Who to e-mail re: Billy Hayes comments about Yao...

Hayes is on the radio right now in Dallas talking about how he didn't do anything of the sort and saying it's unbelievable that the papers can print a lie and that he has no recourse against it.

 

I continue to be shocked when people say things such as this. I guess I am just naive to believe that people have more empathy and/or understanding than they actually do.

Stuart

 

He doesn't?

 

I don't know what recourse he has other than to deny it happened. What else is there? A libel suit? Even if he didn't do anything, I'm not sure Hayes could win such a suit. And in the end, people will believe what they want to believe regardless of what a court said.

So, effectively, there's no recourse.

 

I agree 100% on this.

Yun

 

Yeah, I also caught his: "I'm do not have a racist bone in my body!" speech to the HardLine on 1310 TheTicket (shameless plug). He's swearing up and down that this is a lie and that the Chronicle reporter "made everything up" but knowing what a complete ass Billy Hayes is (he's one of those Rush Limbaugh wannabes on the radio), I would not put this past him at all. Knowing him, he probably though he was being funny. I just wonder how funny he and the Mavericks would find it if announcers in other arenas yell "Sieg Heil!" or speak like Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes whenever Dirk Nowitzki gets a foul...

 

OK, I just spoke to a friend who actually works at all Mavericks games as an usher. He is posted at the side of the visiting team's bench. He confirmed that Billy Hayes did pronounce Yao Ming's name in a mock Chinese accent - sort of like from the old Charlie Chan movies. He went on to explain that nobody up here thought nothing of it because Hayes is always doing stuff like that especially with Najera's name so folks up here have become used to it and him.

The thing to remember here is that Hayes is a complete idiot and that Mark Cuban himself hired the guy to "spice up" the game announcing. The old announcer, Kevin McCarthy, was apparently too professional for Mark's "tastes".

 

Nice investigative work...

If you're really incensed by this, then maybe you or the friend should contact Mark Cuban and tell him. If the Dallas fans are simply used to the problem, someone should notify the team that it's not cool.

I don't care if it's Yao, Najera, Hakeem, whoever is not "native" American... it seems derogatory in this instance. And if it wasn't, Cuban should still be smart enough to know he shouldn't alienate a portion of the NBA's global audience.

Joking about ethnicity seems okay when the parties know each other and understand that it's nothing personal. If a stranger comes up to any of us and makes a racial crack, I doubt we'd blow it off as easily as some claim Yao/the Rox should do.

 

Exactly right.

Playing with differences amongst friends in your living room is fine.

Perpetuating stereotypes in a public forum is ignorant and does no good for furthering understanding for an already Asian-culture-ignorant public.

Stuart