Bryant Gumbel's Comments

[NJTank]

Im suprised this has not gotten any play yet, but Bryant Gumbel said on his HBO show Real Sports

"So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention,"

Imagine if that had been reversed and it was someone talking about the lack of whites in the NBA.

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=63192

[yh]

Interesting comment coming from broadcast television's real-life version of Don "No Soul" Simmons.

The question in my mind is how many minorities of any persuasion actually try out for the Winter Games. And how many African nations even attempt to qualify their athletes for the Winter Games? Seems to me that Gumbel's statements are a bit unfair.

[HatCityEnforcer]

Idiotic comment by the less talented Gumbel brother....

[leopard88]

His comments overlook the demographic/geographic realities that relatively few minorities live in the areas that tend to produce Winter Olympic athletes and, of greater importance, that many of the sports are prohibitively expensive (ex., skiing, snowboarding, etc. require relatively expensive equipment, lift tickets and, unless you live near a ski resort, transportation, while hockey and the other skating sports require expensive rink time unless you live in frigid climes). For better or worse, that fact means that very few economically disadvantaged people (white, black, Hispanic, Asian or whomever) are going to be able to participate in those sports. Couple that with the fact that (for myriad reasons that are not important to this discussion) minorities are disproportionately more likely to be in the group that is unable to afford those sports and you have the fact that the Winter Olympics are fairly lilywhite.

I also agree with Tank that there would probably be a firestorm if the comment was made by a white commentator that "the NBA looks like an NAACP convention." So far, this has received limited play, but one of the drive time sports talk shows in Baltimore spent about 20 minutes on it yesterday, largely discussing Tank's point.

[NJTank]

Its nature Black People are not from Cold Mountain Areas, otherwise they would'nt be black.

The reason white people are white is our ancestors are from cold mountain areas where the sun is not out so much half the year, while Africa is hot and dry most of the year.

And for the record Bryant Gumbel oughta check out the Speed Skating this weekend Shani Davis is a world record holder and is going for gold in the 1000M.

Secondly unlike the Summer Olympics where the US is always one of the best counrties we struggle in the winter trying to match up with Germany and Norway, and Russia whose black populations are pratically nil.

[WSU151]

I can't wait for gregjigga to respond.

It's pure and simple racism.

White athletes in the Winter Olympics are jokes because there are few black athletes? White people can't be phenomenal athletes?

[WSU151]

Its nature Black People are not from Cold Mountain Areas, otherwise they would'nt be black.

The reason white people are white is our ancestors are from cold mountain areas where the sun is not out so much half the year, while Africa is hot and dry most of the year.

Whoooaa Tank, be careful what you say... That's gotta be one of the most offensive comments I've ever heard.

The reason white people are white is genetics. A white person doesn't become black by being in the sun all year long.

[leopard88]

Its nature Black People are not from Cold Mountain Areas, otherwise they would'nt be black.

The reason white people are white is our ancestors are from cold mountain areas where the sun is not out so much half the year, while Africa is hot and dry most of the year.

Whoooaa Tank, be careful what you say... That's gotta be one of the most offensive comments I've ever heard.

The reason white people are white is genetics. A white person doesn't become black by being in the sun all year long.

If I dare speak for Tank, I think his point is that we developed genetically the way we did because our very distant ancestors came from different climates. Obviously, I wouldn't become black if I moved to Botswana tomorrow.

However, I think Tank does miss the point in some respect. In North America and Europe, people of various races and ethnicities live, in varying degrees of concentration, everywhere. You can't say that the whites live where it is cold and the blacks live where it is hot.

I still believe the issue is socioeconomic/demographic. The dearth of minorities in Winter Olympics sports is purely the result of lack of opportunity and/or exposure, just as it is with golf (which, if Tank's theory was accurate, would be played by a lot more blacks, because it is played in warm weather).

[NJTank]

Its living in these climates with no crossing of cultures for several centuries that led to the racial traits that ake Scandanivan White and Africans Black. If you notice Mediterains are some what in the middle it has to do with sun exposure and melonen in the skin.

[OMMF]

Imagine if that had been reversed and it was someone talking about the lack of whites in the NBA.

This whole "What if ... was reversed?" gets old after awhile.

For one, you can't deal in hypotheticals. You can try to imagine what would happen if you reversed it, but without it happening, you'll never really know what the outcome would be.

If Hurricane Katrina had hit Los Angeles or another, more important city, would the response have been better?

If America attacked the tallest building in Afghanistan, would the world have cared as much?

The point as, if you think his comments are bad, don't try to make more out of it by trying to come up with a converse statement that has no basis.

[WSU151]

leopard I agree. I just was amazed at the audacity of Tank's comments, only because there are a billion exceptions to his theory - like Greeks are white, and it's hot as hell in Greece. Native Americans and Latinos are typically a light brown in color, does that mean they got that color because the sun was out 3/4 of the year?? And to say that black people are only from Africa is quite ignorant.

If Hurricane Katrina had hit Los Angeles or another, more important city, would the response have been better?

Probably not, just look at Florida's hurricanes. They probably suffer from a terrible response, but we don't hear about it because the area didn't flood from a huge lake. I'll say this time and time again - the worst part of Hurricane Katrina was not the hurricane.

And speaking of hypotheticals, Larry Bird did comment a couple years ago about more white players needing to be in the NBA. And he got torched for it.

[jkrdevil]

Its nature Black People are not from Cold Mountain Areas, otherwise they would'nt be black.

The reason white people are white is our ancestors are from cold mountain areas where the sun is not out so much half the year, while Africa is hot and dry most of the year.

Whoooaa Tank, be careful what you say... That's gotta be one of the most offensive comments I've ever heard.

The reason white people are white is genetics. A white person doesn't become black by being in the sun all year long.

While tanks wording isn't the best it is somewhat correct. Yes, we get our skin color from genetics. However skin color is part of evolution. Early humans were better able to survive in Africa where the sun and heat beats down on a person if they had a darker skin tone. Where as when Humans migrated up north into Europe a lighter skin color was more advantagous. That's why people with ancestry from northern Europe tend to be real white while when you move closer to the equator they tend to get darker.

As history has moved on and technology developed everyone can survive the climates no matter what color.

His comments overlook the demographic/geographic realities that relatively few minorities live in the areas that tend to produce Winter Olympic athletes and, of greater importance, that many of the sports are prohibitively expensive (ex., skiing, snowboarding, etc. require relatively expensive equipment, lift tickets and, unless you live near a ski resort, transportation, while hockey and the other skating sports require expensive rink time unless you live in frigid climes). For better or worse, that fact means that very few economically disadvantaged people (white, black, Hispanic, Asian or whomever) are going to be able to participate in those sports. Couple that with the fact that (for myriad reasons that are not important to this discussion) minorities are disproportionately more likely to be in the group that is unable to afford those sports and you have the fact that the Winter Olympics are fairly lilywhite.

This is absoluty correct. The big reason why Basketball is popular in the inner cities is because all you need is a ball and you can play.

[yh]

Secondly unlike the Summer Olympics where the US is always one of the best counrties we struggle in the winter trying to match up with Germany and Norway, and Russia whose black populations are pratically nil.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm black Russian.

Sorry, I felt some humor needed to be provided in this thread.

[OMMF]

Secondly unlike the Summer Olympics where the US is always one of the best counrties we struggle in the winter trying to match up with Germany and Norway, and Russia whose black populations are pratically nil.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm black Russian.

Sorry, I felt some humor needed to be provided in this thread.

And some alcohol.

[leopard88]

Secondly unlike the Summer Olympics where the US is always one of the best counrties we struggle in the winter trying to match up with Germany and Norway, and Russia whose black populations are pratically nil.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm black Russian.

Sorry, I felt some humor needed to be provided in this thread.

And some alcohol.

Agreed, except I like my Russians White. Somebody pass the 2% (because half-and-half is bad for you).

[OMMF]

Secondly unlike the Summer Olympics where the US is always one of the best counrties we struggle in the winter trying to match up with Germany and Norway, and Russia whose black populations are pratically nil.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm black Russian.

Sorry, I felt some humor needed to be provided in this thread.

And some alcohol.

Agreed, except I like my Russians White. Somebody pass the 2% (because half-and-half is bad for you).

Keeping with the theme of this thread, you ever had a Black Thai? Not too bad.

[leopard88]

Secondly unlike the Summer Olympics where the US is always one of the best counrties we struggle in the winter trying to match up with Germany and Norway, and Russia whose black populations are pratically nil.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm black Russian.

Sorry, I felt some humor needed to be provided in this thread.

And some alcohol.

Agreed, except I like my Russians White. Somebody pass the 2% (because half-and-half is bad for you).

Keeping with the theme of this thread, you ever had a Black Thai? Not too bad.

I've worn black tie, but I've never drank a White Thai.

[leopard88]

Secondly unlike the Summer Olympics where the US is always one of the best counrties we struggle in the winter trying to match up with Germany and Norway, and Russia whose black populations are pratically nil.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm black Russian.

Sorry, I felt some humor needed to be provided in this thread.

And some alcohol.

Agreed, except I like my Russians White. Somebody pass the 2% (because half-and-half is bad for you).

Keeping with the theme of this thread, you ever had a Black Thai? Not too bad.

I've worn black tie, but I've never consumed a White Thai. I'm here all week -- try the veal.

EDIT -- Oops! Meant Black Thai.

[OMMF]

Secondly unlike the Summer Olympics where the US is always one of the best counrties we struggle in the winter trying to match up with Germany and Norway, and Russia whose black populations are pratically nil.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm black Russian.

Sorry, I felt some humor needed to be provided in this thread.

And some alcohol.

Agreed, except I like my Russians White. Somebody pass the 2% (because half-and-half is bad for you).

Keeping with the theme of this thread, you ever had a Black Thai? Not too bad.

I've worn black tie, but I've never consumed a White Thai. I'm here all week -- try the veal.

Horrible.

Singha and Guinness. Bringing hemispherical drinkers together, one glass at a time.

[NJTank]

leopard I agree. I just was amazed at the audacity of Tank's comments, only because there are a billion exceptions to his theory - like Greeks are white, and it's hot as hell in Greece. Native Americans and Latinos are typically a light brown in color, does that mean they got that color because the sun was out 3/4 of the year?? And to say that black people are only from Africa is quite ignorant.

Well Greeks and Italians and Spanish are darker then Nords and Germans and its as they move south, and Austarlian Aborigines are black I know but the climate there is the same as Africa.

Its all how they evolved on Earth its not where they live now Im talking about where the people of earth developed in what regions and how they developed.