28 Days

It only took four weeks, but a Tribune writer finally has acknowledged the Kosuke Fukudome "Horry Kow" T-shirts being sold outside and worn into Wrigley Field by supposed Cubbies fans. ChicagoSports.com blogger Rahula Strohl had previously written on the controversy, his criticisms of the shirts getting him barbecued as "politically correct" and worse in comments from CS readers. But the core sportswriters--the winceable Dream Team of Sullivan, Rogers, Gonzales, Downey, Morrissey, and McGrath--have been mum.

Unfortunately, Paul Sullivan's piece today doesn't bring a happy conclusion to the story. The apologetic headline, Cubs can't stop all sales of offensive Kosuke Fukudome T-shirt, says it all.

The Cubs and the Tribune are caught in a tough place here. But between the month the Tribune took to officially acknowledge the shirts and the sellers, the fact that it owns its ballpark and could well better police it and the Wrigleyville area to rid the city of such ugliness, and that no one on its pages can bother to state the obvious and condemn this type of ugly racism for fun and profit, it's hard to be too sympathetic.

Worse, imagine the taunts and, apparently, the T-shirts screened once Fukudome finally slumps this season.

--Brett Ballantini

Don't Trod on the Trib

As the prior post confirms and any sports message board of note indicates, yes, apparently there's cause for debate over the racist T-shirt being sold outside and worn inside of Wrigley Field. To some, objecting to a T-shirt depicting Cubs star outfielder Kosuke Fukudome as a slant-eyed mockery out of the Mickey Rooney school of caricature is tantamount to political correctness gone wild. Perhaps it's just the yahoos who take the time to comment on message boards, but a scan of comments on the issue indicate there's a plurality of sports fans who feel that someone who objects to such blatant racism must be some kind of sensitive wuss.

And then there's Sean Deveney, the Chicago-based baseball writer for Sporting News. Sean publishes a weekly "power poll" of MLB teams, which often includes clever or insightful comments about each team in the rankings.

Having pummelled the hapless Pirates six times already in this young season, the Cubbies have surged to No. 5 in his April 21 poll. The accompanying comment is also worthy of a pummelling:

There have been complaints about racist T-shirts celebrating Kosuke Fukudome around Wrigley Field. It is demeaning, uncalled for and pretty bad, but it’s not John-Wayne-in-The-Fighting-Seabees bad.

For those of you unfamiliar with Deveney's oddly apologetic reference to a movie more than six decades old and released when the U.S. was at war with the Japanese being demeaned, John Wayne's character in the movie refers to the Japanese as "bug-eyed monkeys." So, Deveney apparently is saying, this Fukudome shirt may be pretty out of line, but y'know, it's more righteous than a shirt that would have been stitched, say, 64 years ago.

Wow, perspective. Deveney, dude, you really nailed it for all of us.

It's not a matter of course to address the national media in this space, but Deveney's flip comment isn't necessarily just foolishness running rampant. It reflects a pattern of genuflection and fear--subconscious or not--that even an established media member such as Deveney feels when he dares trod upon one of the mighty Trib's holdings.

After all, the "poll" is still running at Tribune.com: Is a shirt with "Horry Kow" on the front and Kosuke Fukudome's name on the back OK?

Yes, for some 12 hours and counting, the Tribune actually has been asking its readers whether a shirt depicting a slant-eyed Asian on the front who cannot speak intelligible English and emblazoned on the back with the name of its prized, $48 million baseball-playing employee, is "OK."

Here's a better poll, and Tribune, you're encouraged to steal it: Isn't it sad that you're asking the question?

--Brett Ballantini

If You Have to Ask, You'll Never Know

Poll, April 21, Tribune.com:

Racist T-shirt at Wrigley?
Is a shirt with "Horry Kow" on the front and Kosuke Fukudome's name on the back OK?
• Strohl: It's 'racist'
• 'Funny? Not at all'
• Who would buy one?
• Vote: Offensive?
• See the shirt

This is really a topic worthy of debate? No, it's a shameless attempt at more page views.

Seems we're one step from seeing "Horry Kow" on sale at the Trib store.

--Brett Ballantini

The Silent Ban

Apparently, though it wasn't made known to the public or reported via the "company newspaper" Tribune, the Cubbies have "banned" the offensive Kosuke Fukudome T-shirts being sold outside The Shrine. Interesting, then, that the shirt was blatantly being sold by multiple vendors outside the park, including one highly-visible seller outside of the Cubby Bear.

Today, Rahula Strohl becomes the first member of the Tribune organization to acknowledge the T-shirts. Not in the newspaper, mind you, nor in any online "news" area, but in the sports blog What's Goin' On. And sad to say, based on the vitriolic responses that made up roughly half of the comments on Strohl's criticism of the shirts, they will be on sale outside the park and worn inside all season long.

Funny that these issues never came up on the South Side, when Shingo Takatsu and Tadahito Iguchi became the first two Japanese players in Chicago.

Never underestimate a Cubs fan's right to be ignorant. Or the company newspaper's right to be negligent.

--Brett Ballantini

Horry Kow, It's Frat Boys on Parade

The Tribune has devoted a lot of space lately about the practice of throwing baseballs onto the field during a game. Ryan Theriot thought seeing a dozen or more baseballs fly back onto the field after an opponent's home run in a Cubbies rout was "awesome." Lou Piniella, who's fallen into the habit of defending just about everyone and everything Cub, doesn't see an issue with balls flying back onto the playing field during a game ("I don't think our fans are obnoxious"). Paul Sullivan suggests this is a "new tradition."

But there's a more disturbing story brewing inside and outside The Shrine: The special way some fans are welcoming their first Japanese player, Kosuke Fukudome, to Chicago.

Funny though, you won't read about "Horry Kow" Fukudome T-shirts in the Tribune. (The link connects to a Sun-Times story from April 18.)

The Tribune apparently has all the space in the world to endlessly debate the practice of tossing baseballs back onto the field after opponents hit home runs, or Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman's reaction to it (the Tribune has run at least two articles solely devoted to Brennaman's comments). Yet nothing has come up about the blatant racism in the Fukudome T-shirt and the fans who "proudly" wear it.

In the Sun-Times story, the team offered no official comment on the racism running rampant inside and outside of its ballpark. Of all the things to offer a quick and definitive comment on, the ballclub's newest and best player being insulted by ugly stereotypes and racism should be first on the list.

So...how long will the Cubs and the Tribune remain silent?

--Brett Ballantini