Iowa announcer suspended for season for referring to Bruno Fernando as King Kong

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Ewert86PC said:
So you can call a guy a beast, just not a specific beast like King Kong or Mighty Joe Young or Godzilla or Rodan. Gotcha.

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Exactly, actually. Beast is a general term applied commonly to everyone. Just like calling a player from Eastern Asia, Genghis Khan might raise a few eyebrows.
 

It’s so funny to see how much of our population like cj, moon just lack coping skills. They are so hurt by any perceived slight they imagine in their heads. It blocks their cognitive ability and reason.
 

bhk3yx said:
The point that I haven't heard a good response to is that this term would never be used to refer to a dominant white player like Ethan Happ, Kyle Guy. Which makes it hard to understand the comment as anything other than racial and it should't exactly require a "PC class" to know this. Especially in the context here, where the announcer's been doing this for so long. Is an extreme penalty necessary? I don't really know, but thats Iowa's prerogative and it sounds like it was more the straw that broke the camel's back related to other issues but I still feel like at least a small sanction makes sense.
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I would say King Kong players would have to be 98% or more black players.

Who would be the last minnesota player that could be called that who was white? Kevin McHale?

I mean seriously. It's an african american dominated sport. You people crack me up.

Ethan Happ by the way is finesse. The Maryland player was being physical and physically dominating that game. He was leaping over Iowa players and grabbing boards. Ethan Happ? LMAO

Ok, one more time.............Dolphin was complimenting the opposing player by comparing him to a FiCTiONAL character who creates havoc and destruction. He is now being shamed and not getting his paycheck. Awesome schit! Thanks smart people!
 
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Goldteam said:
I would say King Kong players would have to be 98% or more black players.

Who would be the last minnesota player that could be called that who was white? Kevin McHale?

I mean seriously. It's an african american dominated sport. You people crack me up.

Ethan Happ by the way is finesse. The Maryland player was being physical and physically dominating that game. He was leaping over Iowa players and grabbing boards. Ethan Happ? LMAO

Ok, one more time.............Dolphin was complimenting the opposing player by comparing him to a FiCTiONAL character who creates havoc and destruction. He is now being shamed and not getting his paycheck. Awesome schit! Thanks smart people!
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There have been quite a lot of big white dudes in the B1G over the past decades. This is an old announcer. There's been lots of big, white centers on various B1G teams throughout the years while this guy has been announcing games. Has he ever called a big white player King Kong? Of course not. It's due to skin color. Anyone saying otherwise is being disingenuous.
 

KyGopherfan said:
There have been quite a lot of big white dudes in the B1G over the past decades. This is an old announcer. There's been lots of big, white centers on various B1G teams throughout the years while this guy has been announcing games. Has he ever called a big white player King Kong? Of course not. It's due to skin color. Anyone saying otherwise is being disingenuous.
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Name the last white gopher who would fit the bill?

Thanks
 


Goldteam said:
Well, if this was pc thinking, young white males posting mostly here................myself and others would be long gone.

Don't think too hard on that or you might hurt yourself.
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Actually, the last refuge for racists in 2019 is the internet... mostly twitter and message boards. So I doubt you'd be gone.
 


Also, did anyone catch Bruno's stat line today? He really played like a sea anemone.

Doesn't really paint a picture of his dominance, does it?
 




gopherinatl said:
Actually, the last refuge for racists in 2019 is the internet... mostly twitter and message boards. So I doubt you'd be gone.
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Who is racist here? Let's ask they be banned.

Oh wait, I did vote Trump so i'm racist. I'm outed.
 
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I guess I can’t think of a white bb player referred to as King Kong. But I don’t know of many African American players called that either. I know of the old professional wrestler King Kong Bundy
 

Moonlight said:
Agree on the lack of using the term in comparisons to white players. (Frankly, King Kong would be likely to pick up a lot of flagrant 1s)

And - he was talking about an oppositing team's player.

I disagree on the idea that this is overreaction (well there IS an overreaction on this board). Learfield sports is a business, and this guy isnt allowed to interview McCaffrey anymore so this is one of several problems (although Fran isn't my favorite, he is the coach so kind of a problem). This guy didnt lose his job and is very unlikely to. He also announces for Iowa football. He wrote a sincere sounding apology.
Sounds like sitting on the bench a while might do him good.
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There is a fighter named Darren "the Gorilla" Till, a soccer player with the nickname King Kong (Giorgio Chiellini), and an old wrestler named King Kong Bundy.

Do you know what all three have in common? They are known as being big, strong, and aggressive.

Trent Williams asked Goodell to refer to him as "Trent "the Silverback" Williams". There is a fighter who chooses to go back Luis "King Kong" Ortiz.

Ironically, these two guys are also known for their size, strength, and aggression.


I'll just say this, I'm glad the guy got punished. There are a lot of upper middle class white people that are feigning outrage right now. They shouldn't have to pretend to be offended for nothing.
 

In describing the loss in the postgame:

"Twelve threes on 22 made baskets. That’s some pretty good long-range shooting," Dolphin said. "And then Fernando was King Kong at the end of the game."

Color commentator Bobby Hansen replied, "Yeah, he was. And they had done a really good job, Gary, for the most part rebounding."

Any rational human being would realize he was talking about why they lost, which was the 3's and Fernando being unstoppable......................oh, never mind!

Is Bobby Hansen being disciplined? He agreed with Dolphin. Oh wait, Hansen has the brains to know what Dolphin meant with King Kong. As do I, as does any other normal thinking person.

Carry on!
 
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I’m trying hard to form an opinion, but as yet, still unable. In the meantime...what metaphor would you use to describe this guy - CF296BE5-C48E-4B03-9792-EBF8F2F76858.jpg. Is he a Big Ape :confused:
 

gopherinatl said:
Actually, the last refuge for racists in 2019 is the internet... mostly twitter and message boards. So I doubt you'd be gone.
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So you are going to call someone a racist because he disagrees with you?
 

Goldteam said:
I would say King Kong players would have to be 98% or more black players.

Who would be the last minnesota player that could be called that who was white? Kevin McHale?

I mean seriously. It's an african american dominated sport. You people crack me up.

Ethan Happ by the way is finesse. The Maryland player was being physical and physically dominating that game. He was leaping over Iowa players and grabbing boards. Ethan Happ? LMAO

Ok, one more time.............Dolphin was complimenting the opposing player by comparing him to a FiCTiONAL character who creates havoc and destruction. He is now being shamed and not getting his paycheck. Awesome schit! Thanks smart people!
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I agree with you on the 98% statistic. I also agree that what Dolphin meant was probably being physical and physically dominating that game. However, I still believe that any white player who plays in the same capacity would not be called King-Kong. I personally don't think Dolphin's comment was motivated by any type of animus or really motivated by anything at all. That still doesn't change the fact that historically terms like Ape/Monkey/Primape etc. have very commonly been used in pejorative or derogatory ways to refer to blacks. In that sense, I think its fair public radio/tv personalities should be aware that its not something you should say.

Now that I've thought about it, I think I'd be fine with simply issuing a public apology, it gets to the point and moves on with hopefully both camps feeling happy about the result (those outraged by the comment and those upset about the suspension). Sounds like other issues were at play with this one though.
 


Moonlight said:
I have posted here since the Monson days and I have met many gopherhole posters. There are many demographic groups that have left. Some of that is due to increasing social media options but some is due to threads like this where the predominant voice is normative older, white male & gender and racially tone deaf.
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Poster calling other people they don't know racist in a clumsy and obvious attempt to make themselves feel morally superior is another big cause of posters leaving this board. Just saying.
 

WoodburyTim said:
Poster calling other people they don't know racist in a clumsy and obvious attempt to make themselves feel morally superior is another big cause of posters leaving this board. Just saying.
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Who do you know who left?
 

WoodburyTim said:
Moves like this are done to appease stupid people. It is pretty simple.
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Oh, maybe I should give up on trying for morally superior and just settle for being an a-hole. It does look a lot easier!
 

Moonlight said:
You're over 50, aren't you?
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I didn't make any comment on what the Iowa broadcaster said. Are you going to call me racist because I'm over 50? I'm just glad we have people who can teach us about tolerance on Gopherhole.

BTW, I don't think the Iowa announcer should have said what he said
 

Moonlight said:
Oh, maybe I should give up on trying for morally superior and just settle for being an a-hole. It does look a lot easier!
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What you are doing is actually the opposite of morally superiority. I know that you think you are a new age progressive and some of the weak minded folks you probably usually talk to would agree, but it is clumsy and simplistic. You are saying that the rest of us are racist because we don't view the world through a lens of racial hypersensitivity. To you Bruno Fernando is first and foremost defined by his race and hence any comment related to him must be examined as such. People that view individuals as a collection of many factors, their genetics being just one, are going to lag behind you in looking for a correlation to that persons race.

The end goal for society is to look at each person as an individual. All race, all genders. You are on here trying to use ambiguous comments as a cudgel to divide and define yourself. You are not helping anything.
 


ethomasp31 said:
I didn't make any comment on what the Iowa broadcaster said. Are you going to call me racist because I'm over 50? I'm just glad we have people who can teach us about tolerance on Gopherhole.

BTW, I don't think the Iowa announcer should have said what he said
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No - I'm not calling you racist. Sorry if that's the impression I gave.

No one picked up my comment, but I remember when Joe Angel got canned for laughing at how bad the Twins were in a post game wrap up. It worked out ok for him - got a big national contact.
I'm not outraged by this guy's comment at all. I think he made a mistake, and the consequences are what they are. It's the outrage on his behalf here on gopherhole that is suspect. But I'm done here. Enjoy what good moments you can find in the remaining season.
 


cjbfbp said:
I didn't do anything of the sort and, unless you believe that you have mind reading powers, I don't know why you think you knew my intent. He made rather sneeringly disparaging remarks about Iowa's weakest rotation player and, as I remember the story, wondered with all of the talented black guards in the league, why they ended up with Dailey. Sorry, but announcers shouldn't make remarks like that. Even without the microphone on, he could have been overheard. The reason I said those remarks were more serious was that they were hurtful and gratuitous. We can talk about how Hurt and Stull are terrible on this board but if we did that in the course of our team broadcasting jobs, we would deserve some sanctions.

I didn't intentionally mislead anyone with my comments. You read what you wanted to read, not what I said.
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He wondered no such thing. He never mentioned anything about other "black" guards. And, you realize that Dailey himself is black, right?

cjbfbp said:
I didn't do anything of the sort and, unless you believe that you have mind reading powers, I don't know why you think you knew my intent. He made rather sneeringly disparaging remarks about Iowa's weakest rotation player and, as I remember the story, wondered with all of the talented black guards in the league, why they ended up with Dailey. Sorry, but announcers shouldn't make remarks like that. Even without the microphone on, he could have been overheard. The reason I said those remarks were more serious was that they were hurtful and gratuitous. We can talk about how Hurt and Stull are terrible on this board but if we did that in the course of our team broadcasting jobs, we would deserve some sanctions.

I didn't intentionally mislead anyone with my comments. You read what you wanted to read, not what I said.
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Maybe not intentional, but you clearly provided misleading info.
 
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WoodburyTim said:
What you are doing is actually the opposite of morally superiority. I know that you think you are a new age progressive and some of the weak minded folks you probably usually talk to would agree, but it is clumsy and simplistic. You are saying that the rest of us are racist because we don't view the world through a lens of racial hypersensitivity. To you Bruno Fernando is first and foremost defined by his race and hence any comment related to him must be examined as such. People that view individuals as a collection of many factors, their genetics being just one, are going to lag behind you in looking for a correlation to that persons race.

The end goal for society is to look at each person as an individual. All race, all genders. You are on here trying to use ambiguous comments as a cudgel to divide and define yourself. You are not helping anything.
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Oh snap
 


There are some racist undertones in referring to black people as apes/gorillas/monkeys/etc, but it doesnt always mean that the person saying those things means them in that way. In context here, I believe the announcer was just saying the Maryland player went beast mode.

In this case, I think a one game suspension would suffice to get the point across that the announcer needs to be more mindful of his words. A suspension of this magnitude seems to be uncalled for, and gives connotations that the announcer might be racist.

To play a bit of Devil's advocate, I am genuinely curious how many white athletes are referred to as gorillas/apes/etc... I know numerous black athletes have been referred to as these before, but I am unaware of numerous white athletes referred to as such. Disclaimer: I'm not saying it hasnt happened, just genuinely curious/unaware.
 


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