Wednesday, February 22, 2006

. . . Whereas Black Guys Are Named Carl

Mrs. T brought me out of my mid-day torpor (not to be confused with my morning grogginess or my afternoon food coma) with this line from a USA Today article about an olympic skater:
Davis' place in the history books already is secured as the first African American athlete from any nation to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Games. [emphasis mine]
I realize I'm picking a teensy nit here (and perhaps exposing myself as woefully ignorant of racial nomenclature), but don't you have to be from the U.S. to be an African American? Where's Doug Williams when you need him?

(Note: In the course of composing this awesome post, I discovered that the infamous "black quarterback" question Williams was asked is actually an urban legend. My world is in pieces.)

12 comments:

Otto Man said...

Yeah, I found out about the Doug Williams Myth only a month ago, as part of the six-week pregame show for the Super Bowl. So sad to have that ripped away from me.

On the bright side, the president is a gift that keeps on giving. I plan on using the adjective "Great British" as much as I can.

Thrillhous said...

Hey, I see no reason to make fun of our Great British friends any more than we should make fun of our Grecian friends.

Mr Furious said...

"We got a black quarterback—so step back!"

--Flavor Flav

Mr Furious said...

The book Black Winter Olympic Medal-Winners comes free with Famous Jewish Sports Legends in the "Airplane" Light Reading Collection.

Otto Man said...

Way to cite the Flav, Furious.

One of my favorite things about living in NYC is the radio station where Flavor Flav does (or did?) the traffic report. "We got a backup on the BQE, boyeeee! That's the Brooklyn ... QE!"

Awesome.

Mr Furious said...

Greatest Halloween costume of all time was my big fat Irish friend Brian (who seriously looked exactly like the guy from the Commitments) dressing up as Flavor Flav, and pulling off a tremendous impersonation for the entire evening...

Good times...

Mr Furious said...

BTW, kudos on the excellent title, T.

Thrillhous said...

Wow, I like the idea of Flavor Flav doing my traffic reports. Even driving to work would be cool!

Thanks, Mr. F. Ever since posting it I've been replaying the whole scene in my head, especially the part where no one laughs and Homer does the "it went right over their heads" gesture.

Isaac Carmichael said...

I think Flav would do great in any profession he chose. I hear the 2008 Dem candidacy is still open...maybe balance him out with Gore?

Otto Man said...

Interesting suggestion, Bob. "Bland/Flavor '08."

Isaac Carmichael said...

Like a twist cone!

Otto Man said...

Precisely. They could announce their candidacy at a DQ.