OT- Jim Harbaugh Slur

Submitted by GoBlueScott on

I kind of hate to post this, seeing as the guy was my idol growing up, but with all the prattle about him on the board lately it seemed prudent.

If you can't watch, he basically calls the refs

f--king a--hole faggots.

I can't imagine the Michigan faithful supporting that kind of behavior if he ever found himself coaching in Ann Arbor.

EDIT: This thread is full of win.

Drake

December 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 PM ^

Its in the heat of a game, I would actually be surprised if Bo didnt yell worse things towards refs. Not that big of a deal for me.

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 4:24 PM ^

because omgz if bo said it, no problems there!

i'm sure if bo called someone a similarly derogatory term for African Americans you'd be on board too?

sorry but that's a deal changer to many of us. dui (x2), mouthing off about UM, spending tens of thousands of dollars on a fucking bathroom and now this? harbaugh's off my christmahanukwanzaakah card list.

MichMike86

December 3rd, 2009 at 6:17 PM ^

saying faggot in the heat of a game is that big of a deal to you or a "deal changer" then you might as well get rid of >90% of college football players. Faggot is a widely used word in sports culture to signify weakness and a lack of manliness. It's used at all levels. Football players and coaches are not pc. If this is new to you then I hope your World doesn't come crashing down.

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:06 PM ^

it's not going to "cause my World to crash down." it, however, proves to me that Harbaugh isn't aware of how to be a role model. anyone who uses racist or bigoted terms, in anger or otherwise, is not someone i would consider a decent man, let alone a man i would send my son to play football under as a mentee

MichMike86

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:14 PM ^

I don't know what a mentee is. If you sent your son anywhere to play football then he would be exposed to racism and bigotry by other teammates. Black players call one another nigga all the time. Then you add all of the other players that use faggot and every other gay reference possible to demean someone. I'm not saying it's the right thing but it is what it is.

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:20 PM ^

a mentee is the individual being mentored. and if you're claiming everyone who goes through college football learns that homophobic slurs, that's absurd. the place of a football coach is to help players see how to be a proper member of society. your argument seems to hinge on the fact football is some fishbowl microcosm and that's ridiculous. if i ever heard a coach or member of the Michigan administration use any sort of language that seemed to encourage bigotry in any way i would want them gone immediately.

you really are just coming across as trying to excuse hateful language because "everyone in football does it" or that you find it okay to discriminate in such a way.

MichMike86

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:27 PM ^

I think you stopped reading my post after the first sentence. In my last post I did not speak about coaches whatsoever. The players are the ones who bring about the majority of these things. It may be immaturity or just how they are, i don't know. What I do know is that if I came across as someone who is fine with these things then I misused my words. However, I do accept that that is the culture of the players and some coaches (Harbaugh is an ex player).

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:31 PM ^

i'm aware people do it but i don't think it has any place in the vocabulary of a coach that is placed in a special and unique role by parents to raise their children from boys into quality men. any man who uses this word would struggle to convince many open minded parents that they are a positive influence point (should the parents be looking for that versus getting their kids into a bowl game/MNC)

MichMike86

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:35 PM ^

Ok. Forget about the coach. Players will be subject to these things by their teammates. It is used by strength coaches too. While lifting you say things to motivate such as, "get this last rep you fuckin bitch/faggot/queer/etc. These words are used to demean, encourage and motivate. To take these words out of sports would totally change the culture.

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:39 PM ^

it is suddenly acceptable to use derogatory words that cast a group in our society because it encourages our athletes to not be compared to them. it's not enough to call them a "sissy, weakling, that they don't want it enough, they should quit, etc." you have to call someone a queer to get them for their last rep. to claim sports culture survives and works only because of such terms is absurd and reinforces the fact you support the use of it.

MichMike86

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:50 PM ^

That is how it is. If you can't accept it then that is fine. I went through it and know how shitty it is at times. Furthermore, you have shown that you have no idea of what goes on behind closed doors and locker room behavior. If it really upsets you so much then start a petition or something. I am sure whatever you do will have no effect on how things go. I am not in favor of it because it discourages gay athletes to come out because of the ridicule they will face or think they will face by their teammates. I'm not sure there is any real way to break this cycle. If you can think of one I am all ears.

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:02 PM ^

i am aware of it going on at all levels of sports. the only way to "break the cycle" is to be outspoken about how such behavior has no place in society, sports or otherwise. by speaking my mind i'm doing the only thing that i know can have an effect and that is to make those who think in a bigoted manner know their short-sighted mentality is the minority viewpoint.

Hannibal.

December 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 PM ^

I was listening to Ivan Maisel on ESPN's college football podcast, and his description of Harbaugh was something along the lines of "he lacks the governor between what he thinks and what he says". This seems like the latest and greatest example. I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more negative attention.

Blue Bunny Friday

December 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 PM ^

The point is that it's lip-reading! There's no audio. It's inconclusive. It's 2 syllables, starts with F and ends with T. He's shouting obscenities, so there's no argument for being sensible.
All I'm saying is that this should not get national attention from the sports world, unless they have a professional lip-reader say that, without a doubt, he used that word. They can't just go off of the You-Tube captions.

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 6:14 PM ^

actually i was referring to personal experience, more specifically my current one. down south if a hick at a bar such as Cooter Browns doesn't like you or your group, he will label the better dressed guy "that term" and the others his bitch, etc. i'm horribly aware of the ability of people in Delton, Ypsi, Big Rapids, Mason and other places to make the same comment.

Jinxed

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:03 PM ^

all southerners use slurs because Geaux_Blue says so and backs it up with personal anecdotes...

if you are going to criticize a guy for calling another guy a fag when he's pissed off.. don't go out and do something worse.. at least harbaugh can say he was pissed off.. what about you?

Sgt. Wolverine

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:15 PM ^

This whole thread seems a bit overwrought, but I have to interject: your apparently serious use of the phrase "white trash" caught my eye because it came immediate after a post in which you said:

"...anyone who uses racist or bigoted terms, in anger or otherwise, is not someone i would consider a decent man, let alone a man i would send my son to play football under as a mentee"

If you were using white trash humorously, then that's a different matter, but it didn't read that way to me.

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:24 PM ^

white trash is a collective term to describe the dredges of white culture that believe bigotry and racism are acceptable. it's not based in socio-economic status but instead on how someone carries themselves and speaks. i have no problem calling someone trash that thinks using offensive language to degrade other individuals based upon their gender, race or sexual orientation.

Jinxed

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:31 PM ^

"White trash is an American English pejorative term referring to individual or groups of lower social class Caucasian people that the speaker considers to lack social status. It is most frequently used as a slur to describe financially, economically or culturally disadvantaged Caucasians."

Almost everyone who uses slurs and MEANS to use them follow them up with an explanation.. this is yours..

In any case.. from hillbilly, to hick, to white trash in a thread criticizing another man's supposed use of a slur based on lip reading when he was clearly pissed off..

The funny part is that I don't really care about the language you might or might not use.. unlike you, my skin isn't paper thin when it comes to people using offensive language.. It's just that if you're going to get all PC on a guy.. don't follow it up by using slurs yourself! Sort of silly isn't it?

You might prescribe whatever the hell you want to the word "white trash" it still means what it does.. maybe in Harbaugh's mind fag means crappy ref.. would that make it ok for you?

Geaux_Blue

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:36 PM ^

because any of the words i've used have a historical offensive connotation meant to rob a race of their dignity and subordinate them to another group. unbelievable.

while i may have been casual with my words to describe a minor fraction of Southern people, i am very specific of my target - that being those in various areas of the country who believe derogatory terms and biased thought based upon color and sexual orientation is acceptable. that's it.

Jinxed

December 3rd, 2009 at 7:43 PM ^

You still don't understand that in the "PC" world.. it doesn't matter if the person you use the slur against deserves it or not! That's like calling illegal immigrants by the various slurs that exist for them because.. duuuh? they're here illegally!

White trash is offensive.. even if you don't see it, it insults people based on their economic and social status. It IS a slur.. and YOU used it.

that's all, I'm out..