Oh, The Linsanity! ESPN Anchor Used “Chink In The Armor” Earlier This Week

Idiots.  ESPN and all the editors that let that headline slip through, and this anchor (maybe not quite so bad, since he was doing the show live), are just wrong.

This guy is obviously using the term to mean a missing piece of armor.  ESPN wasn’t trying to say what others are implying.  Is it really their failure for not knowing or remembering this nasty use of the word, or the failure of those that hold on to it’s worse connotations?

I agree, the anchor used it idiomatically (albeit a poor choice of words).  However, the headline doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt.  Headlines are designed to grab attention, which means that a lot of forethought is put into them before publication.  It’s obvious that the offensive pun was intentional in the headline.

just a poor choice of words, people need to get lives and stop making a big deal of nothing, its just a cliche… dont get me wrong it was a wrong choice of words but i doubt the world wide leader in sports meant chink in a derogatory way.
 

That is pathetic. You (ESPN) are calling THAT racism. Our society is pathetic.

C’MON SON! ESPN…..YOU’RE BETTER THAN THAT!

If ESPN had called a Hispanic player Spick And Span or a White player Honky Tonky or a black player He played Niggardly do you have ANY idea the firestorm it would cause? Chink in the Armor is the same derogatory like term for Asians. Anyone with common sense gets the intent pun. Shame on you ESPN and any Americans who think calling an American born Asian American a Chink is no big deal.

If ESPN had called a Hispanic player Spick And Span or a White player Honky Tonky or a black player He played Niggardly do you have ANY idea the firestorm it would cause? Chink in the Armor is the same derogatory like term for Asians. Anyone with common sense gets the intent pun. Shame on you ESPN and any Americans who think calling an American born Asian American a Chink is no big deal.

I see the ignorance here is just as bad as ESPN. Pun intended, a veiled reference to race. This is the kind of word you say just before you get punched in the face.

Another great example of the over-political correctness rampant in society today. If this was used while referring to a player of any other creed it would have been a non issue. Perhaps most of you are not old enough to realize this term has been used for decades as a non racial term, but yet want to rattle your sabres (oops – sorry those of a slavic decent or middle eastern decent) and over-analyze everything that comes out of someones mouth. When – and only when – you can live your life without being accidentally offensive to someone can you cast stones at this glass house.

I hate PC idiots.  If you’re offended by this, you’re an idiot.  It’s as simple as that.  

Seriously- anyone who is offended by this, tell us what other idiom can be used to mean the same thing as chink in the armor?  It is honestly the only thing I can think of to mean the same thing.  

how is it obvious??  what other idiom means the same thing as chink in the armor?  i cant think of one personally.  what other way, in headline form, can you describe the situation with lin?  ”lin is sure showing some strain out there.  it’s obvious that he’s not completely unflappable and can be beaten.” is a bit too long for a headline!  

Seems to me that AAJA is LOOKING for a slight at every turn, its just sad really. 4 offensive Lin-esque article/blathers on social networks in what a few days time. Somewhere alot of people are going hmmmmm…ya know?

I hear kink in the armor….knock it off

The question is not whether there’s another way to say “chink in the armor”; the question is the writer’s intent at using that idiom.  Did he mean to use it in a purely neutral, idiomatic, manner?  Or, did he intentionally seize an opportunity to use a “clever” double entendre based on bigotry.

Unless the writer gives an admission, we can only base our conclusions on circumstantial evidence.  I choose not to give him the benefit of the doubt, and here are my reasons:

(1) The guy is a professional writer, who’s writing for a nationally syndicated media outlet.  We can probably assume that he’s educated and trained on the nuances of the English language and culture.  This fact alone is probably enough to warrant at least a presumption that he’s aware of the potential for bigotry if he uses this headline. 

(2) Headlines are probably the most important component of any article; especially so in the case of digital media.  Digital media outlets employ creatives JUST to come up with snappy headlines.  A catchy headline translates to more clicks/impressions, which translates to more advertising revenue.  For example, Google goes as far as to suggest headlines to advertisers using AdWords.  Yahoo! employs media-smart grad students to write headlines for their articles.  Groupon has an army of poets drafting headlines on their deals.  The point is: headlines go through expert vetting processes, at least in sophisticated media outlets like ESPN.

(3) The article was taken down in about 30 minutes after publication.  Corporate officers at ESPN apologized on Twitter.  This means that there is at least an awareness of wrongfulness, if not an actual admission.

(4) There are plenty of idioms to use in a situation where a “Rudy”-like character loses a game.  Take these for instance: (a) The Bloom is Off the Rose, or (b) Clock Strikes Midnight for Linderella.  Also consider whether “Chink in the Armor” is appropriate in this context?  Is Knicks’ defense characterized as “impenetrable,” or does Lin evoke the imagery of a “Knight in Shining Armor”?  The evidence can swing either way here.

I have other items, but I think you get the picture.  It’s possible that this writer intended to use it neutrally, and that his editors also believed and intended it to be a neutral headline.  We’ll never know for sure.  But, for people who do see it as wrongful, they have their reasons.

Too much is being made about an comment that COULD be interpreted in a way that it wasn’t meant to be. The fact that this isn’t garnering much attention by the public is an indication that most people (Asians included) gave the network the benefit of doubt when they used a common idiom.

“This is the kind of word you say just before you get punched in the face.”

Exactly. Case in point… when I was in school, I watched one of my Asian friends do exactly that to some hick after he called my friend a chink. Dude shut up and stopped calling him that.

your intellect is sorely lacking.

 Can you say “thought police”?

 Anyone with common sense could come up with better analogies. Spick and Span, Honky Tonky, and Niggardly are not common idioms that have been used thousands of time on ESPN. Save the finger pointing racist accusation for real racist.

 No at ESPN called anyone a chink, dude.

 Do you drive a Dodge?

It’s a shame that the “racist” accusation can’t be reserved for genuine racist.

Yes, I’m sure it was all an innocent mistake. Naive. 

Do you eat cornflakes?

That’s not really the proper characterization.  ESPN, like all private actors, can say almost whatever they want (barring FCC rules).  The issue here isn’t about a FCC violation.

This is simply a cultural issue.  Do we as a culture want to condone the mass-publication of unabashed overt racism?  Nobody can stop that writer from being a racist if he is indeed one.  However, as a society, we can choose whether we want to let him get away with broadcasting it.

It really comes down to this line: do you believe that overt racism is okay?