PFA Player of the Year

[MOGLET]

I understand the latent hypocrisy but why the fuck should Reg have to respond to the hysterical rants of a load of white journalists regarding race?

 

Racist fecker.

[sir roger]

Was Luis at the bash ?

 

I can't imagine he'll be too worried about being booed by a load of 1st & 2nd division players with 2 haircuts each.

[Dr. J]

"Some have argued that the use of the word 'n*****' can be acceptable if used by black people who, it is suggested, have the right to take ownership of the term."

 

Maybe they can rent it out, then. Or charge by the use.

 

The abject stupidity of criminalizing a word in a country where free speech is supposedly valued the begets ever more stupidity. So if one black guy calls another the n -word in anger it is less derogatory than a white player doing it?

 

It's just fecking stupid however they serve it up. Why weren't the police called in when he called Luis a ...?

[thompsonsnose]

When piety comes back to bite you squarely in the ass.

Suck it up you massive bunch of dicks.

Shown to all the world what a bunch of fools you are.

 

Carlisle: Comic was huge mistake | News

 

Karma 1 - 0 Twats.

[Red Banjo]

Is Carlisle going to be suspended for 8 matches now then? I don't find an apology enough personally. The bar has been set for these things now

[Gym Beglin]

Is Clarke Carlisle on Twitter? Seems like the sort of twat who would make use of a Twitter account.

 

I'd like to tell him how disgusted I am by him and ask for his resignation. I think we all ought to tell Carlisle.

I was actually physically sick when I heard that the PFA were laughing at racist jokes.

[LFC64]

Looks like context just reared up and bit the PFA on it's sanctimonious arse!

[RobbieOR]

Hunter's put a load of pictures on his facebook page with some genius captions.

 

https://t.co/gV3AbnMEts

[Newport]

After watching the videos from the incident I'd say there were more than just a handful who booed him the first time. Not so much the second time though. Probably some lower league twats who booed him because the PL players at the front looked a bit embarassed about it.

[TheHitman]

The crazy FA are asking for their money back now trying to make the black man work for nothing, shocking.

 

'Whatever he was paid was too much.' Barnes told the newspaper. 'There were anti-Jewish jokes, there were anti-women jokes, there were anti-Irish jokes, there was the repeat use of the ‘N’ word.

 

'If you were looking for a scenario of absolutely everything we wouldn’t want on the night, I think you had a montage there.'

[RedPaul]

Hunter's put a load of pictures on his facebook page with some genius captions.

 

https://t.co/gV3AbnMEts

 

enjoyed those, thanks

 

what a complete farce though - he's a comedian, he tells jokes which some might not find funny, end of story. This country is a becoming a complete joke itself, people need to chill the fuck out.

[Anubis]

This is exploding in their faces. Not content with helping to turn football into a sports-based mass witch hunt and inquisition, now they want to extend their jurisdiction to comedians.

[Anubis]

I haven't got Facebook so must, unfortunately, forego the entertainment.

[RedPaul]

I haven't got Facebook so must, unfortunately, forego the entertainment.

 

Might be wrong, but I think you can view the photos and captions without having to log in to Facebook

[Whelan]

Haha - Reg has far more intelligence and far more brains on this issue (and quite a few others) than most of the cretins in that room - you book a comedian and, then refuse to pay him! Fucking idiot.

[Anubis]

Might be wrong, but I think you can view the photos and captions without having to log in to Facebook

 

Jason Roberts getting owned. You can navigate right and left as he takes the piss.

 

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=568414069856505&set=pb.231809290183653.-2207520000.1367342260.&type=3&theater&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fcompetitions%2Fpremier-league%2F10028576%2FProfessional-Footballers-Association-demand-Reginald-D-Hunter-money-back-following-offensive-routine-at-awards.html&_rdr#!/photo.php?fbid=568414069856505&id=231809290183653&set=pb.231809290183653.-2207520000.1367342260.&refid=13

[magicrat]

What a thick twat Carlisle is.

I have seen Reg Hunter 3 or 4 times and talked to the him a couple of times afterwards. He is a charming , witty and courteous guy. On stage ,yes he uses the n word regularly and lampoons racial sterotyping. He actually does more to break racial prejudice by turning the thing on its head than Carlisle has ever done with his silly protestations. In his routines the black guy ( could be Jewish or Irish) is supercially the dumb n***** but it ends up with the white abuser looking foolish . Its formulaic but he does it really well and it has a shock factor with some of the taboo language he uses.

Carlisle completely up his own arse thinking racism can be eliminated by more and more ridculous regulations when what we need is more Reg Hunters making us laugh at the stupidity of racial abuse.

[ngogswilly]

I've always thought Hunter is funny to be honest.

 

And I like him even more now that hes unintentionally hilariously embarrassed Taylor and co.

[KMD7]

Jason Roberts getting owned. You can navigate right and left as he takes the piss.

 

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=568414069856505&set=pb.231809290183653.-2207520000.1367342260.&type=3&theater&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fcompetitions%2Fpremier-league%2F10028576%2FProfessional-Footballers-Association-demand-Reginald-D-Hunter-money-back-following-offensive-routine-at-awards.html&_rdr#!/photo.php?fbid=568414069856505&id=231809290183653&set=pb.231809290183653.-2207520000.1367342260.&refid=13

 

He's written some really funny comments with each pic. This is my pick of the bunch.

 

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=568414069856505&id=231809290183653&set=pb.231809290183653.-2207520000.1367342260.&refid=13#!/photo.php?fbid=568414729856439&id=231809290183653&set=pb.231809290183653.-2207520000.1367342260.&__user=1163967819

[Guest San Don]

He's written some really funny comments with each pic. This is my pick of the bunch.

 

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=568414069856505&id=231809290183653&set=pb.231809290183653.-2207520000.1367342260.&refid=13#!/photo.php?fbid=568414729856439&id=231809290183653&set=pb.231809290183653.-2207520000.1367342260.&__user=1163967819

 

Hahaha! The tags on the 'previous' pics are fucking boss. Lots of indignation on those faces. I really wish they got a picture of him with carlisle!

[Anubis]

Dara O'Briain on Twitter

 

I look forward to suing the*@PFA*when their members fail to perform as expected.*#freeregdhunter*telegraph.co.uk/sport/football…5:44pm*- 30 Apr 13

[Newport]

The crazy FA are asking for their money back now trying to make the black man work for nothing, shocking.

 

'Whatever he was paid was too much.' Barnes told the newspaper. 'There were anti-Jewish jokes, there were anti-women jokes, there were anti-Irish jokes, there was the repeat use of the ‘N’ word.

 

'If you were looking for a scenario of absolutely everything we wouldn’t want on the night, I think you had a montage there.'

 

Haha, that's just fucking brilliant. They are actually making him pay for the poor background check.

[Major Tom]

Hahaha! The tags on the 'previous' pics are fucking boss.

 

Indeed. Funny stuff.

[ChrisM]

The crazy FA are asking for their money back now trying to make the black man work for nothing, shocking.

 

Yes they're both a set of twats but there appears to be a rather alarming number of people who cannot differentiate between the FA and the PFA.

 

Anyway, can't believe Bluto has written a decent piece -

 

Martin Samuel column: Reginald D Hunter is condemned by FA as rapist Ched Evans is applauded | Mail Online

 

Stumbling through a moral minefield... football condemns the comedian but applauds the rapist

 

And yet they weren’t embarrassed about Ched Evans. A year ago, when the Professional Footballers’ Association last sat down to honour the outstanding members of their organisation, Sheffield United striker Evans made the League One team of the year. He was widely agreed to have had a good season, until an unfortunate event occurred. He was convicted of rape and sentenced to five years in prison.

The verdict was reached at Caernarfon Crown Court on Friday, April 20, with the PFA dinner on Sunday, April 22. The organisers ploughed ahead.

They did not discreetly withdraw Evans’s name from the roll of honour and so he was lauded and applauded, along with the rest, as if 35 goals in all competitions was of greatest importance on the night.

Not only were the PFA without shame, the organisation defended that decision. A year later, a black American comedian called Reginald D Hunter uttered racial epithets in context during his act at the same dinner, and football imploded.

 

The sport is no longer in a moral maze but a moral cul-de-sac. We are at a dead end with our perception of ethical principle. We do not know where to turn, we cannot retrace our steps, we see no way out.

David Bernstein, the Football Association chairman, was present during Hunter’s act but scuttled away refusing to comment. He promised a reaction on Monday. None came.

 

On Tuesday, he joined FIFA’s anti-racism task force. Bernstein is presently head of an organisation that, in the Luis Suarez and John Terry cases, has removed context from language and, now reaping the consequence, has nothing to say.

What statement could he make? If he supports Hunter’s right to free speech, he undermines the FA’s argument that all racial language is offensive, regardless of circumstance. If he admonishes him, he is an old white guy lecturing a younger black man on racism.

Welcome to the minefield, chairman. You planted them. Now pick your way out.

If we drew up a charter for football this morning, rule number one should be: Lighten up. ‘We have to consider in future whether to book a comedian again,’ said PFA chairman Clarke Carlisle. That’s right, comedy is the problem, rather than the febrile atmosphere in which football exists.

Last week, Queens Park Rangers were greatly vexed when a photograph appeared on Instagram of goalkeeper Julio Cesar wearing a Chelsea shirt. He was also sporting a red and white striped afro wig, as were all his family. The occasion was David Luiz’s birthday party, the theme was fancy dress and the Cesar clan had come as the host. Luiz and Cesar are best friends.

‘We will be dealing with the matter internally,’ said a QPR spokesman. What matter? Friendship? Costumery? Jokes? Rangers are removing the context of the Chelsea shirt and wish to discipline Cesar for an act of disloyalty even though, obviously, none was intended.

 

On Sunday, Jose Bosingwa was similarly rebuked for laughing after Rangers’ relegation. Yet there are smiles at funerals and most certainly at the wake. After the Rangers game at Reading, a colleague of Bosingwa’s made a remark. He cracked.

Rangers manager Harry Redknapp clearly offered a humorous aside, too, as he shook hands with Nigel Adkins, his opposite number at Reading. They had just watched a dismal goalless draw relegate both teams.

‘It’ll never replace football,’ said Redknapp. It was gallows humour, a very English trait. ‘God laughs and snaps his fingers,’ wrote Joe Orton. ‘The only thing for man to do is imitate God and snap his fingers, too.’

The time to take issue with Bosingwa was earlier in the season when he was, frankly, useless. By Sunday, the damage was long done and everybody knew it. There were no camera shots of sobbing Rangers fans, either. The race was run.

 

So if rule number one restores humour, rule number two addresses equivalency. Part of the reason football is trapped in an ethical vortex right now is its pretend scale of badness. Hunter’s language caused consternation on Sunday because racism is presently considered the big taboo and off limits, even for a black comedian. Rape, last year, not such a big whoop.

‘I wonder what Kim Little and her female colleagues thought of it, because it was such a momentous night for her,’ said Carlisle of the first recipient of the Women’s Player of the Year award and Hunter’s routine.

Maybe ask her what she thought of the round of applause for Ched Evans first. Carlisle’s concern echoed prosecutor Mervyn Griffith-Jones summing up at the obscenity trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover by asking the jury, ‘Is this the kind of book you would wish your wife or servants to read?’

Thankfully, our womenfolk no longer need to be protected from literary porn or the C-word in a comic context. Rapists, though, they could probably do without.

Equivalency has been causing carnage all week, since Luis Suarez was banned for 10 games for biting — an offence that was therefore deemed more serious than racism (eight games for Suarez) and tripping the referee (seven games for Ashley Barnes of Brighton and Hove Albion).

 

Suarez’s racism was considered worse than that of John Terry, however, as the Chelsea captain received only a four-game ban. Is it any wonder that we can’t work out how to respond to gags when genuine events still cause confusion? Shall we solve this now? How about a catch-all charge of ‘exceptional misconduct’ carrying a statutory eight-match suspension for a first offence, rising in two-game increments thereafter, to apply to all offences that do not form part of the game.

Right now, if a player runs out this Saturday and sticks a banana up his opponent’s nose, the FA have to work out first if it was a racist banana or just the nearest fruit product available and then decide whether this is worse than biting, or tripping the ref, or shouting racist abuse.

As there is no definite answer, no finite calculation to be made, they can never win.

A charge of exceptional misconduct with a set punishment could be employed every time a weary FA official picks up the telephone, is told the latest and utters the words, ‘He did what?’ It could be known as the FFS rule, the acronym of the exclamation most commonly uttered when told that Suarez did not attempt to get on the end of Steven Gerrard’s cross but chose to bite Branislav Ivanovic instead.

Below that, a charge of exceptional violent conduct carrying a six-match ban rising in two-game increments for further offences, could cover those challenges that are so dangerous they transcend a red card or three-match suspension. That way the FA could ensure justice is done, without re-refereeing matches.

But back to racism. With hindsight, in whatever context, Hunter was not the wisest booking for what is basically a corporate occasion in an industry that has had significant high-profile race issues in the last two years. A man whose recent tour titles have included Trophy Nigga and Pride and Prejudice... and Niggas, is destined to leave a few shifting uncomfortably in their seats if he delivers his proper act. Quite who, however, is the nub of the problem.

 

According to those present, the room split three ways as Hunter spoke. There were those who found him funny and his language acceptable in the context of the social points being made; those who were mortified; and those who might have laughed but were unsure how this would be perceived.

That last category was almost exclusively white, the others mixed.

For race divides the black community, even more than it unnerves whitey. Jason Roberts has been very outspoken on race issues but is believed to have had no problem with Hunter’s material. Nor did his uncle, Otis, a former Grenadian international, now running the Jason Roberts Foundation. Rio Ferdinand was equally unperturbed, it was said.

Former Wolves and Stoke City centre half George Berry, now a senior commercial executive with the PFA, thought the — predominantly white — journalists bustling around for reaction were making a fuss about nothing. Some said the majority of those who found Hunter amusing were black.

Against this, Carlisle is black, was truly upset and was not alone.

 

Bobby Barnes, another senior PFA executive who helped draft Monday’s apologetic statement, said he was shocked by Hunter’s routine, not least because his guest, lawyer Henri Brandman, is Jewish and the set contained at least one reference to his faith.

Barnes is not allied with those, like Hunter, who seek to reclaim or disarm the N-word with casual usage. ‘If my dad heard me say it, he would turn in his grave,’ he explained.

The PFA insisted that it had explained the nature of the event and the audience to Hunter and that swearing and racial references were to be avoided.

Yet why book a comedian and then declare what jokes he can tell? Employing Reginald D Hunter and forbidding him to mention race is much like engaging Rod Hull but telling him to lose the emu. Race is what Hunter does.

The PFA were like Alan Partridge slathering over the prospect of strip-troupe Hot Pants on his show, only to be horrified on discovering they are male.

 

Strangest of all is that so few can remember what Hunter actually said to offend.

By the sounds of it, once he dropped the first N-bomb and then repeated it a dozen times, few were listening to the words in between.

‘He had the audience in the palm of his hand, but for all the wrong reasons,’ said a guest. ‘The first 10 minutes were delivered to silence. I think people were just trying to take in what was happening. It was as if a herd of buffalo had run across the stage.’

So where do we now stand with the N-word, or with racially-charged language generally? Do we accept that there must be grey areas, context, at the very least an informed debate if we are not to plunge headlong into confusion? Among the most articulate, intelligent black voices of the last 20 years is the comedian Chris Rock. The routine that made his name, included on the 1996 DVD Bring The Pain, is called Black People versus Niggaz.

 

Delivered to a howling, primarily ethnic audience, Rock defines the difference between working-class black culture and the shiftless criminal black underclass. ‘I wish they’d let me join the Ku Klux Klan,’ he says at one point. Rock uses the N-word 39 times in eight minutes and 13 seconds. So do we tell him off, too?

Do we remove context from rap music, from the autobiography of Miles Davis, from the films of Spike Lee? Do we tell Reginald D Hunter that he cannot talk truthfully as a black man because our society has evolved so far it finds no place for nuance? His act was at least out of place, but only because we have made it so with our rigid rules.

For it would seem that if there is this word, this one word, that is so unconscionably terrible that at the very utterance of it a person loses his perspective and his mind, then the word, or the person saying it, has control.

An argument being won is lost, because two trigger syllables can bring on the demise of reason. Whereas if a person doesn’t let it faze him, he maintains control and he wins.

But that’s not my cool logic. It belongs to a black guy. To Reginald D Hunter, in fact. No joke.

[Trumo]

As valid the points he makes are, where was the considered and logical reasoning before John Terry got done by the FA? Prior to that, Martin Samuel was very much part of the bandwagon that decided zero tolerance with no place for context was a justifiable position to take. I'm one of many now taking a perverse pleasure from watching all those self-righteous do-gooders squirm and re-evaluate their positions.