After the completely racially motivated bullshit that followed Richard Sherman’s harmless post-game reaction, I’ve been following Sherman closely, and what cracks me up is that this guy is smarter than 99.99% of the people criticizing him. He knows the drill and understands the racial code, and isn’t afraid to throw it back in people’s faces, and understand what many in our media don’t- that when wingers use the word thug, what they really mean is nigger (and no, I am not apologizing for not substituting the word nigger with something stupid like the n-word or n-bomb or ni-clang. It’s an offensive god damned word and it should make you uncomfortable to see it in print. Just like all the code words used to supplant it in polite conversation should make you uncomfortable and angry. The reaction to Sherman was raw and overt and visceral, and completely about race. To put up cutesy words would obfuscate the nastiness of what has happened.):
For the first time since breaking football, the media, and the internet, Richard Sherman addressed the reaction to his postgame interview, and his critics’ use of the word “thug.”
“The only reason it bothers me is because it seems like it’s the accepted way of calling somebody the N-word nowadays. Because they know.”
The day after the Seahawks’ win, the word “thug” was uttered 625 times on American television, or more than on any single day in at least three years.
I dunno, it sounds like this Richard Sherman guy, a guy with a degree from Stanford, currently pursuing his Masters, isn’t really a dumb thug after all and may have been able to break through the “sophisticated” right-wing racial code that our media giants have never figured out. Let’s see:
I just don’t know. That Richard Sherman character might be a dumb brute as the media and others have tried to portray him. He might be on to something.
I’m seriously considering rooting for the Seahawks this whole episode has been so disgusting and shameful. It’s 2014, people.
Trollhattan
Here’s reason #2: Derrick Coleman
http://mynorthwest.com/292/2438751/FB-Derrick-Coleman-responds-to-Seahawk-fans-letter
JPL
John, If you are around take this quiz about comparisons between Sherman and Christie… quiz
My son only got a 56 percent and this is a spoiler, he thought Christie was more intelligent. Sherman went to Stanford and is anything but a thug. A motormouth maybe but a thug no. What the mike did was hide the crowd noise.
gwangung
Gobsmacked. Cole rooting for the Seahawks.
And….co-FRAKKING-SIGN on the T word.
I can see that word applied to murderers. And rapists. Spies (cough New England cough). And most certainly headhunters (cough NEW ORLEANS cough).
But for what was, at worst, poor sportsmanship? No….doesn’t apply at all.
ETA
The Clink is demonstrably one of the loudest places on the planet. People don’t seem to realize this.
Cervantes
You’re not alone in that view.
ranchandsyrup
DougJ level master-troll. Should be part of the faculty for DougJ’s Master of Fine Trolling program.
Gin & Tonic
I don’t follow football at all, and until Sunday would have had no idea who Richard Sherman is, but I watched that 30-second “interview” with what’s-her-face, and really, truly can’t see what any of the brouhaha is about. People in sports talk trash. Film at 11.
JPL
@gwangung: The spying thing is so old news. Why Belichick didn’t plant someone in the stands like the other teams is behind me.
What upsets me about the super bowl match-up is what do you serve. It’s fun to have food representing both cities.
denver omelettes and coors I guess.
ranchandsyrup
@JPL: Rocky Mountain Oysters
Mnemosyne
Speaking of signs and code, I finally figured out long braids on Black men here in Los Angeles — it’s very much a middle-class (usually upper-class) college-educated thing. Sherman is sending a message with that hairstyle, but it’s not the one that the assholes calling him a “thug” think it is.
And, yes, I have to agree — “thug” is just the mildly more socially-acceptable version of “nigger.”
Citizen Alan
@JPL:
I am leaning towards some combination of something salmon-based (for Seattle) and a Denver omelet casserole (for Denver)
jenn
@Trollhattan: I hadn’t seen that one, thanks!
JPL
@ranchandsyrup: I’ll stick with the omelette!
Dave C
I’m only vaguely aware of who Sherman is due to a few muted and closed captioning-free clips on ESPN at the gym. What did he do or say to get people pissed off at him?
Baud
And because you feel guilty about last time. We all know.
Trollhattan
ESPN’s Terry Blount:
Mnemosyne
@Dave C:
He trash-talked immediately after the game when the sportscaster on the field stuck a microphone in his face.
Seriously, that’s it.
ranchandsyrup
@JPL: Heh. Good choice.
Trollhattan
@Trollhattan:
Grrr, blockquote fail by moi.
JPL
@Dave C: He was trash talking the San Francisco receiver, who had given him a hard time before the match up. It was really nothing but because he shouting over the crowd noise into a mike, it became something else. It’s stupid and of course MSM has played the clip several times.
OzarkHillbilly
Wow. All these years I thought I was just your run of the mill average everyday union thug. Now after 30+ working years I find out I am a nigger. Figures.
Villago Delenda Est
John, for the love of all things white, of course Richard Sherman is a thug.
I mean, look at the color of his skin! Isn’t it obvious?
What Sherman should do on Stupor Bowl media day is openly and viscerally mock these shitstains, and say things like “Where are the white women at?” and “Pardon me while I whip this out” and it’s a fucking iPhone he shows them.
Or a bong, in celebration of the wisdom of the home states of the two teams.
jl
As a half-assed football and 49ers fan, my official position is that Sherman acted like a jackass a the end and after the game. And yes, that my Official BJ Commenter Position, officially announced right here and now.
But I don’t understand what all the continuing fuss is about, or about him being an ’embarrassment’ to the league and etc. it was hard down-to-the-wire game. I understand how the Seattle players may have been rattled after basically losing the game the first three quarters and then winning on a few Niner mistakes at the end. So, I am gracious and merciful, in addition to totally forgetting about it the next day, and so I pardon him.
Thanks for posting the clip. I will be eager to root for the Seahawks in the superbowl. Hell, I might even watch the game, even though American football kind of irritates me, especially taking for-GDamn-ever to end up the damn game game after the 2 minute thingee.
Edit: besides which there are so many passionate hard fought game where some player or broadcaster goes somewhat or seriously haywire for awhile, who gives a damn about this one, anyway? And Sherman only went minorly haywire, IMHO.
aimai
@JPL: I got 71 percent and I haven’t been following the story at all. Everything that was phrased a little weirdly I attributed to Sherman, everything that was outright mean I attributed to Christie.
Villago Delenda Est
@Trollhattan:
Pretty much the greatest sin there is in the eyes of the MSM. The guy is like Clinton or Obama. Doesn’t know his fucking place. At the feet of such glorious examples of humanity as the Koch brothers, to name just two.
aimai
@Mnemosyne: Fascinating.
dexwood
@JPL:
Marijuana brownies to represent Denver.
RK
He came off as unhinged, and with the pretty blonde cowering underneath him the picture fed into an old stereotype. I saw Sherman on First Take going at it against Skip Bayless and the guy has issues. IMHO,as can be seen in his patronizing posts that involve black people, Cole has his own as well.
magurakurin
Wait. You mean to say that you were rooting for the Denver Broncos?????
such sadness.
Isn’t that just one step removed from rooting for the Dallas Cowboys?
jl
And why did the stupid TV station cut away just as Sherman was about to say something interesting about the how the Seahawks play?
Gee, if they were a news organization, one would think that Sherman speaking interesting new information about the Seahawks, right before the big game, would also be news.
Corner Stone
@RK:
Wow. And I don’t even like popcorn all that much…
Petorado
An athlete does a non-cliche post-game interview and the nation goes nuts. The more I looked into this guy and the more I understood his issue with Crabtree, the more the theatrics made sense. He was a pumped-up athlete in one of the loudest arenas in sport who just made one of the most significant plays of his career moment earlier and suddenly has a microphone in his face.
What kills me about his whole affair is that the very fans that are ripping Sherman say the most god-awful things themselves about players, teams, and coaches in the comments sections of every public forum they can post to and are somehow offended by an actual player’s passionate viewpoint that doesn’t even come close to being as offensive as their own.
Aji
@ranchandsyrup: Oog. No.
ranchandsyrup
@RK: Skip Bayless deserved that trolling. If anything, Skip Bayless has issues.
Villago Delenda Est
@magurakurin:
I was unaware that my Seattle Seahawks had ever claimed to be “America’s Team”.
THAT is why you root for a meteor to land on Jerry Jones’ head, among other things, although to be fair, the pure chutzpah of claiming to be “America’s Team” predates Jones’ ownership.
gratuitous
I guess I have to out myself as an unrepentant, racist scumbag of the very worst sort, because when I was watching the game live, I thought it was very low-class on Sherman’s part immediately after the play for him to stalk (there is no other word) Crabtree, slap his behind, and extend a mock-congratulatory hand while bumping face guards with him and apparently taunting him.
When Crabtree made his the wholly predictable response of shoving Sherman away by his face guard, Sherman immediately turned to the official trailing the two men with his hands in supplication that a penalty should be called. Bush league behavior of the bushest variety.Were I the NFL Commissioner, I’d give serious consideration to a one-game suspension to Sherman. I suppose it’s punishment enough that for (presumably) the biggest game of his career, Sherman will have to spend a lot of time he could be preparing for the game answering a lot of repetitious questions about his foolish behavior.
Where I’m from, you need to say a maximum of two things to anyone on the opposing team during a game. If you’re a captain at midfield for the coin toss, you shake the other captains’ hands and say, “Good luck.” At the conclusion of the game when you’re leaving the field, you shake hands with anyone you encounter from the other team and say, “Good game.” The extraneous bullshit that has sadly become the norm is just that.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m in the Pacific Northwest, and rooting for the Seahawks to win it all, but I’m still chagrined by Sherman’s antics.
jl
I also hope very media outlet reminds us all repeatedly that WA and CO, the only two legal pot states produced the two American football champions this year.
I eagerly await the first Superbowl pot ad, which I guess won’t be this year.
Will it be mythic, touching, comedic, overproduced into incomprehensibility, or a stupid story arc serial, so irritating that no one will smoke the stuff for a year, causing budge crises in WA and CO, and bankrupting the drug cartels?
Roger Moore
@JPL:
Rocky Mountain oysters. Actually, good quality Colorado beef would be as good a choice as anything for a representative food. And for beer, at least get something from one of the many quality craft breweries in Colorado rather than piss water from a wingnut. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can get anything from Wynkoop Brewery outside the pub, but you could always go with something from Great Divide or New Belgium.
ranchandsyrup
@jl: Erin Andrews said that they cut away because the producers were “afraid Sherman would curse”. Which is a weird bar to set because the field mics pick up swearing all the time. She also said that she wasn’t scared of Sherman.
magurakurin
@Villago Delenda Est: no, no, no. Rooting for the Broncos, is one step removed from rooting for the Cowboys. At least it would have been when I was kid in school in the Philly area. Rooting for the Seahawks would have been very strange and exotic indeed, considering that most of us were still fairly unclear just where Seattle was. But I guess things are different down in West Virginia.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
He’s really smart and he’s not shy. And of course the creeps who call him a thug overlook the stadium noise (conveniently). If he were blond, he’d have been simply “shouting over the crowd noise.”
But he looks “scary” to those fools, and thus he’s a thug. And he is every bit dead on about what thug means now. And union thugs are indeed considered niggers** also by those who use the descriptor “union thug.”
** This is as uncomfortable a word to type as it is to see. I typed it deliberately, so I can get the visceral feel of what so many who use “thug” really mean.
The Sherman interview and response has been the most disturbing part of my week. And I say this as someone who had lunch (in a group) with the Ohio DRC Director on my birthday. So I’m pretty wound up about it. Thanks for your thoughts, Cole.
Anna in PDX
@Trollhattan: I saw that. I got hearing aids this year and it has been a real experience. It was such a cute letter and a great response!
jl
@ranchandsyrup: I think that’s total BS. They were probably hoping for him still acting like a jackass, and ready and eager to bleep some bad words. Sherman seems like a guy with jackass impulses that come out when he’s riled up, but not a committed thoughtless jackass 24/7 (and there are plenty of 24/7 jackasses in pro sports).
Edit: in fact, on second thought, the station’s excuse seems racist to me. What the hell indicated to any sane person that Sherman was going to curse when he started talking about how the Seahawk players manage their play, after he got through the BS about his jackass behavior (which is not a BS issue, but not a big deal either) and the following media over-reaction (which was BS)?
Another Botsplainer
Until the racist jack offs starting showing their asses on Twitter the other night I wasn’t rooting for either team in the Super Bowl. I hope Sherman gets at least one pick six. Go Seahawks.
Just scored 93% on that quiz.
OGLiberal
@JPL: I got an 86 percent but I’m either familiar with actual Christie quotes or know enough to guess what he’d say.
Villago Delenda Est
@magurakurin:
Ah, I misread. I sit corrected!
Yes, I realize for all you “back East” people (anything east of the Rockies, to include Denver) that we’re pretty exotic out here where the covered wagons still brave attacks by wild Natives to bring us our meager supplies.
/grin, duck, run like hell
PsiFighter37
@gratuitous: I agree with your take – the actions he took post-interception were classless.
That said, the follow-up reaction is way over the top and quite revealing about how people stereotype in this country.
OGLiberal
@JPL: I got an 86 percent but I’m either familiar with actual quotes from the gov or know enough to guess what he’d say.
Villago Delenda Est
@jl:
Not to mention in the broadcast booths, studios, and with mics on the sidelines…
gwangung
Again, poor sportsman is one thing. Thug is another. DON’T MIX THE TWO UP.
Come to think of it, conflating the two is PRECISELY racism because of the pass that gives to other athletes, mostly white, get while engaging in the same behavior.
(Also….what’s the proof that it was mocking? You can’t tell from the visuals alone….and I think it’s poor sportsmanship to respond to even mocking with a shove to the face).
Just Some Fuckhead
I think it’s both possible to recognize Sherman is a classless douchebag for his treatment of Crabtree and that there’s a racial overtone to the reaction to his douchebaggery.
magurakurin
@Villago Delenda Est: It’s more like we figured it was in Canada or something. I eventually ended up in Portland, OR for a decade or so.
Go Seawhawks
ranchandsyrup
@jl: I’m confused by that explanation as well.
Like I said above, Sherman’s a master-troll. He goes after the heretofore un-trolled like Skip Bayless and Tom Brady. He and Crabtree have a backstory going back to the summer.
One thing is for sure, he is all talk. He made Trent Williams so angry that Williams punched him in the face after a game. Sherman just threw his hands up. He angles for that sort of reaction.
JPL
@OGLiberal: That was my score. My son’s comment and score was reflective of the fact that he thought Christie might sound more intelligent because he’s a Governor.
JoeC
I saw a bit of the interview, to be honest, the first thing I thought of trash-talking wise was Muhammad Ali. I saw an interview with Ali once where he said he got his bit from Gorgeous George, the ’50s pro wrestler who would be mad at you if he had to mess up his hair when he had a wrestling match.
gwangung
@
By the way…
RK:
You mean like Howard Dean did? After they processed the noise out of the audio? You do realize Century Link is one of the loudest stadiums on the planet, right? You think it’s going to be quiet after a game like that?
Lower Sherman’s volume down to normal speaking levels and he doesn’t QUITE so unhinged…
OzarkHillbilly
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Funny. All I ever did was stand up for my rights. Guess I just don’t know my place.
Torridjoe
@Mnemosyne: well no, he also taunted both Kapernick and Crabtree, touched Crabtree, and drew the foul for it. Total lack of class and basically made himself the story instead of his team, one of his mates being the one who actually intercepted the ball.
John Cole
@Corner Stone: Forget the popcorn. I don’t even know how to react to that other than a hearty “WTF,” so there will be no fireworks on my end.
Torridjoe
well no, he also taunted both Kapernick and Crabtree, touched Crabtree, and drew the foul for it. Total lack of class and basically made himself the story instead of his team, one of his mates being the one who actually intercepted the ball.
JPL
@gwangung: That is absolutely true. He was speaking over the noise into a mike.
IMO, I think some of the reaction has to do with those who want Peyton to win.
Bonnie
I am an unabashed Seattle Seahawk fan. Have been since 1976. Those early years were mostly winless. We have worked hard to get to this spot. We had three to four years of winning under Mike Holmgren; but, he retired quickly.
Richard Sherman is a good guy. He helps the Seattle area every day of the year in various ways. He gives of his time to those less fortunate and is loved by most every one in the Seattle-Tacoma-Everett area. He is perhaps as well-loved as Peyton Manning. However, Sherman is not the only Seahawk who is well-loved. This team is great in so many ways and I hope we win the Super Bowl. I am so excited!
Cacti
Richard Sherman is my new mancrush.
He seems to know what the score is both on and off the field.
“Thug” is a dogwhistle.
Yatsuno
@Villago Delenda Est:
I cannot even tell you how awesome that would be.
And at this point, fuck the haterz. Sherm is gonna be Sherm and you can either come along or calmly go to Hades.
And ALLEZ LES SEAHACKS!!!
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@John Cole: John, have you thought about getting a black friend for street cred? I’m not talking about a beard like Imani. I’m talking about a real live black person to hang out with every week.
Thoroughly Pizzled
Root for Sherman to have a good game, but the Seahawks to lose.
OGLiberal
@JPL: i left out that I’m from NJ so have an unfair advantage. I did the same as somebody else mentioned, when it sound clearly mean and aggressive, I attributed it to Christie. It’s only very recently he’s taken on saying things that are remotely apologetic. Love that the only thing wing nuts love about him is that as the most poweefule dude in NJ he yells at loiw paid, Jane Schmoe, female teachers. At least Sherman was directing his comments at another wealthy, high paid, large ego pro athlete with whom he is a peer.
ranchandsyrup
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: https://balloon-juice.com/2014/01/22/its-shitty-here-too/
jl
@ranchandsyrup: Yep,, definite jackass tendencies when he is charged up. As a commenter said, he has some issues, but not more issues than a lot of pro athletes, and many have far more serious ones.
Edit: and he has one of a general type of issue you see in linebackers and defensive backs.
Judybird
Okay, so he’s not a thug. Is no-class asshole acceptable? Because that’s what I thought when seeing his rant.
Cacti
@Judybird:
Okay, so he’s not a thug. Is no-class asshole acceptable? Because that’s what I thought when seeing his rant.
Hear, hear!
There’s no place for hooligan behavior in the gentlemanly sport of American Football.
Pardon me while I polish my monocle.
raven
Most people don’t have the slightest idea what goes on between receivers and d-backs in the NFL. This bullshit of having on field interviews is more that stupid. I wasn’t crazy about Sherman’s rap so what? Get the goddamn mic’s off the sidelines.
Heliopause
I’ve been encouraging people to read the more of the transcript of his remarks today. This is the Richard Sherman that people in the Seattle media market see most of the time.
jl
linebackers and defensive backs have an interesting job: disrupt shit and wreck carefully laid plans in high stakes situations (edit: I am curious if there is any other line of work where basically, that is ALL you do). Seems to me there are some of these players who have a hard time controlling their confrontational disruptive tendencies. Sherman is one of these.
As I said, I thought what the guy acted like a total jackass at the end of the game. But I also thought, well, the guy is defensive back, and some of them do have ‘issues’ with their behavior, so its not like you don’t see shit like that from time to time.
And if Sherman can confine them to a few hours around game time, he is better than some others.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@ranchandsyrup: Seriously, a fraternity pledge prolly a third his age? You know the other thing John calls his “boys” are his testicles, right?
SiubhanDuinne
Football schmootball. Is anyone here interested in classical ballet? Because the Royal Ballet is performing Giselle in HD next Monday evening (January 27, 7:00 p.m.) and I am going to be there. If you are in the ATL and interested in seeing girrlzintutuzz, give me a shout. I’d love to watch this with a friend.
Blehmann
Richard Sherman is a very handsome man. I told my husband that Sherman’s eyes remind me of his. So he got me a Sherman jersey during the preseason.
I like it even more now.
Trentrunner
Jan Brady was a thug.
ranchandsyrup
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Was not aware that John was a testicle-namer.
GoodBad to know.So to add to your requirement that he and his friend hang out once a week, he or she can’t be too young. What if he or she 2x older? Is that ok?
hitchhiker
Oh for feck’s sake. Are we seriously talking about class and sportsmanship in the NFL? Those two teams had just beat each other’s brains out for three hours. During the game one guy sustained a hideous injury to his leg, which Fox decided we needed to see about 43 times. Concussions are common in this very classy sport.
Sherman is sorry for taking the focus off what his team had accomplished — not for bruising the tender sensitivities of any NFL fans who thought they were watching a ping pong match.
Also, did you see that PLAY HE MADE?? Holy shitski. Can’t wait for the bud-bowl.
jl
@ranchandsyrup: But no pics yet? Did I miss them?
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: Have a wonderful time. I have to leave at 6:30 Tuesday morning for jury duty downtown. I do have standby status but in the past that hasn’t helped me.
cokane
Well said Mr. Cole, though the Trayvon Martin coverage, where somehow the guy who wasn’t armed became the thug should have taught us this, if we hadn’t learned it already. Funny how no one called Richie Incognito a thug for making far meaner and actually threatening remarks. Also people just don’t even know what a thug is, like Sherman said, it’s basically a label for a threatening black male nowadays, which cheapens what a valuable word used to mean.
dp
These people are going to make me overcome my visceral revulsion toward Pete Carroll and make me root for the freaking Seahawks. Just another reason to hate them.
SiubhanDuinne
@Trentrunner:
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!
JustRuss
@Just Some Fuckhead:
My reaction at first too, but then learned the context. He and Crabtree have history, and right before the interview Crabtree grabbed Sherman’s facemask. So he wasn’t so much gloating as PO’d. I’ve been there, though thankfully not with a microphone in my face.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL: Ugh.
I’ve lived in Gwinnett County for close to ten years, have voted in every piss-ant election including local primary run-offs. Have NEVER been called for jury duty.
(Nothing against the elections, of course, but I mean if the county wants to find dedicated citizens for their jury pool, they need look no further than the voter rolls with my name in them!)
ranchandsyrup
@jl: it could have been in the dark and blurry photo days of Cole.
The Thin Black Duke
Rich smart proud angry African-American opens his mouth on TV. But instead of singing a song or telling a joke, he dares to express his opinion. White America is SHOCKED. News at 11.
Bobby Thomson
@JPL: I got 100%!
cokane
@jl:
Being a House Republican
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: I thought you lived north of the ATL??
Bobby Thomson
@JPL: Denver has great Mexican food. Seattle has great Asian food and seafood in general.
JPL
@Bobby Thomson: hmmm Did you see the spoiler about Sherman being the intelligent one? Christie is the classic bully though, attacking those who he perceives are beneath him.
good job.
OGLiberal
@Heliopause:Great link, great comments from Sherman. Clearly not the “thug” he’s being painted out to be.
Suffern ACE
Ham. Sherman is definitely a ham. See, there’s a perfectly fine word for this.
Calming influence
Take what Sherman, a 3.9 GPA Stanford graduate, 3 years in the NFL, a few minutes after making a going-to-the-superbowl end the fucking game guaranteed-10-zillion-youtube-views play, which took a winning touchdown away from someone who had given him some shit in the off season, said. Compare that with 1,000 typical trash talk post-game Youtube videos.
Oh yeah, I see what you mean. Sherman is SUCH a thug!
lamh36
@JoeC: It’s appears from some comments, that if they were in fact around during Ali’s after-fight antics, they’d be calling him unsportsmanlike too. Yet ask them right now if they find Ali’s comment after matches brash and or unsportsmanlike and they’d say naw man, Ali was just trash talking. I’d bet that certain people at the time also reacted to Ali this way when he did after bout interviews
So maybe they should ask themselves, what makes Sherman different than Ali after he won?
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@JustRuss: Yes, I also saw Sherman chase Crabtree down, slap his ass and trash talk him some more after the play. I could give a shit what history they have. My son plays football and a football player acting like Sherman did would be sitting down. You people making excuses for him aren’t doing him any favors.
So I’ll hold onto my balanced opinion, thanks.
Plantsmantx
@Just Some Fuckhead:
What treatment of Crabtree?
Anyway, what Joshua Black and Andre Iguodala typed on Twitter is infinitely worse than anything Sherman said, yet no one has called them “thugs” or “niggers”. I wonder why? Yeah, that’s just a rhetorical question
TriassicSands
@JPL:
Not a good choice for your heart.
Suffern ACE
And there is room for hams in football. Always has been.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Of course, if things change and and you’re able to join me for the ballet, do let me know.
schrodinger's cat
BTW, the original thugs were Indian (from India).
CaseyL
@SiubhanDuinne: The Cuban National Ballet came to Seattle about 15 years ago; I saw them dance Giselle. It was sublime; the best, most beautiful ballet I’ve ever seen.
Richard Sherman is a good guy. Watching the pile-on has been infuriating and depressing. I’m pleased that he seems unfazed by the hoorah, and both willing and able to push back. Love, love, love that he called out people who use the word “thug” for their dog-whistling racism.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven: Yeah, live in Duluth. Usually go these cultchah HD things at Sugarloaf, but have a few choices of venue.
Eric S
As a guy who starts counting the days until Spring Training after the last out of the World Series I normally couldn’t care less about football in any form. After this bs, after hearing a coworker say he he’s going to root for Denver solely because of this, I will be loudly rooting for Seattle.
psychobroad
@aimai: Same here aimai!
Warren Terra
@JPL:
Obviously, pot for one and marijuana for the other.
More seriously: salmon for Seattle, preferably alder-smoked or cedar-planked; also perhaps anything good with gooseberries or if you can’t get those blackberries. Dungeness crab is an option. For Denver: I dunno; Coors beer?
maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor
Cole, you’re old enough to remember the reactions that Ali drew, no?
Sherman’s just the latest iteration of that phenomenon.
SiubhanDuinne
@CaseyL: It is my all-time favourite ballet. I’ve seen (and own, if it’s on DVD) pretty much every choreography there is. It is great music (by Adolphe Adam, who also wrote the beloved Xmas song “O Holy Night”) and one of the most compelling dance narratives there is. I would see it six days a week if I could.
The Thin Black Duke
@lamh36: Some of those people who can’t wait to tell everybody how much they “love” Ali are only saying it now because he can’t talk anymore. And that’s the way they like it.
Corner Stone
@John Cole: I knew you wouldn’t. But I actually thought all your friends of color might have had something to say in response.
Leadpipe
@Just Some Fuckhead: I think you captured my thoughts on the matter very concisely.
Cassidy
@gratuitous: Did you walk uphill, both ways in a blizzard also?
JPL
@John Cole: Yup.. don’t feed the trolls and the asses.
maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor
@RK:
A Skip Bayless sock puppet. That’s not something you see everyday.
Violet
I’m rooting for tons of snow and bad weather and another system failure like last year’s blackout at the Superdome. Plus something traffic related that somehow involves Christie.
Jeffro
@lamh36: The thing that makes it different is, he was doing it in front of Erin Andrews. That’s what’s setting all the wingnuts off.
Give them one of two thought experiments and watch their reaction – ask them if their reaction would have been any different if
1) It had been Keyshawn Johnson interviewing Richard Sherman (or any male reporter, frankly)
2) It had been Wes Welker with the outburst in front of Andrews instead of Richard Sherman
Dave
Yeah I agree ham is probably a good term. Maybe ham that is very competitive and ramps up to jack-assish under extreme and limited circumstances. Big deal, on the scale of condemnation doesn’t even rate a meh, I don’t personally go for the brash aggressive trash talk but then again I’m not a world class athlete either.
From other interviews and settings I’ve seen him in he absolutely came off as intense, intelligent, and probably a very fun guy to be around most of the time. And he is completely correct about how thug is used. The overreaction to this is pathetic on a great many levels but ultimately pretty revealing.
Dave
Yeah I agree ham is probably a good term. Maybe ham that is very competitive and ramps up to jack-assish under extreme and limited circumstances. Big deal, on the scale of condemnation doesn’t even rate a meh, I don’t personally go for the brash aggressive trash talk but then again I’m not a world class athlete either.
From other interviews and settings I’ve seen him in he absolutely came off as intense, intelligent, and probably a very fun guy to be around most of the time. And he is completely correct about how thug is used. The overreaction to this is pathetic on a great many levels but ultimately pretty revealing.
Dave
Yeah I agree ham is probably a good term. Maybe ham that is very competitive and ramps up to jack-assish under extreme and limited circumstances. Big deal, on the scale of condemnation doesn’t even rate a meh, I don’t personally go for the brash aggressive trash talk but then again I’m not a world class athlete either.
From other interviews and settings I’ve seen him in he absolutely came off as intense, intelligent, and probably a very fun guy to be around most of the time. And he is completely correct about how thug is used. The overreaction to this is pathetic on a great many levels but ultimately pretty revealing.
WaterGirl
Dave Zirin’s take on this.
WaterGirl
Dave Zirin’s links to this story on Richard Sherman from July. Warning: Don’t Take the Bait
Donut
@gratuitous:
It sounds to me like you also wore an onion on your belt.
Schlemizel
I have no idea if Sherman is a thug or not. I see 50-60 non-pro hockey games a season & use the word ‘thug’ to describe a certain style of play, it has never occurred to me there was any racial weight to the word at all.
As far as Sherman goes, I never heard of him before. I ended up watching the last part of that game at a friends house & witnessed a lot of behavior I would call ‘thugish’ if it happened on the ice. I have no idea if Sherman was part of that or not. I did notice (because Fox was kind enough to replay it for me) Sherman making the choke sign near the end of the game. My thought when he exploded on screen after the game was “well, if that receiver was no good and SF is a bunch of chokers than you really are not that good either, you wouldn’t have to be to beat them & its not like you walked away, it was a struggle.”
Cassidy
@Schlemizel: Thought they were called goons?
RK
Let me just say that I think many white people can be patronizing when it comes to black people, myself included. Call me crazy, and I may be, but that’s my experience. I should also add as preemptive defense that fish discover water last. :)
gwangung
@Schlemizel: i think this is an evolution in wingnut entymology, carefully extending the connotation of various words just to the edge of audibility. The parallels with Trayvon (even more innocuous) is a tip off.
And….sorry, but the Asian food in Seattle is….mediocre at best (and you have to hunt for it). Stick with the salmon.
Dave
I’m a left-wing socialist pinko commie, but I have never considered the word thug to mean anything other than its defined meaning, as follows:
thug
THəg/
noun
noun: thug; plural noun: thugs; noun: Thug
1.
a violent person, esp. a criminal.
synonyms: ruffian, hooligan, vandal, hoodlum, gangster, villain, criminal
In that sense, I don’t believe it’s much of a stretch for a fan to describe Sherman’s outburst as thuggish. It was certainly arrogant and a display of very poor sportsmanship. Also noted is that he and other Seahawk defenders are renowned in the league as some of the dirtiest, cheating players in the NFL. Pete Carroll is known for coaching his players, especially in the secondary, to hold and interfere on every play, knowing that the refs won’t call holding or PI on every play. If you actually watched the game, you would have seen Seattle defenders mugging Niners receivers on every play. And yes, I’m also a biased Niners fan, but even friends who are Seattle fans have agreed with me on these points.
I refuse to accept my characterization of Sherman as a thug to be in any way racist. It is simply an accurate description of his boorish, classless outburst after winning the game, as well as his play during the game.
gwangung
@Dave: So, some of my best friends are…..?
Come one, you can do better than this.
Tyler Forrest
@hitchhiker: amen. We aren’t talking about amateur sports. These are professional entertainers that we label ‘athletes’ instead of actors or musicians. That people are offended by this is absurd. The average post game interview involves a player claiming that their god loves and favors them more then the other team. Sherman merely said he was more talented (which is true) then Crabtree. Go hawks.
PS Colorado beer is asswater compared to the glory that is northwest ale. Ditto for weed.
Tom Jackson
What is the big deal. I can not believe the entire medias continual coverage of this thing. Important stuff doesn’t last 2 days, this is still
wringing air time of of nothing. The 2 games on Sunday have been
over shadowed by this occurrence.
I am asking the press to shut the hell up and it will go where it should,
away, until next season, where it will resurface when the 2 teams
meet.
Schlemizel
@Cassidy:
Goons, thugs, its pretty interchangeable. I prefer thug myself, I like the feel of the word better than goon although the missus uses goon. I also will use ‘goonball’ for that style
@gwangung:
I refuse to let them have the word, if I have to limit it to white guys I’m OK with that but you will never convince me that a normal person would mean nigger. In fact the SEIU bit in the middle sort of undoes the argument, my wife id SEIU and about 70% of her local is white.
I have no idea where te food comment comes from. I have never had asian food in either place.
gwangung
@Schlemizel: I think I would prefer that the word stays linked to criminal behavior. Pushing the limits of the rules (and sometimes going over) really doesn’t fit, nor does even being a bad sport. Headhunting players, deliberately trying to give concussions to foes, giving bounties to players who do this is far more deserving of the term.
trollhattan
@Schlemizel:
Perhaps things have regressed, but having grown up in Seattle there was great Asian food aplenty. Mind, this was primarily Japanese and Chinese (mostly Cantonese) back in the day, but far more variety was brought in by new immigrant waves. The best was always at friends’ homes, of course, and they knew where the best restaurants were as a bonus.
burnspbesq
Egad, Cole, you’re even more of an idiot than I had previously imagined.
pseudonymous in nc
@jl:
My official position is that if you’re watching the NFL, which is short bursts of highly-focused violence by large men over the course of three hours, then you might as well get more of a taste of the mentality that’s required and deployed on the field, as opposed to post-game Thank You Jesus Mode.
I’m also not a massive fan of the whole “classy” thing as a measure in professional sports, because it’s often tied into the Victorian concept of the gentleman amateur versus the working-class professional. At least part of the joy of winning is the satisfaction of the other team losing, especially if you have a long-standing dislike of that team.
Citizen_X
@hitchhiker:
Gonna be a whole new meaning to that phrase this year, my friend.
gratuitous
@Donut: Uh, no in the 21st Century, onions on belts aren’t really the fashion. But yeah, the intersection of Class and Sportsmanship is definitely a lonely neighborhood. Choke signs, taunting your opponent and then crying to the ref have never been in style there.
jl
@burnspbesq:
‘Egad’? What kind of word is that to use in a place like this? I surmise the entrance of an uncouth partisan of Mr. Sherman into the bloggatory fray; a veritable ruffian, as it were, ready to defend such unseemly and less than genteel conduct at an august and very notable major league sporting contest which was part of a championship tournament, of which these, our great United States, should be justly proud, were it not for the behavior of certain low types, who besmirch the NFL’s fair name.
@pseudonymous in nc:
The beginnig of my post was written with some snark. I was pissed at how Sherman acted mainly because my team lost, and the jackass rubbed in it, damn him. But it was minor league BS, not nearly as bad as a lot of stuff you see in the NFL.
jl
@Citizen_X: My question is, will there be any ‘Bud light’ commercials this year?
pseudonymous in nc
@gratuitous:
Well, you clearly meet one of the qualifications to be NFL commissioner.
@ranchandsyrup:
The field mics generally have some kind of delay, as the audio gets muted entirely at times, but I’m not sure if that was active for the post-game interviews. It was pretty clear that Andrews was more worried about Sherman swearing than anything else, and her comments back that up. Also, big hug.
Corner Stone
@gratuitous:
Way the hell back in the oldest of old schools 20th Century, I had stone cold killa white guys talk much more shit to me on the baseball field than what Sherman the Thuglife did.
Sorry, but competitors have been displaying markedly bad sportsmanship for my entire sporting life.
I played with a guy who didn’t wash his game day socks for two years. None of these guys at the highest levels think it’s all because they are simply physically the best. Every one of them looks for some superstitious edge that makes the difference.
jl
@Corner Stone: Well, but that is baseball. All sorts of weird and nasty crap is automatically cute colorful and folkloric if it’s baseball.
Was Ty Cobb a thug? Of course not. Baseball!
coin-operated
What I found amazing is that Sherman was speaking about this during pre-game tape. He told his fellow defensive backs “If I have the guy covered, leave me be!!! I’ll tip the ball to you”
Which is EXACTLY what he did. He’s six feet in the air defending one of the best receivers in the league, and he put the ball right where it could be intercepted. During the most important play of the playoffs for Seattle.
I’ll give him a pass.
Villago Delenda Est
@Corner Stone:
“I’m pissed off now, Jobu. Look, I go to you. I stick up for you. You don’t help me now. I say “Fuck you,” Jobu, I do it myself.”
Corner Stone
@jl: Well, not being funny at all, a couple of those white guys actually went to jail for real deal killing people.
Not on the baseball field, though!
So I guess that makes them less thuggish than Sherman.
Comrade Mary
Guys, is this the interview that gave people the vapours?
If it is: wow. That was not a big deal. Sherman dealt out some harsh criticism, but if people are retreating to their fainting couches because one athlete called another athlete “mediocre”, that’s just sad.
Comrade Mary
@RK:
Mild-mannered Canadian here. I hate bullies (see; Doug and Rob Ford). And I didn’t see “unhinged” I saw “emphatic and a little pissed”.
Schlemizel
@coin-operated:
But he was not defending one of the best receivers in the league. I believe he described him as “weak-ass”. So that tip really was no big deal, a mediocre DB could make that play against a weak-ass receiver.
gwangung
Speaking of on field mics, this is purportedly what Sherman did to Crabtree immediately before the Andrews interview:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/01/sherman-crabtree-hell-of-a-game/
If that’s how it went down, I can see where Sherman would be pissed. Maybe Crabtree still thought he was being mocked, but you can see where Sherman would be pissed off. Capital P. Capital O.
gwangung
@Comrade Mary: No, that was 15 minutes later. The interview people are talking about was earlier, on the field, and was a bit harsher (it’s contained in the link I published just above).
Still, I think it’s weak sauce, too.
Darkrose
I was watching the game, and when Sherman started yelling about Crabtree I said to my wife, “Wow, way to be a dick.” Then we turned off the TV and went to dinner.
My feeling that Sherman was being kind of a tool has zero to do with his race, or anything beyond the fact that I’m a Niners fan, and that in general, I tend to feel like trash-talking the team you just beat it kind of a dick move. More than that, though, I hate the fact that this is the takeaway from what was a really tense, exciting game, and not the poor officiating that burned both sides.
Though I suppose at least we’re not hearing endless raves about the triumph of that nice young man Russell Wilson over the tattooed thug Colin Kaepernick.
Darkrose
@jl: I don’t know a single baseball fan who doesn’t think Ty Cobb was a horrible human being. A lot of people have pointed out that if they’re going to keep Bonds and Clemens out of the Hall because of the “character clause”, then they need to start tossing guys who are already in there–starting with Cobb.
Darkrose
@jl:
This, pretty much.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
I’m not shy to use the word ‘thug’ when I’m referring to someone along the lines of a ‘stormarming criminal’ or something.
But it’s hard to ignore the fact that ‘thug’ has become racial shorthand, and precisely because of the idea that ‘brash, non-deferential black man = criminal’. Too many people in this country make the snap assumption that all black men are inherently criminal, just waiting for a moment to unleash their true, hyper-violent selves on a victim.
The sad fact of the matter is that the last few years have seen basically the re-mainstreaming of blatant racism.
Tim
Cole, Is it illogical to consider responses to Sherman’s tirade racist and offensive and to also consider Sherman’s tirade to be juvenile and unsportsmanlike? To me the logic of rooting for Sherman just because he drew out the worst in the wingnuts is not much different than that of the wingnut. See, Anne Colter.
@gwangung: You think Sherman’s hand was being offered with a “good game” or with belittling words? Based on everything I’ve seen from the man, my opinion is the latter and it doesn’t even seem close.
He may be smart but smart people can be bullies too. See Traffic Jam, Governor.
Joel
Reason #3 to root for the Seahawks is Peyton Manning and his buddy John Schnatter.
Comrade Mary
@gwangung: Yeah, that’s more emphatic, but still — wow. I still don’t see unhinged or thuggish behaviour there, but just a fuckload of adrenaline.
gwangung
@Tim: Well, if you believe the actual audio, yes. I’ll take that over your preconceptions and prejudices (which seems to be the point of this thread). It’s second hand, but it’s something solid.
Omnes Omnibus
@Darkrose: I felt that way about Plaxico Burress when he simply crushed every GB CB in the NFC title game a few years ago. He said “They just can’t stop me!” Unfortunately, he was right.
I played rugby; trash talk wasn’t a part of my game’s culture. It is in the NFL. Sherman didn’t seem to be violating any of the norms of his sport, so, cool. Rugby norms don’t play in golf. Golf norms don’t playing in skiing, Skiing norms don’t play in football. And so on….
Joel
@gwangung:
Linky.
With you on the headhunting, though. Fuck the Saints, and fuck Ryan Clark, Laron Landry, and Brandon Meriweather, too.
Darkrose
@Omnes Omnibus: I didn’t think he was violating the norms of his sport. I just thought he was being kind of an asshole about the whole thing. But all in all, it was just, “Meh, handegg. How many days until pitchers and catchers report?”
That said, while everyone’s talking about Sherman, no one’s mentioned the Seattle fans throwing stuff at Bowman when he was being carted off the field. Now that, to me, is way more thuggish than trash-talking.
gwangung
@Comrade Mary: Me neither…and I keep on pointing out that this is on the Century Link field, where its kinda loud.
And that’s why I think Sherman got provoked, quite recently. For the most part this little rivalry simmered underneath the surface…there was plenty of opportunity to be more barbed about it earlier. It only got openly nasty after this game.
Omnes Omnibus
@Darkrose: I didn’t mean to suggest that you had said he was violating the norms. I started just with the response to you then improvised – jazz commentary as it were…
gwangung
@Joel: Well, OK. I actually brought up the Patriots for the spying because of Brady’s comments about the Patriots winning and losing with class, unlike Sherman. Even with that Cowher quote, the arrogance doesn’t seem quite that classy. And originally, I was referring to Aaron Hernandez from New England, which really is a thug, and sorta makes that application to Sherman to be a bit ridiculous.
Darkrose
@Omnes Omnibus: Is cool. I like “jazz commentary” as a term. :)
Joel
@ranchandsyrup: He sure does.
Joel
@raven: Along those lines, people should watch the play where Wes Welker ended Aqib Talib’s season in the AFC championship.
Tim
@gwangung: There is audio of the Crabtree hand to the face incident? Were Crabtree and/or Sherman wearing mic’s?
And I’m confused, are you referring prejudices and preconditions other than the wingnuts’ racist response, because I don’t see it. My post was directed to equating disliking Sherman’s tirade with being racist and rooting for bad sportmanship because a person enjoys watching wingnuts freak.
Sportsmanship may be broadly defined as being a gracious competitor. Nothing I’ve seen from Sherman fits that. Don’t be fooled by a fake handshake. The man is smart, remember?
Omnes Omnibus
@Tim: Was Ali unsportsmanlike following the Liston knockout?
gwangung
@Tim: Go up to 11:32. Linked to a published report. The two were, in fact, wearing mics. And I also saw tape of the incident. There may have been mocking, but it’s sure not evident in either the words or body language (and I’m not sure anything subtle would have gotten through given noise conditions).
But it REALLY says little good about Crabtree that he reacted with a shove to the face, mocking to no mocking.
Omnes Omnibus
@gwangung: There has been trash talk in the NFL for years. Lyle Alzado allegedly said to another player (this was in the 70s), “I am not going to kill you here; I am going do it out in the parking lot in front of your family.”
patroclus
Frickin Crabtree started it. He should never downtalk Richard Sherman like that. Sherman is the best at what he does. Frickin Crabtree!
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
And just looking through the majority of online responses, even on places like The Nation, it’s basically an overwhelming ‘“Holy shit how can you not see this guy is a super-ultra-psycho-megathug?!! He just looks so fucking criminal and crazy and OH GOD, THINK OF THE FUCKING CHILDREN”. Like he was one level away from snapping and drinking Erin Andrews’s blood or something. Not to mention the absolutely virulent denial that ‘thug’ could any way be racially coded and why can’t anyone see that Richard Sherman is the very definition of crazy thug
And so I die a little more inside.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@hitchhiker:
This!
With this addendum: What the fuck is “class” but a code of courtly manners devised to separate wealthy and powerful aristocrats from the hoi polloi?
gwangung
@gwangung: OK, here’s the exact sequence starting from the interception, video AND sound:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-films-sound-efx/0ap2000000316744/Sound-FX-Sherman-and-Crabtree-clash?campaign=Facebook_videos_sherman
Sorry, but I find NO mocking there.Yeah, he was screaming “We’re number one, we’re number one” (and note the pronoun), but we can allow that, I think. He then ran up to Crabtree to offer his hand and said “Hell of a game. Hell of a game.” Then Crabtree shoved him in the face.
Crabtree doesn’t look good, no matter how you slice it.
Comrade Nimrod Humperdink
@gwangung: After seeing that entire sequence, I totally understand Sherman’s reaction. Guy’s amped to the max, just beat his biggest rival to win a Super Bowl bid by making a play against somebody he’s got issues with. And even if that good game was half-hearted, it was not sing-songy taunting or anything of the sort to warrant that kind of reaction. If anything that’s tame compared to Ali’s old “I’m a bad man” stuff. People freaking out about THAT have some issues to unpack. They may not like Sherman’s on-field trolling all that much (it’s not really my favorite tactic in the world but it’s an effective one, Larry Bird was a NOTORIOUS shit-talker) but that post-game interview is just so much nothing.
Calming influence
@pseudonymous in nc: This.
poptartacus
I hate it when people use the word nigger then feel they have to explain why. just use the fucking word. jesus Christ on roller skates, we get it.
notorious JRT
@gratuitous:
Gee, Wally, maybe you and the Beav should not watch professional sports – just too many opportunities for noble disappointment.
I think Richard Sherman is the schizzle, and this tempest in a teapot over his taunting and verbally ripping Michael Crabtree is sad and hilarious by turns.
Now, excuse me while I kiss my biceps.
notorious JRT
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Perhaps it also should be possible to recognize that Richard Sherman might do something that you judge to be classless without being a classless douchebag.
Just as a person could say something fuckheaded and not necessarily be a fuckhead.
notorious JRT
@Torridjoe:
Holy crap. No Sherman tip no interception. Period.
daveNYC
Eh, trash talking the receiver is a bit of a dick move, but otherwise the rant isn’t that interesting. Makes the Superbowl one hell of a put up or shut up game for him. If he gets burned he’ll never live it down.
Paul in KY
@JPL: I got 64%
Paul in KY
@gratuitous: Are you 90 years old?
Paul in KY
@jl:No delay on a live sport event. I think they were concerned he might drop an f-bomb.
Paul in KY
@Torridjoe: Only because Sherman tipped the ball to him.
Paul in KY
@Darkrose: Bonds & Clemons are cheaters. Mr. Cobb, racist asshole he was, has not been accused of rampant cheating (beyond maybe using a corked bat late in his career).
Death Panel Truck
The Seahawks won’t have their vaunted “12th Man” with them in New Jersey. I look for them to choke, like they always do in the biggest game of the season. I live in eastern Washington, and the Seahawks have been disappointing me since 1976. I expect them to do so again.
Joel
@Death Panel Truck: Peyton Manning has a decent choking history, too.
kindness
Niner fan here. I’ve accepted Sherman’s apology. I have no doubt Crabtree was talking smack to him the whole game. Now Crabtree is not mediocre. But the Seahawks won. The Niners lost. Sherman impresses me as a man who had done well.
That said I’m rooting for Denver.
@Paul in KY: Cobb used to sharpen his spikes so that he would wound players more seriously when he slid into base. I don’t know that I would hold him up as a higher standard compared to Bonds.
Paul in KY
@kindness: He was a POS, no doubt about it. Back then I don’t know if that was technically against rules or not. I think if they had looked hard enough there might have been reasons to disqualify him (Cobb) back then.
Jackie
@Death Panel Truck: I live in eastern Washington, too. I’m sorry you’ve felt disappointed since 1976. Because we lost the SB in 2006? Or before – when we lost to the Raiders in ’94? Go ahead and root for Denver. This is a new year/new season. GO SEAHAWKS!!!