… if this is true. Or this. There’s no reason to think it isn’t, but regardless, it makes me very un-proud to admit I am a Jazz fan. Why some folks have to ruin everything for the rest of us is beyond me. I just feel completely drained when I hear things like this. If these reports are true, my sincerest apologies to Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson and any other Golden State players who were offended.
I’m not going to make any sort of excuse, because there isn’t any. There are just a couple of things I’d like to say, though.
First, Utah isn’t the only place where this happens. There are always a handful of belligerent, ignorant idiots in any crowd who choose to behave this way. It’s easy to single out the Utah crowds because of the population demographic of the state. But it’s not like there aren’t racists at sporting events elsewhere in the country.
Second, Utahns deal with religious slurs all the time. I’ve traveled to many different BYU athletic events across the country and heard every kind of horrible comment about my choice of religion from the home team’s fans. I have no doubt that there will be plenty of anti-Mormon comments in Oakland this weekend.
That is in no way an excuse. But it is interesting to me that when players mention racist comments in Utah, it’s a big deal, but when players mention religiously bigoted comments in other places, no one cares.
For the record, I have never heard any such racist comments at any Jazz game I’ve ever attended in my life. (Our best players are black, so it’s fundamentally stupid anyway). I’m not saying it didn’t happen, just that I’ve never heard it, and wouldn’t tolerate it if I had.
PLEASE, fans: no matter what team you support, have the human decency to cheer without bigotry, or get out of the stadium.
May 11th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I’m suprised that any fan for any team would stupe to this level. I have the upmost respsect for those of a different race or faith other than the race I’m apart of and the faith I have chosen to participate in. In my opion Racial and religious bigotry will take a lot longer to remove from societies collective thinking. Shoot its been what, nearly 50 years since Dr. King gave his speach on the Washington Mall and we still have these problems? Let us watch what we say about others and enjoy this competition we have between the Jazz and the Warriors. Jazz in 7!
May 12th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I think this did happen — I wouldn’t trust Jackson necessarily, but Jason Richardson is a different story. But you shouldn’t stress over it. Yes, it’s unfortunate, but you can find a handful of jerks in any city and it is just not indicative of anything. (And we in the Bay Area should have an especially keen appreciation of this phenomenon from seeing how a relatively small set of people make Oakland Raider games an ugly affair.) Anyway, until we hear the entire crowd chanting terrible slogans, no one with any sense is going to jump to conclusions about the whole state!
So back to the games: I have to say that I have enjoyed this series immensely so far. It’s very fun to see a team like the Jazz which is very fundamental, but doesn’t make the mistake of thinking that that means slowing the pace is a good idea. Deron Williams is awesome! And everyone has been pretty much blown away by Kirilenko’s shot blocking. An amazing play they didn’t show on SportsCenter was where Ellis put a move on him which made him stumble nearly to the floor, but then still recover in time to easily block Monta’s shot! That’s the kind of play which makes people not want to go to the basket, that’s for sure.
I hope this goes seven (concluding with a rousing Warriors victory, of course).