Benevolent One
Team Owner
Here's what happened, according to espn.com.
Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has apologized for an off-the-cuff joke he made about a rural area of the state at a charity fundraiser Thursday, calling it "inappropriate."
Pearl, speaking without notes, was addressing Tennessee Valley Authority employees about the challenges he and his staff face in getting players from diverse backgrounds to play as a team.
"I've got a tough job. I've got to put these guys from different worlds together, right?" Pearl said. "I've got guys from Chicago, Detroit ... I'm talking about the 'hood! And I've got guys from Grainger County, where they wear the hood.''
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I'm not sure how we got to this point as a society, where anybody can claim to be offended by anything and demand an apology. I'm not from Grainger county, so I can't speak for them. But, one of his players' father, Doug McBee, is from there and he said "There's no hard feelings at all. "We are country up here, but we're not prejudice. It was a joke, and that's how I took it.'' I just wish everybody had his sense of humor. I thought it was funny, and appropriate given the context in which it was said.
However, there are people out there who choose to focus on one thing they didn't like instead of the charity he was there to support. These people really need something better to do with their time than to run around looking to be offended.
Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has apologized for an off-the-cuff joke he made about a rural area of the state at a charity fundraiser Thursday, calling it "inappropriate."
Pearl, speaking without notes, was addressing Tennessee Valley Authority employees about the challenges he and his staff face in getting players from diverse backgrounds to play as a team.
"I've got a tough job. I've got to put these guys from different worlds together, right?" Pearl said. "I've got guys from Chicago, Detroit ... I'm talking about the 'hood! And I've got guys from Grainger County, where they wear the hood.''
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I'm not sure how we got to this point as a society, where anybody can claim to be offended by anything and demand an apology. I'm not from Grainger county, so I can't speak for them. But, one of his players' father, Doug McBee, is from there and he said "There's no hard feelings at all. "We are country up here, but we're not prejudice. It was a joke, and that's how I took it.'' I just wish everybody had his sense of humor. I thought it was funny, and appropriate given the context in which it was said.
However, there are people out there who choose to focus on one thing they didn't like instead of the charity he was there to support. These people really need something better to do with their time than to run around looking to be offended.
