I just saw over on ESPN.com that golf announcer Johnny Miller has issued an apology for remarks he made about Rocco Mediate during last week’s U.S. Open. Since I don’t watch boring, crappy fringe-sport golf, I took a look at the article to see what he said since golf commentators seem to have a knack of saying dumb things. Here are the remarks in question that Miller nappy-headed-ho’d out of his mouth last Sunday:
“Mediate looks like the guy who cleans Tiger’s swimming pool. Guys with the name ‘Rocco’ don’t get on the trophy, do they?”
That’s it? That calls for an apology nowadays? Apparently this was viewed as derogatory to Mediate’s Italian ancestry. Now, I’m of Italian ancestry (I shortened my last name from Barsabarelli to Bars when I started this site. My entertainment lawyer, Hymen Weinkleinowitzman, said it would help broaden my fan base). I know our stereotypes. We’re fist-pumping, spray-tanning, mafia-connected, fettuccine-eating plumbers who save princesses along with our good for nothing brother Luigi. When did we become America’s pool cleaners? I thought Mexicans had dibs on all manual labor related stereotypes. I don’t want to take that away from them. Miller stated that his comments were intended to “convey my affection and admiration for Rocco’s everyman qualities and had absolutely nothing to do with his ethnicity.” I’m not capable of being offended but if I was, I’d be more annoyed with the people who heard what Miller said and automatically assumed he was talking about Mediate’s heritage. They are the real hate mongering bigots in this situation.
I have no idea what Tiger Woods’s pool boy looks like but as for the second part of what Miller said, I checked the list of U.S. Open winners and Miller’s analysis was, in fact, spot on. There’s not a Rocco in the bunch.
This whole situation is completely unnecessary. Everyone should just let it go and…
(Tirico Suave’s collective readers: don’t say “fahgeddaboutit.” Please don’t say “fahgeddaboutit”. End this article with anything but “fahgeddaboutit”.)
….FAHGEDDABOUTIT!!
(Harvey’s inner monologue: Nailed it! OH!)
