For those unfamiliar with the story because it was censored in the home of the brave by the fourth estate, eschewing its Bernsteinian principles of reporting the truth without fear or favour, here are extracts from an article by the Daily Telegraph’s golf correspondent Lewine Mair, taken from the telegraphonline (subscription only, so no linkie):
US media cover up Tiger’s Augusta gaffe
America’s leading newspapers yesterday helped Tiger Woods evade controversy by ignoring his use of the word “spaz” to describe his poor putting in the final round of the Masters at Augusta.
Woods finished in a share of third place but had 33 putts in his round. Clearly annoyed, he said later: “As good as I hit it, that’s as bad as I putted and it’s frustrating, because I felt so in control of my ball from tee to green, and once I got on the green I was a spaz [spastic].”
The LA Times, changed the word to “wreck” while The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe all expunged the word completely. Only two US sports news services ran his words in an unedited form.
Few will forget how he took umbrage when, after the 1997 Masters, Fuzzy Zoeller said that Woods would be serving chicken and collard greens, a typical Afro-American dish, at the 1998 champions’ dinner.
Shame on you, LA Times! Changing words folks say would get you a suspension round here. Your confederates on the East Coast are just as spineless with their advertiser-centred attitude. At least now we know what “liberal” means.
Roger Thornhill emanates from the UK, I believe, where “spastic” is indeed a much more offensive term than in the USA. It seems to me to have fallen out of use somewhat, possibly since the Spastic Society (a charity for children with cerebral palsy) changed its name to “Scope” (or possibly because I’ve left school :)). Regardless, over here it’s an pretty derogatory term due to its association with said disability, while AIUI in the States its colloquial meaning is much more closely related to its actual medical definition (“of or relating to spasms”). P’raps for the benefit of UK viewers, Tiger might have said “ataxic” instead.
Anyway, when I read this on the BBC I knew someone was going to kick up a fuss. I am surprised, however, that the LA Times saw fit to change the word, which seems a bit dubious on purely journalistic grounds.
Indeed, I emanate from England (UK is such an ugly term) and, I hope, emanate wisdom. If spastic isn’t so offensive to Sceptcs, then why did their eminent organs for disseminating the truth see fit to blue-pencil Woods, to put words into the Tiger’s mouth? Don’t make no sense. And not likely that anyone in the States would kick up a fuss, as the news of the censorship was itself censored.
I find myself mystified by this one. ‘Spaz’ is not one of those words that would normally cause the blue pencil to come out. And, here in the States, I don’t think it carries any more specific negative vibe than ‘nerd’ or ‘dork’ or somesuch.
Hell, one of the guy at my college proudly carried the nickname ‘spaz’ all through school. Insisted on being called that when introduced.
Well, as I say, I’m surprised by the LA Times’ action; maybe they have an anglophilic sub-editor somewhere. As for the others, I just think it’s because it’s a longish quote with the good, snappy bit (“As good as I hit it, that’s as bad as I putted”) at the start. A few outlets (ESPN and USA Today, notably) seem to have quoted him in full, the rest just haven’t bothered, not out of some new-found decorum, but because it’s redundant and uninteresting. I certainly don’t see any justification for the Telegraph (and Scotsman, and Independent, and Guardian) all trying to claim that the US media is somehow conspiring to cover up Tiger’s “gaffe”. I mean really, when did the US media ever conspire in such a co-ordinated manner to spare the blushes of a celebrity?
I don’t know if the general public realized just how many times sports writers make small changes to locker room quotes from other athletes. It’s very common in the major team sports since the players tend to use colorful language in the locker room. The press is there, sticking mikes in the face of a pitcher who just gave up a walk off homerun, his quote might not be very PC.
Having said that, in the US I don’t think many folks would think that using “spaz” is a gaffe. Most people wouldn’t even understand the controversy.
I hadn’t heard about the elimination of “spaz” from polite discourse either, but I welcome it, if only because it frees up room for some more enjoyable synonyms:
Personally, I want to hear Tiger Woods say “klutz”. Actually, I’d love to hear Tiger Woods say “Oy, was I a klutz!” but I guess you can’t have everything.
Tiger only shared third place? Shoot. I was watching the earlier rounds and really hoping he’d win. But he’s right, he was putting like a lummox, at least by Tiger Woods standards.
The L.A. Times didn’t actually change the quote. They made it clear they were omitting a word by placing an alternate meaning in square brackets, which is the standard method.
Saying: “As good as I hit it, that’s as bad as I putted and it’s frustrating, because I felt so in control of my ball from tee to green, and once I got on the green I was a [wreck]” means “we omitted some words, the meaning of which amounts to ‘wreck.’” The Times’s action may have been cowardly, but it wasn’t dishonest.
