Pajiba

Here's where Kobe's excuse of "In the heat of the moment" falls for me: when I'm mad, I call someone a "fucking asshole" or a "motherfucker". Using a racial or gender slur would never cross my mind.

Heat-Lakers final? Kobe just made it much easier for me to cheer for villainous LeBron, even if I already was leaning that way. I guess I'll just hope for Bulls-Thunder.

Urban athletes are nototiously homophobic.

I don't know, I just don't see the point of crucifying a public figure for throwing out a slur like that. I think he deserved to get the fine, I think the public apology was warranted, and I think he has said the right things in the aftermath of the incident (including saying that it was in the heat of the moment, which it was. This was not a slur used against a gay person or a part of any kind of systematic pattern of hate like Mel Gibson, it was an off-the-cuff insult at a ref over a bad call).

I'm not saying it should be accepted as nothing but the punishment and public outcry to this point is more than enough to forgive and forget. There are plenty of better reasons to dislike Kobe Bryant than using that word as the vernacular for unmanly.

I absolutely agree that Kobe didn't mean it literally, but I think those hate feelings have to already exist for that word to come tumbling out so readily. . .and to use it as synonymous for motherf*cker or *sshole or whatever.

Sometimes it's just language, people. He let something in the heat of the moment. If a person does something like this it doesn't automatically mean they are a white hood wearing, cross burning, westboro baptist church attending hate monger.

"Nototiously" is my new favorite non-word. Let's make up a definition, shall we?

Nototious (adj) Acting like a two-year old who you have to say "No" to, alot.

Nototiously (adv).

Kobe is a nototious athelete.

Athlete, not athelete. Fat fingered it. Sorry.

Dammit, Kobe. Just when your naked hate for Cowboys fans was making me despise you less, you have to go fuck it all up again.

Kobe raped a woman.
(Yes, he "allegedly" raped a woman.)
He raped a woman.
I need no other reason to despise him.

This (Yossarian):

I don't know, I just don't see the point of crucifying a public figure for throwing out a slur like that. I think he deserved to get the fine, I think the public apology was warranted, and I think he has said the right things in the aftermath of the incident (including saying that it was in the heat of the moment, which it was. This was not a slur used against a gay person or a part of any kind of systematic pattern of hate like Mel Gibson, it was an off-the-cuff insult at a ref over a bad call).

Adele looks like she could be my sister, except she's young enough to be my daughter.

Oops that sounded a little Chinatown didn't it?

Anywho she's awesome and amazing.

So from what I've read, how soon do we expect to have Adele in a full-on Amy Winehouse-style neurotic blowout?

I don't want it, but girl sounds like she has some drama issues.

We're surprised Kobe used that word? Ummm, HE'S A RAPIST!!!!!!!!!! I, for one, am decidedly unshocked.

he called a ref one of the Pajiba banned words.

Horse-faced?

I think there's a danger in calling it a mere "slip of the tongue." Maybe I'm over-sensitive on the matter, but, to me, that word is as bad as tossing at n*gger "in the heat of the moment." It's a filthy, degrading term that SHOULD shock. When it's lost the power to shock, that's when I worry. What good does the fine do? It sends a message. What good does crucifying or making an example of a public figure do? It sends a message. Both this word and ALL the history of hate behind it are not okay. Don't underestimate the power of words.

The word "faggot" in no way offends me. Do I use it? No. It just sounds weird. However, the faux outrage over Kobe is pathetic. Really. Simply to the point of, during most of his life (yes...yours, mine, and about 30% of the US population too) that word has been thrown around more loosely than Paris Hilton's roast beefy bits. Give it a fucking rest already with the "Oh my god! He didn't! Shock! GASP!" It doesn't mean he's homophobic. It doesn't speak to hate speech of a particular sexual orientation. Some people are just fucking slower on the uptake to permanantly change their lexica. It's like how people still say "Oh, that's retarded!" Why don't we care about 'retarded' as much? Cuz you said it when you were a kid?? Arg! Fuck it....wasted too much time already on the ultra-PC's pussification of America/unrealistic expectations of immediate change crowd that trolls here anyway...

You liberal make me sick. I am no fan of Kobe but the term he use has been uttered by many out of frustration (including kids in school everyday )This does not make Kobe or anyone a Homophobe by any stretch of the imagination. If Tom Brady, Payton Manning, or Steve Nash was in this situation, the media would not have make such a big deal.
Rappers can use the word Nigga, degrade women, and Liberal celebrate their music.
Nigga Please!!!!

Kobe = black Voldemort.

This is offhand, apropos of nothing, not scientifically proven, and I didn't actually read the link (but so what):

I did, however, see Adele perform on Letterman a while back. Girl has a serious voice. And she's heavier than your average little nitwit twig auto-tune talentless pop star of today. Which made me think of opera singers of old: there's a reason it's "the fat lady" who sings. You need a serious set of lungs for a serious set of pipes, and sometimes that means a little extra chunk.

Anyway, Adele is awesome.

/flame away at me, I can take it

When I was a kid I didn't know what n*gger meant. I'd only ever heard it in conjunction with the word "knocking," as in "Hey, lets go n*gger-knocking (knocking on someone's door late at night and running away - what I have since learned others call Ding-Dong-Ditch)." I didn't know it's meaning and I used the word liberally when I was in the 6th grade making trouble.

Then my father heard me using it, slapped my face for doing so, and explained it's hateful origins. And I stopped using it.

Same thing with f*g or f*ggot or gay. I would say, "That's gay," or "You're such a f*ggot." And I didn't mean, "That's homosexual." I meant, "That's uncool/lame," or "that sucks." And like before, once I found out that the words carried meanings that were meant to be harmful to others, I stopped using them.

The argument that, "Well, I said it in the 6th grade and it was okay then, so it must be okay now," is pretty weak. The boys from South Park don't have to grow up, but we do. And we have to change the way we speak and think to prevent other from being offended. It should be something we're proud of; that we're able to grow and learn. That we're not emotionally stunted. That we're not still thinking and speaking like 6th graders.

Should we have to worry about every little comment we make offending someone? No. Should every offensive word be stricken from use forever? No, sir. But we should at least try to be sensitive; and if we realize we've failed then we should apologize. As far as I'm concerned this particular issue is resolved. He knew he did something wrong and he apologized. Done and done.

Make no mistake though; it is important that we're able to recognize that he did do something wrong.

Oh, and BSlim and superasente are one fire -- it two utterly, completely different ways. Good times.

*raises hand*
Is that a tattoo of a crown with butterflies on Kobe's arm?

Also, Adele is GLORIOUS.

I don't know...I have a temper, and yet I have NEVER gotten so angry that a racial or homophobic slur just "slipped out in the heat of the moment." Probably because those words are deliberately not a part of my vocabulary. Nor do I understand why, if he "wasn't directing it at a gay person" that makes its use okay. Call me oversensitive if you want, but that is not acceptable behavior from a professional athlete...or any kind of professional, really. I know if I used language like that at my job, I would be out on the street before I had a chance to pack up my desk.

I don't necessarily think Kobe should be arrested or get his ass kicked, but a stiff fine (and in my opinion a 1-game suspension) is an appropriate punishment to make clear the point that the NBA will not tolerate this kind of behavior (and I am in agreement with whomever it was that mentioned that screaming in the face of an official--no matter what the content--should also be unacceptable.)

But it's a fucking food item!

Yossarian, I just think you're the best because, even when I disagree with you, I follow and appreciate your logic.

But do you doubt that Kobe and many other basketball players would call someone a n*gger in the heat of the moment on the basketball court?

I don't, and (if it were reported or heard) I don't doubt that there would be a public outcry. And I think that outcry would be warranted.

On that note, it is a good and positive sign that his public outburst is met with broad disapproval (not just advocacy groups crying out but a general, consistent response from the mainstream sports and news outlets that his actions were unacceptable, with some why and how discussion.) And it's good that he is penalized and made to apologize. Based on the interview I heard he owned up to it and said the right things.

I agree. This is where we really agree. The attention being paid to the issue spurs conversations like the one that is sort of half-assedly going on in this comments section. "F*ggot" is bad, you guys. In case you forgot, and sometimes people do, it's a bad bad word. Don't use it. Not even in jest. If you're British, you can smoke it. But if you're not, just forget that word exists, okay? Retcon it from your vocabulary.

We don't need protests at the NBA Finals or anti-Kobe internet memes.

Well, I personally think Kobe should have been fired a few years ago, but I don't run the NBA. Kobe makes a lot of money for the Lakers, so they'll keep him around through all sorts of sh*t. However, I sort of wish all internet memes would die a horrible death. So at least we can agree there.

I gotta agree with some of the people here that we are being oversensitive about the "slur" f*ggot. I mean, he wasn't calling the ref a homosexual. It's just like a similar word that I use to insult people: n*gger. Now, I would never call a black person that word, because that would be insensitive. But when I call someone else that, I'm not saying, "You're being a black person." I simply saying, "No one in their right mind would want to be black, because that is the worst thing in the world. I am now appropriating that slur and equating it with any negative trait that you might have."

How could anyone be offended by that? If anyone finds that offensive they need to get some thicker skin and stop being such a n*gger about it. Am I right?

superasente,
You are aware that my entire comment was sarcastic, right?

I guess Kobe should have just called him a butthole. Because I like to say butthole.

It's hard to tell sometimes. Sorry.

pissant - well sarcasmed.

On a related note, I have often noticed that people's sarcasm sensors malfunction when it comes to issues of race and/or sexual orientation. I think the subject matter overheats the sensor's circuitry, causing everything to be interpreted as absolutely literal.

I know this isn't necessarily a popular way to see things... but professional athletes in general stopped being role-models a long time ago. Just because someone is an NBA player doesn't mean everyone is supposed to look up to him. Becoming a role-model is something that should be a growing process, not an immediately thrust upon position. Are there good role-models in professional sports? Yes. Are there pro athletes who are assholes, that constantly show poor judgment and when called out on it look even more like an asshole or a dickhead in their response to getting caught doing something? Of course there are. Should I really expect someone drafted in the NBA out of high school and thrust into the limelight and licensed to me thru a thousand different products to act like a mature adult? No, not really.
Do I think its okay what he said? No, its not a response I would have in the heat of the moment. I'd probably say god dammit, you muddafucka, sonuvabitch, and very dramatically yell out fuck... Had he called the ref the dreaded "see you next tuesday" we'd be hearing about how he's a woman hater, and most of us would shrug and say well yea... The big outrage should always be the response from the NBA, or whatever organization the celebrity that egregiously fucks up in public belongs to, should penalize whoever in a way that actually effects them. The big name star of the Lakers since he was drafted and traded to them in nineteen fucking ninety six needs to be penalized in a way that makes him say "oh shit, I better not do that again." And not in a sarcastic tone.

And I'm a fan of StoatCat's idea regarding cocksucker... even though just reading it in that comment made me imagine the chinese guy from deadwood saying it everytime I saw it

My two cent as follows-

I don't think he should be vilified for the use of a gay slur because it doesn't make him a bad person. But just because he wasn't using it in an overtly gay slur way doesn't make it ok. Every time a gay highschool kid that's trying to reconcile his gayness in the world and strike an acceptable superego/ego balance sheet hears that word, either from a sports star or the jock on the hallway, in a negative context, it strikes a tiny little blow to his self. And I find that unacceptable.

As for the commenter above that said something along the lines of "oh he was just using it as the vernacular for 'unmanly,'" you can kiss my gay ass. First off, that's not an excuse. Second of all, one can exhibit all the archetypical qualities of "manly" and still be gay. The only difference is that I suck dick.

Well, you've all made some thoughtful points with regards to bigotry and hate in our speech, but after reading all of them, I have to say it doesn't matter. I still want to hate Kobe Bryant, whatever he meant, because he's a rich asshole, and I hate rich assholes.

@ yossarian

Yeah, yeah. Misplaced gay rage. You do not, in fact, have to kiss my gay ass. I suppose I reacted rather strongly to that statement because I haaaate the vernacular meaning so much. Stay with me on this. If someone calls me that banned word and means it in the sense of "you sir enjoy the sex with men and that is bad and should be made fun of" I am mildly displeased and usually think something along the lines of "that poor small person deserves to be pittied, for they are slow and should not be allowed to operate a forklift." When it's termed to mean, as you say "weak, unmanly, disgusting, perverse, etc," I am filled with blinding white hot rage. That's what I, personally, have fought with my whole adult life. It's actually made me a better person in the long run, because it's pushed me to be harder, better, faster, stronger. I work in Fire/EMS (a decidedly hetero-dominant industry full of type A pack leader alpha wolf blowhards) and I am openly gay. I've not really run into many people that dislike gays because they're gay. Mostly it's that they think of us as weaker than them; sissies. I fight that. Hard. And I win, for I am An alpha gay.

If someone doesn't like me because I'm gay, I don't really care. If someone thinks I'm weak, unmanly, disgusting or perverse because I'm gay, we're gonna fight.

A homophobe, a rapist and a black guy walk into a bar ...

And everybody says, "Hey, Kobe, how about an autograph?"
---
Saw that one somewhere on the Interwebs.

Are you calling me fat? I mean, I may be all that is man, but that stings. I do pilates, bro.

Maybe that guy just hated the one liberal and all of the other liberals don't make him sick.

and stop picking on Tommy or I'LL CRY!!!

"But do you doubt that Kobe and many other basketball players would call someone a n*gger in the heat of the moment on the basketball court?"

Well, there's a difference here: he said it to the ref. One has to wonder what he'd say to another player if he doesn't have the self-control to refrain from calling the ref a terrible slur.

I'd like to hearken back to Serena Williams's altercation with a line ref last year and the public crucifixion that accompanied it (some of it deserved). I don't know if the double-standard is that tennis has had more success in having in-control players or if it's a sex thing or what, but I can't believe the impropriety of calling somebody a faggot is even up for debate.