[chaddyboy]

Roger Clemens was discussing his future Tuesday at the Astros season opener when he responded to a question about his health after the World Baseball Classic with a comment that some might consider racially insensitive.

Clemens, who broke down late last season with injuries, said he felt fine after the WBC and left the tournament impressed by the quality of the international teams.

But he made a questionable comment when speaking about the devotion of the Japanese and South Korean fans.

"None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea," Clemens said. "So we couldn't get any dry cleaning done out there, but I guess the neatest thing is that 50,000 of them were at Anaheim Stadium."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2397288

[iridescent]

He obviously didn't mean for it to be a derogatory remark--I think he spoke without thinking. It's not exactly an ideal comment to make, but I'm Korean and I'm not offended by it. Owning dry cleaners isn't the worst thing in the world. (:

[Tuffcore]

Japanese and Koreans own a lot of dry cleaning stores?

[xkrndreamer]

ahahahaha thats so true! many many and i mean many koreans own dry cleaning stores or liquor stores! especially in anaheim and the buena park area

[chaddyboy]

He obviously didn't mean for it to be a derogatory remark--I think he spoke without thinking. It's not exactly an ideal comment to make, but I'm Korean and I'm not offended by it. Owning dry cleaners isn't the worst thing in the world. (:

I don't think it's a big deal either.

Then again, people here seem to enjoy making a big deal out of a few off hand comments so I figured it was worth posting.

[jurassic5]

complete text from article:

sounds much less questionable after reading the full text.

Remembering back to a Japan-South Korea game in Anaheim, Calif., Clemens said he took clothes to a dry cleaners and was told he wouldn't get them back for nearly a week.

"They said, 'You've got no chance,' they told me," Clemens said. "I said, 'I'm going to get it tomorrow, right?' And then she goes, `No chance, we're going to the game.' So we couldn't get dry cleaning done out there, but I guess the neatest thing about them was there were about 50,000 of them at Anaheim Stadium, Korea and Japan.

[iridescent]

Then again, people here seem to enjoy making a big deal out of a few off hand comments

If you're talking about the Ichiro comment.. I do agree that some people totally overreacted (especially those who made racist remarks about all of Japan simply because of something that one person had supposedly sad). However, to be angry with every single person who reacted to Ichiro's comment is comparably unfair. I was angry with Ichiro for making that comment too. ESPN showed that incorrect translation like 239390485345 times during every Japan vs. Korea game and it's hard not to be somewhat upset when you feel that someone is insulting your country.

This probably belongs in your other thread, but yeah. Just my thoughts. ESPN should have been more careful.

[janex06]

lol whaaaaaaatever. my best friend's parents own a dry cleaner and they're freaking loaded. i guess that stereotype may be true, but we'll see who's laughing when we're rolling in the dough. haha

[epark1281]

just a stupid joke.
probably shouldn't have said it, but at least we know that he's not going to be doing a show at the apollo

[lidge_fan]

clemens = racist? NO WAY

clearly he said that the ppl drying his clothes were going to the game and since the game was Korea vs. Japan, then it would make sense if most of everyone there was korean or japanese; he didn't say that most of the ppl going to the game owned a dry-cleaning service

nothing racist there

ESPN should stop the BS and stop creating controversies

ASTROS ALL THE WAY IN '06!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CKJ-C]

Dont any of you guys read? That dued posted hte full qoute.

[HoO8MyRiCe]

wow, biased thread. dont post please, why tell a half truth to start controversey

[Mr.Wyowang]

clemens = racist? NO WAY

clearly he said that the ppl drying his clothes were going to the game and since the game was Korea vs. Japan, then it would make sense if most of everyone there was korean or japanese; he didn't say that most of the ppl going to the game owned a dry-cleaning service

nothing racist there

ESPN should stop the BS and stop creating controversies

ASTROS ALL THE WAY IN '06!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with you there, Espn and other sport news sites needs to stop and realize that posting articles about little issues like this kind in fact turn nasty. Clemens just expressed his thoughts during that time, and it's kinda funny if you have humor .

[chaddyboy]

If you're talking about the Ichiro comment.. I do agree that some people totally overreacted (especially those who made racist remarks about all of Japan simply because of something that one person had supposedly sad). However, to be angry with every single person who reacted to Ichiro's comment is comparably unfair. I was angry with Ichiro for making that comment too. ESPN showed that incorrect translation like 239390485345 times during every Japan vs. Korea game and it's hard not to be somewhat upset when you feel that someone is insulting your country.

This probably belongs in your other thread, but yeah. Just my thoughts. ESPN should have been more careful.

Some people still hate Ichiro even though they know the truth. Why? Just because they want to hate him, I guess.

But yeah, even if he did say it, it's still overreacting. Oh noes, he wants to win and prove Japanese baseball is better. I don't see the problem. It's pretty clear that, out of all the players from Asia, Japanese players have had far and away the most success. It's not a slight if it's just the truth.

But back to the Clemens issue, I don't think it will be that big a deal. Honestly, the mainstream media doesn't care much when it's a slight against asians anyway. On top of that, it's not even a bigoted remark. It just depends on which perspective you want to twist it.

wow, biased thread. dont post please, why tell a half truth to start controversey

Biased against what? Those were his comments and I posted the root article. Relax. Ugh.

[joonage]

haha ...

I find that comment funny instead of offensive ...

That is pretty true tho ... lots of asians own cleaners xD

[lakers]

thats nothing...

[happyboy]

the point isn't really that clemens is racist. it's that he's ignorant. he's some redneck jock who thinks every chinese-looking person runs a laundry. moreoever, the way he says it, "they" are the same... whether you're talking about korean or japanese PEOPLE

obviously, however, editors at espn DID think what he said was at least offensive, if not racist. because they made the writer change the original text to protect clemens:

(from angryasianman.com)

So Roger Clemens, famed Major League pitcher (aka "The Rocket"), talks about the World Baseball Classic, and makes a few insensitive, racist remarks:

Roger Clemens was discussing his future Tuesday at the Astros season opener when he responded to a question about his health after the World Baseball Classic with a comment that some might consider racially insensitive.

Clemens, who broke down late last season with injuries, said he felt fine after the WBC and left the tournament impressed by the quality of the international teams.

But he made a questionable comment when speaking about the devotion of the Japanese and South Korean fans.

"None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea," Clemens said. "So we couldn't get any dry cleaning done out there, but I guess the neatest thing is that 50,000 of them were at Anaheim Stadium."

Oh, that's clever. Clever remark from someone's whose team got their ass beat by Japan and Korea. I guess the next best thing to do is to make denigrating remark about entire communities. Interestingly, the above quote is from the original AP article on ESPN, which had a headline that originally read, "Clemens makes insensitive remark," but for some reason the article (located at the same URL) was altered just hours after the initial story was posted: Clemens gets NL ring, remains unsure of future. The text that pertains to Clemens' comments now reads:

He felt fine after the World Baseball Classic and left the tournament impressed by the quality of the international teams -- and the devotion of the Japanese and South Korean fans.

Remembering back to a Japan-South Korea game in Anaheim, Calif., Clemens said he took clothes to a dry cleaners and was told he wouldn't get them back for nearly a week.

"They said, 'You've got no chance,' they told me," Clemens said. "I said, 'I'm going to get it tomorrow, right?' And then she goes, `No chance, we're going to the game.' So we couldn't get dry cleaning done out there, but I guess the neatest thing about them was there were about 50,000 of them at Anaheim Stadium, Korea and Japan.

"Even in Arizona, when we played Mexico there, it was so festive. It really makes you sit back and realize our game is played the right way in a number of different countries."

Perhaps to soften his remarks, and make them sound less inflammatory? Either way, with one stupid comment, he's characterizes both Korean and Japan (just say "Orientals," why don't ya?) as nations of dry cleaners. That's racist!

personally I dont care if he's racist or not. he's a moron though.

to those who say haha it's "funny" in what manner is it funny to you. nothing in it sounds funny at all imo it just sounds ignorant

also what does ESPN should be more "careful" mean? it's the media, its responsibility is to report the truth even if it's controversial. you're saying that they shouldn't be being honest in reporting when someone says something racist or stupid??? what country are you posting from. sounds like something communists would say not american kids

[iLOVEjelly]

i agree with happyboy, clemens is ignorant

[cypherpunk]

I don't think it's anything to get worked up about. He obviously didn't mean it in a bad way.

[♡ Mrs Jung Ji Hoon ♡]

LMAO. I was expecting to see a really racial comment or something.. but I find it funny~ It's very true.. like.. 1/5 people I meet own a dry cleaners or liquor store