? Miami Heat star comes under media pressure
? James at first denied comment
Another difficult week for Miami Heat's LeBron James, who has found himself picked up by media throughout the country for referring to a question from a journalist as "retarded" during a press conference.
Facing reporters with team-mate Dwayne Wade after a Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA's Eastern Conference semi-finals, he was heard to mumble the word behind his hand as Wade was asked about Miami's alleged dirty play.
As the affair attracted attention the player initially claimed he didn't know what people were talking about, then admitted he had used the term, before finally saying sorry on Monday. "I want to apologize for using the 'R' word after Game 3," he said after the Heat's Game 4 overtime victory. "If I offended anyone, I sincerely apologise."
By then, as James must surely know, the damage was already done. "LeBron James was oblivious that his use of the word 'retarded' was offensive," said the Boston Herald, while the Chicago Sun?Times noted: "James, who wields more cultural power than almost anyone else, is completely clueless when he demeans and trivializes ... In the game of sensitivity, he shot a giant brick."
Advocacy groups had called for the apology, although since then much has also been made of the $100,000 fine imposed on Kobe Bryant last month when he used a homophobic slur towards a referee during a game. The NBA has, as yet, not announced any plans to fine James.
USA: Video nasty for radio announcer
A tough week, too, for Mike Parker, the radio voice of Oregon State University sport. The announcer, who has been commentating for 12 years, is to seek treatment for his alcohol problems. The decision was taken after a video on YouTube, which had been online for sometime, showing what appeared to be a very drunk man eating a napkin, turned out to be Parker.
"To be in that kind of state, and so obviously terribly impaired from the alcohol that I could not be aware of what I was doing, is very frightening. It's embarrassing, it's shameful, it's humiliating," Parker told the Oregonian on Wednesday.
The video was taken at a Denny's diner while Oregon's Beavers men's basketball team were in Los Angeles to play USC and UCLA. Parker appears to be blissfully unaware he was happily munching on a napkin despite the derision of fellow diners.
He described his alcohol problems as "long-standing" but had been unaware they had been immortalised on film until a colleague drew his attention to it several weeks ago.
USA: Larry Bird obsession gives fan the bird
Some regret also for Boston Celtics fan Eric Torpy, who is now coming to terms with voluntarily asking for an extra three years on a prison sentence to honour his Celtics hero Larry Bird, reports the Boston Globe.
In court on charges of armed robbery and shooting with intent to kill in 2005, he was facing a 30-year sentence and told the judge he wanted three more to match the 33 on Bird's iconic shirt. "He said if he was going down, he was going to go down in Larry Bird's jersey,'' the Oklahoma district judge Ray Elliott told the Associated Press. "He was just as happy as he could be.''
Six years in a state penitentiary has changed his mind, however, as he explained in an interview with the Globe: "I kind of wished that I had 30 instead of 33. Recently I've wisened up," he said. "That three is a big deal, you know? Three years matters.''
With elegant symmetry for Torpy, who has a "3" tattooed on each of his elbows, will turn 33 this year and is eligible for parole in 2033, it's all about the Bird: "I'll always represent Larry Bird,'' he said. "He'll always be on me ... To me, he supersedes all basketball legends.''
But the convict is equally equanimous about what the Bird thinks about him. "I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm an idiot,'' he said. "I mean, truthfully, most people do. My own family does, so I'm pretty sure he does, too.''
Australia: Country unites to honour Lionel Rose
Australia has come together amid glowing tributes for boxer Lionel Rose, who died last Sunday. The fighter was the first Aboriginal Australian to win a world title, beating Japan's Masahiko "Fighting" Harada in Tokyo for the bantamweight belt in 1968.
His win was widely credited with opening doors for Aboriginals, who, at the time, did not have the right to vote. Rose had a record of 42 wins and 11 losses and was welcomed home after his victory by a quarter of a million celebrating Australians.
"We've lost not only a very good sportsman, but a very fine person," contemporary fighter Johnny Famechon told the Australian. Trainer Johnny Lewis acknowledged Rose's contribution in the same paper: "In the ring he was a superstar and he helped bring the country together."
The ex-Wallabies rugby union captain Mark Ella described him as the "greatest indigenous athlete of all-time" and "a champion in every sense of the word". While the Courier Mail summed up collective feelings by commenting: "The national outpouring of grief following his death is testament to an 'everyman' who reflected in all of us ? our successes and failures, our strengths and foibles."
Something Rose would surely have approved of. Upon returning from Tokyo, he insisted his mother, Gina, join him in an open-top car to experience the cheering of the crowds. When asked whether his win would help the indigenous people and their struggles, he replied: "I'm not too clued up with all this. I think of myself as an Australian. I don't go in for all this black and white thing. To me, we're all Australians."
An answer that could be, in itself, no more Australian, in every sense of the word. Rightly saluted as a national hero, he is to be laid to rest at a state funeral tomorrow.
Italy: Gattuso told to clean up his act
Milan's 0-0 draw with Roma, which clinched the side's first title since 2004 last Saturday, has continued to be reported throughout the week but to some extent on an unexpected level as some faecal-themed celebratory chanting has taken a little gloss off the win.
The midfielder Gennaro Gattuso thanked and then joined travelling Milan Ultras in the stands who, unsurprisingly, set about repeating their favourite chants with the player enthusiastically joining in. However, the repertoire soon brought them to: "Leonardo: uomo di merda" or "Leonardo: man of shit", in reference to the former Milan hero, who joined rivals Inter as coach this season.
While his team-mate Ignazio Abate realised that what may be acceptable for fans is less-so for players expected not to deliberately cause offence, and ceased the chant, Gattuso happily carried on. The incident is proving a little embarrassing for his club.
Gazzeta Dello Sport soon urged him to "take a look at yourself and clean up". While Gattuso did not apologise but said: "I didn't start the singing off. I just went and joined the fans for a few chants. Should I apologise for joining in with them?" Which was not enough.
Leonardo asked for an explanation in a statement on the Inter website: "The day I decided to leave Milan, Gattuso said to me that I had at least been coherent in my choice. But today I read in lots of papers that he still wants to give his own version of events. I would very much like to know what he has to say, since neither on the phone nor in person has that ever been possible. Furthermore, I would like to know what Milan's official position is on this matter."
Prompting the following from Milan's vice-president, Adriano Galliani: "Let's not make a drama out of this. I haven't seen the footage but I think it is just a venial sin." Firmly placing his player's misbehaviour into the "non-mortal" naughtiness bracket ? "venial" being described as a "sin that is not regarded as depriving the soul of divine grace".
However, Galliani was unforthcoming on the stance Christian theology would take when addressing the issue of the amount of holy opprobrium to be levelled at someone headbutting Spurs' coach Joe Jordan in the face. As Gattuso did in February.
India: Cheeerleader in demand after sacking
Problems and possibilities in the same week for the Indian Premier League cheerleader Gabriella Pasqualotto, who has found herself sacked and sent home after blogging on her experiences, and specifically about Australian cricketers in the IPL, but has since found herself in considerable demand.
The South African was a cheerleader for the Mumbai Indians and described her role as "like walking porn", a phrase the Hindustan Times repeated in a banner headline with relish. "The men see your face, then your boobs, your butt, and then your boobs again!" she continued.
However, despite a reference to the parties at night "when it all happens", some players came out of the blog rather well. "The few Indian players we have met, such as MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, have been very polite and keep to themselves in the dark corners. Hotshots like Tendulkar with families at home are never present," she wrote. Others, however, were not so fortunate.
"The Aussies are fun but naughty, such as Aiden Blizzard and Dan Christian," she said. "By the end of a crazy evening, a certain someone had played kissing catchers with three girls known to me only, although he has his own girlfriend back home. He cooed to each girl: 'Come home with me, I just want to cuddle!'"
The cricketer in question remains unknown but it is understood Pasqualotto was sacked after an unnamed Australian player complained about the blog. Upset and angry, she told ESPN Star: "I was sent home as if I was a criminal," and: "Nothing I wrote was directed at any one person. I think the cricketer who complained had a guilty conscience." She then reiterated her original claims: "The guys treated us like pieces of meat."
It's not all bad. The issue has again raised the debate in India of why western women are imported as cheerleaders to the IPL and Pasqualotto has admitted she is having no trouble selling her story to the Indian, Australian and South African press. "Due to the huge publicity and interest with my story, I have been approached by many media clientele, locally and internationally," she told the Hindustan Times, while also busily tweeting: "Not after fame/money. Just want to be heard."
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