Mulkey on Griner Taunts

[easttexastrash]

It is a shame that this young woman has to endure this. And what a shame that there is still so much ignorance and hatred in the world. Has any other player with such talent been so despised and verbally attacked by so many?

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-b...key-irked-social-media-taunts-brittney-griner

 

[Wbbfan1]

While Twitter wasn't around when DT played, I would have more respect for Mulkey if she was saying the same thing about what DT had to endure both on and off the court. Sorry it comes with the territory when you're the best player on the best team. I will admit some of the taunts about Griner's gender are over the top and should not be written. However, fans being fans, Mulkey and Griner have to live with them, just like DT and Geno had to.

 

[Husky WBB Fan]

Very sorry that there are so many mean people who feel the need to compensate for their own inadequacies by attacking people like BG. I, for one, admire her. Hopefully she will be wearing a gold medal this summer and some of those attacks will turn to support in recognition of what she has accomplished with her gifts and in pride for her country.

 

[easttexastrash]

While Twitter wasn't around when DT played, I would have more respect for Mulkey if she was saying the same thing about what DT had to endure both on and off the court. Sorry it comes with the territory when you're the best player on the best team. I will admit some of the taunts about Griner's gender are over the top and should not be written. However, fans being fans, Mulkey and Griner have to live with them, just like DT and Geno had to.

Yes, I can see how Mulkey should have been discussing DT at this point. I can see how you would respect her more if she were talking about a UCONN player.

Mulkey is NOT talking about what happens on the court. She is talking about the ugliness of the social media and the nasty comments that are being made about BG, many of which are about her gender.

 

[easttexastrash]

While Twitter wasn't around when DT played, I would have more respect for Mulkey if she was saying the same thing about what DT had to endure both on and off the court. Sorry it comes with the territory when you're the best player on the best team. I will admit some of the taunts about Griner's gender are over the top and should not be written. However, fans being fans, Mulkey and Griner have to live with them, just like DT and Geno had to.

And "some of the taunts about Griner's gender are over the top"? How about "the taunts about Griner's gender are over the top"?

What Mulkey is talking about are the comments that truly fall under the "hate" category. The same type of "hate" that is discussed in hate crimes. This is the same type of hate that has been endured by minorities for years in the USA.

 

[sarals24]

I mean...it's considered a compliment to say a girl "plays like a dude". I don't know why people can't leave it at that.

 

[sarals24]

This part is a little weird:
Besides on Twitter, Griner hears a lot of taunts at road games. She's well prepared for the abuse thanks to her teammates.

"We do it in practice to her. She gets frustrated in practice about it, but we're preparing her for reality," Baylor junior Destiny Williams said. "It's going to happen during the games. We beat her up to the point where she doesn't feel it in a game. OK, I've seen worse in practice."

Her teammates taunt her in practice? Or is she talking about being physical with her?

 

[easttexastrash]

I mean...it's considered a compliment to say a girl "plays like a dude". I don't know why people can't leave it at that.

There is a huge difference between saying "she plays like a dude" and "she is a dude." Griner has heard every negative comment imaginable. She must have really thick skin to be able to endure this.

 

[easttexastrash]

This part is a little weird:
Besides on Twitter, Griner hears a lot of taunts at road games. She's well prepared for the abuse thanks to her teammates.

"We do it in practice to her. She gets frustrated in practice about it, but we're preparing her for reality," Baylor junior Destiny Williams said. "It's going to happen during the games. We beat her up to the point where she doesn't feel it in a game. OK, I've seen worse in practice."

Her teammates taunt her in practice? Or is she talking about being physical with her?

I found this interesting as well. There is no explanation to what extent they "do it in practice." However, the last comment of "we beat her up to the point where she doesn't feel it in a game" would imply that Williams is discussing the physical beating and not an indication that they use verbal taunts during practice. I cannot imagine that Mulkey would allow that or that her teammates would do that.

 

[sarals24]

I just meant that I don't know why people feel the need to comment on her gender, or the fact that she doesn't behave like a "typical" girl. It's such BS. (I also kindof think it's crappy to say that a girl is good if she plays like a guy, but that's a whole other issue).

I think Williams meant that as well. The author's intro is a bit misleading. I sure hope they don't taunt her in practice!

 

[easttexastrash]

I just meant that I don't know why people feel the need to comment on her gender, or the fact that she doesn't behave like a "typical" girl. It's such BS. (I also kindof think it's crappy to say that a girl is good if she plays like a guy, but that's a whole other issue).

I think Williams meant that as well. The author's intro is a bit misleading. I sure hope they don't taunt her in practice!

I get your point. I have a male co-worker that is a big fan of men's basketball who loves DT and has said "she plays like a guy." He loves the way she plays and that is the highest compliment he can think to give her. He talks about the play, and I am sure most of you will remember, when DT was out of position to shoot with her right hand and flipped up a shot with her left. He will always be a fan of hers after that shot.

 

[alexrgct]

Wait, you're telling me people suck sometimes??? OMG, stop the presses.

Griner's blessing and curse is her athletic ability. It's a blessing because she will make good money playing basketball. If she were just an extremely tall woman with a deep voice without any athletic ability, she'd deal with the same social issues without having an avenue that gives her confidence and a means to earn a good living. The curse is that basketball puts her in the public eye and thus takes the abuse she would otherwise get on a small scale and makes it ubiquitous. I imagine she made the choice she made vis a vis basketball with her eyes wide open. Should it have to have been a choice? No. But when you're an outlier, your statistical "weirdness" will make you a target. Not news.

 

[sarals24]

True. And Griner seems to embrace it, she seems really comfortable with her height.

Sucks that it's even an issue. People need to grow up.

 

[easttexastrash]

Wait, you're telling me people suck sometimes??? OMG, stop the presses.

Griner's blessing and curse is her athletic ability. It's a blessing because she will make good money playing basketball. If she were just an extremely tall woman with a deep voice without any athletic ability, she'd deal with the same social issues without having an avenue that gives her confidence and a means to earn a good living. The curse is that basketball puts her in the public eye and thus takes the abuse she would otherwise get on a small scale and makes it ubiquitous. I imagine she made the choice she made vis a vis basketball with her eyes wide open. Should it have to have been a choice? No. But when you're an outlier, your statistical "weirdness" will make you a target. Not news.

This is the type of narrow thinking that makes those of color and the LGBT community cringe. It is what it is, so deal with it and quit complaining.

BG is in a rare position. Hopefully she can use this to bring attention to a campaign that can always use more voices.

 

[Husky7882]

Yes, I can see how Mulkey should have been discussing DT at this point. I can see how you would respect her more if she were talking about a UCONN player.

Mulkey is NOT talking about what happens on the court. She is talking about the ugliness of the social media and the nasty comments that are being made about BG, many of which are about her gender.

I don't follow Twitter, so I cannot attest to the level of vile comments being directed at BG, but I was reading the Boneyard and some other message boards when DT and Sveta were playing, and I can guarantee you that some of the comments I read from some of those fans (especially UT and ND) directed at these 2 UC players went a lot further than "playing like a dude". They were simply disgusting, unnecessary and gross. And stupid, and immature, and childish, and rude, and I could go on and on.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new or unique to BG. Try doing what I did: stop reading those boards.

Good luck tonight. BG and ND fans are the main reasons why I will not be rooting for the Big East team.

 

[alexrgct]

Wait, you're telling me people suck sometimes??? OMG, stop the presses.

Griner's blessing and curse is her athletic ability. It's a blessing because she will make good money playing basketball. If she were just an extremely tall woman with a deep voice without any athletic ability, she'd deal with the same social issues without having an avenue that gives her confidence and a means to earn a good living. The curse is that basketball puts her in the public eye and thus takes the abuse she would otherwise get on a small scale and makes it ubiquitous. I imagine she made the choice she made vis a vis basketball with her eyes wide open. Should it have to have been a choice? No. But when you're an outlier, your statistical "weirdness" will make you a target. Not news.

This is the type of narrow thinking that makes those of color and the LGBT community cringe. It is what it is, so deal with it and quit complaining.

BG is in a rare position. Hopefully she can use this to bring attention to a campaign that can always use more voices.

Do not even go there. You are trivializing the entire history of the gay rights movement in the process, and you also don't have a damn clue who you're taking to.

 

[easttexastrash]

I don't follow Twitter, so I cannot attest to the level of vile comments being directed at BG, but I was reading the Boneyard and some other message boards when DT and Sveta were playing, and I can guarantee you that some of the comments I read from some of those fans (especially UT and ND) directed at these 2 UC players went a lot further than "playing like a dude". They were simply disgusting, unnecessary and gross. And stupid, and immature, and childish, and rude, and I could go on and on.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new or unique to BG. Try doing what I did: stop reading those boards.

Good luck tonight. BG and ND fans are the main reasons why I will not be rooting for the Big East team.

It is sad to hear that those two were discussed in such a manner. It is sad to think that they have to endure such horrible comments.

But for the record, most of the comments are not that she "plays like a guy." That is not an ugly comment. The Griner ugliness is gender-questioning, which obviously is a whole different level of nastiness that only those in the LGBT community can relate to and truly appreciate.

And I purposely have not read any of those boards since Griner has been at Baylor.

 

[alexrgct]

Just to add color to this, the various gay rights movements have:

• Advocated on behalf of a generation of gay men who were decimated by HIV/AIDS.
• Worked tirelessly on labor rights issues.
• Made significant progress towards legal equality in marriage.
• Promoted awareness and prevention of gay bashing and bullying

That's just a small snippet of what the gay rights movement has accomplished, and you're comparing that to Griner's situation? Life or death vs. someone who's going to be well-compensated but takes verbal abuse in the process?

In the immortal words of ST Francis of Asssisi, "Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and
the wisdom to know the difference." Sounds like Griner's learned that lesson better than you have.

 

[Timeout]

While Twitter wasn't around when DT played, I would have more respect for Mulkey if she was saying the same thing about what DT had to endure both on and off the court. Sorry it comes with the territory when you're the best player on the best team. I will admit some of the taunts about Griner's gender are over the top and should not be written. However, fans being fans, Mulkey and Griner have to live with them, just like DT and Geno had to.

Perhaps as a coach Mulkey didn't have the opportunity to deal with this issue until Brittney came alone. Geno had to deal with it when it came to DT who thankfully is tougher than nails. I wonder how Geno would have dealt with it if Brittney was a Husky. It would've been interesting to see with his fierce personality and the haters would hate him more, not that he cares.

 

[BooRadley]

I get your point. I have a male co-worker that is a big fan of men's basketball who loves DT and has said "she plays like a guy." He loves the way she plays and that is the highest compliment he can think to give her. He talks about the play, and I am sure most of you will remember, when DT was out of position to shoot with her right hand and flipped up a shot with her left. He will always be a fan of hers after that shot.

This was a few years back and remembrances may have either faded from memory for some or may have never existed and are by definition new information for others, but Wbbfan1 is right... there were "Gender" taunts hurled at DT's gender when she played... and very few stood up back then to say it was wrong.... Knowing that this had occurred , I took "Wbbfan1" for what it was... an acknowledgement that some stay silent until "one of theirs" comes under attack on the message boards and courtside fans.

ett, I don't know how long or how intently you've followed WCBB, but you may not be fully aware of the gender taunts DT was attacked with when she played of us. Other than Geno and a few other Big East coaches, I don't remember the WCBB community doing anything but remaining silent as it occurred.

DT and & Geno endured attacks that were very much more than "she plays like a dude".... one cute little slur DT faced was "man hands" (which BTW was a favorite of some of the peanut butter for brains crowd) Another oh so clever suggestion called for a DNA test to be sure DT wasn't one of Geno's bag of nasty, bring in the ringer "girl" that plays like a guy because she IS a guy, cheating, disrespecting the sport, pay-for-play, secret side deals. Granted that a good deal of that manure came from a certain sub-par sub-group of our southern brethren so that portion of it is to be expected and ignored, but the rest of WCBB fandom have no lack of breeding, backwoods ethics, or limited intelligence to use as an excuse....

An example of one game where the fans got extremely nasty toward DT was the game against one of the Penn teams... I don't remember which Penn team at the moment but I do remember that the court-side fans were extremely nasty and the message board manure after the game was even worse.... This was the game where DT tossed her hat to that little girl after the game... My memory is more than a bit fuzzy, but I do remember that the "Penn" fans were well out of bounds with their taunting.(I have fuzzy memories of gender taunts hurled at DT - my brother had seats on that side and told me what he and his family heard... his daughter/my niece heard some things 6 year olds are not supposed to hear. ... my seats were on the UConn side and so I could only clearly and fully hear the loudest of the taunts... Very nasty stuff....... The rest of what I heard came from my 6 year old niece, my sister in law, and my brother.)

As I said, this happend awhile ago and only those who were here at the time can remember those slurs, but memories like that are very slow to fade. With each new instance of this sort of verbal sludge we are all obliged to condemn it. I am sorry that BG has had to endure this sub-par output of a sub-par brain wrapped within a sub-par ethic. If their parents couldn't teach them better ways to interact in this world , their grandparents should have stepped in to do the job of raising these people.


Your Ol' "Just out of the Hospital for Afib, CHF, HTN," Pal Boo FREEEEEDOMMMMMM!!!!!!!

 

[Husky7882]

It is sad to hear that those two were discussed in such a manner. It is sad to think that they have to endure such horrible comments.

But for the record, most of the comments are not that she "plays like a guy." That is not an ugly comment. The Griner ugliness is gender-questioning, which obviously is a whole different level of nastiness that only those in the LGBT community can relate to and truly appreciate.

And I purposely have not read any of those boards since Griner has been at Baylor.

I get it, ETT. That is why I said that the comments I was referring to went a lot further than "playing like a dude." I didn't think I'd be adding anything of value to the discussion if I gave same examples, so I left it at "went a lot further." I apologize for not being clear enough. Take care and good luck tonight.

 

[easttexastrash]

Just to add color to this, the various gay rights movements have:

• Advocated on behalf of a generation of gay men who were decimated by HIV/AIDS.
• Worked tirelessly on labor rights issues.
• Made significant progress towards legal equality in marriage.
• Promoted awareness and prevention of gay bashing and bullying

That's just a small snippet of what the gay rights movement has accomplished, and you're comparing that to Griner's situation? Life or death vs. someone who's going to be well-compensated but takes verbal abuse in the process?

In the immortal words of ST Francis of Asssisi, "Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and
the wisdom to know the difference." Sounds like Griner's learned that lesson better than you have.

As a gay man, I can tell you first hand that we have made great strides, but organizations now push toward even greater strides. So once again, to imply that gay rights are just about not being killed, beat up or denied equal opportunities, is a narrow view. It is about DIGNITY. For anyone to think that it is simply about "life and death" is a simple thought. And unfortunately an incredibly high rate of suicide among those of Griner's age takes place due to taunting and bullying. Not to stand up for Griner in this area is the same as not to stand up for a generation of our youth.

 

[easttexastrash]

This was a few years back and remembrances may have either faded from memory for some or may have never existed and are by definition new information for others, but Wbbfan1 is right... there were "Gender" taunts hurled at DT's gender when she played... and very few stood up back then to say it was wrong.... Knowing that this had occurred , I took "Wbbfan1" for what it was... an acknowledgement that some stay silent until "one of theirs" comes under attack on the message boards and courtside fans.

Thank you for providing some background. I have been a WBB fan for many years but was no aware that DT had dealt with this. I don't recall this being discussed by Geno or the national media.

ett, I don't know how long or how intently you've followed WCBB, but you may not be fully aware of the gender taunts DT was attacked with when she played of us. Other than Geno and a few other Big East coaches, I don't remember the WCBB community doing anything but remaining silent as it occurred.

DT and & Geno endured attacks that were very much more than "she plays like a dude".... one cute little slur DT faced was "man hands" (which BTW was a favorite of some of the peanut butter for brains crowd) Another oh so clever suggestion called for a DNA test to be sure DT wasn't one of Geno's bag of nasty, bring in the ringer "girl" that plays like a guy because she IS a guy, cheating, disrespecting the sport, pay-for-play, secret side deals. Granted that a good deal of that manure came from a certain sub-par sub-group of our southern brethren so that portion of it is to be expected and ignored, but the rest of WCBB fandom have no lack of breeding, backwoods ethics, or limited intelligence to use as an excuse....

An example of one game where the fans got extremely nasty toward DT was the game against one of the Penn teams... I don't remember which Penn team at the moment but I do remember that the court-side fans were extremely nasty and the message board manure after the game was even worse.... This was the game where DT tossed her hat to that little girl after the game... My memory is more than a bit fuzzy, but I do remember that the "Penn" fans were well out of bounds with their taunting.(I have fuzzy memories of gender taunts hurled at DT - my brother had seats on that side and told me what he and his family heard... his daughter/my niece heard some things 6 year olds are not supposed to hear. ... my seats were on the UConn side and so I could only clearly and fully hear the loudest of the taunts... Very nasty stuff....... The rest of what I heard came from my 6 year old niece, my sister in law, and my brother.)

As I said, this happend awhile ago and only those who were here at the time can remember those slurs, but memories like that are very slow to fade. With each new instance of this sort of verbal sludge we are all obliged to condemn it. I am sorry that BG has had to endure this sub-par output of a sub-par brain wrapped within a sub-par ethic. If their parents couldn't teach them better ways to interact in this world , their grandparents should have stepped in to do the job of raising these people.


Your Ol' "Just out of the Hospital for Afib, CHF, HTN," Pal Boo FREEEEEDOMMMMMM!!!!!!!

 

[easttexastrash]

Sorry! I somehow got my reply in the middle of your post. Thanks, again, for the valuable history on DT.

 

[jsloanjr]

The more I hear and see BG talk the more I like her as a person the a WCBB player. She is a tough young lady with so much guts and pride........Go BG!!