First let me introduce myself, I’m Eric, co-host of the Teller and Eric show on the ICB Sports Chicago web station, and we can be heard most Saturdays from 3-5 depending on live events. In case you have any obvious questions before I get to my first of what I hope is many thoughts on this page; The Bulls have to take Derek Rose, he instantly makes Deng, Gordon, Gooden and Noah dangerous, Beasley only makes himself dangerous, and if we’ve learned anything from the NBA playoffs this year it’s that a superstar point guard is a huge advantage in a point guard starved league. There are only a handful of true point guards in the league that see the floor and can set up teammates every time down the floor, Rose will be another one. Jim Edmonds is washed up, but it’s the type of signing that, if it works, is made by a World Series team, stop complaining about the fact he was a Cardinal or that he taunted “Mr. Sportsmanship” Carlos Zambrano one time 4 years ago, it means nothing to anyone, grow up. If he has a half dozen big plays, either offensively or defensively, it was worth it. And the reason Kenny Lofton is still a free agent is because he’s old and bad, yes, worse than
Anyway, I have something I need to get off my chest and on to my main topic. Consider this my note to Cub fans, or more accurately the people that go to Wrigley Field, as I have yet to see evidence that more than half the people in the stands even know there’s a game going on. A Chicago Tribune article on May 16th made mention of the reappearance of the offensive Fukudome shirts that feature a slanty-eyed bear wearing coke bottle glasses with phrases poking fun at Asians’ command of the English language, at vendor stands outside Wrigley. The quote that stood out to me was from street vendor/ scumbag John Weier:
"My personal viewpoint is they're not blatantly racist," said John Weier, a vendor selling the "Horry Kow" T-shirts outside of the Cubby Bear Lounge at the corner of Addison and
Weier knows Fukudome does not like the T-shirts but said he has no qualms about selling them to fans, saying he was "trying to make a living."
Well, John, my personal viewpoint is that I haven’t seen such an offensively cartoonish Asian stereotype since Mickey Rooney played the upstairs neighbor in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (go to 2:15 of this clip for an example- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urQVzgEO_w8, and for the record, my wife made me watch it after the Dancing with the Stars and the American Idol finales). The movie was shot in 1961, three years before African Americans were given the right to vote, to give you an idea of how racially sensitive a time we are talking about.
My beef isn’t with John Weier, we know what he is, he’d sell a shirt with a cartoon big-lipped Derek Lee eating watermelons if he could make a buck . . . oops, I probably just gave him another idea. My beef is with anybody who would buy that shirt and wear it anywhere, let alone a Cub game. I’m all for goofy T-shirts, I have a squirrel holding a baseball bat shirt with the slogan “protect the nuts.” I have an “I’m F*cking Matt Damon” T-shirt after the hilarious Sarah Silverman music video birthday gift to boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel. I like whacky T-Shirts, but I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I have no idea why a fan of any team would wear a shirt that openly mocked arguably the team’s best all around player. Only two things can happen as a result of Cub fans popularizing such merchandise; 1- Fukudome doesn’t re-sign with the Cubs when his deal is up. Japanese players are not complainers, they don’t offer up their feelings on a daily basis about fans and the organization, that’s not the culture of the game they were brought up in. However, he’s already said the shirts bother him, you think he’s going to stay in a city that treats him with such disrespect? I wouldn’t. 2- Next time the Cubs go shopping on the Japanese free agent market, do you think a player would sign with a team whose fans treat another Japanese player with such disrespect? I wouldn’t. This of course comes on the heals of Marty Brenneman dubbing Cub fans “the most obnoxious in the National League,” after 20 balls came back on the field after a Red homer, while the Cubs had a good size lead.
The summer months are upon us, and garbage throwing frat boy D-Bags will be back at the first sign of a bad call by an ump. Maybe that’s why MLB scheduled 1/3 of the Cubs’ home games in the first couple months of the season, nothing is worse than going to a night game at Wrigley in July, drunken idiots everywhere, they hit the bars in the afternoon and don’t stop drinking until they pass out in a puddle of their own urine in somebody’s front yard. Wrigley Field in the summer is less a ballpark and more an open casting call for “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila 3.” At some point in the 90s Wrigley became about the atmosphere and Sammy hitting HRs, instead of the baseball, probably because the baseball was bad, but that has led to this. It’s become an interactive show, like “Tony and Tina’s wedding,” the fans think they are part of the show, taunting the opposing players, painting their bare chests, throwing garbage to help the manager argue a bad call, and now honoring the Japanese by wearing head bands and insensitive shirts. Wrigley attendees, Marty Brenneman was right, you are annoying, you are obnoxious, and everyone around the league thinks you’re giant ass-clowns. The ball is in your hands, but whatever you do, please, don’t everyone throw them back at the same time.
Eric Kulaga
0 comments:
Post a Comment