Terms for "White"

This is a favorite game of the radio station I listen to but I thought I would bring it to the Blog. The idea of the game is to identify euphamism's for "white" athletes.

Here's the thing: we all know that in both basketball and football, white players are drastically outnumbered, especially at the skill positions. If you're a white football player, chances are you're either a quarterback or a lineman. If you're a white basketball player, you're probably a very tall, very untalented center. Because of this, announcers and reporters seem to take a special interest in that rarest of all species, the white football or basketball player. However, it's not exactly PC to come out and say "That guy is white" anymore than it is to say "That guy is black." So we've developed terms that everyone in the world of sports understands to be code for white without actually calling a player white. These terms were once again thrown in my face on Super Bowl Sunday because the Patriots leading receiver is Texas Tech's own Wes Welker, one of about 5 white receivers in the NFL. These are some of my favorite terms:

Scrappy - White guys are always referred to as scrappy players. "Wes Welker is just scrappy, he never seems to back down even when he is badly outmanned."

Heart - White guys are always characterized as playing with a lot of heart. "He's got a ton of heart, Dave." Or my favorite "You just can't underestimate his heart."

Blue collared - white players are always identified as blue collar players, meaning they have to work for everything they've gotten. "Jordy Nelson is just a blue collar type of guy."

Lunch pail - this goes hand in hand with blue collared, usually in the same sentence. Apparently carrying a lunch pail illustrates the fact that white players are going to dig in and stay on the worksite until the job is done. "That guy just brings his lunchpail to work every single day."

Lacking in athleticism - White players are constantly accused of being lesser athletes, which is true to a degree but really, anybody who's playing a skill position in the NFL or NBA is an athletic freak, period. Still, Wes Welker is probably less athletic than Randy Moss. "He doesn't have very much athleticism but he just makes up for it."

God given ability - this goes hand in hand with athleticism. White players apparently are not blessed with the same talent as black players so they must use every ounce of it they are given. "Jim, he doesn't have a whole lot of God given talent but he just gets the most out of every bit of it."

A football/basketball player - this one isn't used much in basketball. In football this term lets the viewer now that the person in question, while not the most talented, is driven and hard working enough to make it in football no matter what. It also further insinuates the white player's lack of athleticism. "The coaches say he's just a true football player: if they had put him at linebacker, he'd play linebacker and be good at it, if they put him at running back, it would be the same thing."

So all together now: "Wes Welker may not have been blessed with a lot of talent but he has such a strong work ethic that he just would not be denied. He's just a football player, Bob. In high school he ran, threw, caught, kicked, and played defense. He's a scrappy, blue collar kind of guy who brings his lunch pail to work every day. He just has so much heart, you can't ever underestimate him." All that could be summed up in .2 seconds by saying, "Wes Welker is a white reciever." So the next time you hear terms like "scrappy" and "blue collered," just remember the code.