主播大秀

"Both of the combatants looked Japanese, though I couldn't say for sure."

So you mean that they were of a generic east asian appearance? What lead you to believe they were Japanese and not South Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc? Japanese people are highly unlikely to be invovled in such a public display, it is much more in keeping with the South Korean character. But I suppose they all look the same huh? So going by your picture it would be fair to assume you are German or French, well that's close enough aint it?

Let's assume your assumption that they were Japanese is correct. Well then, it's extremely unlikely that they would be doing Kung-Fu. Kung-Fu is a catch-all term (meaning work) used only in the West to talk about a wide range of Chinese fighting styles. I'm telling you, very few Japanese people practise "Kung-Fu". If they were in fact Japanese Budoka then they would be much more likely to have executed Karate techniques. Unfortunately even a Karateka with only a modicum of training would not be using any striking techniques outside the Dojo except in the most extreme self defence scenario. Also, had they been Budoka then the incident would have been over after the first strike.

From your report it's much more feasable to make the superficial assumption that they were South Korean's and if any fighting style was involved then that would most likely be Tae Kwon Do. But my guess is that, like yourself, they knew nothing of fighting forms and were just having a lame handbag session.

Sir, I find your generalisations, assumptions and ignorance to be highly offensive. The fact that you are a 主播大秀 sports journalist publishing to a worldwide audience makes it even more distasteful. May I suggest that you do a modicum of sports and cultural reasearch before you go publishing your half baked witterings in future?

the (japanese) handbag who so heatedly criticised your aside of the Spain/France match misses the point. a colourful description of an incident among many which added some "feel" to the match.thanks i liked it. my guess is that they haven't got over the game against Australia just like i haven't got over how bloody italy are still there and we are not!!!

Aces seems to be harbouring some self-inflicted inferiority complex ... or lacks the ability to see the funny side of stories. My advice to Aces: Chill out a bit ... and learn to laugh a bit. Being Asian myself I know that's difficult as some of our cultures are hung up on saving face !! Paul, nice light stuff (even if it was me in the fracas ...!)

Its unfortunate that the Spanish supporters were booing Zidane. He played very well today and in the end their midfield could not cope with him and Viera and also Ribery.
Despite loads of possession Spain could not make that possession count. What counts are goals and conceding that free kick was a mistake on the part of Puyol.
Sometimes you have to hang up your hands in the air and admit you have lost to a better team on the day.

Aces, chill. You're reading far far too much into a blog entry. If he'd said something along the lines of 'they looked indian/pakistani/sri lankan' i wouldn't have batted an eyelid.

I think media relations and what to do with supporters outside the grounds is something FIFA really should work on, perhaps trying to enhance the ability to see/feel whats happening inside the stadium beyond just big tv screens?

As for the game Ribery was the ace in the pack, spain were just about holding the line against opponents they knew, but Ribery was an unknown quantity. Brilliant match and glad to see the french through.

Aces obviously has too much time on his hands!

Ask any Asian (meaning SE Asia / Far East) and they will say Americans and Europeans all look the same! Meaning we all look Western.

Same same but different.

Aces, I have a funny story for you. Firstly Im english, many would say "white" and I have a very good Asian friend (Chinese) called Bob whose father owns a restaurant. we all used to go round to see Bob and sometimes Bob wouldnt be there. When Bob used to go to the Restaurant to work he would ask his dad if any of his friends (who were mainly white Mancunians) had been round to visit and if so who. His dad would say " I dont know, they all look the same to me!" True story. So Aces chill out mate, it doesnt mean anything and stop reading into something that isnt there.

Loving the blog Fletch, even if 1 person out of a million isnt.

Chill out, you cannot expect him to know the exact background of the reporters do you?

We are all human.

Aces,
get your head outta your arse son.

idiot

aces get a life

lefty

I am so fed up with idiots trying to make politically correct currency out of everything. It is attitudes like those of aces that foment racism. For example I think he's a prat but thats nothing to do with race and if Aces is Japanese then let me tell you there are fewer more racist people than them. I used to live there so I know.

Keep up the great reports, don't let nonsense-mongers affect it.

Latecomer to the blog but all credit to you, amusing and informative. Aces, I echo all thew previous comments, you are right up yourself my friend, get a life.

Let me get this one straight. Aces is complaining about "generalisations, assumptions and ignorance" and then he twice suggests that the protagonists are South Korean, because that's their national "character". So whose engaging in racial / national stereotypes now?

Don't go looking for prejudice where there isn't any. You've clearly got enough of that at home.

I agree with all the posts above about Aces loss of perspective. Especially when he him self makes a ridiculous generalisation.
鈥淛apanese people are highly unlikely to be involved in such a public display; it is much more in keeping with the South Korean character".
Come on Aces you moron.
Good blog though keep it up鈥︹��.every one likes a comedy fight story.

Aces,

Get a life.

GA

Looks like all the interest is being generated in the press halls. Take the camera's off the pitch and start covering the only part of this world cup where theres is any action.

Sadly Aces has a very valid and worthwhile point. Simply because some people decide that the references where made for humour does take away the fact that they are offensive to some.
The story could easily have been told with the same effect with the need to make any reference to the appearance of the two involved parties.
With this response in mind it is easy to draw comparisons between the story told and the comedy character of Alf Garnet. Both used the rather mindless idea of bigamy for humorous purposes but the defining fact is that as a people we have out grown the need to use such base observations to create an anecdote. Had the story revolved around two invalids jousting at the press table more people would have been offended.
And lastly simply because someone parents where oblivious to their own racism doesn't pave the way for the next generation of people to turn off to the fact that what was never acceptable is now so through ignorance.

Wes, were you watching the same game as me "...conceding that free kick was a mistake on the part of Puyol." That free kick was down to Henry conning the referee. He went down clutching his face when there was absolutely no contact. Shame on you Thierry! (was this his revenge for the battering he got from Puyol in the Champions League final?) As it was so clearly caught on camera if FIFA are serious about stamping out "simulation" then they should hit Henry with a suspension. Obviously they can't do anything about the award of the free kick, that France then scored from, but if it had been the other way round and Puyol had elbowed Henry in the face and the ref had missed it Puyol would probably have got a three game ban.

Aces... Normally when somebody presents such a diatribe of lengthy and ill conceived proportions I laugh at them for taking life too seriously.

However, the following comment "Both of the combatants looked Japanese, though I couldn't say for sure." (the apparent genesis of your incandescence) seems to be adequately contrasted by your words, and I quote "Japanese people are highly unlikely to be involved in such a public display, it is much more in keeping with the South Korean character."

Presumably you feel it is acceptable to firstly stereotype the entire Japanese nation in the given context of reticence and secondly brand South Korean Culture as pugnacious and attention seeking.

Perhaps before you next decide to wildly lay into an article that had neither offensive nor racial overtures you will consider the context of your argument more carefully... That way you may avoid the risk of bestowing such unfair titles upon the some 176 million people who jointly populate Japan and S.Korea... Having read and given due consideration to your disquiet with regard to the lack of cultural sensitivity the author displayed in his work, I believe there is a sentence in your piece that you would do well to remember yourself

"Sir, I find your generalisations, assumptions and ignorance to be highly offensive... May I suggest that you do a modicum of sports and cultural research before you go publishing your half baked witterings in future?"

Need anymore be said?

as if aces being a moron isnt enough, ricky has to join in.
who gives a hoot wot nation they were from for gods sake jst chill out and get ur head out of ur arse

The comments from both Aces and Ricky highlight the very problem that we have in the world with racial tensions and over reaction to a humourous article. You wouldn't be the same people who are telling me to take down my St.Georges cross because it might upset the ethnic minorities would you? (Incidently i don't see them as ethnic minorities but as my fellow England fans)

Anyhoo, all that aside I just wanted to point out that yet again in this match we have seen a HUGE card count, have we reached a record yet for the number of cards issued in one tournament? I think FIFA's idea to curb dangerous play has actually ended up leading to huge spate of diving knowing full well the opposing player will be booked for it. When i used to play lads n dads up at the croft I seem to remember doing everything in my power to stay on my feet, it appears professional footballers these days doing everything they can to hit the ground. Are they all wannabe goal keepers?

My apologies, I forgot to include my name on post 22... Incase anyone should 'personaly' want to reply.

Richard Burnell

Aces, must be hard to have a conversation with you, without you going off on one.

On a footy note, the French team's confidence would have doubled after this victory. I think the Brazil match will be close, but France may edge it after this.

Oops. Certainly not my intention to cause any offence.

I could not say for sure at the time where the two guys came from and certainly did not feel as though the time was right to ask.

I could have stated that they were both Japanese for sure - but that would have been a lie.

Any anyway, I could not say for certain when looking at someone whether they were from Germany, Holland, Belgium etc and I'm European.

What I will say is this - someone watching the incident, who I will state with confidence came from the USA, shouted: "You might be able to do that sort of thing in your parliament but you're not there now."

GIVE ACES HIS OWN BLOG SPACE!!!! funniest thing i've read in ages....................oh wait a minute, he was being serious?!?!? Ah well, it made me laugh..SIGN HIM UP!

Ricky, bigomy or bigotry?

I thought it was a very funny observation! My guess is that it could well have been a Japanese and a South Korean having a go at one another. Such is the dislike the two countries have for each other. Although I would always back a Korean to thrash a Japanese.

Ace was making a point, there's no need for people to be so rude to him. One could also suggest that you lot get a life/girlfriend aswell instead of reading this blog. Personally, I would rather read a blog from real fans, or people at the beeb who are doing something interesting - ie the one by the MOTD editor is v informative. I suspect this one has particular blog has only come about because 2 brash, confident journos wanted to go the world cup and "be part of it all", and their editor went along with them coz theyre all mates.

I liked Ricky's post above (20), but I didn't see anything in Fletch's excellent report about bigamy - now that would have been exciting in the queue for tickets.
Do you think he meant bigotry?
Keep up the good work Fletch, more colour, more stories that the other reporters don't bring us.
H

can we not get over the slagging each other off and remember why we are even writing on this blog. the best footballing tournament in the world is being played and we are all talking about a comment made by someone who knows nowt. so get over it and concentrate on the footy.

Traiq, ur absolutely right. Im getting fed up of people posting just pointless and rude comments for the sake of it. If you have something to say, respect other poeples view and if not ignore them. I thought this was about footbal and fun. And well done France, but Brasil will get you anyways!

I thought that it had been shown to some degree that people from a one ethnic origin found it more difficult to distinguish between facial features of another very different ethnic origin. Thus someone who was brought up in Japan (for example) might find it more difficult to distinguish between say two Brits or a Brit and a Ukrainian, its not offensive just a product of where you were brought up.

Not to be pickey again but he may have been canadian!!!

"Aces" seems a bit of an idiot with too much time on his hands. this is cleary a light hearteded attepment at a blog. Don't take life so seriously you goon

Hi,
i to am a latecomer, but loved the blog. Everyone ease off Aces, everyones welcome to an opinion. However if someone said they looked Scottish or British when they were in fact English, no offence would be taken, i guess some people are just more sensitive than others.

Aces is right to some point. My take on this is either South Korean or Communist Chinese. South Korean men love to get into fist fights, just look at their Parliament sessions and students fighting with riot police.

As for Communist Chinese, they have a total disregard for law & order. Qs are meant to be scoffed at, only sissies Q. Better option is to fight it out.

As for Japanese, its hard for me to fathon 2 grown Japenese men fighting. They are law & order compliant. They aren't self-serving people. So there.

''All generalizations are dangerous, even this one.''

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)

Shows you that no matter what you do or how much care you take to avoid offence, someone determined to be offended will manage to find a way.

Lots of comments have adequately stated that Aces, and to an extent Ricky, are much too focused on reading between the lines a message which is not there, but founded on some deep-seated personal mentality.

Fletch, I'm sure it was an entertaining few minutes, regardless of who the protaganists were. Did you get YOUR pass? :-D

Thai boxing is superior.

Ricky, how dare you make such a scurrilous generalisation in suggesting that 主播大秀 journalists and fictitious elderly West Ham fans are bigamists.

Based on this ridiculous stereotyping that and ignorance of the facts, the next thing we鈥檒l hear is that fine and respected Premiership footballers turn into cheating con-artists (in the time honoured style of Rivaldo 鈥渙oh, my face鈥�) as soon as they play for their country (against Spain, in the No12 shirt).

Oh, hang on a minute鈥�

Ace is making himself look a fool, and now Ricky (entry 20) has to join him. I think we've all has enough of the government and people using political correctness as a reason to start debate - when there was not debate there to be had in the first place.

By generalising people one is not being reacist - its a simple matter of how to distinguish people. And the Alf Garnet character was designed to take the michael out of people actually like him - the public knew that 15 years ago - you would think it was plainly obvious in these days.

I am not one to agree with racism in any way - and will fight against it, but we must still use common sense - so stop sitting on your high horse and actually do something about it Ricky and Ace, stop making thing difficult for no reason!

For the sake of Ricky, and at the risk of further PC abuse, bigamy is defined as a man with one too many wives. Strangely enough I've found that monogamy is the same thing.

hmmm, lets see this from a different perspective.

....two totally drunk journalists, who looked to be Scottish, though I couldn't say for sure, had just vomited on the floor and after breaking their bottles of bourbon, fell asleep on the floor, in their own heave.

Now I am sure nobody Scottish would mind that, right? Or notice the bourbon?

Julian Tatara (No, I am not English)

Isn't Karma great...seeing Aragones get beaten by a team of predominantly black players. Let's hope he crawls under a rock and stays there. Not that it should matter, but I am caucasion

Alright guys, this is mainly to the first poster. Flectch didn't mean any harm when he said the two guys fighting 'looked Japanese' it was certaintly not in an aggressive, degrading or racist manner.

So basically, the first guy who responded with the essay, one short, suggestful sentance would have done. No harm was meant, so get off your high horse.

Aces, practise what you preach. Generalisations you complain about, and you're putting down south Koreans at the same time. Something must have happened in your childhood to reply with such an anal attitude.

I thought Aces' comment was even funnier than the original entry but since everyone is taking it seriously, well...

I don't know what all the fuss is about. All Aces is trying to say is that a top journalist should know better than to guess someone is Japanese given that situation.

I know people of one ethnicity will find it difficult to differentiate nationalities of people of another ethnicity, but well-informed people would be expected to know this and so not make such prejudgements.

Its like, if a japanese person sees a "westerner" spitting in the street and say they are probably american - its clear they have no idea which nationalities are more likely to spit than others. It shows ignorance. The correct guess would of course be "french" ;)

Actually, Julian Tatara, the scots would take offence: they drink scotch, not Bourbon. (yes I'm being light hearted, but just try suggesting to a scot that bourbon is whisky!) and besides, the bottles would be empty...

This is Political Correctness gone mad!

Martin, I think if you ruled the world, people wouldnt be able to talk anymore due to the fear of getting the death penalty for not being 100% sure of a persons domicile!

And your comment about most people in the UK being ignorant fools infuriates me....why don't you move to Asia and start taking courses on "Identifying A Person's Domicile By First Impressions"

I actually detest people like you.

Aces was obviously a bit wound up. All the 'shut up you leftie' etc comments are equally boring. I thought it was pretty funny that Aces tried to show some kind of due diligence by categorizing Asians according to his assumptions of their public behaviour. Evidence, if ever any was needed, that if you give people enough rope they'll hang themselves. Funny article, would have been interesting to find out more about the two blokes in question (and where they're actually from!)

Hang on a second...Isn't this the world cup 2006 blog??

Lets talk about Aaron Lennon instead. My personal opinion is that he needs to be utilised against portugal for one reason - energy. I can see shades of 2004 already, if the temperature is high we will fade in the latter stages and defend too deeply as usual. The likes of Downing and Lennon are essential if we are to break this trend, it will give us breathing space if we are under pressure and their enthusiasm will fire up the rest of the team. if that means giving way to Beckham, so be it.

Did someone say why are the Italians still in teh tornament!
Must be one of them there new teams who dont really understand football (soccer to you).
I found it interesting that one of the Australian players was quoted as saying that he didn't know how he felt after the game, Im sure a few more tornaments with a few more gut wrenching heart breaking exits will still not ease the pain, thats the beauty of the World Cup, its like a dream but your only to be awakened with a bucket of freezing water drenching you and your comfortable bed, and then your told to go to work with the worlds worst hangover, unless you have a world cup winning hangover. World class teams win matches, the rest just have fun. Forza! Azzurri (and England)

I don't get it, why would a scotsman be at the world cup?

I think this is my first and last visit to these blogs.

Martin points out that Fletch has made a "racist slur" in his blog.

I think he's trying to infer that the rest of us are racist for not acknowledging it ourselves.

*sigh*

Stop the world, I want to get off...

Paul Fletcher wrote - "a short middle aged man with bottle top glasses"... I am surprised that all myopic readers of this blog haven't taken offence to that comment... please, get a life, it's a bit of fun!

Surely that would have been a more surprising and less controversial story... You found an American at the 'soccer' world cup!*

* I accept by use of this term that I am mocking Americans via a stereotype that will not exclusively define nor apply to every person who affiliates themselves or is a citizen of the United States Of America.

Furthermore I accept that many Americans enjoy football and refer to it accordingly without using the word soccer and contrary to Budweiser鈥檚 current advertising policy do in fact understand the offside rule.

I apologise in advance if anyone mistakes my misjudged efforts at a satirical remark that plays on these statistically unsubstantiated stereotypes of citizens of the USA and their general lack of interest in the FIFA world cup.

I accept that any offence that I may cause will wholly and unconditionally be my responsibility and that a controlled precision strike of cruise missiles may now be targeted at my home address in retaliation for suggesting via unsubstantiated means that Citizens of the USA are not interested in the FIFA world cup.

Moreover I further deem myself liable for criticism owing to my repeated use of the generic term 'America' which does not exist as unified socio-economic power bloc nor political entity but is held in regard by many to mean the United States but does in fact refer to a broad collection of countries that share the land mass that makes up the American Continent

Although the above is stated without intent to cause offence it is further held as a stated truth that, that which is written herein may be taken in a context that is unfavourable to ones own national interest thereby causing discourse appertaining to it's genesis and merit to in a pejorative context.

Should this situation arise it is my wish to state that the above is given without liability and with in mind those who would place such disclaimers on all humour pending a full review into whether or not the said mirth shall be permitted in future circumstances pending the inability that some might have when dealing with humour that may impinge on their own inability to accept that it is possible to make a joke either at ones or another鈥檚 expense without fostering long term hatred nor racial prejudice for the said subject matter.

Hey what started as very funny article written by our man fletch highlighting some lightweight and entertaining 'fighting', some people are turning it into bull about race/discrimmination etc. Get a grip and stop turning everything into a battle, theres enough of that in the world. This is a harmless story which we should all laugh at, which we all are with the exception of the 'aces and rickys' in ere

''All generalizations are dangerous, even this one.''

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)

great post, thanks. only bit of wisdom on this whole blog. Original entry was ok, things can be taken many ways, depending how you want to look at it. If you want to see discrimination you'll see it, if you want to see light-hearted humour then you'll see that also. Both are there if you want them to be. At the end of the day it comes down to what kind of mind you have. People who took it as offensive you're only causing yourself suffering, people who took offense at people being offended likewise. It's just a blog someone wrote about a fight he saw. a bunc of words. No-one lost a job, was injured (except the guys fighting!) or insulted.. at least not until the following arguement started.

I'm white, my wife's indian, we face race issues all the time, the point is you can't ignore race completely, but you can acknowledge it's mostly some minor physical differences and a lot of learned behaviours that really are all in your mind. It's there and it's not.

Yes, the sky is blue, but so what if it is?

I would like to give 'aces' the benefit of the doubt and assume his comment is a joke....

Sadly it appears to be serious!

Like the others say aces clearly has issues...

The point he misses is that the combatants might well have looked like Japanese and Fletch may well know the general characteristics that separate someone of Japanese estraction from other asian nations...next time fletch, you better check their passports!

Even if he doesn't know the difference who cares? I have been mistaken for Australian, Danish, French, Irish...etc etc. Was I offended? Only about the Australian one!

Coolpants couldnt agree more

'ello,'ello, 'ello......what kind of fracas do we have here? I鈥檓 police officer and my name is Gone Mad. So just call me PC Gone Mad please.
Sounds like its World War, not World Cup, so lets get back to the more pressing business of football.

England in the quarter finals despite playing like they've never met each other is rather pleasing, purely for the fact that we are winning whilst playing poorly. I'm sure every England fan is praying to whichever God they have (you see it's a multicultural society here...crazy) that form will improve and somehow the magic will click. I certainly think Lennon will be used, although not from the start, as his pace, energy and freshness will prove vital in the last 30mins, rather than the 3 minutes he got against Ecuador. Surely Theo Walcott (who?) must be brought on at some stage otherwise his only inclusion must be as a team mascot. I see the same formation being used (with Neville returning) and I see Portugal having a rough time without Deco their playmaker. No doubt it will be another 'squeaky-bum' match viewed between the fingers, but like a true tabloid brainwashed, patriotic England fan I feel we will prevail.

P.S - not sure which race I am, but pretty sure it's the human race.

P.P.S -I'm not really a Police officer so please no berks having a go at me for impersonating one...although is that possible in cyber-space? Anyway, my head hurts now

I once saw a one-legged black lesbian fighting a muslim immigrant, but I don't think I'll mention that here !

ALLEZ LES BLEUES!!!
ALLEZ LES BLEUES!!!
ALLEZ LES BLEUES!!!
MAIS ILS SONT OU?
MAIS ILS SONT OU?
MAIS ILS SONT OU LES BREZILIENS ...LA LA LA LA LA LA ...
ZE FROGS ARE GOING TO WIN THE WORLD CUP ... LALALALALALA..........
ZIZOU
ZIZOU
ZIZOU....

I saw a Swedish looking gentleman being attacked by an angry mob of English people of every colour and creed. I think its called a premonition.

Just out of interest, why is it that no-one has made the point that Fletch may actually have some knowledge of how different asian/oriental people look? The fact of teh matter is, that there are differences in appearance in people from the different countries in the Orient? Has anyone maybe wondered if it is the case that the journos that Fletch saw fighting, were actually Japanese?!?!?

Why has there been no official admonishment from FIFA for the large contingent of Spanish fans booing the French National anthem. given that FIFA hardly punished them for the racist abuse that the fans have given black players this does not seem surprising. If it had been English fans doing either then I'm sure Sepp Blatter would have had plenty to say and all sorts of threats made to the FA.

The problem with this page now is that it has become a witch hunt about something that has nothing to do with football.....
It seems that some toes, or perhaps one toe in particular, have been trodden on. If no one had responded in the way most people have it would have simply been the first comment on a page about football that has little to do with the title. Aces has said his thing, lets talk about how horrible it is to go out to an obvious dive like Australia did,.... That's what this page is designed for.

Superjim, that was my point...(see kung fu = bourbon) and you're right, the bottles were broken AFTER being emptied. Is there any other way? :)

am i right in assuming aces's entry has been removed...i read all these references to aces's and am lost as to what they're referring to ..so cannot comment!

you are right in assuming ant ace's entry has been removed, good riddance

1. Excellent article, nice to see the 'behind doors' part of the World Cup

2. I have to agree with most of the comments here - I fail to see how "the two combatants looked Japanese" is any worse than saying "far more likely to be South Korean or Communist Chinese". It is purely descriptive - if Fletch had written two ginger guys were fighting it out, no-one would complain.... I, for one, don't think that Fletch even tried to be humourous.

Spain bottled it. Up until Ribery's equaliser they were in control, and in Raul and Villa they had close support for Torres that could get at the French, but taking them off to go like-for-like with the French ceded the initiative.

Will Henry be allowed to play in the premier league next year, or will Vic Akers appoint her captain of Arsenal's Ladies? At least it's finally ok for straight men to fancy him!

Can I say how upset I am that I have a) Missed the blog from ACE, sounds as though he has got the intention of the site all wrong.
b) That it was not my brother, as he may now return to ruin our chances.

I am sure I was clear when I gave instructions to get Gawwy Neville.

Loved the blog but the subsequent fireworks have just served to highlight the adage about how arguing on the internet is like competing in the special olympics.

Aces post seems to have disappered from the Blog!

Martin, (comment 49)

Are you on some sort of RSS feed that finds the word "racist" so you can have use a well prepared and much posted comment?

'kin hell this was a report about a reporter who saw two fellow reporters of South East Asian origin fighting. I can tell the difference becuase I have lived in a few of the countries, it took some time, so you have to forgive him for his (possible) error. It would have been a real faux pas to state that it was one Nationality against another don't you think? The story didneed clarification of appearance and if he just said South East Asian origin some would have critisised his generaliation (oh hang on).

If the protaganists had been European I would have expected Fletch to guess their Nationality because the art of a journalist is to make the story readable. The guess did just that.

I do not know your origins but, with your level of tolerance, I would suggest that you are what you came out of :-)

One was purely trying to lighten the mood with a touch of humour.

I think that we are all aware of the sensitivities in today's world.

Here's hoping that England鈥檚 build up to the most important game in years, does not suffer the same ignorance.

Cometh the hour cometh the man.

Nice to hear about the media struggling just as much as fans in the ticket dept. Just out of interest can anyone translate POST 63

I believe 主播大秀 censorship may have removed Ace鈥檚 comment. I can鈥檛 find it anywhere but by reading all the responses I can get an idea of what he/she may have written.

Let me say the following from a journalistic point of view. At this point, I am still unsure how (or if at all) a blog forum fits into the journalistic milieu. But this is an official 主播大秀 (globally accessible) sponsored site and the authors are 主播大秀 compensated journalists which implies that certain journalistic rules should apply to their reporting. Therefore, Paul was indeed negligent in calling the two feuding individuals 鈥楯apanese鈥� without ever researching their nationality. By doing so, he potentially insulted 128 million Japanese citizens and trivialized the Asian race. I have no doubt that 鈥楩letch鈥� meant no harm or indented to insult anyone but the fact is he obviously did. Furthermore, by being negligent in his research he has unintentionally shifted the focus of his report from a conflict within the stadium media center to (potentially) having wrongly identified two of his subjects. Journalistically speaking that is something you don鈥檛 want to do. Look, the 主播大秀 is without a doubt one of the world鈥檚 finest news organization and I enjoy reading Fletch鈥檚 lighthearted reports. I鈥檓 also sure that in his regular news reporting he would have thoroughly researched all aspects of his report. But I think this legitimate discussion also deserves this particular point of view. I hope 鈥榥o hard feelings鈥� Paul! Actually, I think you鈥檙e smiling because you initiated a very profound 鈥榩ublic鈥� debate.
Respectfully and with best regards,
Wolf

I would just like to confirm like most people in this thread, that I have nothing to say.

Paul, please let me correct myself. I should not write that you may have insulted some readers but that some may have been offended. Big difference. Sorry!
Wolf

I feel that, how you English say, "my metartarsel has been broken" by all this talk of Racisim...

CAN WE GET BACK ONTO THE SUBJECT OF FOOTBALL?

Well done Team England, once again it was hard work for you in your last game but a steadily improving performance and the right result was achieved - AND WHAT A QUALITY GOAL!
In fact since Gerrard's volley all the goals have been quality, keep on improving and once Lampard and Rooney get on the score-sheet, any opposition you next face will be worried as there will be a goal-threat from every area of the pitch; add to this our threat from excellent set-pieces you will have them shaking in their boots.
"COME ON ENDLAND!"

I am looking forward to the match against Portugal with nervous anticipation hoping that you now start scoring goals with alacrity, particularly now that it's been announced that the Ref. is an Argentinian, the dodgy Ref. in our opening game was bad enough - need I say more?

You will need a cushion of a few goals to make it difficult for the Ref. to influence the game negatively as in 2004.

Come on Robinson and co. we need the defence to be at their very best from now on - no more "shakey" moments.

Come on Rooney, keep your cool and score a hat-trick!

I would like to point out that my previous post, which made a point very similar to Wolf's (albeit slightly more emphatically) has also been removed by the 主播大秀. Perhaps instead of "comments", the link should read "approvals"...

Every Brit knows the difference between the Chinese/Koreans and the Japanese - we learn at primary school the difference in how their eyes slant!

Paul Fletcher should realise Kung Fu is Chinese; Karate is Japanese; and, drawing The Simpsons is Korean.

What's wrong with saying that somebody looks Japanese? Japanese people don't look like Koreans, and Koreans don't look like they're Chinese (for the most part at least and certainly not like Taiwanese who're more polynesian). I could go into detail but I'd probably get slagged off. Just do a Google image search and see for yourself that the differences are enormous once you start paying attention (unlike us westerners who really DO look the same in comparison)

The only way to settle this is to get Paul to sit down and do a test. Show him 100 mugshots of east asians and see how many false positives he makes. Then compare that to the actual number of japanese in the sample. We should aim for about 50% japanese, but keep the real number from him otherwise he could benefit by using process of elimination.

Its a shame that so many japanese would have already gone home with their team - their faces would have been very helpful to this trial.

Please, stop saying that Luis Aragon茅s is a racist, because he is not. There was a translation problem around his words. He didn't say Henry was a "black shit". In Spain we use the word shit on a regular basis. It would be more correct to translate his words as 'tell that shitty black', which is not quite strange considering we say shitty about everything in our language (shitty boy, shitty kid, shitty chair, shitty everything!) as well as we poo on everything too! (i shit on your mother, i shit on god, i shit on... etc). So please, don't keep on insisting about Luis Aragones being a racist because he is not! For crying out loud. He is a sport's man. He shared his life with black players while being a player himself, and now, being a coach, he treats his players, black or white, as if they were his own sons (you could hear Samuel Eto'o speaking marvels about him; he even calls him 'granpa'!)

And about the "monkey booing" of the fans, well, that goes deeper than racism. It's about inculture. It's about stupidity. Spanish fans don't make those monkey sounds because they are racists, but because it is for them (soccer fans, who are usually so culturally limitated) the easiest way to irritate the players of the other team. Why then Real Madrid fans wouldn't boo to Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos or Robinho.... but they do boo to Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o? And why wouldn't Spain National Squad fans wouldn't boo to Marcos Senna but they did boo to France's Henry or England's Ashley Cole?

Believe me. I don't know if you guys in England have a problem with racism. If you do, I'm really sorry and you guys have our support to solve it. But our problem is not racism. Ours is inculture and stupidity. And we also have to work on solving it...

I'm sure most people would find what chect wrote, above, pretty laughable.

If a manager calls a player a "shitty black" then I think most people would agree its a racist comment. Why? Well, because he is combining a derogatory adjective (shitty) with an irrelevant physical characteristic (i.e. skin colour). There are many people that would go further and say that simply by refering to a player as "black" is racist, although I wouldnt go that far personally.

In terms of relevance, it would be more appropriate to say something like "shitty Fifa Player of the Year nominee".

Its like, if an employee is unhappy with the CEO and says she is a "shitty woman" then its going to come across as sexist.

Chect - Thank you for the crystal clear explanation. I believe you because I have lived in Spain and I know what you mean about the excessive use of "shitty this or that". I remember in 1991 going to see INXS at Wembley Stadium, mexican wave in full action, and when INXS came on the whole crowd were doing the monkey chants myself included - it is just an impacting sound that propels volume - a bit like a loud whistle. Also, listen Faith No More's live album - you can hear the singer doing the 'ooh ooh's - nowadays called monkey chants. Not a racist action. Mark, above, clearly never lived outside his little 'shitty' island. By the way I have lived in 8 countries in total, and I can tell you racism isnt strong in spain. however go eastern europe - boy oh boy...