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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.