADE IT WORTH WATCHING. THE BEST HOCKEY IS MINOR LEAGUE HOCKEY WHERE MOST OF THE GUYS THERE PLAY THEIR HEARTS OUT EVERY GAME AND ARE WILLING TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET TO THE BIG SHOW AND AREN'T A BUNCH OF OVERPRICED SISSIES. AS FOR JALEN ROSE I AGREE HE SHOULD'NT BE ABLE TO COMPLAIN AT ALL, HE'S GETTING PAID OUT THE ARSE TO PLAY A GAME. AND YOU SHOULD BE THE ONLY ONE WHO LIKE THAT LITTLE WHINY, OVERRATED, POLE SMOKING B1TCH BOY. BARRY BONDS IS A PERSON WITH AN ATTIUDE THAT DISGUSTS MANY PEOPLE. HE COULD HIT 100 HOMERS AND I'D STILL THINK HE'S A TOOL. AND THE FACT THAT YOU MENTIONED GOLF UNDER THE SPORTS SECTION IS REALLY SAD. HOW CAN YOU CALL SOMETHING A SPORT WHERE A GUY HOLDS UP A QUIET SIGN BEFORE THE PERSON TEES OFF. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA TALK ABOUT NEXT WEEK, CHEERLEAING? IS IT FOOTBALL SEASON YET?
Now obviously this guy is talking about more things than just my winter Olympics statement and I'll get to those in a second. But let's get to the main thing. "What does it matter?" When I first saw that I immediately thought back to my high school which was over 90 percent white and when some of my friends would ask why we had a black history assembly. First off I was shocked to see that this "Big Steve" was a history major. I guess in all those history classes they skipped over the whole slavery and cival rights movement. But then again, maybe Chris Rock was right, maybe all we learn is Martin Luther King.
You see "Big Steve", as shocking as this may seem, African-Americans weren't always allowed to do as they please as is the God given right of every red blooded American. You can go back hundreds of years to slavery but you realy only have to go so far as the 60's. Back then African-Americans were anything but American. They couldn't eat or sleep in the same places as the people of main stream society. They weren't allowed to play sports and being in the wrong place at the wrong time could be very dangerous. Sadly that's just the way the world was back then.
So you see "Big Steve" when an African-American does something historic for the first time it matters because for a long long time, they couldn't do anything. When Jackie Robinson became the first African-American in major league baseball it mattered because African-Americans were banned from baesball until that point. When Doug Williams became the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl and Michael Vick became the first black quarterback ever taken number one overall in the NFL draft, it mattered because for decades NFL teams didn't think African-Americans were smart enough to play quarterback.
Maybe if it were an Irish-American making history in the Olympics you might get a grasp. Well probably not. Hey my great-great-great-great grandfather was an Irish sailor, maybe we're cousins "Big Steve", wouldn't that be great. But enough about that one thing let's get to your other vents.
So you think NHL hockey is better than the Olympics? That's nice. I agree to a point. The NHL is great come playoff time, but they should spend more time promoting their stars then just the violence, which by the way you don't see in the Olympics. Stars like that guy who plays for Calgary by the name of Jarome Iginla, who just happens to be....now brace yourself "Big Steve"...African American! That's right, he's the first African-American to lead the NHL in scoring this late in the season, but you don't know that because all you see in NHL highlights are guys beating the snot out of each other, which is entertaining but only to a point.
Jalen Rose is a sissie huh? Well that's a strong opinion and one that I sure wouldn't say to Jalen Rose's face. And I'm the only person that likes him? I'm sure there are a ton of University of Michigan alumni that would disagree with you. Barry Bonds has always been a little weird to me but hey, he's the new homerun king. So you can't believe I mentioned golf in a sports section. Hmm, ok. Well I do play golf now, I'm a big Tiger Woods fan I admit. You have heard of Tiger haven't you? He was the first African-American to win the Masters and the youngest player ever to win all four majors. That's considered a big deal because golf has easily been documented as one of the most racist sports in American history, not truly opening it's doors to minorities until Tiger broke on to the scene.
I was actually at the New River Golf course with an African-American friend of mine last weekend. It was great, we were able to play 9 holes no problem. Didn't have to carry anybody's bags are anything. Isn't that great?I guess golf isn't a manly sport for you. And no I won't be talking about cheerleading next week and I do miss football, I'm sorry. I played a little in high school. I once dislocated a kids shoulder I hit him so hard ( I was a cornerback). I ran the 40 yard dash in 4.7 seconds and bench pressed 225 pounds when I was 17. I was also captain of the track team. How about you "Big Steve"?
Well I hope this has been educational for everyone who's read it. I would like to thank all of you who do take the time to leave positive remarks in my section that are confidence builders and not in any way offensive. For those of you who like sports, keep reading, for those of you who don't, sorry.
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