I find it a little bit Ironic that myself a fan of T.J Ford and a person who defended T.J Ford in this blog, now is defending Jose Calderon. I had said in the past even in defending T.J, that I still liked and supported Jose as well. Now with this issue of the picture that you all likely have seen by now, I find myself defending Jose. Not defending the actions but the person. The choice made in having that picture made and then having it presented in public was wrong and in poor taste. Some people have even said it is racist in nature. All of this is fair comment and is 100% correct.
That being said for 3 years now with the Toronto Raptors, Jose Calderon has been a great human being. I am a loyal person by nature. In this blog I think that is shown by me. If I support someone than I stand behind them. Is Jose in the wrong on this single issue? I think he is but that being said based on one mistake in 3 years I am not going to turn my back on the guy. I have read some comments of some fans that I truly found to be sad. I even called in on Fan 590 today to express my disappointment in some fans for the instant reaction in such a harsh and negative way to Jose. I look at it like this. If someone in my family did something wrong would I not still support them? I know that I would and would not give it a second thought. If someone that is a Toronto Raptor does something wrong I like to think I would do the same. I admit there are limits to this but in general if you are a Raptor than you are part of my basketball family. I never turned my back on T.J Ford and supported him. I understand some readers may not have agreed with that but I hope it allowed people to respect me for it. Same goes with this issue.
Jose being the stand up person he is posted a response to all of this on his website. I posted it in the blog prior to this one. I think based on what he had to say that no one can conclude that Jose was guilty of anything beyond some very bad judgement. This was a single action and it was a mistake and one that if he had understood how it would have been taken the way it has been, I am confident that Jose would not have done it. Who in there life has not made a mistake that they wish they could take back. We all have been guilty of something that we did wrong in our lives. Jose Calderon had been built up to such a high level by fans, that eventually something was going to happen to have him fall back to being a normal human being.
I take you back to Jose Calderon’s rookie season. Jalen Rose as part of the stuff vets do to rookies made Jose use a Dora the explorer travel bag on the road. I thought it was funny. Maybe Jose didn’t find that as funny. Some could even say that was in poor taste. I am not among them but someone who is Spanish maybe may not like it. I really have no idea. But the point is things happen and in a culture that seems to be so hyper about not offending anyone things like this can get blown out of control. The point was I do not think Jalen Rose did it to offend Jose in anyway and I think the same is true of Jose in respect to this incident.
This is going to be a very important season on the basketball court for Jose. He is currently trying to bring home a gold medal for his country of Spain. He also faces the new challenge of being the starting point guard here with the Raptors. If this is the worst thing that happens to Jose Calderon this year it will not be the end of the world. The pressure of what he will face in those two things is going to be far greater for Jose.
I can not speak for you folks that read this blog. I would hope that you all would be supportive of people and stick behind them. One of the truly great things that have come out of doing this has been the support of readers of this blog. I would hope that if I ever made a mistake or something that was wrong that people would stand behind me and this blog. I use to take a lot of heat for my support of T.J and many felt I didn’t like or support Jose Calderon. I think this blog is proof that those people were wrong. The sad thing is I think people that gave praise to Jose have turned their back on him at the first sign of trouble. I support every thing to do with the Toronto Raptors and that includes the players, the coaches, the management, the media and all of you the fans. Do I always agree with those various groups? No and I have my say if I do not. But I still think of all of these people having one common goal and that is success of the Toronto Raptor Franchise.
Jose Calderon is part of my Toronto Raptors and I will support him in good times and bad. I encourage all of you to do the same.
Tags: Jose Calderon, Raptor Fans, Spain Basketball
August 12, 2008 at 4:14 pm |
GOOD FOR YOU MAN !
cuz i’m getting tired of hearing it from the fans!
August 12, 2008 at 4:59 pm |
i support him too, its not that big of a deal. jose is a good guy and i know he would never do something like that. Fans should really stop this nonsense
August 12, 2008 at 8:03 pm |
no offence, but you suck at being a journalist
August 12, 2008 at 8:05 pm |
Co-Sign
August 12, 2008 at 9:26 pm |
LOL, no how could anyone be offended by being told I suck. That being said I must being doing something right to get the amount of readers that I do.
The crazy thing in all of this is to a point I agree about the Journalist bit. I am not exactly a Journalist and I am not exactly a fan. I try always to fall some where in the middle. If I was wroking in the traditional media would I have even written this blog? Not a chance. But that being said I am able to have the freedom to write what I want too.
Basically saying someone sucks really doesn’t say much of anything. If there is some issue you have say so and I can address it be it here or via e-mail but to make a general comment like that I can hardly respond too it. So if I was being like you I’d say you suck at giving comments. That being said I have learned that not everyone is always going to be happy and I can accept that.
August 13, 2008 at 12:22 am |
There is some new iformation to shine some light on this dark affair
http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/spanish-ad-spurs-charges-of-racism/
August 13, 2008 at 7:35 am |
[...] – Dino Nation Blog [...]
August 13, 2008 at 11:22 am |
Spanish team apologizes and gives info on the photo
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/sports/olympics/14hoops.html?ref=sports
August 13, 2008 at 12:04 pm |
Your up to date Raptors related information is excellent, keep up the good work
August 14, 2008 at 4:15 pm |
Dino Blogger:
If your family member does something wrong, you should support them. I agree with that line of thought but Jose Calderon is not your family member.
I understand that he’s done good things up in Canada but — and I’m being blunt here — have you met him and do you truly know that he understands what that racist picture means to people. And furthermore, do you know that he truly apologizes for this?
His “apology” for the situation on his blog was, quite frankly, weak. It didn’t even signify that he realized how it was offensive.
I see where you’re going with this because we seem to both realize that the media and internet fans are extremely fickle. But in this case, what he did is racist and ignorant and it deserves a demonstrative response.
August 14, 2008 at 4:29 pm |
K-Man. Do i Know Jose Calderon personally no. I have interviewed a bunch of people that do know Jose. But that really is not the point. I did say that I feel Jose was wrong. I am not saying I support the action the picture or anything to do with it.
But I consider him a Raptor and he has my support because for 3 years he has been a quality person and acted in a very classy way. So he makes an error which was made by the entire Spanish team not just him.
I consider this Blog and the Raptors my basketball Family and am willing to support them in good times and bad. There are a lot worse people in this world than Jose Calderon. In other sports leagues we have ex-cons and people in trouble with the law. I am far more concerned about that.
It is easy to stand behind folks when everything is cool and going good. It is much harder to do it when that is not the case. So even though I may personally have been disappointed in Jose over this single action I am not willing to over look 3 years of him being a quality guy based on one incident. It is not like he is like say Mike Vick who was killing animals he made a mistake and that is that. Has he lost some fans and support from that? Likely. I think we all get very over the top about these things. I am not here to say what he did could not be thought of as racist in fact what I wrote says that.
August 14, 2008 at 4:53 pm |
I understand that this may be a call for real supports of Jose to stand up. And I see that. I generally like Calderon as a player — with the except of his defense, but that’s another conversation.
I don’t buy the “there are worse people in the world” argument. That’s like saying “Jose Calderon is not a classy guy because Mother Teresa is awesome.”
My statement isn’t so much a comparison of Calderon but more of a question to what kind of support can be given to Calderon through this medium that doesn’t “write off” the racist Spanish team picture (which was followed up by the Spanish tennis team, FYI).
Also, I’m not accusing you of endorsing the picture or anything like that. But Calderon’s complicity in taking the picture shows an abhorrent disregard for the Olympic spirit at best and a “tip of the iceberg” at worst.
I guess I’m saying that for every rabid, manic fanatic condemning Calderon’s dog, team and family there are an equal amount of level-headed people that have examined this situation and are just as likely to condemn the picture for what it really means. That, in no way, is a flippant disregard for loyalty towards the Raptors.
August 14, 2008 at 6:09 pm |
I am not sure if you read this blog prior to this K-Man. But we do agree about Calderon in the Basketball sense. I too have concerns with his defense.
Ultimately I put the most blame on the Spanish Basketball Federation that has put these players in this awful spot they have been placed in.
I am not a big fan of the over politically correct world we live in. I am not a racist or anything of the sort. Not saying you were saying that I was. But I do think these things get blown out of control on all sides.
Jose did respond to it and although you may not think he went far enough to address his feelings or state is regret, I think the fact he reacted as quickly as he did speaks to his nature of being a stand up person.
The entire thing is a regretable situation and I think if to do over again it would have been handled differently by all involved. Hopefully everyone learned something from it.
August 14, 2008 at 11:07 pm |
Some people really need to get a grip.
I am Chinese, and sure, I was taken aback by the photo. But Calderon shouldn’t take the brunt of the blame and accused of being a racist. In anyone should be at fault, it’s the photographer or sponsor who ran that picture. For all we know, this could have been a lone shot taken out of dozens, and it just happened to be the one selected.
I personally don’t think there was bad intent, but irregardless, apologies have been made by the team and the players, so let’s move on. Some people just get a rise out of getting a rise out of people. Let’s focus on the Games and not these foolish games.
August 14, 2008 at 11:18 pm |
Thanks Chi of Steel. I thank you for your comments, I do not understand how this would feel for someone who is of Chinese Background. I think one of the great things about the Raptors is the team really seems to bring a lot of cultures together under one common umbrella.
I think it is important that this does not change for this franchise. The Dino Nation Blog is happy to have readers of all backgrounds and ages. Females or Males. If you are a basketball fan that enjoys the Raptors you are welcome as far as I am concerned.
August 15, 2008 at 9:48 am |
Chi of Steel:
Not sure if that comment is directed at me but as I said above, “for every rabid, manic fanatic condemning Calderon’s dog, team and family there are an equal amount of level-headed people that have examined this situation and are just as likely to condemn the picture for what it really means.”
Some people feel the need to rally against being “politically correct” but that does not absolve them of being respectful and humane.
Also, it IS Calderon’s fault. He shouldn’t get the brunt of the blame but tossing the potato over to the photographer or the team officials is a false pardon, I believe.
Regarding your “this could be a lone shot” thought, I could respond with “this could be one of many.” The women’s Spanish national team took basically the same exact picture.
I realize that I’m representing the minority sentiment no this website but what exactly does that tell you when examining complicity?
We should move on, sure, but let people call a spade a spade before moving on and some people need more time to “cope” than others.