Pro snooker player throws a fit when an amateur player beats him

boing
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Actually, the ‘danger’ in that quote (whatever that danger is) is inferred by the reader. (Read on to see exactly where he did use the word ‘dangerous’.) My starting point way upthread was that I did not think that the alleged racism should be inferred from what was actually said.

The ‘very dangerous’ quote came from Robertson, referring to the amateurs being in the tournament, after he himself had also just been beaten by an amateur in the same tournament. What exactly is dangerous about it is unclear and I suggest that just like Murphy he is also being a bit of an arse and exaggerating the alleged problem of amateurs being admitted to a pro tournament just to make up the numbers.

But here’s what he said (and a link to the full article about his loss to the amateur that this comes at the end of). Very specifically, @cole.perry he did not say “how very dangerous it is that these Chinese boys play in the league” (or tournament).

Firstly, what he said about being beaten by the amateur:

‘It hurts,’ Robertson told the BBC. ‘As the defending champion you don’t want to give up the title so easily, but you have to credit John.

‘He played a brilliant match. He probably played the match of his life. There was a crowd, it was on the main table and he stood up to it and played as if he had nothing to lose.’

And what he said about amateurs being in the tournament.

Victories for amateurs are becoming the story of the UK Championship so far after Shaun Murphy was downed 6-5 by Si Jiahui on Tuesday and criticised their inclusion in the tournament.

Robertson, ironically, backed Murphy’s comments, agreeing with him that amateurs should not be competing in professional events.

‘I totally get where Shaun’s coming from,’ Robertson told the BBC. ‘When you’re playing one of the Chinese boys, some of them are amateurs, but some are as good as anybody in the top 50 in the world.

‘Amateurs are under a completely different pressure where there’s actually no pressure, because they’re not competing for ranking points.

‘They’re basically on a free hit at a pro, so I completely agree with what Shaun’s saying there, because it is very dangerous.’

So, his ‘very dangerous’ comment was about amateurs in the tournament - after he was beaten by one (who was not Chinese, as it happened). He was basically saying: that he understood Murphy’s view (probably even more so having just lost to an amateur himself); that among the Chinese players there are both amateurs and top pros; that amateurs are under a different pressure. Why he thinks it is ‘dangerous’ to play amateurs is a different debate, of course and probably does show he’s being as precious an arse as Murphy was.

That’s what was said. Some here are certain this was clear racism. I am far from so sure there is evidence here of that, but of course people can infer what they like. It would be good if one or two of them did their inferring after reading the comments by the different players in full rather than just assume that the phrase ‘the Chinese boys’ must mean they were being obviously racist or were lumping and dumping on them because of imaginary bigoted quotes. It is frustrating to be taken to task about things or comments that did not actually occur.

I have a thick enough hide not to be too offended by people also implying that I am somehow defending the snooker players’ racism, that they have inferred. I can do no more than clearly state that this is not my intent, nor as far as I can see, is what I have said anywhere here.

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Perhaps you should stop then, because using the term “Chinese boys” to refer to a group is a form of casual racism, microaggression, and “othering”.

It’s a subtle form of racism that separates folks into an “Us vs Them” mentality without being “blatantly” racist. And many folks are unaware of its effect, having grown up with statements like this in their environment.

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90

This skit was responsible for the banning of drinking during Darts Tournaments almost overnight.

The players didn’t like the way they were portrayed and changed their behaviour.

Shocking I know, they should have sued the producers let real men!

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In U.S. English it is, if the speaker is not Chinese and the “boys” are over 18

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Interesting. I had not even considered the possibility that this might be problem of US/UK usage difference. In the UK, groups of men - and most especially sportsball groups/teams - are regularly, and in some places habitually, referred to as ‘the X boys’ or ‘the X lads’.

Sportsball pundits on TV, or fans/punters in informal conversation, might be just as likely to use it about national teams as about domestic teams, too. But nobody bats an eyelid or considers it patronising or demeaning in the overwhelming majority of contexts. (Of course there may be some contexts or tones where it IS clearly being used to patronise or demean. Context is all.)

Also interestingly, Neil Robertson is Australian, so whilst I saw his usage as being innocent from a UK perspective, I wonder if such usage is even more common and normalised in Australia (some of whose inhabitants pride themselves on their greater informality relative to many ‘stuck-up’ - well, Brits, especially).

If such usage is perceived so very differently in the US might this at least partly explain why that phrase elicited such different reactions?

As ever, two countries divided by a common language.

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Or join a players union which can fight for your interests.

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