Is "Thug" an overused term with racial undertones?

Sun Devil said:
No that isn't even a clear or coherent definition. Sports is violent period. Adrenaline is the chemical that drives many players over the edge, some find balance, others overreact. It's ok that you refuse to acknowledge that typically players of color or those who express themselves in erratic fashion who are of color as well are typically targeted for this type of criticism. Hockey players are rarely called thugs. There lies the paradigm where erratic degenerate behavior is often attributed to people of color.

Thugs by definition are people who are violent and that treats others in violent fashion. Football is violent in it of itself. Any contact sport is violent. But "thuggery" involves criminal activity. What Sherman did was trash talk which is common in sports. People may say it's "unsportsman like" but most players who play contact sports are unsportsman like, that is how some get an edge over an opponent. Regardless how you view the man, no violent criminal who continues to be violent goes to Stanford. Say what you will about what his major is but most football players don't finish college. He did.

The word thug is simply overused and I rarely find white players being labeled thugs. If that is the case, please prove recently a white player, or hell a white kid was called a thug by people. Not just by the media I'm talking about people who go on social media and call someone white a thug.
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That dude for Miami; Richie Cognito.
 
Sun Devil said:
No that isn't even a clear or coherent definition. Sports is violent period. Adrenaline is the chemical that drives many players over the edge, some find balance, others overreact. It's ok that you refuse to acknowledge that typically players of color or those who express themselves in erratic fashion who are of color as well are typically targeted for this type of criticism. Hockey players are rarely called thugs. There lies the paradigm where erratic degenerate behavior is often attributed to people of color.

Thugs by definition are people who are violent and that treats others in violent fashion. Football is violent in it of itself. Any contact sport is violent. But "thuggery" involves criminal activity. What Sherman did was trash talk which is common in sports. People may say it's "unsportsman like" but most players who play contact sports are unsportsman like, that is how some get an edge over an opponent. Regardless how you view the man, no violent criminal who continues to be violent goes to Stanford. Say what you will about what his major is but most football players don't finish college. He did.

The word thug is simply overused and I rarely find white players being labeled thugs. If that is the case, please prove recently a white player, or hell a white kid was called a thug by people. Not just by the media I'm talking about people who go on social media and call someone white a thug.
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I already gave you a link to that. Specifically answering your question earlier. Which of the 50 "top thugs" in the NHL didn't fit your request here?
 
cawacko said:
I'm not calling Sherman a thug. As a 49ers fan I will say fvck Sherman and I don't give two shits what race he is.
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OH! No wonder you're sour. Well I'd be more mad that Colin Kaepernick AKA squidward throwing interceptions and choking.
 
Sun Devil said:
OH! No wonder you're sour. Well I'd be more mad that Colin Kaepernick AKA squidward throwing interceptions and choking.
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I love Kap but yeah he did not play well in the 4th Qtr. Pretty similar to last year's Super Bowl where the game ends with him failing to connect with Crabtree in the end zone.

Pete walks on water to me so I'll be rooting the Seahawks and I actually had no problem with Sherman's post game interview other than I was pissed off about the game so F him.
 
Damocles said:
I already gave you a link to that. Specifically answering your question earlier. Which of the 50 "top thugs" in the NHL didn't fit your request here?
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A link to an article yes, but what about average spectator such as you and I. I'm mostly referring to people who take up social media sites like facebook and places like here to comment. On facebook today I counted at least 20 people (of course white) calling Sherman a thug. Most of the people including myself argued and corrected them on their usage. Plain and simple thugs don't go to universities. Sherman is an a-hole but far from a thug. If Sherman is a thug them Rothlisberger is a rapist. Brett Favre is a pervert. Tom Brady is a whiny beeyotch. See my point?
 
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Sun Devil said:
A link to an article yes, but what about average spectator such as you and me. I'm mostly referring to people who take up social media sites like facebook and places like here to comment. On facebook today I counted at least 20 people (of course white) calling Sherman a thug. Most of the people including myself argued and corrected them on their usage. Plain and simple thugs don't go to universities. Sherman is an a-hole but far from a thug. If Sherman is a thug them Rothlisberger is a rapist. Brett Favre is a pervert. Tom Brady is a whiny beeyotch. See my point?
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Except those guys are all those things...

Except Brady. He is football incarnate.
 
I'll use a bit of brevity here to keep the conversation going...

Sherman, IMO, is simply a "me only" player, those people become a cancer and the Seabirdies are welcome to him. Most of them are good, but wind up visiting many teams for short periods because their presence becomes a distraction and later a detriment to the team as a whole. I wouldn't call him a thug, there is no indication he's a thug.

Let me give another example of the type of player I'm talking about, Randy Moss.

Now had Sherman said "the Seahawks defense is untouchable!" and talked down the team they defeated rather than "I am untouchable" then made it personal I doubt we'd be holding the same conversation today. Can you tell where the difference is there? (I'll give a hint: One, while uncouth, is about a team and the other is about himself).

If I owned the organization we'd be having some private words about what it means to be part of an organization. Nobody is indispensable, not even me (as the owner), the organization is more important than any individual and will live on without either of us. I would not put that into the media, I'd be working to get his error off the news as quickly as possible and deal with the problem personally, not through reporters.
 
cawacko said:
I love Kap but yeah he did not play well in the 4th Qtr. Pretty similar to last year's Super Bowl where the game ends with him failing to connect with Crabtree in the end zone.

Pete walks on water to me so I'll be rooting the Seahawks and I actually had no problem with Sherman's post game interview other than I was pissed off about the game so F him.
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Well obviously our love for Carol is common. Seahawks is basically a pro USC team and I'd like him to get his first ring. I'm a Cowboy fan so I can't talk about neither team. I'm more concerned at how they came at Sherman. I think folks that criticize him instead calling him a thug, call him a douche or something. It's like me cursing out my boss because he doesn't give me enough hours. Am I a thug for cursing out my boss, or am I an idiot for doing something that will lead me to get fired.
 
A thug is a bully. Sherman is very intelligent and gifted athlete. Him and Crabtree have a history. It's nothing more than two competitive athletes.
 
Damocles said:
I'll use a bit of brevity here to keep the conversation going...

Sherman, IMO, is simply a "me only" player, those people become a cancer and the Seabirdies are welcome to him. Most of them are good, but wind up visiting many teams for short periods because their presence becomes a distraction and later a detriment to the team as a whole. I wouldn't call him a thug, there is no indication he's a thug.

Let me give another example of the type of player I'm talking about, Randy Moss.

Now had Sherman said "the Seahawks defense is untouchable!" and talked down the team they defeated rather than "I am untouchable" then made it personal I doubt we'd be holding the same conversation today. Can you tell where the difference is there? (I'll give a hint: One, while uncouth, is about a team and the other is about himself).

If I owned the organization we'd be having some private words about what it means to be part of an organization. Nobody is indispensable, not even me (as the owner), the organization is more important than any individual and will live on without either of us. I would not put that into the media, I'd be working to get his error off the news as quickly as possible and deal with the problem personally, not through reporters.
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In what you just said I totally agree. These types of individuals are cancer that is why Terrell Owens didn't last with the boys. He got mad at Romo for not throwing to him enough yet when Romo does, he drops passes. But remember these "me only" guys no matter how despicable their personality is, their talent tends to make up for it. Look at Deion Sanders. The guy was a showboat but he made people watch football because of his antics. Sometimes certain behaviors are good for the sport because these types of antics draw in crowds.
 
As for the answer to the original question...

Thug is an overused term, but IMO it isn't racial, especially in the sports sense. Yes, they call hockey players thugs, as I've shown you.
 
Sun Devil said:
In what you just said I totally agree. These types of individuals are cancer that is why Terrell Owens didn't last with the boys. He got mad at Romo for not throwing to him enough yet when Romo does, he drops passes. But remember these "me only" guys no matter how despicable their personality is, their talent tends to make up for it. Look at Deion Sanders. The guy was a showboat but he made people watch football because of his antics. Sometimes certain behaviors are good for the sport because these types of antics draw in crowds.
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Sherman and Crabtree have a history. That's what it's about. If it was anyone else besides Crabtree then Sherman says nothing. Listen to what he said.
 
Ishmael Pequod said:
A thug is a bully. Sherman is very intelligent and gifted athlete. Him and Crabtree have a history. It's nothing more than two competitive athletes.
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Thank You! Exactly Crabtree and Sherman have history. I heard these two were fighting at some golf tournament.
 
Sun Devil said:
It may not "seem racist" but it has racist undertones. Most of the times people being called thugs are generally people of color. Again nobody answered my question: Why aren't Hockey Players called thugs?
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The word originated in India, assasins, they were Thugees, responsible for killing unsuspecting travelers who befriended them.

The English adopted the shortened form of the word thug to mean a thief, someone cunning, sly, fraudulent.
 
Sardonic said:
The word originated in India, assasins, they were Thugees, responsible for killing unsuspecting travelers who befriended them.

The English adopted the shortened form of the word thug to mean a thief, someone cunning, sly, fraudulent.
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Up until the advent of the 'thug life' shit I've seen, I've always heard it refer to Guidos and Mics.
 
Sardonic said:
The word originated in India, assasins, they were Thugees, responsible for killing unsuspecting travelers who befriended them.

The English adopted the shortened form of the word thug to mean a thief, someone cunning, sly, fraudulent.
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Wow didn't know that, thanks for the history lesson on that word!
 
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