Well kiddies, I know you've missed me since I've been "missing in 
action" like Chuck Norris in those 1980's Vietnam flicks [IE: DELTA
FORCE] and I don't care what anybody tells you, Chuck Norris never
beat Bruce Lee in a fight. You know I would like to write everyday, 
but I'm like Chewie Gomez (who works part-time at UPS), I gotta 
hold down this jobby job and write an article. So now that I've gotten
a chance to run from the stacks of paperwork at my desk, its time 
to catch up with all the exciting news of the day. 

So I may not be breaking this story here, but Mooch is now gone. Its 
a sad day for the 49ers family. Lets face it Steve Mariucci is pure class. 
A good coach with a great personality. The fans love him and his players 
love to play for him. But John York and Co. just felt it was time for his 
tenure to end. He did a good job while he was here, but lets face it, we're 
trying to win the Superbowl like the glory days of our recent past, not just 
a first round playoff appearance. His tenure with the 49ers really ended 
last year, when he interviewed with Tampa Bay. Sad, because now he 
wanted to stay. On the flip end, punto adios for John York and the way 
he and Terry Donahue handled the firing of Mariucci. While they maintain 
that he was released due to a power struggle, facts indicate otherwise. It 
seems more likely that John York did not have the courage to tell the 49er 
faithful the truth, which was that Mariucci just did not get as far as 
everyone would have liked, which we can understand. Instead they fed us 
lies about Mariucci desire for more power within the organization, which 
was refuted by Mooch himself. So punto adios to 49ers upper 
management. 

The "Irony at its Worst" story of the day: Ironically, just days before 
this racial taunt of Yao Ming was aired nationally, the National Association 
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had honored Shaquille 
O'Neal with their Young Leaders Award. This incident occurred a while 
back and nothing was said of the situation. It took a while for the main-
stream media to address this event. It took the efforts of Irwin Tang, who 
wrote an article about the incident in the Jan. 3 edition of AsianWeek, for 
the comments to receive notable media attention. Well, I have carefully 
thought this one through for a few days and have come to the following 
conclusion on which I will elaborate. 

First off, I would like to commend Irwin Tang for bringing this newsworthy 
topic to the forefront and putting it in a context of an Asian perspective. 
When asked about Irwin Tang, Shaq basically shrugged off the article as 
something someone [Tang] wrote just to get attention. In light of reading 
Tang's article, I think this comment by Shaq is just a ludicrous as the 
joke he made. I think seen from the Asian perspective and in a U.S. 
cultural and historical context, I do believe that Shaq's joke was out of line. 
I believe Mr. Tang has a valid point, that words like these can often be 
hurtful, if not deadly. Lets not forget that we live in a society that has 
suffered from racial prejudice and violence; and this is not a black and 
white issue, Asians and Latinos, etc...have also suffered this prejudice 
and violence. With that in light, I feel that Tang should be commended 
for his article, rather than being shrugged aside as Shaq has attempted 
to do. 

Secondly, I think Shaq can keep his apology. That isn't an apology, 
its more like...get off my back about it. Shaq stated: "If I hurt anybody's 
feelings," O'Neal said, "I'm sorry." 
Well, of course you hurt somebody's 
feelings, that why were talking about 
it. And I don't care if you are 
apologizing for hurting people's 
feelings, I want an apology for making 
an insensitive statement. I would not 
go as far to say that Shaq is a racist, 
because I sincerely believe that he is 
not. What I do believe is that Shaq 
made an attempt to be funny and failed, 
and that he is being insensitive about 
the impact his comments had on 
another minority groups, namely 
Chinese/Asian Americans. For him 
to state that someone wrote the 
article just to get attention proves 
that he believe that his statements 
were not wrong, only bothersome 
                                                       to people who are being too sensitive. 
The reality is that racial tension between blacks and asians do exist. 
Anyone who can recall images from the LA Riots or has watched 
Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing" knows what I'm talking about. 

Third, I would like to comment about a double standard with regard to 
this situation. Tang wrote: "Let's not beat around the bush. If a white 
player had, for instance, made monkey sounds to taunt a black player, 
it would have been a national controversy. But Yao is Chinese, and 
Asians are fair game." I believe that Tang makes a good point that 
the knife of criticism should cut both ways. If a prominent public figure 
were to make prejudice/racial/derogatory remarks about a black figure 
[READ: FUZZY ZOELLER], a media firestorm would consume that 
individual immediately after his statement. It took the media months to 
catch on to this event, with many accepting his apologies/excuses/
justifications all too readily. Shaq is a big boy [7'2''], he can handle 
himself. 

The reason that the media should not be standing by Shaq's side is the 
same reason that it should not stand by Trent Lott or other figures who 
make such comments: and that is because Shaq is in a position of 
power, he is a leader (which is why he was given the NAACP Young 
Leaders Award) and therefore should take better responsibility for what 
he says in public. If he stated that joke privately to Yao Ming, it would 
not have the same impact, though the consequence would have been 
interesting all the same. In conclusion, Shaq made a mistake and 
should take better responsibility! 

In a related story, today's "Get Out Of Jail Free" card goes to....ta ta 
taaaaa....Bill Walton. Yes my friends, Bill Walton has gone from the 
dog house to the penthouse. And how did he accomplish this 
miraculous come from behind? After writing that stupid opinion 
criticizing Brazil's president daSilva and his rejection of a $790 million 
military expenditure, Walton was given the infamous "Stick to Freakin' 
Basketball Award". Now he has redemption. 

Well, he did it by writing an solid article addressing the Shaq situation. 
Click Here to read his article. Check it out....Nuff Said! 

Alright folks, this Pinolero has probably exhausted his audience 
(what audience?). But stay tuned for more...cause Hummer owners 
beware this Sucka Free homeboy is bout to blow up that spot, 
Mrs. Answer included! 

      

Managua Nicaragua writer Rafael Alvarado will be holding down this spot 
while making regular social commentary. Please note, schedule may vary 
as Mr.. Alvarado will be spending time on the beaches of Miami. 

      

- Friday, January 17, 2003

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