Hardaway makes anti-gay comments on radio

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Just a pet peeve -- while Hardaway's comments are disgraceful and deplorable, it doesn't make sense to call them "ignorant." Ignorance means having a lack of knowledge, not having a lack of comprehension or decency. There are plenty of ways to disparage prejudice, but the term "ignorant" really isn't one of the better ones.

true, there just happens to be a high coincidence, if not correlation, between prejudice and ignorance.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Being homophobic is being ignorant though by definition : "unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals and homosexuality." I just feel Hardaway by saying "I'm homophobic and it doesn't belong in the world or in the United States." Is ignorant. There is no reason to fear people who are gay.

they tend to be really big, with two foot horns, and chainsaws for arms, with really mean and capricious natures. for those reasons i fear them.

 

[Lefty]

Hardaway is a complete idiot. There is nothing different from what he said and what Rocker said. Both are ignorant fools.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Switch your real name with Adolf Hitler, give you some ovens and place you in the WWII era and youd be called antisemetic..

Point being.. changing things around this way is pointless..

i'm not even certain this makes sense? expand please.

 

[Gee!]

i'm not even certain this makes sense? expand please.

It really means nothing..

We could change names and times around to fit any disaster to fit anything we would like to fit an agenda..

Example.. Bob has a basketball that popped..

change it to someone who likes football..

Bill had a football that popped..

....

I just hate when people use other bad things to fit their need..

 

[Ryanwb]

I just hate when people use other bad things to fit their need..

like when i smoke crack when I'm out of black tar heroin?

 

[Gee!]

like when i smoke crack when I'm out of black tar heroin?

I always thought you used ranch when out of BBQ sauce.. dunno..

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

It really means nothing..

We could change names and times around to fit any disaster to fit anything we would like to fit an agenda..

Example.. Bob has a basketball that popped..

change it to someone who likes football..

Bill had a football that popped..

....

I just hate when people use other bad things to fit their need..

it's just analogizing. attempts to get people to see a similar pattern that may hit closer to home.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I always thought you used ranch when out of BBQ sauce.. dunno..

what are you kidding? it's all about substituting root beer when the dr pepper runs dry.

 

[Renz]

agree. he's free to make stupid comments, and we're free to hate him for it.

I don't think that's necessary. There's far too much hatred in the world as it is. I feel pity for people like Hardaway. Hopefully, someday he will see the error of his ways.

 

[KloD]

i can't disagree with this comment. it's not that the PC group wants an apology (okay, maybe they do, but it's short-sighted if you think that's all they want), it's that they want the speaker, here a famous person with access to press and widespread dissemination of his opinion, to actually think about the hate he/she is spreading, maybe hear the anger of the nation, actually think (GOD FORBID!) about why he/she is receiving the backlash, and hopefully change their hate-derived opinion. at the very least the PC group can't let hate from such an individual be spoken without repurcussion b/c it only helps to legitimize the hate in the eyes of the pubic. by demanding an apology the PC group is not saying that it's wrong to speak your mind, they are saying what you believe is just not acceptable in a civilized accepting society.

the NAACP doesn't condemn racist remarks or actions b/c black people's feelings are hurt, they exist to help eradicate hatred of black people period.

Well said.

 

[Southpaw]

Tim Hardaway , saying what he did, is actually a positive event. Maybe our society is slowly evolving into a " give a crap" mindset when it comes to what constitutes unacceptable behavior. I expected the Hardaway supporters, but did not expect the prevalent comdemnation of him in general. Pleasant surprise.

 

[jenna2891]

I don't think that's necessary. There's far too much hatred in the world as it is. I feel pity for people like Hardaway. Hopefully, someday he will see the error of his ways.

ok, hate was prolly a bad word to use, but you get my drift.

 

[jenna2891]

.

NBA bans Hardaway from weekend All Star game after anti-gay comment
John Bumgardner

Created: 2/16/2007 11:59:27 AM
Updated: 2/16/2007 12:16:43 PM

NBA Commissioner: ‘We told him [Hardaway] he couldn't do anymore work for us

Undated - Former NBA All Star Tim Hardaway is apologizing for comments he made recently on a radio program in Miami.

Hardaway said quote, "I hate gay people. Let it be known, I don't like gay people."

The NBA has banned Hardaway from this weekend's All-Star game festivities in Las Vegas.

NBA commissioner, David Stern, explained why, "We acted immediately, we told him he couldn't do anymore work for us because his views don't represent our views."

Stern went on to say, "Our mission statement and dialogue is an important aspect especially dialogue about ignorance and bigotry. We're happy to perform the public service, not as a black eye."

Hardaway's original comments were in response to a question about John Amaechi.

Amaechi is the first NBA player to say publicly that he's gay.

 

[Skumbag]

Couldn't agree more.

blasphemy... showering with a str8 black man is nothing like showing with a gay man...

but i do agree he should have just kept his mouth shut.

 

[Southpaw]

blasphemy... showering with a str8 black man is nothing like showing with a gay man...

but i do agree he should have just kept his mouth shut.

Is Timmy really so sure gay men want/lust him? Now, that is an inflated ego.
BTW, he owns 2 businesses in Miami which are being targeted for boycott and demonstrations. A car wash business and chicken fast food place.

 

[Renz]

ok, hate was prolly a bad word to use, but you get my drift.

Yeah, I do. I'm a MISTIE too, so I know you didn't mean it.

 

[Renz]

Is Timmy really so sure gay men want/lust him? Now, that is an inflated ego.

I'm upset that I've never been hit on by a gay man. Aren't I good-looking enough to be gay?

 

[jenna2891]

Yeah, I do. I'm a MISTIE too, so I know you didn't mean it.

 

[Dback Jon]

I'm upset that I've never been hit on by a gay man. Aren't I good-looking enough to be gay?

pic?

 

[Renz]

pic?

You must be registered for see images

 

[Dback Jon]

You must be registered for see images

 

[Southpaw]

You must be registered for see images

This is your dating pool. The choice is yours.

 

[KloD]

blasphemy... showering with a str8 black man is nothing like showing with a gay man...

but i do agree he should have just kept his mouth shut.

Is this an educated statement?

 

[Southpaw]

Interesting perspective.

He hate me

By Mary Buckheit
Page 2

Tim Hardaway hates me.

The former five-time NBA All-Star has never met me. He doesn't know me. But he hates me.

I swore a long time ago that I would never write a "coming out" column. And believe it or not, this isn't intended to be one. It's just that this is the first time I've been provoked to the point of a certain ancillary admission. I've never had an inclination to disclose anything to anyone really. Sure, the frequent inaccurate assumptions can be frustrating, but in an age of too much information I prefer to err on the side of less rather than more. This isn't to say that I live out an especially clandestine operation, but I've never actually said those three declarative words to a boss or a coach … or even to my parents.

Tim Hardaway
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Professionals aren't supposed to let personal beliefs inhibit their play.

But this column is not a partiality disclosure -- or worse, an Internet announcement to my mom and dad (my father has passed and my poor mother doesn't know the Internet from her elbow).

This column is about athletic professionalism.

While I believe Tim Hardaway's comments were tactless and hurtful, especially because they were stridently directed at me, I still believe them to be permissible. We can say whatever we want in this country. That's generally a really good thing -- with freedom comes variety. But inherent in that privilege is a regrettable truth: Free, unfiltered speech sometimes brims with hate.

And sometimes frightening messages are projected through very large microphones.

And sometimes the result is devastating.

Still, just because Tim Hardaway's comments were so bluntly hard-hitting and happened to be uttered on a sports radio show doesn't necessarily make them of automatic interest to the general sports consumer. A professional hoopster who makes a forthright statement of hate is just that -- a basketball talent with a vengeful agenda and loose lips. Even coming from a basketball player, personal beliefs shouldn't necessarily interest you, the sports fan …

… until the player proclaims that his hate is so severe it would affect his ability to play his sport.

That's when it becomes relevant to the sports consumer. (Just as an athlete's sexuality can be a dormant nonissue until it affects him and the sport he plays.)

You may react any way you choose to this issue, which is by many counts politically and religiously charged. Like with all personal differences, you may choose to tolerate, accept or support unreservedly. Or you can roll your eyes, close your ears and throw up your hands in exasperation. You can disapprove with abandon and hope it never happens in your family (then look the other way when it does). Or you can hate -- absolutely and unconditionally. You are entitled to that. Tim Hardaway is entitled to that. Hate is a filthy and disgusting emotion that is yours for the taking.

Tim Hardaway said, "I hate gay people." You may hate gay people too. You may respect Tim Hardaway more because he is willing to unshakably declare his hate for people like me.

Those sentiments make you and Hardaway unequivocally homophobic, which is personally disheartening to me but nonetheless irrelevant to some sports fans.

But what if a professional athlete claims hate and homophobia affect his or her ability to play? As a sports fan, don't you question the mental toughness of an athlete who allows himself to be affected by off-court matters (that aren't even his own)? Personal ideology -- even hate -- should never inhibit job performance, especially in an elite profession.

Which I suppose makes Tim Hardaway unprofessional at best.

He says he just couldn't do his job next to someone he doesn't like or believe in. Shoot, it sure would be great if we didn't have to work with people we didn't like. And maybe our co-workers could all lead upright and respectable private lives too! (Workplace euphoria? That's right up there with the dreamy idealism that someday this will all be a nonissue and nobody really hates gay people these days anyway. It's all in our heads.)

Bottom line -- you don't have to agree that Tim Hardaway's homophobia makes him a bad person. You can stick to your hidebound guns. But you have to admit, as a sports fan, that Tim Hardaway's homophobia is a weakness that detracts from Tim Hardaway the professional basketball player.

An apparent unwillingness to roll off a pick set by a teammate he hates, or D-up an opponent who personally disgusts him, is evidence of an indisputable lack of focus on the objective. An athlete who allows himself to be distracted by anything outside of the objective is inferior. Stats, salary, divorce, injury … the hot bartender from last night … the fact that the sixth man is gay -- none of them should cross his mind in the workplace. Ever. Because he should be in a zone far above that.

We preach focus in athletics. We are taught to block everything else out. It's that ability that allows elite athletes to regroup and successfully compete hours after the death of a loved one. But Tim Hardaway couldn't play basketball on any given night if his power forward was spending his life with a dude.

I had a coach in high school -- a big, gruff, gray-haired purist who loved to bark at us. He would call us together and open every single practice and game with the same forceful speech.

"We're on this field right now OK. Right now we're all right here. Right here! We are all blessed to be out here OK. I don't care about your tests or your teachers out here. Right now I don't care about your problems or your periods. I don't care about your boyfriends OK … hell I don't care about your girlfriends [which he said just like that, not to be inclusive but only to re-emphasize the absolute and far-reaching tenets of his coaching doctrine]. A bomb could go off behind this bench and damnit you better not turn around! Get your minds off everything else that's not on this field OK. Let it go and get your head in the game. This is all that matters right now OK …"

So for a few hours every day we blocked out riotous teenage emotion and focused on the game.

You'd think professional athletes could figure that out.

Mary Buckheit is a Page 2 columnist and can be reached at [email protected].