With racist apparel, Cubs fans actually are obnoxious

April 18th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

So Marty Brennaman goes all scorched Earth on Cubs fans, and I go all scorched Earth on Marty Brennaman. I thought it was just Brennaman that deserved it, but today the Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmeyer, who does a great job covering the Cubs, brings up something that my friends and I have been too-quietly discussing the whole season: racist “Japanese” merchandise at Wrigley Field.

The image of the drunken Cubs lout is one thing — adding a level of intolerance and ignorance to that image is another. And that’s what a small minority — but still a sizable portion — of Cubs fans have become this season. In “honor” of Kosuke Fukudome, they wear faux Japanese hachimaki and the above-linked t-shirts, which say “Horry Kow!” and picture a slant-eyed Cub with huge Harry Caray frames. Vendors walk around everywhere outside the stadium with the shirts and headbands, but it’s hard to just blame the vendors: clearly, there’s a market here. A very racist, stupid market.

If you needed any more convincing that the merchandise is stupid, if me calling you racist in the bleachers isn’t enough, then take it from Kosuke Fukudome:

”I don’t know what the creator of the shirt meant this to be, but they should make it right,” Fukudome said through his interpreter after being shown one of the shirts Thursday. ”Maybe the creator created it because he thought it was funny, or maybe he made it to condescend the race. I don’t know.”

See? Even the player you meant to honor thinks you’re a dumbass cracker. So take that shirt and headband off, burn them, and, if you want to pay homage to the Cubs’ most versatile new player, buy his jersey instead. Until then, Cubs fans will have no reason to complain about their image as drunken buffoons. They’ll deserve it, and more.

Charming

January 18th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Nothing like some good, old-fashioned southern charm. Huckabee ‘08!

{HT: Rumors and Rants}