Mark Wright’s Blog

I am always grateful that there are enough idiotic people out there to give me ideas to blog about.  Today’s inspiration is the Spanish Basketball Federation.  They published a photo in the country’s largest sports publication wishing their men’s and women’s basketball team good luck in the Olympics.  Now I know what you are thinking.  What’s the big deal?  Shouldn’t they be proud of their athletes and want to send them off to Beijing properly?  Yes and No.  The problem is that the photo showed these “race relations activists” posing with their fingers pulling their eyes back making what was referred to as a slant-eyed gesture.  According to the article, The Guardian Newspaper reported that no one from the federation thought the ad was appropriate and no offense was intended.  Huh?  I love that defense of using “no offense intended.”  It is especially compelling when you preface a stupid act or comment with it.  I remember Bill Parcells using the “no offense intended” clause when he made a stupid comment about the Dallas Cowboys using “Jap Plays.”  Here is a little bit of advice.  I am a guy who runs a website design company.  While I might not have a PHD in race relations, I do have the following criteria to give this advice:

Ihave a heartbeat;
 I have a semi-functioning brain.

I could go on and list my other achievements but to be honest with you, I can stop after the first two because that is all your really need.  If you have to preface a comment with “no offense intended” then chances are you are going to offend someone.   Instead of filling your pie hole with stupid comments and gestures, fill it with pie, other food or cement for all I care.   

What makes me even madder is these morons played the Chinese team last night and won.  The only thing I can hope for now is that they lose the rest of their games, go back to Spain and the only memento they have from this Olympics is the stupid photo of them.