Houston Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark is the latest athlete to be caught using a homophobic slur during a game.
(John Raoux – AP)
Any novice lipreader who watches sports knows a good 10 percent of the words that come out of athletes’ mouths during competition are four letters long. And we’re so used to it that when microphones on the playing surface pick up the occasional profanity, we rarely flinch — and commentators rarely acknowledge it.
But when a mic catches an athlete directing a slur at someone else — we take notice, as we ought to.
On Friday, Houston Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark was clearly heard hurling a gay slur at someone on the pitch in Seattle. The target? A ball boy.
After the match, Clark offered an apology on his Twitter account.
I’d like to offer a sincere apology to everyone who watched the game, especially the ball boy for whom I used awful language towards.
— Colin Clark (@cOlin_cLark7) March 24, 2012
I didn’t mean to disrespect anyone and am sorry for letting my emotions get the best of me. It’s not who I am and it won’t happen again.
— Colin Clark (@cOlin_cLark7) March 24, 2012
Major League Soccer said it will “look into the matter and decide if (Clark will) face any disciplinary action.”
“We are aware of the incident involving Houston Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark during the game in Seattle Friday night, and his public apology for it,” the league said in a statement. “MLS is conducting a thorough review of the facts and examining possible disciplinary action.”
In a sport that continues to confront racism in domestic leagues and international competitions, homophobic slurs may be another problem altogether. And as we’ve recently seen in the NBA, it’s an issue that transcends sport.
Last April, five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant directed a homophobic slur at a referee. He was fined $100,000 for the incident and issued This article originally appeared on: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/houston-dynamos-colin-clark-apologizes-for-using-gay-slur-toward-ball-boy/2012/03/26/gIQAp6sPcS_blog.html