Hank Aaron Being His Usual Racist Self

[CollinEstes]

Maybe I missed you point. So are the getting closer to relecting the american population?

I don't understand why this isn't a non issue, sports today are all about winning if you can play they will pay you. Regardless of your race.

[Boris]

I've heard several black MLB players (I don't remember who off the top of my head) lament the fact that black kids today don't want to play baseball because it's perceived as a white or a latino sport. That, IMO, is a real shame. And something you should be concerned about if you are American.

[CollinEstes]

[ QUOTE ]
I've heard several black MLB players (I don't remember who off the top of my head) lament the fact that black kids today don't want to play baseball because it's perceived as a white or a latino sport. That, IMO, is a real shame. And something you should be concerned about if you are American.

[/ QUOTE ]


I don't really understand why I should be concerned. There is plenty of other sports they can play and no one is stopping them from playing baseball. There are still quite a few great black players and great black prospects right now that could easily change the perception. To me if a young black kid is an great athlete he wouldn't choose baseball because it one sport that being a great athlete doesn't always equal success. ie Brian Hunter.

There are going to be some great black baseball players in the next few years:

Rickie Weeks
Upton brothers
Delvin Young
Carl Crawford
James Looney
Josh Barfield

Those are the guys I think of off the top of my head (but the last two are pretty high prospects that I played with in houston that is why they made the list.)

[SomethingClever]

[ QUOTE ]
I've heard several black MLB players (I don't remember who off the top of my head) lament the fact that black kids today don't want to play baseball because it's perceived as a white or a latino sport. That, IMO, is a real shame. And something you should be concerned about if you are American.

[/ QUOTE ]

What about the fact that baseball sucks compared to football and basketball?

[McGahee]

Maybe somebody can find Bird's exact quote, but I believe all he basically said was that it would be nice for marketability purposes if there were more white players because white audience = advertising $ = popularity. Charles Barkley among others agreed with him. I don't think he was advocating affirmative action, or challenging teams to find more white players. And yes, that WAS made a bigger deal of by the media despite Aaron's comments being more ridiculous in comparison.

[MCS]

Yes, I agree with you on the intent of Bird's comments. I didn't think they should be a big deal, and they really weren't. FYI, there are studies indicating white players receive preference in the NBA (likely for marketing purposes the same way teams sign local benchwarmers).

Charles Barkley doesn't exactly represent the typical PC view either. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Here are the actual quotes. FWIW I think Aaron is off on this one.

Aaron: "It is very disturbing to see something like this. And you would think that this ballclub could find at least one or two African Americans, especially in this city. It's very disturbing. I think they need to look at that very carefully. They need to talk to people in the scouting department and everybody else because this needs to be addressed...That's part of it because the numbers aren't there. We don't have enough players. But I think each club needs to look at that carefully. The Astros need to address that. It's a thing where the way the game is played today you would think there is no excuse for an African American not to be on this club."

Bird: "You know when I played, you had me and Kevin [McHale] and some others throughout the league. I think it is good for a fan base, because, as we all know, the majority of fans are white America. And if you had a couple of white guys in there, you might get them a little excited. But it is a black man's game, and it will be forever. I mean, the greatest athletes in the world are African-American."



I would point out there is no history of anti-white discrimination in the NBA like there is anti-black discrimination in baseball, so it's completely justifiable to say things re: missing blacks that would be inappropriate re: missing whites.

Because there is no reason to suspect teams are biased against whites, but plenty to make one suspicious that they may be against blacks.

[gumpzilla]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've heard several black MLB players (I don't remember who off the top of my head) lament the fact that black kids today don't want to play baseball because it's perceived as a white or a latino sport. That, IMO, is a real shame. And something you should be concerned about if you are American.

[/ QUOTE ]


I don't really understand why I should be concerned. There is plenty of other sports they can play and no one is stopping them from playing baseball.

[/ QUOTE ]

The baseball itself is unimportant. What I imagine Boris is lamenting is the attitude of "I don't want to do this because it's too white," which is much more general and suggests deeper racial division, which is where the problems actually would be.

[Overdrive]

Stop watching pro sports. It is a disgusting and wasteful way for a grown man to spend his time. Only losers waste their time watching pro sports. Everyone knows that.