- UNION -·TRIB UN.E sep+. 201 1qqlf . -· 'THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE Monday, September 26, , 19~j

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Wha~subtletyon ~ T~e'SJ>o/.ti'!gNews~ eserve a ffiC.n.uaffie as grea aS· ev1 . dreaded Every- .. pagethisweek. .There sa headline, (ir~. d . . , ··"'~" •• .:•J'", ,, , .,_. ·. .. ;- .-. · . , ·• •;., ~ .J, • / ~~ ·. '· ~>: .weeken~. D1QJ1 tmvoke th~ till late in the :· And underneatli; · ~oinchesof.wl:iit~ spaee. ~ . . The · C~ger~ 'riowhaveev&y. ... Do. t ·· . ·· .... . tb' · - . . ~- '· -.~ •·· ;· ... bodyi,ntothe pattern" phrase For the po· .. = ·: derPatrol. .Which,likemost ' receivedonthebencp~spired . . . . er 0 . . ··:· . ,. .... :. , good nicknam~. has a local fla- . As Alexander Wright an4 St~v~ Ortmayer: . ' M~k ~aid~ s ~udio IS more_anal-re!entive a ' • Vital statistic: NFL kickers are 0-fe= ~ ! vor anQ is metaphorically true. hint on kickoffs, speed kills: Does AI know? ... ' · Prll?e Ticket m1ssed Ray Pete_rson s runba~k . Raidersfanloolq;justlike . , ···.: ItdidgetE.J. :Watson ~gm theht~:ddle · · · from 50-plus yards. \. .. ·: -.,_--_·, =,\ Unfortunately, TheBorder'Patrolisnotapo- . Notice: Every 1 1 the ~~ p~ · : ,to who. .' Cheech Marin or Downto~!ulie Brown. • :; Hope ~.C w~s r~~arded Wlth a · rating ~o: ·• Posture ~olice: Aft~r 90-~ litically corre~t. te~, a~co~c:~Wg th~se 110 , return, Darnen Gordon shook·his b'oot · ; . offices to compl.$ of soczo- (Except fQr that obese man Wlth the skull-and- , exporting ~na Stanfor~ to ~hann~ m called the Chargers Raiders' Pirate.P.avilion_ .~ a9d ~fan • insensitivity. Bpy. Some peopl~: · . crossbones pl4oted on his bare'chest); '.. · . · · s~ead ofMichig¥1-C~ T~J?Y coul~ ovE:r a Moon feature . •• ~~_... _·=_ '.,::s~ · sponsormg a . D1d the·Chiefs open Wlth fq\lf games·vs. the·· · be desc!lbed as apopl~cti~ . Isn tIt great. · · · s1on Bell" non ptabl~. but ~~j:hargers ar~ Rams are head- ' • Chris Bennan's (Nick)Name.' of the - : contest to rename their D-line. Hey, good ones NFC because the NFL wanted FQx to get a .,._ Acc~rding_ to '!NFL Live, the · · Week: Willie Fuller,"Rush !'4;ln.~; ;'J..: 1:' • bard to find. Natrone Means is "N Train"; .. head start with two Joe, ,Montllli'& 'Game~~. ;,: ·~. ed fo~ ~tunore, to play at Camd~n. Yards· are for- • Jim Rome-tcrEnglish Dictio~:· ~ ' Berman c;ame up with.' ,'Retried~....- uh-oh. You knowJ~ must be gettingWd. Beca'use.·~J·~,'!..:. K~hil ~rm~s wa~ uncomfy talking about Chris to play for Stud" means UCLA hoops ~ch Jini Barrick. : What will the PC police do next? . th~ last time he was that siCk J:W ~'nied · !'iotr:e -~?~ -~g a TV: career ~or,a. last c~ance Geez ~ · • Commercialism: Joe qreen~:§, ~k~lllUl:clock management, Wayne Fontes?. . . . . · Oliv~r McCall, meet Buster :Douglas. . . . • Thought for the day_; "Raiders ~ ~--e Eastern Europe ignor_ed infringement of its the .' a game. At'the.Coliseum. ··· '~-Worst thing about the outcome of Saturday's baby!"- Lee HaDlj.lton, the clock at 0:00 Iron Curtain'tra .:{ > . · t • ·t:,~· 1 4.1 ~ ...J.. ~ ~;. - J..r ~~ ",.aj\ .~ ...... • THE • "i . . .. • -: :tHARGERSFUMBLE~ · TO . -_;,:·,··-. BALL ~~STO:OP . BAsHiNG!j . -•- MEXicAN Line"J -- ~Y p.ac_is~ ~~~~fensive Outr(lged -~ • • ' :· co,.!fau~ity • ' . ~ -~~~cti~o ' ... , •• ~.. ' : ..... ~·. ·~ J, ,.:. '"· bashing ' " f by the Mexican :. babif ~ mad· e , about the fcano fice hfis pro of Governor Pete Wilson, The Conimittee on Ch of 99% of the the·· Raider fans San Diego Board of Supervi­ Rights (CCR) has labeled Me?'ican and Chi- right "that the 3,000,000 sors, and the .radical ·Chargers· statement reside in SanDi- the of Leslie canes who . wing prop. 187 supporters, defensive line and Tijuana. Is it a. coin- in the Mims, Shawn ego de- Chargers involvement O'Neal, Chris . cidence that the Chargers arena with the volatile Reuben Davis .are is all Black? political cost Lee and '= . fensive front line issue will Border Patrol' as racist~ the Rainbow immigration tarnish 'the the _ So much for them monetarily and and offensive to . · · image in insulting persons Coalitiop.'' their public relations than 3,000,000 "If the Charg- · the border more who live Baca added, . San Diego County, of Mexican ancestry ·are stating that by labeling · · and Tijuana. ers and in Mexico." in San Diego themselves the.'BOrderPatrol' as I am concerned," Baca, chairman of they can "As far Herman · they are inferring that "a BOYCOTT by said, "The label is they have said Baca; of the CCR hold the line, then self respecting persons · How would the Black a wrong and all in order racist. Raid- definetly chosen Mexican ancestry is communitY react if the label. By tq_e Border for the line ha.d la- ludicrous ; for until those responsible ers front defensive Patrol's own admisSion and the San Diego themselves the 'Klan apprehended 9 statements retract beled . every person · Chargers front office Patr.ol '? Or how would the through the U.S./ label and feel if the or 10 slip the Border Patrol ·.Jewish CO!JliDunity border! Some defense of Me:id"- -· defensive or Mexico . apologize to persons . New York Giants Baca." · here in the U.S. line labeled snorted office can ancestry offensive front "The lily ~bite front for their racist, the 'Gestapo Pa- ·playing and Mexico themselyes · of the Chargers, is discriminatory sta~e- · than football! bigoted, ,- -. trol'? re- politics rather · idio~c racist public filled c~itent .- ments." . ~: This the : With .the hate _ approved by brought . , stUnt : d J., , lat~ons ·political climate .., ~ • front of- -r ··•• ' ..., . .... • .white Chargers·.,-~t- =~~ "" · •lily ,jf,~.-.J.!.~ ,,~ • ... ~.:--· .... ! .. _ ·f~\ : . .i .· C-10 THE SAN DIEGO UNi

Viewpoints ~ ...

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'" . . . ;i,Tht San Diego Union- Tribune welcomes letters to the ~Sports Editor. ·They should be kept as brief as possible and : ~y be edited. To be considered for publication, letters 1 =:tmust include an address and telephone number (which will . ' 'not be published). Our address: Sports Letters, The San :rDiego Union-Tribune, P.O. Box 191, San Diego 92112. ~ ~ r;. . . .. ,· - . ·' -. , . . 9~ ., ~ Border P~~rol' protests answered . · I must respond to letters objecting to the Chargers · ense being labeled !'The Border Patrol." I am a sec-. generation kgal immigrant from Mexico and I · this is a great nickname. I take no offense, racial personal. A bOrder is "any separation, edge, or line," as in line scrimmage. A patrol is an "independent group used ~l r observation or action," as in NFL action. The Char- I 1gers def~ andthe U.S. . Border Patrol have the • same'job - to contain or repel an invasion force from 1an opponent. : , ·The name says, "Watch out! We're on patrol and 1~e'll do all that we can, within the rules, to keep you problem-seeking mentalities behind in the real world. 1 • 'out of our territory." , · "Political correctn~ ss" has no place in the NFL. · l ! • Keep the name. It makes a point. We should be LAWRENCE LEE : proud of both our "Border Patrols." De/Mar l-,. _ PHILL CARREON, Vista

·:I find complaints about use of the nickname nauseat­ il!,g. My wife is an immigrant, and the first language in <)ur home is Spanish; yet we, as Americans, are proud .o£ the men and women .of the Border Patrol, who per­ ( ilfe~~! -~e.. ~: . .~ck . !~ - ~~~ na~:~ C?Wl· ; 1'ftit not so 'naive as to think there are not occasional tr.lnwessions leading to excessive use of force, or 1 everi violence, but to compare the men and women . .who guard our borders to Nazis is an outrage. ~ ::.., pOfttiail correctness is the McCarthyism of the . '90s, and'&:itainly just as pernicious. Tradition and in~ dividuality are Deing systematically stamped out · .. acr~ America. College teams change nicknames to appea~ a small minority. Hallowed old schools like ' • ' Th~ Citadel are forced to break the century-old tradi­ . .· t£~pf an all-male cadre. At an elementary.school, chi!­ . ~e told not to dr~ fo.(.Hallo.ween as Native . Americans (or as hobos). As someone with a signifi-' • -1 cant amoWlt of Cher.okee in my blood, I have no prob- · ·lem with someone dressing up as Geronimo, Sitting .. Bull·or Chief joseph, or using the nickname "Indians." I define myself by' something other than labels. : .·~ People like.Emesto Araiza and the other writer, Er­ nie McCray, w9uld pro~bly prefer to see this coWltry . reduced to one solitary, Wlfernitting shade of gray, .without texture or shape. just conformity. I, for one, hope this never comes to pass. And, I suspect, the "worm will turn, and turn hard, just like it did for Me- 1 1 1 Carthyism. ·. .. ! \ ' . · CHAD W. BOYER · Pacific Beach

,· Ernie McCray's characterizatio~ of "BorP,er Patrol" as !'the ~ost hateful tag imaginable" is thoughtless, disrespectful of the agents (many of Hispanic descent) and just plain stupid.· · · · ~ Mr. Araiza also seems to have a problem with valid comparison when he uses the "Storm Troopers" analo­ :gy, which.is clearly ludicrous. ;· These peop\e can't tell good guys from bad guys. The oxymoronic nature of the phrase "law-abiding ill~ gal aliens" is lost on them. · . · I don't think "Border Patrol" is a·particularly in­ I spired nickname for a football squad, but to use this in­ nocuous bit of PR as a platform from which to point the racist finger at anyone is really a long reach.