Devon Smith, Manager of Player Development

[Maggie]

Re: Devon Smith

I met Devon last summer and agree. He's very well spoken. I happened to meet him at the same time that Carl Hall was here for his official recruiting visit, not that Devon was involved with that aspect.

I don't want to turn this into something this thread isn't so if anyone reads this and wants to take this past what I'm saying I just want you to know that there are some awesome dofo threads waiting for you.

"Very well spoken" is a phrase that shouldn't be used. In and of itself there is nothing wrong* with those three words. However there are still a number of people that use that phrase in a very disgusting way. Those idiots have taken away that compliment. Those who use those words for hate mean it as a backhanded remark, as if to say "very well spoken, for a n..." I say that these stains on humanity say these things because I've heard it said as recently as a few months ago.

So, you didn't mean anything by it except to say he is an intelligence guy and you were glad to meet him. You just happened to use some words that you thought were safe but had been polluted. No harm, no foul. You may say the words again and again mean nothing bad by it. However, I would ask that you and others don't use that phrase anymore. It is radioactive and just needs to be put aside until the bad people die and are rotting in hell.

Ok, massive detour there. Again, if you feel the need to reply to this post, pick one of my posts in a DOFO thread instead. I've already detoured enough for ShockerNet; but if you couldn't tell I really hate racism.

* I subscribe to the George Carlin school of thought when it comes to wrong or dirty words. There are no dirty words, just dirty thoughts, actions, and people. Thus why I pass no judgment on xazshox -- I have no idea what his thoughts were and I assume they were noble.

To begin with, (and don’t take this the wrong way – you have always appeared to be a sensible fellow) it is pusillanimous to make this type of statement and then demand there be no response. Also, I consider myself fairly well read, and this is the first I have heard that the phrase “very well spoken” is no longer to be used in polite discourse. I suppose I will add it to the List (pretty soon all our sentences will be fragmented).

To be thought as a very well spoken individual is compliment regardless of race. Thomas Sowell, for example, is a very good speaker and writer – outclassing almost everyone you listen to and see on television nowadays. Do you think anyone should care, that he is a black man who grew up in Harlem? Do you think all the praise of his towering intellect are merely backhanded compliments? Is it a slight to think of Marco Rubio as “very well spoken”?

Frankly, racial hang-ups, litigiousness, extreme political correctness in language, etc. are some of things that really aggravate me. Political correctness? Speech codes and all the rest? All have become, as you demonstrated, very American. And, yes, we are a stupid country, in many respects. You would do well, Rosewood, to not get your panties in a twist, take a beat, and actually reflect on what you wrote – and why it was horribly inappropriate.

For your reading pleasure: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/we...gewanted=print

Thanks SoulStar, although I do read the NY Times – admittedly, I read it much faster than I used to. I must have missed that article, sloppy on my part – a thousand apologizes. Call it human error.

Really, it is comforting to know that anytime I make a statement or express an opinion about anyone – I can consult the NY Times to find the true meaning of my intentions. Or perhaps, with your permission, I can just PM you?

[Zardoz]

I think I may be able to sue Sony. I've heard many of our players referred to as well spoken young men and yet they appeared to be white on my TV. Damn people grow a little thicker skin and stop looking for a reason to hate!

[Rosewood]

I figured that would go over the heads of some of you but I didn't expect that it would happen to so many of you.

The sad thing is that I don't feel like I need to reply to most of the replies that I didn't solicit because I answered those complaints in my original post. You internet people are so predictable it isn't funny.

[Maggie]

Okey dokey.

And no, typically and sadly (I guess), you don’t feel the need to reply. So common. Invincible ignorance (and in this case arrogance, as well) is a fine shield.

Nuff said.

[ShockTalk]

This type of thing is, and will always be, a two-way street. BOTH must learn to deal with it.

Person 1 makes an honest, well-meaning compliment about person 2 while using proper English, correctly spoken. Person 2, based on their own perceptions, is upset about the statement, takes it as a back-handed compliment and calls out person 1 for it. Person 1, truly shocked by this, apologizes, but now thinks much less of person 2 because person 1 is now equally indignant that person 2 thought of him that way. Has anything been gained or, maybe, lost? Is it the well-intetended person's responsibility to change and not the another who mis-interpreted and falsely accused the other of defaming?

One should really try harder to know who is their enemy and who is their ally before jumping to certain conclusions. Be careful where you pick your battles as you may have a lot more to lose and nothing to gain.

[RoyalShock]

When I first read Rosewood's original post the first word that came to my mind was condescending.

[Zardoz]

I figured that would go over the heads of some of you but I didn't expect that it would happen to so many of you.

The sad thing is that I don't feel like I need to reply to most of the replies that I didn't solicit because I answered those complaints in my original post. You internet people are so predictable it isn't funny.

Okay, so what is your point?

edit. Okay I see it and I think that is a very racist view of things.

[Maggie]

An aside:

My cousin, who I adore, graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in African American Studies, a minor in Music. Although the former is not a topic I see much need for we have argued and exchanged “reading assignments” over the years. Always butting heads. Believe me; I have had her Irish blood spitting bullets and vise-versa. She gives as good as she takes. I always knew our politics differed but I thought I would meet her on “her own ground”, intellectually. Why? Because she is a very, very smart girl, she is articulate, gifted, has a good heart, dare I say well spoken, and at her core she is intellectually honest.

So I have learned a thing or two about this whole mess and enough to be disgusted with it. Nevertheless, my conversation with my cousin continues. And it will edify both of us.

[Ta town]

Re: Devon Smith

I don't want to turn this into something this thread isn't so if anyone reads this and wants to take this past what I'm saying I just want you to know that there are some awesome dofo threads waiting for you.

Next time you should take your own advice. This thread wasn't anything other than a conversation on the person in charge of player development. Somebody wrote a comment that you even admit had no malice hidden in it. Yet YOU decided to turn this thread into something it's not. Nice job

[Ricardo del Rio]

I have been using the word, "articulate", for a very long time.

I had no idea that its use indicated that I was a racist.

Thanks, New York Times, for bringing my racist behavior to my attention.

I suggest that the word, "articulate", be removed from the dictionary.

[wsushox1]

I figured that would go over the heads of some of you but I didn't expect that it would happen to so many of you.

The sad thing is that I don't feel like I need to reply to most of the replies that I didn't solicit because I answered those complaints in my original post. You internet people are so predictable it isn't funny.

I agree with your OP if that makes a difference.

I'm not saying it that rosewood is right in his post, but come on everybody stereotypes and racial stigmas exist. They may not go through your heads, but they DO exist.

Example:

He dances good for a white person.

Some people may find that offensive and some may not.

[DUShock]

Coach Gross is not well-spoken.

I like Coach Gross.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

'He speaks so well' is not a compliment, okay? 'He speaks so well' is some sh*t you say about retarded people that can talk. What do you mean he speaks so well? He's a fuc*ing educated man!

[rjl]

You all are pretty testy for people with such little responsibility that you've ample time to get your feathers ruffled by relatively innocuous internet forum posts.

The irony here is that you are reading way more into Rosewood's post than you allege him of doing himself.

[rjl]

'He speaks so well' is not a compliment, okay? 'He speaks so well' is some sh*t you say about retarded people that can talk. What do you mean he speaks so well? He's a fuc*ing educated man!

True story, Mr. Rock.

Using terms like "he's so well-spoken" to describe the speech of someone who doesn't absolutely floor you with his or her articulatory prowess is akin to calling someone a "great father" because they haven't skipped town, calling someone a "great employee" because they show up on time, or calling someone a "great writer" who can merely put a coherent sentence together.

What it says is that you expected so little on your personal scale of how people should talk, that when you got something unexpected, you thought it was special.