Alert: Burch (Sea) Suspended for Remainder of Playoffs

Interesting note that this suspension came from Garber, not the DC.

Of all teams that should be acutely aware of the consequences for this, it's Seatltle. The Colin Clark incident was against them.

Good from the league. One of the few areas where MLS stands above other leagues in this country. We shouldn't tolerate this bullshit.

I'm pretty certain comments like Burch's happen in every game, Burch just happened to have the cameras on him when he said them.

I'm not saying Burch should get a pass or that it makes it right that others say similar things, just that players talk shit and a lot of it is insensitive and politically incorrect.

Ughhhh.... seriously?

I've asked my grandmother to leave my house for using language like Burch used. Any one, anywhere, who says anything like Burch said, should recieve the exact same treatment, cameras on them or not.

These guys are professional athletes. "Professional" comes first. End of story.

Agreed 100%. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the relative intolerance of homophobia, racism, even sexism in our stadiums compared to other places around the world is one of the things that makes me proudest to be an American soccer fan.

I don't want to speak for Sandon, but my impression from reading his post is that he wasn't trying to excuse the behavior. Just stating a fact that this behavior is a more widespread problem.

Personally, I'm behind the league trying to stamp out this kind of behavior...but I can't wrap my head around how these awful word choices are so much more suspend-able than some of the cynical/violent actions that occur while playing the game.

This is a good point IMO. I have no problem with slapping him with 3 games for this, but its hard to see the type of violent actions that get 1 or 2 games in comparison.

Yeah, I don't mean to call out another BigSoccer poster and apologize if it came off that way. But the league is exactly right in this case, and I can firmly say that I'd rather see Kansas City field a lineup of middleschool kids than anyone who would throw out that kind of insult, even in the heat of the moment.

Maybe so, but the end result from both is juice so they end up being compared.

Just so we're clear, I'm neither defending Burch's comments or disagreeing with his suspension.

I was merely pointing out that comments like this happen multiple times a game and the only reason Burch was punished was the camera happened to focus on him at the instant he spoke his mind.

No argument here. It just sits weird with me, probably because of how the line is drawn (not just with MLS, but all sports) of what is "part of the game" and what isn't. Bigger discussion that probably doesn't have to happen here, especially since the league is in the right for sitting Burch.

Good.

Because while a cynical/violent action might hurt one player (which is not good), the word choice can hurt thousands upon thousands of people. When you use derogatory words you are sending a message to a group of people that they are less than. When players use the words, impressionable fans feel freer in using the words, and so on. The end result is we have a very high rate of bullying directed at gay youth, which leads to very high rates of gay teen suicides.

When words are used to denigrate, more than a single player is affected. When you crack down on derogatory language, you are sending out a message that bullying, denigrating a group of people is not socially acceptable.

I, for one, am pleased the league has changed its tune from the start of this year and has a no tolerance policy.

[Edit: I am not saying that Burch saying it will on its own inherently lead to teen suicides. I am saying it is part of the cycle of denigrating/bullying a group of people that leads to damaged self-esteem which does contribute to the high rate of teen suicides. As such, it is important to go to the root of the problem, which includes derogatory language intended to denigrate.]

Wha....That is one doozy of a slippery slope argument.

Let's all pat ourselves on the back for agreeing with this decision. I'm pleased!

Warning: this next part is going to...rustle some jimmies, for lack of a better phrase. If you're easily offended, please don't read it and pretend the above has been written with no sarcastic overtones:

If one day aliens are to come to earth and learn about our society, this is one aspect I think they will be confused about. Some sounds that come out of our mouths that have a historically negative connotation are fine, while others are not...and there is seemingly no discerning between the two groups though there should be a very defined line? If you reflect, and I mean really reflect on the science of language and how it was developed, I feel comfortable saying our society would be much better served disregarding all "bad" language as "bad" for no concrete reasoning. Why can I say shit, and not f*** on these boards? Why can I refer to someone as a bastard, and not what Burch said, when trying to "put someone down" although they clearly don't fit in that demographic (or maybe they do?) Bastards have suffered throughout the course of history as well, and I'm sure children have been teased in school about it over the years...yet we've done nothing about it to place this particular word in a special category backed by interest groups (Bastards for a Bastard-Free America, anyone?)

Its gotten so out of hand, and this goes beyond political correctness, it goes far deeper into sociology. We believe that being a progressive society means standing up for everyone. I would like to think that being progressive means putting everyone on a level playing field in the simplest way manageable...and that would be to take no offense to slang, no matter the group.

Maybe that's abstract and I'll come off as a kook, but I think that's the way evolution will eventually carry us. Everyone will be offended by everything and policing it will simply be too much work. We're only offended because it is what we've been told is right. We've been told that if we're not offended by a group of sounds placed in a particular order, that we're cold, bad people. That, to me, is a little bit...off.

I hope one day we're able to dig ourselves out of it, but I suppose we never will.

********.

/rant

This episode is just more evidence that douchebag is both the safest and yet somehow most effective insult. It aslo has the added benefit that it isn't going to get you fined, fired or on the wrong side of an overly aggressive "rights" movement.

As a douchebag, I resent that.

Great post. I was going to write up something similar but you nailed my sentiment. Something like this actually *is* worse than a dangerous slide tackle IMHO, for the reasons you outlined.

i think there is some truth to this. it is odd that humans chose some language to be offended by and other language not to be offended by, and we probably would be better off if we just all agreed to not be offended by any language. as an abstract that might make sense.

unfortunately language isn't only abstract ... language is used to convey inner thoughts, beliefs, desires, attitudes, etc ... and language is used to spur and direct actions.

it would also be easier to simply take no offence to any language if everything were on an equal footing. for instance i am sure Mitt Romney isn't offended by being called a oligarch or a cracker because he simply takes his car elevator to his mansion and laughs at the speaker from atop his piles of corporately raided cash.

it is another thing for an individual who isn't in such an elevated societal position to divorce the abstract language from the inner sentiments it is expressing or the actions it is extolling (either directly or indirectly). especially when that individual is living in a society where they are considered inferiour and lesser due to the language label that others have placed on them.