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How did this get by unnoticed?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by boots, Jun 20, 2007.

  1. boots

    boots New Member

    On Tuesday, June 5, an apology appeared on page 2-E of the Baltimore Sun's sports section courtesy of Sun reporter and fantasy sports columnist Childs Walker.

    "An article on LeBron James' performance in the NBA playoffs...contained a term that is derogatory...I'm embarrassed by my ignorance of the offending term, and I sincerely apologize for using it," wrote Walker.
    This was what was written in the early edition of the Sun on June 2.
    "There aren't many true prodigies, and the chance to catch one coming to full bloom is rarer still. But LeBron James did just that, hitting shot after shot in one of the great playoff performances in memory. At times, he rumbled through a good Pistons defense like a tank through spearchucker."
    So, the question I ask is how a term as archaic and blatantly racist as "spearchucker," can make it onto the sports page of a major metropolitan newspaper in 2007?
     
  2. Riddick

    Riddick Active Member

    you have to be kidding me? Maybe they just don't proofread over there. Either that, or they need to, hmmm, get some diversity in there.
     
  3. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    First of all, what does "like a tank through spearchucker" even mean?
    Second, how can this moron not know spearchucker is a derogatory term?
    Third, do they have editors in Baltimore?


    Disgraceful on all levels
     
  4. boots

    boots New Member

    No, this is is not a joke. A columnist for a major metro wrote this.
     
  5. Mayfly

    Mayfly Active Member

    I am going to venture to say in one of the World Wars, when lands went to conquer Africa, they rumbled through on tanks while the natives threw spears and rocks. A mismatch of sorts.
     
  6. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    I've never seen or heard spearchucker even used, but I wouldn't let it through either.
     
  7. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

    That was my first question. My second was whether the folks at the paper had been having beers with Brit Hume.

    Yes, disgraceful.
     
  8. Big Buckin' agate_monkey

    Big Buckin' agate_monkey Active Member

    Glad I'm not the only one who has never seen nor heard "spearchucker."
     
  9. boots

    boots New Member

    I wouldn't use it unless you wanted to get a beat down either verbally or physically.
     
  10. Claws for Concern

    Claws for Concern Active Member

    Didn't they just have a few people leave the paper? Anyone connected to the departures involved in this incident?
     
  11. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

  12. ondeadline

    ondeadline Well-Known Member

    I can only assume that the desk people who read it weren't familiar with the word. You, of course, never should let a word by unless you're sure about all of its meanings. Obviously, if they knew the usual usage of this word, it wouldn't have gotten through.
     
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