Sammy Sosa’s Troubling, Outlandish Skin
1-liner, Baseball, ESPN November 14th. 2009, 11:30am
Jemele Hill! Run While You Can: “Sosa’s new look implies that he has a “color complex” — a term used to describe those who have been brainwashed to believe adopting more “white” features will help them gain mainstream acceptance … If you don’t believe there’s any racial component to Sosa’s new look, you haven’t been paying attention to the backlash he’s been receiving since those photos hit the Web.” Yes, by linking it, we’re doing exactly what’s intended here. Honestly, after reading this, it would be only be fair that someone relentlessly hammer away at my eyes with a spiked bat. What an utterly pointless, painful, atrocious piece. [ESPN]
50 Responses to “Sammy Sosa’s Troubling, Outlandish Skin”
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November 14th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Not only that, but it’s a premise she lifted from somebody else. I don’t remember where, but I saw something saying the exact same thing over a week ago.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:37 am
How long until Wade Boggs tries to turn himself African-American? Wouldn’t that be the opposite of this? Or maybe Big Mac?
November 14th, 2009 at 11:38 am
It’s not exactly a unique premise that she would have to “lift from someone else”. The bottom line is she makes good points especially this one:
November 14th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Pseudo-intellectual claptrap.
Jemele Hill, reason #1 why a liberal arts degree is a complete waste of time and money.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Darrell, you have to be kidding.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I don’t care. Is this Jamele Hill’s tryout for TMZ or Perez Hilton, where the critiquing of ones look is appreciated the most? This story has been beaten to death over the past week. I don’t care for her at all, most everything she writes deals with race and it’s unreadable at this point.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Pseudo-intellectual claptrap? You cannot be this dense.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:46 am
PS. That catch by Frank Wycheck off of that linebacker was something. Was it concussions that ended his career?
November 14th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Kidding about what? Sosa’s role in that home run race? Can you imagine Junior or Bonds playing the role Sosa did?
November 14th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Cut the bullshit. Looks are criticized on this blog everyday (the Steve Phillips chick).
November 14th, 2009 at 11:54 am
He obviously has some issues about his skin color. Him “pretending” to be a buffoon is a bit of a stretch. The guy is a moron.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Ever wonder why he went by Sammy, instead of his birthname (Samuel)? He secretly wanted to Jewish, like Sammy Davis, Jr.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Yeah, I didn’t get that at all.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:57 am
This is a Blog. Not ESPN. It’s been made very obvious that this blog talks about sports and girls. I don’t expect to log onto ESPN and see that shit. So yes, I expect to come to this site and see the critiquing of a fat hog that a TV personality banged, because thats the nature of this website.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Did Bonds have to play the role of a buffoon when he was chasing the home run record? No? Ok, moving on.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
whitey bad.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
The natives are restless this morning. And Darrell, your first point is “dense” so you can’t really point fingers. Jemele Hill is a plague whose only literary premise is “the race card”. Maybe if she wrote about another topic she wouldn’t take criticism. But that, is unpossible.
In other news, I can confirm that Buckeye fans are the most insufferable lifeforms on the planet. They’re climbing past Red Sox fans. Got into Columbus around 9:30 central time. Go Hawks!
November 14th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Not even going to click on the link. Jemele Hill is just a terrible columnist. I wish she would fuck an intern so ESPN had to get rid of her.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Where was it said that he was pretending to be a buffoon?
November 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Their columnists are on their Page2 site. You don’t read a columnist site for news, but for opinion.
fail
November 14th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
a whole lot of noise signifying nothing.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
i think the bigger problem is white people acting and talking like what they think black is.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Was Bonds competing against anyone when chasing the record as Sosa and McGwire were with each other in 98? If Bonds was in that situation, would he have played the willing sidekick/buffoon role Sosa did?
November 14th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
You link me one jemele hill piece that doesn’t comment on race, I’ll PayPal you a black and white cookie.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Really? I haven’t been to a game in Columbus, but at the Fiesta Bowl in AZ a few years ago, they were cool.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Darrell, you’re missing the point. Even if Sosa is actively trying to “look white”, who cares? Maybe he likes the look. I like the way my skin looks after a weekend spent on the beach, but that doesn’t matter apparently because of “history and perception,” two meaningless buzzwords used by Hill to peddle another pointless race column.
Her underlying intent (and yours too, I assume) is to make Sosa out to be some sort of Uncle Tom character, just because he lightened his skin, based on a general, sloppy claim that “some people of color have adopted a negative attitude toward their looks.” It is part of her shtick and it is just tiring.
And if that’s the case, I suggest neither of you click this link.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
what “role” did you want sosa to play? arrogant asshole? it wasnt like he was acting like uncle ruckus or something. he was playing nice guy so he could get more money from advertising and such. sammy sosa is smart enough to know that the real sammy sosa wouldnt sell to anyone. black,white,brown,purple or pink.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
So what if that is her role on Page 2? The intelligent person would ask if she was right, and if they didn’t think she was be able to point it out column after column. If you can’t do that, but instead only point out the type of columns she writes, then just maybe her points hit you in a place where you aren’t comfortable. The problem isn’t her, it’s YOU!!!
November 14th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I enjoyed Big Mac and Sosa during that run. They both seemed to enjoy themselves.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
All Sosa had to be was a guy hitting home runs, just like McGwire was.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
here’s the thing darrell. how can people be blind to race if it is brought up constantly? not everything is racist or secretly racist. maybe sammy was just using a cream that happened to bleach his skin and it isnt a sign of him selling out to white media.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
How many times have we confirmed that ESPN is a sports entity which walks a sketchy lone since sports aren’t exactly journalistic a they aren’t a 4th estate that polices a governing body? You want to write about “issues”, get a job at the New Yorker. If you want to fail to write about them, I suppose you can get a job at page 2.
/cracks beer
//spits
///sits on porch in rocking chair with shotgun
////DEFINITELY racist
I’m gonna go watch some football. You keep fighting the good fight Darrell. I’ve got that black and white cookie on hold if you find one.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Uh-oh.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
There have always been negative connotations to dark skin created by the White race and adopted by many Blacks. Al Jolson made a career off of blackface. Minstrel shows, politcal cartoons, the depiction of characters in the movies and stage etc. Light skinned slaves kept in the house, dark skinned slaves kept in the fields. There is a difference between saying you don’t want to hear what Hill has to say, and trying to discredit what she has to say, and you’re confusing the 2. You may not want to hear what she is saying, but her points are legit.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I see awful things happening in photoshop.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I don’t watch much CFB, but this McCluster kid on Ole Miss reminds me a little bit of Chris Johnson.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Being blind to something means you can’t see it; it doesn’t mean the object doesn’t exist.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Darrell, what are you trying to get at? Let’s assume Sosa purposely dyed his skin to look lighter.
Quite literally . . . so what?
November 14th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Stick with the cookie. I wouldn’t want you biting off more than you can chew.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
well good thing he died in 1950
good thing slavery was abolished in 1863
do you have any recent examples?
November 14th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Jemelle Hill fucking sucks. That is all.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I’ve got to say, I don’t agree with all of Darrell’s points but I think many of you attacking him don’t have near the understanding on this issue. You can wish race away, but we have 100’s of years of customs and attitudes that play a role even today. I doubt a single person on this blog saw Chris Rock’s new movie “Good Hair” but it deals with some of the same issues, and Chris Rock isn’t some race-baiter just trying to score points. His movie about black women and men putting toxic chemicals in the hair just to look like caucasian hair isn’t something that’s made up. I’m not sure that most white people have been confronted with things like weaves and skin-bleaching, but low self-esteem about black skin and hair is nothing at all new.
Now I can’t say for sure what Sammy Sosa’s intent with the bleaching, but if you ever spend some time in a place like Brazil you ask about why people bleach their skin. Lighter skin is consistently thought of as a bad thing despite the fact that the average Brazilian is darker than even Sosa used to be. In all, I just think just jumping down Darrell and Jemele’s throat everytime race is brought up speaks to how uncomfortable people are talking about race in more than “Is racism bad?” kind of way. Whether you believe it or not, race does have some impacts on a day-to-day level like just about anything that has such a dramatic impact on the way we perceive the world or just America.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
/dick joke
November 14th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Gladwell has a whole chapter on this in Blink. The short answer is most whites and about half of blacks have a visceral, negative reaction to African features. It is not a general, sloppy claim. Or at least, their is research that indicates this that you can feel free to disagree with.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I should add in this country that is the case.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Where the White Women at?
November 14th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
So, if your point is that there is no cause and effect brought on by history that’s ignorant.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
If you want to find out if you’re subconsciously a racist go here and click the Race IAT.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
thank God I missed this thread
November 14th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
thank God I missed this thread
Ditt-fucking-O.