• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Black Guy's take: Riley Cooper was less offensive than Stephen A

RangersboysWFBB

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
672
Reaction score
140
So I know most of you are adults and don't subscribe to ESPN’s “First take:” the intellectually bankrupt and socially inept little brother of ESPN’s other favorite Ebony and Ivory spawn, “PTI.”

For whatever reason though, I do watch 1st take. I kind of consider it akin to a dude irrationally developing a fetish for C&BT porn. It doesn’t look fun or enjoyable, the participants don’t even look like they’re having fun, but at the end of the day that dudes browser is shamefully filled with endless sites featuring leather clad women and hogtied dudes engaging in that shit.

Anyway, today Stephen A. suggested that when examining the actions of jorts aficionado, Riley Cooper, allot of the blame should rest at the feet of the black community.

Bottom line, I'm more offended by Stephen A Smith's comments then I am by Riley Cooper's behavior. A white guy from Oklahoma, who played football in Florida swamps, spewed a bunch of racial epithets at a country music concert, while wearing a cut off flannel shirt: color me not shocked. But to place the onus of the situation on black players playing rap music in the locker room? The two scenarios Steven A submitted are so non-analogous that they make my head want to explode…..and then each scattered morsel of my brain matter and skull fragments wants to immediately evaporate…think star trek….I just want to get the fuck away from this existence….This is all a convoluted way of saying the shit he spews is mind boggling. I digress.

Maybe I’m late to the party, but I thought we were all clear on the understanding that it's not a simple utterance of a word that makes it offensive: There is no magic combination of letters that culminate to create recognized words, that standing alone is offensive (exception to this rule may be the C word…I’d avoid that). I don’t understand how we still don’t get this, but something being offensive ultimately comes down to context and intent.

If Riley Cooper were at a Young Jeezy concert repeating lyrics to a song, this is a non issue, at least for me (and the other leaders of the secret black community that meet and determine how all black people should feel and think about things). For me, if he was caught on video joking with teammates and used the term "ni*ga" in the colloquial sense of endearment, and his teammates don’t react, it might look awkward, uncomfortable even, but I can’t say I’m offended and moreover, a conversation like the one Stephen A. proposed might be in order. But he didn't, he said "ni*ger" with rage and hatred, and he said it because the security guard was black.


In my book, context and intent is the be all and end all. Saying the word Nazi itself is not offensive in and of itself. Saying "I think the Nazi's were right to kill Jews," is.

Louis C.K., Michael Richards, Bill Maher, and George Carlin (RIP), are all white comedians who have said the word “ni*ger” at least 3 times, in public, while performing and being videotaped. Only one of them has had to issue a public apology…..The other three are actually funny as well.

Think about how we determine bad acts in our court system for Christ’s sake: your actions can directly result in someone else losing their life, but it’s the context of the situation, and your intent within that situation that ultimately determines your level of punishment, or if you’re even punishable at all.

The great yet taxing thing about getting older and being mildly intelligent, is that not only do you develop the ability to process information and recognize misinformation, but often you can conceive a logical guess as to where illogical arguments such as the one spouted by Stephen A., are born from: If I had to guess, I doubt that Stephen A. concocted this ridiculous non sequitur to the issue at hand, all on his own. As Deadspin has revealed time and time again, there are old white men at the top who daily disseminate the talking points and spin for the on air brigade. It’s probably standard operating procedure for every major Cable broadcasting channel.

The sad thing about this situation is we’re not talking about something inconsequential like Tebow. In this situation, ESPN is Stephen A.’s Candyland, and Samuel L. Jackson owes Stephen A. for consulting fees and considerations for likeness infringement (ok, that may be a tad too far).

For the most part, I like to think I am preaching to the choir. For those that still fail to understand my perspective though, I’ll offer a personal example that hopefully is relatable enough to sink in.

I called my ex-girlfriend a selfish bitch on two separate occasions. Each occasion generated completely different responses.

The first instance evolved around an order of chicken fingers we ordered and decided to share for dinner. After eating a majority of the chicken fingers, I decided to retire to the couch and begrudgingly finish a Real Housewives episode in an effort to catch up for that night’s new premiere. (Please don’t spend to much time on this irrelevant fact, move along folks.)

After perfecting a silent but deadly attack on the Ozone layer, it dawned on me that I still had enough room in my belly to squeeze in one more savory chicken finger. I know I didn’t need it, not sure I even wanted it, but all I knew is it was possible, so it was to be done. As I waltzed over to the kitchen there she was, my girlfriend, sneakily shoving the last chicken finger in her mouth. Catching her off guard, I screamed out “You selfish bitch!” She immediately burst into laughter. We knew each other, she knew my sense of humor, she knew it wasn’t meant to be offensive and given the context I knew she wouldn’t take it offensively. We both enjoyed the joke and curled up to watch that show previously mentioned.

The other time I called her a selfish bitch, does not need extensive details. All you need to know is I was drunk, she was sleeping, I inexplicably but predictably got horny, she told me to fuck off, I told her it would only take a minute, she told me that I really needed to stop, I told her she was acting like a selfish bitch….. I tried to amend then retract…I was removed from the room….. I spent two nights sleeping on a couch in my own place… I bought her pair of shoes “just because she’s special.”

It’s all about context and intent kids. Riley Cooper was behaving like an angry, entitled, drunk, asshole, and when he singled out the black security guard, and called him a “nig*er”, he did it as means to make the man feel small and inflict fear because Riley wasn’t getting his way. While I can’t say I’ve ever done what Riley has done, to some lesser extent, I have been an asshole before.

What Stephen A Smith did, besides insult everybody’s intelligence, was he targeted the group of people most likely to offended by Riley’s actions, and attempted to make them feel culpable for the entire situation, and any other similar situation in the future.

To me, both of them were offensive. Stephen A. is the one that really pissed me off.
 
Last edited:
tl;dr, but I like the idea of a secret black community that determines what should be offensive to black people.
 
The selfish bitch analogy was actually really helpful.

Very thought-filled take, the polar opposite of the reactionary crap we've all seen from people of all races on this. Thanks Rangers.
 
lol I know this is ridiculously long, this is also why in litigation the discovery process "takes time": people like me are doing shit like this. But I just felt like venting. I also was considering sending this off to deadspin, bleacher, or sbn to see if they would publish it, so any criticism or advice is totally welcomed.
 
I really was grasping his vibe until the very last paragraph. To act like Johnny Manzel is 'getting off easy' (which is what he is implying) is wrong. Most writers would love the ability to just say 'what a entitled shithead Manzel is'.

There is CLEARLY some deep rooted hatred in Cooper's voice when he makes those statements. Oh, and just to be clear, I did not hear Stephen A. today.

So, other than the last paragraph which he missed by a mile, it's a decent read. Pretty funny too

ETS: Idiotic is not a good word, you were asking for thoughts.... I think it's very well written, I feel you weaken your entire argument with your last paragraph
 
I really was grasping his vibe until the very last paragraph. To act like Johnny Manzel is 'getting off easy' (which is what he is implying) is wrong. Most writers would love the ability to just say 'what a entitled shithead Manzel is'.

There is CLEARLY some deep rooted hatred in Cooper's voice when he makes those statements. Oh, and just to be clear, I did not hear Stephen A. today.

So, other than the last paragraph which he missed by a mile, it's a decent read. Pretty funny too

ETS: Idiotic is not a good word, you were asking for thoughts.... I think it's very well written, I feel you weaken your entire argument with your last paragraph

It's funny you say that because before I posted this I kind of felt the same way. I thought about ending it right after "Stephen A. is the one that pisses me off" but I figured this was a safe place so I'd go with it and see what people thought. Honestly, thanks.
 
I shouldn't say your last paragraph, because I agree the 'race' card is WAY overused....but the CAm Newton part....ahhhh, you get the point.

But yea, send it to them...get that published. Subliminaly, throw in a Bzzzzout chant. Good luck
 
Still too many words. I'd pull te line about farting and the whole paragraph on nearly attempting to date tape your girlfriend as neither move the needle a millimeter nor do they put you in a positive light

Also a weakness of the "piece" is you sort of have to see what Stephen d.a. Smith said so if you can summarize in 5tqo sentences what he said before you surmise that his white espn producers were feeding him topics all the better

Personally I'd drop that producer angle anyway. You're guessing anyway. Smith is so full of self righteousness I have to assume he's fully responsible for the dumbass stuff he says.
 
Nah. You have to keep the girlfriend story, though you could cut some of the fat off it.
 
After watching, I'm amazed that I can actually say I agree with part of what skip bayless said. The use of that word amongst black people is a completely different topic. But I think that is the only time I've ever partially agreed with him. I really have no issue with what Steve Smith said. Ph Will probably say I'm not black enough to comment.
 
Rangers, post more. Seriously.

Great post.
 
"What Stephen A Smith did, besides insult everybody’s intelligence, was he targeted the group of people most likely to offended by Riley’s actions, and attempted to make them feel culpable for the entire situation, and any other similar situation in the future. "

He did no such thing. He blamed Riley for his actions and said whatever will happen is justifiable.

But he also held a group of which he's a member accountable for their actions. He said they are wrong too.

The two aren't connected.
 
I don't know if this makes sense but that still image in the embedded video above is soooo Skip Bayless.
 
Great post, Rangers.

I missed last week's Black Illuminati meeting. Can you send me the cliffs? I heard Oprah made a mean bundt cake.
 
Bottom line is that Stephen A. Smith is an idiot. Maybe not the man, but the caricature that he portrays on TV.
 
Yep. And that's not new news.
 
This thread means we have at least two black guys on the board while the other board has none. #Diversity
 
Back
Top