Another Announcer Is Under Hot Water For Racially Charged Comments

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Every time I post one of these (Billy Packer, Don Imus, Kelly Tilghman) we get a few folks that think it was bad and a few folks that tell me to shut up and not fall into the PC trap. Well this I think I'm going to side with the latter on this one, but the New York Times doesn't appear to be doing the same.

The Announcer in question is ESPN's Bucky Waters. He seemed to be excited about UConn guards Jerome Dyson's (an African American Sophomore Guard) nine steals in a contest on January 8th, but let his analogies get the better of him.....

“I bet there weren’t any hubcaps left in the parking lot,” he said, adding later that Dyson “just stole everything — fillings, hubcaps, the works.”

After the game, while extolling Dyson’s defensive work, Waters went too far with his analogies.

“It was a holdup, it was a mugging, and I don’t know if he’s going out after this and hit a couple of convenience stores or not, but he had some night here,” he told viewers watching the game on SportsNet New York and MyTV 9 in Connecticut.
Further into the piece Bucky explains that he meant no harm and had been using the same analogies for years, and obviously the stereotypes were unfortunate. Yes I think he might have gone over the top, but there seemingly wasn't any harm or intent with those words. Bucky isn't the only person to use the theft analogy regarding steals, just the first person to get reprimanded.

Another Announcer Slip Up (New York Times)

(Thanks to reader Zach for the link)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 10:23 AM

18 Comments:

For all you Magic: The Gathering fans out there:

The Race Card

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 10:45:00 AM  

you know, because either
a) only black people do those things or
b) athletes never do those things

/sarcasm

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 10:49:00 AM  

This is ridiculous. Sandomir is usually on point, but Bucky's comments didn't deserve the kind of haughty, politically correct treatment that the NYT gave it today. I happened to be watching UCONN-StJohns on SNY and heard the comments. Anyone watching would have recognized that this was no overt or covert or veiled reference to race. The guy was PRAISING a particular player for his defensive prowess and used some over-the-top references. I've re-read the comments and I still can't figure out what the big deal is. Who could possibly be offended -- beyond the St. John's offensive unit? Can someone explain?

git921 said...
Jan 17, 2008, 10:57:00 AM  

Agree, this seems to be getting blown way out of proportion. White people steal, too.

GMoney said...
Jan 17, 2008, 10:59:00 AM  

That may be true that he didn't meant for it to be offensive but it was insinuating that he is a good defender because he literally steals from people at night. There are other ways of giving players praises without having it to be stereotyping. It was not about race, it was about him assuming that he's a good defender because maybe he was a theif in real life.

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 11:14:00 AM  

It's not like he was talking about Mateen Cleaves...

What the hell kind of a name is "Mateen" anyway...

E Buzz said...
Jan 17, 2008, 11:15:00 AM  

It looks like we'll be getting one of these a day now. I think he was wrong in continuing his comments even though I find the comments to be silly in nature, he brought attention to himself by using terms like 'hubcaps' and 'hitting up convenience stores'. He opened himself up for critcism.

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 11:23:00 AM  

I think it would have been a whole lot funnier if he said he was stealing laptops.

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 11:27:00 AM  

It reminds me of the South Park where the boys are playing a football game. Kyle takes off and one of the announcers exclaims, "I haven't seen a Jew run like that since Poland 1939!"

It's so over the top I don't think he could possibly have meant anything by it. I actually think it's hilarious that he would say something so ridiculous.

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 11:34:00 AM  

I also watched the game and never thought Waters' comments were racially charged (granted, I'm not really the one to determine that). I just thought that Waters' as an out-of-control, eccentric old coot who loved basketball. He had a couple other outrageous comments during the game that were pretty funny/enjoyable. Personally, I like it when an announcer gets excited about a game instead of giving me generic jock/coachspeak.

Doug the Punter said...
Jan 17, 2008, 11:48:00 AM  

Happy to pass it along to AA...anywho, I remember at the time the UConn fans who were mad about it were only angry at the idea of him calling him a criminal because of UConn's recent laptop-thieving past, not from a race POV. I can see why someone would use the race card here.

I don't agree, but I can see why someone would think he's using it.

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 12:34:00 PM  

I must have missed it, what "racially charged comments" did Billy Packer make?

Scott said...
Jan 17, 2008, 1:06:00 PM  

so let's get this straight...

An announcer makes a comment about a player with a lot of steals and references that with "stealing" something in real life.

The NYT sees that the player is black.

The NYT makes a connection that black people steal a lot in real life, and assume the announcer is making this connection as well.

The NYT writes an article saying that the announcer is racist because he mentioned real life stealing around a black person and the NYT knows that only black people steal that much in real life. Because, you know, they're black and black people steal a lot. The NYT says so.

Wait...who is the racist media personality again???

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 5:12:00 PM  

If it was a white player:
"ooh baby! he stole that ball like it was the Black Hills of South Dakota!"

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 5:16:00 PM  

Boy, you libs can't leave well enough alone. You must be out to abolish the First Amendment in 2009 when President Clinton or Obama takes office.

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 7:04:00 PM  

scott, Packer called Allen Iverson a monkey once. Not sure if there are any other instances.

Anonymous said...
Jan 17, 2008, 8:09:00 PM  

That might not have been the smartest choice of words, but it's blatantly obvious he wasn't intending it to be racist at all. I've heard the analogy a dozen times before, and never heard anyone raise any stink about it. (Granted, this guy carried it a bit farther than most, but still ... )

Anonymous said...
Jan 19, 2008, 12:00:00 PM  

Didn't realize Ol Bucky was still alive. Nice to hear from him.

Anonymous said...
Jan 20, 2008, 12:32:00 AM  

Post a Comment