When you actually need a lawyer ...
Bruce's Belly has a link to a Washington Post article stating that DC United coach Peter Nowak is considering possible legal action against Real Salt Lake coach John Ellinger over the recent brouhaha. And good for him if he does, because this is one of those cases where I can really see the need for a lawsuit.
Race is a tricky issue. In heated and sometimes unexpected moments, you can hear things that weren't said because you're expecting them to be said, or you can be the only one to hear things that were said that no one else heard because they're not expecting it to be said. As a biracial woman, I've experienced both situations. When it's the first case and I'm uncertain, I rely on the views of those around me. I can admit it when I made a mistake. When it's the second case, well, it's just a horrible place to be, and all you can do is use reason and logic to try and figure out where the truth lies, and when you're right and you know it, you stick by your guns and keep calling for what's right.
This is where I'm standing in the middle of this case. I want to believe that Peter Nowak's an OK guy. From everything I've read, it's not in Nowak's character to say something that flagrantly terrible. Couple that with an accent that everyone, even he, admits is difficult to understand, and that's just a misunderstanding waiting to happen. He has repeatedly denied the accusation and even admitted to saying something that's unsportsmanlike, which may have led to the fine (but hey, thanks to MLS's say-nothing statement, we'll never know exactly why he got fined).
So let's look at the other side. An accusation was made by Real's Ellinger. It was backed up by some players and coaching staff. And since then, they've been more or less silent on the issue. That side isn't even mentioned in the Washington Post article. So I have to wonder -- if those folks really and truly believe that Nowak made a racist statement, shouldn't they be protesting the fact that Nowak was only fined? If DC United was really harboring a racist in a position of power, isn't it their duty to do something about that because they know it to be true? Except that they haven't, and in that the silence speaks volumes to me.
You can answer that in a number of ways, that MLS is keeping a lid on the Real opinion, that MLS is protecting Nowak, that the press just isn't covering their side, etc. and anon. Except that if Nowak were a racist and Real's folks were letting him slide, then they would be as culpable as he. So the ball is in Real's court. Or on their end of the pitch, as the case may be.
Just for the sake of argument, let's go Mythbusters style on this and go extreme -- if Nowak didn't say it, if Real's folks didn't actually hear Nowak say it, would they have any reason to manufacture drama? Perhaps to get attention for their team? They won the scrimmage 3-1, so I can't imagine why they'd do it on purpose, and the team seems to be doing well in preseason, so again, can't imagine why they'd invent it. If you've read this blog, you know that I'm no lover of Real Salt Lake, but even I wouldn't honestly go off into accusations of race-baiting. Until and unless there's more evidence brought to light, I'm going to file this under "unfortunate misunderstanding" and enjoy my season.
In other news:
The Bruce has announced his team for next week's friendly between the US Men's National Team and Germany's team, and 12 MLS players made the cut. As this isn't an international fixture date, not every team in Europe has released players for the game. However, players for German clubs, my favorite MNT goalkeeper Kasey Keller, Steve Cherundalo and Gregg Berhalter, are on board, as are Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey from English club teams, as well as Cory Gibbs, who's playing in Holland, and Heath Pearce, playing in Denmark, who;s making his second appearance this year with the USMNT.
MLS players are Houston's Brian Ching, Wizards Jimmy Conrad, Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff and Kerry Zavagnin, Landon Donovan from the Galaxy (Later addendum: OK, so Landon's not going, taken out by a calf strain. I could say this makes things interesting, but quite honestly, Landon hasn't really done much lately, USMNT-wise. Could be that we won't even miss him.), Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni, Real's Eddie Pope and Chris Klein, DC's Ben Olsen (does he still have the beard?), Revs golden boy Taylor Twelleman, and my crush Frankie Hejduk of Columbus. I guess this probably means I won't be seeing Wolff, Johnson and Zavagnin at the Saturn Challenge Cup in Moore that following Saturday, but oh well.
Germany picked its team and it looks like it'll be nearly at full strength, so this should be a really killer match. Can we take them? I'm going out on a limb here and say yes, yes, gawdalmighty yes, we can take them. These are all good players, and I think they'll do well. Is it too much to ask for another blizzard bowl like the game against Poland? And I wonder exactly how late to work I can be so I can watch this game ...
Race is a tricky issue. In heated and sometimes unexpected moments, you can hear things that weren't said because you're expecting them to be said, or you can be the only one to hear things that were said that no one else heard because they're not expecting it to be said. As a biracial woman, I've experienced both situations. When it's the first case and I'm uncertain, I rely on the views of those around me. I can admit it when I made a mistake. When it's the second case, well, it's just a horrible place to be, and all you can do is use reason and logic to try and figure out where the truth lies, and when you're right and you know it, you stick by your guns and keep calling for what's right.
This is where I'm standing in the middle of this case. I want to believe that Peter Nowak's an OK guy. From everything I've read, it's not in Nowak's character to say something that flagrantly terrible. Couple that with an accent that everyone, even he, admits is difficult to understand, and that's just a misunderstanding waiting to happen. He has repeatedly denied the accusation and even admitted to saying something that's unsportsmanlike, which may have led to the fine (but hey, thanks to MLS's say-nothing statement, we'll never know exactly why he got fined).
So let's look at the other side. An accusation was made by Real's Ellinger. It was backed up by some players and coaching staff. And since then, they've been more or less silent on the issue. That side isn't even mentioned in the Washington Post article. So I have to wonder -- if those folks really and truly believe that Nowak made a racist statement, shouldn't they be protesting the fact that Nowak was only fined? If DC United was really harboring a racist in a position of power, isn't it their duty to do something about that because they know it to be true? Except that they haven't, and in that the silence speaks volumes to me.
You can answer that in a number of ways, that MLS is keeping a lid on the Real opinion, that MLS is protecting Nowak, that the press just isn't covering their side, etc. and anon. Except that if Nowak were a racist and Real's folks were letting him slide, then they would be as culpable as he. So the ball is in Real's court. Or on their end of the pitch, as the case may be.
Just for the sake of argument, let's go Mythbusters style on this and go extreme -- if Nowak didn't say it, if Real's folks didn't actually hear Nowak say it, would they have any reason to manufacture drama? Perhaps to get attention for their team? They won the scrimmage 3-1, so I can't imagine why they'd do it on purpose, and the team seems to be doing well in preseason, so again, can't imagine why they'd invent it. If you've read this blog, you know that I'm no lover of Real Salt Lake, but even I wouldn't honestly go off into accusations of race-baiting. Until and unless there's more evidence brought to light, I'm going to file this under "unfortunate misunderstanding" and enjoy my season.
In other news:
The Bruce has announced his team for next week's friendly between the US Men's National Team and Germany's team, and 12 MLS players made the cut. As this isn't an international fixture date, not every team in Europe has released players for the game. However, players for German clubs, my favorite MNT goalkeeper Kasey Keller, Steve Cherundalo and Gregg Berhalter, are on board, as are Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey from English club teams, as well as Cory Gibbs, who's playing in Holland, and Heath Pearce, playing in Denmark, who;s making his second appearance this year with the USMNT.
MLS players are Houston's Brian Ching, Wizards Jimmy Conrad, Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff and Kerry Zavagnin, Landon Donovan from the Galaxy (Later addendum: OK, so Landon's not going, taken out by a calf strain. I could say this makes things interesting, but quite honestly, Landon hasn't really done much lately, USMNT-wise. Could be that we won't even miss him.), Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni, Real's Eddie Pope and Chris Klein, DC's Ben Olsen (does he still have the beard?), Revs golden boy Taylor Twelleman, and my crush Frankie Hejduk of Columbus. I guess this probably means I won't be seeing Wolff, Johnson and Zavagnin at the Saturn Challenge Cup in Moore that following Saturday, but oh well.
Germany picked its team and it looks like it'll be nearly at full strength, so this should be a really killer match. Can we take them? I'm going out on a limb here and say yes, yes, gawdalmighty yes, we can take them. These are all good players, and I think they'll do well. Is it too much to ask for another blizzard bowl like the game against Poland? And I wonder exactly how late to work I can be so I can watch this game ...
posted by MLS Fangirl @ 7:06 AM
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