News: Colin Clark apologizes for gay slur

Very disappointing that this happened. Not sure what might be done next, but I would like to see Clark work with a Houston-area gay cause in the near future. Maybe PFLAG. The moment is, of course, already up on youtube.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ3taEpptgg"]Colin Clarke lashes out at ball boy - YouTube[/ame]

 

There still isn't an article on the result of the game anywhere on ESPN.com. Yet this randomly makes front page.

It's like ESPN is on a mission to make MLS look bad. The only times we hear about MLS on ESPN is when something negative happens.

 

F-that apology.

The league should give him a one game suspension fine is ass just as if he had used a racial slur if they are serious about all of that tolerance stuff they say they are.

This is one city where you don't come and use that kind of language and expect no punitive action taken.

Of course since they partnered with BSA who the heck knows what if anything will happen?

It's on the Seattle Times website too by the way.

 

False.

 

It looks like the league is going to take action.

From Joshua Mayers at the Seattle Times:

 

I'm glad he apologized so quickly and completely - that in itself is a sign of progress, I think. league will still need to suspend him for a game.

 

you should have watched ESPN during the world football challenge. They were constantly ripping on MLS teams. Especially on SportsCenter.

 

If you want to be really depressed, read through some of the comments on that ESPN page. Lots of homophobic posts and tons of soccer bashing, often in the same sentence.

 

You're gonna hear stuff you don't want to hear when you have the whole field mic'd. Guy has testosterone flowing, is in the heat of the moment, and trying to do his job. Not surprised at all.

 

Any specific examples? Or just your biased memory?

 

Its not he lashed out but the slur that's the problem in my mind. Ball boy has a job and by slowly rolling a ball back is that his job? Should he be partial to home team? So his emotion may have been appropriate but his choice of words may not have been.
If he had yelled Ahole or Idiot or Jerk - that's testosterone in a heated battle but I think we need to shift away from F-got as the go to impulse when one wants to lash out at someone in the heat of battle. Social engineering or protecting your product. Either way there's an appropriate way to handle this and future slurs. Not Impulse competitve verbal outbursts of emotion but slurs.

 

I say a lot of un-PC stuff, but it would never occur to me to use that particular slur in any context, let alone to intimidate a little kid. I guess I am kind of surprised. It would be less surprising if he'd said that to a player from another team after a couple of rough challenges.

 

The slur is of course very bad. Calling a ball boy - who really didn't delay the restart at all - any sort of name or just yelling at him is uncool in and of itself.

 

This.

Using a discriminatory slur itself is bad enough. Cussing at a child is beyond the pale.

 

Count me in for a game suspension and fine (it will seem small based on his salary, compared to other pro athletes).

 

Agreed. This guy seems like a real prick.

 

I'm more bothered that he was such an ass-hat to the ball boy.

As for the coverage, front-page, baby!

 

Oh, Im not justifying his actions. Just saying I'm not surprised. No one would use the N-word in that context, we are probably about 10 years away from the same being said for gay slurs. Agreed about yelling at the kid, not cool.

 

I don't want to split hairs but I will. He may not have delayed the restart in a large and significant way but late in the game when the losing road team is trying to hurry and get the ball back quickly to score that goal and the ball boy who really has a job to do and shouldn't be partial to the home team does the short arm dribble over the sideboard and not a full throw directly into their hands does warrant some emotion verbal or not.
He was trying to accomplish his own little dig at Houston and he accomplished it.
Call it uncool, I call it uncool to try to play a role in the game instead of doing your job.

 

BUt he's a kid and you're a grown ass man. So a professional athlete fell prey to a 10yr's mind games?

 

I thought I read that this happened early in the game? Like around the 7th minute? The score was 0-0 and had just started...

 

Is this a joke???

 

You know it isn't really a job? No pay, no real training, etc.? And they're young kids, who I think it would be difficult to say are consciously trying to influence the outcome of the game.

 

I can recall plenty of instances in which the ball kids used their wiles to advantage the home team. (Throw you the ball? Which ball? Oh, this ball? OK. Here you go. Sorry, bad throw ...) And those kids always get kudos from the home fans and a wink from the home team.

I don't actually have a problem with that.