St. Paul Pioneer Press update ...

Brady Braves: remember the november 13 St. Paul Pioneer Press headline about adrian peterson's knee injury: "The Vikings must now fight the battle of... Wounded Knee"? (see our november 14 post for additional info.)

replying last friday to a brady_braves_bureau email, the senior sports editor wrote, "Thank you for writing. I can't tell you how bad I feel about this [headline]. I will say to you what I have been saying to everyone who has written to us about this. In hindsight, it was a poor choice of words, and I apologize for that. We absolutely should have been more sensitive. I appreciate your feedback."

and we appreciate this sincere apology. we are glad to say that we won't be placing the st. paul pioneer press sports folks into the bureau of brady braves "hall of shame." besides, the hall is so crowded already with the chief wahoos, wannabe yahoos, billy jacks, and those texas-rangerin', infomercialin', mike huckabee endorsin' chuck "chuckabee" norrises.

First of the Mohicans?

hey, brady bravers ... espn.com is playing indian via speech today ... they're addressing "mohawk" hairstyles in college football, asking who is "first," not last, "of the mohicans." greg garber's article "does the mohawk make the man?" begins, "Some believe it was University of South Florida senior linebacker Ben Moffitt. Others credit junior center Jake Griffin. If it's a stalemate, freshman wide receiver Carlton Mitchell is more than willing to claim responsibility for being the first of the Mohicans." man, we at the bbb didn't know mr. mitchell was "indian." playing ball for south florida, he's playing indian a long way from home, eh? as garber actually takes the time to add, "The Mohawk was first identified on Mohawk Iroquois Indians in upstate New York by a Dutch Reform church minister named Johannes Megapolensis more than 350 years ago."

we pity the espn fool because everyone knows that the mohawk began in 1980s hollywood with [cue the theme music] the A-Team.

knee injury in minnesota = wounded knee,1890??

the bureau is a fan of adrian peterson, not necessarily because he plays for the vikings up the road from the bureau's new home but because he played college ball at OU aka the university of oklahoma. and yes, we wish him a speedy recovery from his knee injury against the packers this past sunday.

but folks like those at the St. Paul Pioneer Press aren't helping much with their tuesday, november 13, headline about peterson's injury: "The Vikings must now fight the battle of... Wounded Knee." as observed by professor eric buffalohead, the headline is used for "a story on Adrian Peterson's injured knee. Why on earth does it reference Wounded Knee? What does a football injury have to do with the 1890 massacre of over 300 Lakota men, women, children and elders by US Soldiers in 7th cavelry? This headline only appears in the print version, not online. Spread the word to let the Pioneer Press know they should be apologizing for such poor taste in choice of a headline."

or how about this blogger titling his post as "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: Is the NFL Any Good Any More?" referencing dee brown's novel yet still "playing" with serious words in order to make a reference to a football player's injury? man, these folks look to be trying out for the bureau of brady braves' hall of shame ...

post-halloween ...

hey, brady bravers ... did you have a pseudo-"indian"-free halloween? no little pseudo-"indians" running savage-like in your neighborhood? did you not see that peanuts t-shirt the other day in kohl's department stores on which marcy is dressed up as a witch and her friend peppermint "hey, chuck" patty dressed as an "indian" with single-feathered headband? or how about the sweatshirt at another store with winnie the pooh trick-or-treating as an "indian"? man, winnie, say it isn't so. thought halloween costumes were more about witches' hats, mummy cheesecloth, ghost bed sheets, and teenage mutant ninja turtles, not about faux "indian" pipes, faux "indian" buckskin, faux pocahontas mini-skirts, and faux headdresses. some adults, apparently a couple of faculty and/or staff members, at a major university in ohio didn't get that memo, from what i've heard. they dressed as "indians" like so many others have done and continue to do. must have been a case of post-wahoo-losing blues from not making it to the world series ... again ...

or what about blackface costumes? since 2001, there have been many recorded instances (and no telling how many undocumented) of blackface parties hosted by predominantly white fraternities. the "mummy" costume gets replaced by blackface "mammies." the white sheets for caspar-like ghosts get transmorphed into kkk costumes. from auburn's 2001 party (disturbing pics included) to colorado college's 2007 golf outing (in which four of the players reenacted sitcom characters from family matters) to blackface at yale university last week (and blackface stops in-between at virginia, texas a&m, connecticut, syracuse, etc.), blackface ain't slowing down much. (the bureau here especially encourages brady braves to check out that link to an impressive article from two students at yale.)

and don't forget brownface "south of the border" and twisted "cinco de mayo" gatherings, such as those at university of delaware and uc-santa clara. they remind us, among other things, that racialized costumes aren't limited to appearances on october 31 of each year.

happy post-halloween,

bureau of brady braves

update on nov 6: another instance of blackface, this one with a homeland security employee who won an award for best costume: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21644765/