As many of you know, OU baseball coach Larry Cochell used the "n" word, while talking about one of his black players to reporters with ESPN. The conversation with the reporters was off record, however, the coach should have never used that word, no matter what.

Barry Tramel, a sports reporter for the Oklahoman, believes the coach should be fired for this racist remark. Click on the link for his opinion.

http://newsok.com/article/1486590/?template=sports/main


I also do not approve of the "n" word, because it is a racist remark, however, do you think the coach should be fired, or should he just be reprimanded?

This could have been posted as a poll, however, since it is about sports, and it is rather controversial, I decided it belonged in the sports forum.

Talk about setting us back in the eyes of the nation! There is no excuse for attitudes and language like that. Was the man on crack?

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I am hoping that he resigns, but I have been hoping for his resignation the last four years. I was a regular at games in Norman until last year when I went on record with Castiglione that I would not return until a new coach was named. His coaching and player development has been very weak the last several years and he is a man that always blames the players and never himself for the teams short comings. As a loyal sooner fan and a donor to the athletic program I hope his last official day as the coach will be no later than May 2nd.

OU BAseball coach Larry Cochrell resigned two hours ago.

B/c of some people taking PC to new extremes, a coach with a national championship has been forced to resign. Opinions?

It's a shame that it's come down to this...both his recent coaching performance and now this. He has a pretty decent record at OU both athletically and ethically. We shouldn't forget that, but I'm glad to here that he resigned today.

You have to remember, his nationl championship was years ago. What has the guy done the past few years? We don't need a guy making racial comments like this representing the state of Oklahoma. It's time to put racism behind us, and play baseball.

Well, I've looked at the words Cochell used, and I think it's unfortunate he had to resign.

Yes, he used the N word, which is very divisive and racist in the eyes of a lot of blacks, but I don't really think he intended it to be racists.

His comments:
"ESPN reported Cochell told Thorne: “There are honkies and white people and there are n——— and black people. Dunigan is a good black kid,” in reference to the African American freshman.

In addition, the sports network said Cochell told Peterson: “There’s no n——- in him.”

I think what Cochell meant to say was that there are goo white people and bad white people, there are good black people and bad black people. He meant to say there was no bad in Dunigan.

It's clear to me that since he mentioned the honkie term about whites, he didn't mean anything racist by it.

Instead, he was trying to make a good comment about Dunigan.

It's a shame he'll have to live with this mistake the rest of this life, all for a poor choice of words, that wasn't even mean to be racist.

If I was a black athlete OU baseball player I'd be extremely shocked. Not just at the coach using the "n" word, but for him even trying to classify him as a certain type of black guy. I mean they are 2 kinds of baseball players. Good and Bad. Why he couldn't just say, he's a good player. I think he was forced to resign honestly. If not I think he would have been fired, because the University wouldn't want to have that come up and bit them on the butt later on, for going easy on a someone who used racial tones to students. Honestly, it's scary to think he even used language like that off the record, because it makes me think that he normally though that way anyways, if he was comfortable to just say it around national news people (off the record or regardless).

Actually using that word in the context inwhich he used it does not bother me, because that word can be a dirogatory term for any race. It simpally means a questionable lifestyle (crime, etc).

That's such a cop-out. While it's true that the definition you provide is a valid alternative denotation, the connotation of the word has been solely a racial epithet for African Americans for decades. Just because the alternative definition exists in the dictionary doesn't make it acceptable to use the word.

Frankly, I'm rather shocked and baffled that the coach would even fathom using the word conversationally. I'm sure that he did not intend his comment to be overtly racist, but anyone in his position with frequent exposure to the media and the knowledge that he is a representative of the University should have thought twice before opening his mouth and using that word. I'm glad that he resigned. It will save the University the time and effort to conduct an investigation and the difficult task of finding an appropriate punishment.

It makes you wonder if the "n" word is part of his everyday vocabulary. I mean, if he just comes out and says it during normal conversation, that doesn't say much about his character.

Just FYI:

"N":

1. Used as a disparaging term for a Black person

2. Used as a disparaging term for a member of any dark-skinned people

Did you even read what Cochell said? He was referring to an athletic player on his team, and to explain the kid's athletic ability, he said the kid had a little "n" in him! This was "off the record" to an ESPN reporter!

No, sorry, even hinting that you pay credence to eugenics, and especially using that word in any sentence, especially when you are a representative of the entire state of Oklahoma is simply inexcusable.

I agree completely with the decision to fire him. He was on his way out anyhow. He hasn't produced anything worthwhile for OU in a long time.

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I believe he actually said, in reference to the player, that he "didn't have any 'n' in him". That changes nothing, of course, just thought I'd clarify.

Thanks for that, but you're right, it changes nothing.

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I don't care what context the word was used in, the "n" word used in any way in today's society is racially divisive. Simple as that. Even had Cochell shouted the word 3 or 4 times without putting it in a sentence, it still would've been viewed as racially offensive.

It's all about the historical context.

I have a little bit of cracker in me..

But I'm white.. I can say that.

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