Sayonara, baseball tradition

[gkanai]

[Mulboyne]

Asian American Journalists Association: Not in America Only

...It's unfortunate that Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Furman Bisher has chosen to be an ambassador of a different sort when it comes to baseball in Japan. His column of March 26 in regards to the A's vs. Red Sox games played in Japan is a racist piece of poor journalism that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution should feel personally embarrassed and ashamed to have run this. It speaks volumes to the paper's credibility, diversity and editing processes...Using Mr. Bisher's logic, Atlanta should never have been awarded the 1996 Olympic Games because of Georgia's history of slavery and segregation. I can only assume Mr. Bisher was outraged when Dirk Nowitzki, a German, won the NBA's MVP award for the 2006-2007. If my memory serves me correctly, we fought Germany in World War II. I'm sure Mr. Bisher didn't forget to mention Auschwitz when writing about Nowitzki...more...

[Socratesabroad]

Asian American Journalists Association: Not in America Only

Sorry, Mulby, but that response by Kerwin Berk is bollocks. He might have been persuasive if he hadn't done some verbal parsing equal to that of deciding what the definition of "is" is.

Case in point:
"Perhaps, Mr. Bisher's time might be better spent on questioning why the Atlanta Braves don't have a single African-American on their 40-man roster or writing about "traditions" at The Masters golf tournament."

The problem with that great rhetoric is that Brandon Lamon Jones is African-American and on the 40-man roster, he's just not on the active roster. At least that's where I found him.


Funny how that roster also contradicts Berk's implied claim of racism by the Braves. A third of so of the roster is Hispanic, with birthplaces ranging from all over Latin America, and a look at the player photos reveals a variety of hues.

Oh, and about those "traditions" the Masters are being excoriated for? Well, racism is tough to charge since Tiger Woods has won the Masters multiple times. No, the home of the Masters, the private Augusta National Golf Club, was raked over the coals for its all-male membership. But the issue wasn't so much the private club's membership as it was special interest groups trying to dictate the composition of that membership. The former chairman of the club explained it at the time:

"We have been contacted by Martha Burk, Chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), and strongly urged to change our membership. Dr. Burk said this change should take place before the Master's Tournament next spring in order to avoid it becoming 'an issue.' She suggested that NCWO's leadership 'discuss this matter' with us.

We want the American public to be aware of this action right from the beginning. We have advised Dr. Burk that we do not intend to participate in such backroom discussions.

We take our membership very seriously. It is the very fabric of our club. Our members are people who enjoy each other's company and the game of golf. Our membership alone decides our membership -- not any outside group with its own agenda.
[snip]
We will not be bullied, threatened or intimidated.

Obviously, Dr. Burk and her colleagues view themselves as agents of change and feel any organization that has stood the test of time and has strong roots in tradition - and does not fit their profile -- needs to be changed.

We do not intend to become a trophy in their display case.

Bisher may have "a narrow, antiquated view of what it means to be American," but Berk's little better since, by subtly nuanced charges of Georgian racism and sexism, he himself exhibits "a narrow, antiquated view of what it means to be a Southerner."

[Greji]

Bisher may have "a narrow, antiquated view of what it means to be American," but Berk's little better since, by subtly nuanced charges of Georgian racism and sexism, he himself exhibits "a narrow, antiquated view of what it means to be a Southerner."

Actually, I didn't see as that bigoted compared to some of the trash that geets thrown around under the guise of progressive journalism.

My take on it is that he was trying to write a sarcastically lead article and failed badly. This doesn't excuse poor journalism, nor does it excuse his editors who obviously didn't read his submission, or they should have been able to see the problems coming, as most school children could have.

One might find it interesting to make the comparison with his article with the drivel written and espoused by the so called journalists and announcers in baseball in Japan and their treatment/description of the foreign players here. Friend Bisher is a mild humorist, compared to some of them.

[Mulboyne]

Sorry, Mulby, but that response by Kerwin Berk is bollocks. He might have been persuasive if he hadn't done some verbal parsing equal to that of deciding what the definition of "is" is....

I tend to agree. His last comments seriously detract from what could have been a reasonable criticism of Bisher's poorly-judged article.