An Open Call To Boston Sports Bloggers
On the heels of winning the bidding rights to Daisuke Matsuzaka, I knew to expect a huge buzz in the Boston sports blog community. I also expected the usual headlines from the usual suspects you see when a player involved is from another country.
This is my plea to Boston bloggers (and general media) to avoid the stereotypical references, and maybe throw in some authentic facet of Nippon Pro Baseball culture into your articles. Less "domo agrigato Mr. Suzaka" and maybe more "he threw 200 pitches the day before his start to get into the team spirit. And PLEASE, refrain from replacing "L"s with "R"s. Boston has had an off-and-on racist rep (let's not forget the whole declining to sign Jackie Robinson thing) so let's show the baseball world we have a little class.
This is my plea to Boston bloggers (and general media) to avoid the stereotypical references, and maybe throw in some authentic facet of Nippon Pro Baseball culture into your articles. Less "domo agrigato Mr. Suzaka" and maybe more "he threw 200 pitches the day before his start to get into the team spirit. And PLEASE, refrain from replacing "L"s with "R"s. Boston has had an off-and-on racist rep (let's not forget the whole declining to sign Jackie Robinson thing) so let's show the baseball world we have a little class.
12 Comments:
Too late, Bob Ryan ended his column with one today.
And have you been listening to WEEI?
I guess these clowns don't realize how many Japanese people live in Boston.
I try not to make a habit of listening to WEEI unless the Sox are winning. Sadly that's the only way anything seems to get actually analyzed.
Bob Ryan and Dirt Dogs are part of the reason I wrote it.
A nice plea...hopefully it gets through most fans' thick skulls. I'm going for the money-as-investment defense myself.
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It's a shame that Boston can't shake this ludacris idea that it's a racist town. Especially after it elected the only the second African-American Governor in the nations history this last November. If one takes a look through the past 25 years of Boston Sports history, you will find that Boston fans care little of what the color of your skin is, but wether or not you produce on the field on a regular basis.
....And while I'm here, can it be said that those Red Sox Brass involved with the whole Jackie Robison fiasco are no longer with the team, and prob not even alive?
Don't forget that only a decade later Red Aurebach was the 1st NBA coach to have An All-Afican-American Starting Five...
Wait until after Barry Bonds comes here with the Giants next season.
I didn't see anything wrong with Bob Ryan's column. Are you guys referring to the "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" reference in the last line? If so, you should give Bob a break. That's the song's actual title, and it's simulating a Cockney accent, not a Japanese one.
Kevin-
Boston also had the first black coach, so that counts for something, right? And the first basketball team to field an all-black starting squad? And it's also the most liberal area of the country?
All I know is Matsuzaka has 5 filthy pitches, what appears to be a rubber arm, and had a 2.13 ERA last season. I've wanted him for over a year now.
Yeah, i'm psyched. I love Daisuke.
You refer to him as an import? An import is an object to be bought and sold for use only by its seller or buyer with no free will. Not human.
Good start.
Ryan/Sean - I don't think Boston is more racist than any other city, but black coaches/governors aside, it it still objectified in many outlets (including ESPN) as such. Take a look at any Dirt Dogs photoshop or headline relating to Matsui/Matsuzaka. Stereotyping is still racism.
Dylan - Being a former drama nerd, I understand the original cockney context of "loverly". The usage of it in the context of the Ryan piece is very different.
Stoddard - Addressing ignorant barnburner comments is not my thing, but there are numerous definitions of "import" that have nothing to do with being immaterial.
Kevin-
Saying that BDD represents boston sports is like saying the Curly-Headed Boyfriend represents journalism or the KKK represents the average white guy. It's a tiny, dumbass subset, and we can only hope the stereotype of Boston itself is not represented.
Overall, I've been impressed by the coverage so far, as it hasn't delved into the cheap crap that so often results from a new foreign player. Though wouldn't it be great to see Shaughnessy or Ryan fired for some ridiculously racist comment?
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