Mal Brown - What was he thinking?

[kosifantutti23]

Referring to poor ground lighting at some of the early legends matches - in which Brown coached one of the teams - he said: ''It actually disadvantaged us. We couldn't pick any of the cannibals. Nicky Winmar, Michael Mitchell … We didn't even get any white shirts to put on them.''

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/c ... -ygdk.html

[Sainternist]

but it's mal brown we're talking about. i mean, what do you expect?

it's no secret, mal brown has about as much diplomacy as genghis kahn.

[SaintDebi]

What was he thinking?: apparently he wasn't.

And gee, telling the media NOT to publish what he said was going to work -not. Talk about red flag to a bull. That was pretty much saying "look at me, look at me".

Idiot.

[saint64]

and just as Rugby League had scored yet another home goal in the dinosaur stakes

[bigcarl]

he was joking and would have got away with it 20 years ago. there was no malice intended.

unfortunately for him, you cannot say things like that in these enlightened and politically correct times.

[Waltzing St Kilda]

Mal Brown doesn't think. Thinking is a subversive, socialist theory to such types.

[Mr Magic]

It's interesting watching Ch9 'run' with this story.
Amazing their 'take' on this given all the obfuscation (and covering up) they chose to use last week over Andrew Johns and his, IMO, far worse actions in this area.

I wonder if it has anything to do with them being the NRL network?
You would think that Mal Brown was an axe murderer this morning, whereas Johns was a 'good guy' who has been unfairly treated by everybody other than hardcore Rugby League.

And what will the Hun's take be on this,
given that News Corp basicly own the NRL?

Mal Brown is an absolute idiot for thinking he could get away with telling a joke like that in public.
It's not the first time his mouth has gotten him into trouble.

[Moods]

he was joking and would have got away with it 20 years ago. there was no malice intended.

unfortunately for him, you cannot say things like that in these enlightened and politically correct times.

Geez I love the way when someone says something obviously racist or offensive, we try and soften it with, 'it's not politically correct in these times.'

The fact there may well have been no maice intended just shows how ignorant the man is. How could a comment like that be said and no offense not be taken? Matty Johns (or Andrew Johns don't know which) probably would say the same thing.

[bigcarl]

Matty Johns (or Andrew Johns don't know which) probably would say the same thing.

yes, but in that case it was said with malice.

this was obviously a joke ... a poor taste one that he should have known would land him in trouble.

he's an old school west australian. they're still catching up over there.

[St Michele]

He is a disgrace and I hope he never gets another public speaking gig. A joke is not something that demeans others and this does.

I rhought AFL had moved past this but there are still some out there....

[Moods]

Matty Johns (or Andrew Johns don't know which) probably would say the same thing.

yes, but in that case it was said with malice.

this was obviously a joke ... a poor taste one that he should have known would land him in trouble.

he's an old school west australian. they're still catching up over there.

But Johns has claimed that he meant no malice and that he definitely is not a racist. This is the mentality of racists. WE all think of racists as people who dress up in white capes with their heads covered, when in fact they manifest themsleves in different ways. If Mal Brown was good mates with Winmar and co, and made the comments in private to just them as they were having a few beers, and he knew that no offense would be taken b/c Winmar has made it clear that he finds the comments funny in that context - that's different. To make the comments to a journalist is either stupid (Which Brown is not) or very ignorant (which he probably is)

[bigcarl]

If Mal Brown was good mates with Winmar and co, and made the comments in private to just them as they were having a few beers, and he knew that no offense would be taken b/c Winmar has made it clear that he finds the comments funny in that context - that's different.

it may well be the case that he is good mates with them and ribs them a bit about being black ... in a good natured way.

someone should asky nicky if he was offended. i think he's got a bit thicker of a skin than to be upset about a drunken mate's poor taste joke.

[Thinline]

he was joking and would have got away with it 20 years ago. there was no malice intended.

unfortunately for him, you cannot say things like that in these enlightened and politically correct times.

What has political correctness got to do with anything?

Joke or not, now or then, it was and is racist.

The bloke is a dipshit of the highest order and I hope he gets raked across the coals for it. Not that it'd make any difference. As a player he was a thug and as a person he's clearly an idiot.

I simply don't understand in these relatively enlightened times how there's people out there how can casually say that sort of thing is amusing or just laugh it off as 'oh yeah I know he said it, but he's not really like that'.

Sorry. You say it. You are.

[Thinline]

he was joking and would have got away with it 20 years ago. there was no malice intended.

unfortunately for him, you cannot say things like that in these enlightened and politically correct times.

Geez I love the way when someone says something obviously racist or offensive, we try and soften it with, 'it's not politically correct in these times.'

The fact there may well have been no maice intended just shows how ignorant the man is. How could a comment like that be said and no offense not be taken? Matty Johns (or Andrew Johns don't know which) probably would say the same thing.

Exactly right!

If there's no malice intended, then what's the purpose?

Humour?

What kind of putz thinks that kind of thing's funny?

The kind who say 'there's nothing malicious in it'.

And round and round it goes in hopefully ever diminishing circles...

[Moods]

If Mal Brown was good mates with Winmar and co, and made the comments in private to just them as they were having a few beers, and he knew that no offense would be taken b/c Winmar has made it clear that he finds the comments funny in that context - that's different.

it may well be the case that he is good mates with them and ribs them a bit about being black ... in a good natured way.

someone should asky nicky if he was offended. i think he's got a bit thicker of a skin than to be upset about a drunken mate's poor taste joke.

Who said that Mal Brown was even drunk when he said it?

You've taken my quote out of context - I said that if these comments were made in PRIVATE, not at a function in front of numerous ppl that Winmar and Brown don't know well. And there are plenty of IF'S that go along with that as well. I do not know too many dark skinned people who enjoy being ribbed about the colour of their skin by Caucasians. Particularly in public!

[GrumpyOne]

I always thought that Mal Brown should of worn a helmet when he played in a round. Either that or his father should have worn something similar when he played around.

[saintspremiers]

It's a storm in a media tea cup IMO....no malice intended.

I'm rather amused he called Aboriginal's cannibals - never heard that one before, very odd comment.

Mal Brown is an old fart, talking at a small private function - as Doug Hawkins said today on 3AW "what happens at a function/sportsman's night, stays there"........he is on the money IMO, just gotta be careful who is in the audience and if they are part of the media!

If any bloke on here has gone/goes to sportsman's nights that are women free, you'll know what I mean......it's all harmless stuff at the end of the day.

[philtee]

Bigmouth strikes again.
He's not happy destabilising Richmond FC every couple of years, now he's dragging the entire football community
back to the 1950s.
Why would you book him as a speaker for an AFL function ? Did they think they were going to get
any cutting-edge insights ? Surely he's good for a few fnar-fnar jokes that go down well on sportsman's nights, and some tales about the old days.
A relic in every sense.

[bigcarl]

If Mal Brown was good mates with Winmar and co, and made the comments in private to just them as they were having a few beers, and he knew that no offense would be taken b/c Winmar has made it clear that he finds the comments funny in that context - that's different.

it may well be the case that he is good mates with them and ribs them a bit about being black ... in a good natured way.

someone should asky nicky if he was offended. i think he's got a bit thicker of a skin than to be upset about a drunken mate's poor taste joke.

Who said that Mal Brown was even drunk when he said it?

You've taken my quote out of context - I said that if these comments were made in PRIVATE, not at a function in front of numerous ppl that Winmar and Brown don't know well.

There's no doubt he'd had a few ... as usual (not that it is an excuse).

As you say, context is important. This was said at a private function in front of people he knew well (the football fraternity).

The most regrettable thing is that everyone laughed at his poor taste joke.

[markp]

What a goose.

Absolutely indefensible, no matter what his intentions were.

I guess in some way he personally is unlucky that he made these comments when the topic is so 'hot', and the media are looking for a story.....

But stuff him, now he can feel what it's like to be vilified, labelled, and treated like a second class citizen.

[plugger66]

Not a lot.

[GrumpyOne]

As you say, context is important. This was said at a private function in front of people he knew well (the football fraternity).

Racism is racism, irrespective of context.

[bigcarl]

As you say, context is important. This was said at a private function in front of people he knew well (the football fraternity).

Racism is racism, irrespective of context.

yes, like i said. the most regrettable thing is that everyone laughed at his poor taste joke.

[meher baba]

As you say, context is important. This was said at a private function in front of people he knew well (the football fraternity).

Racism is racism, irrespective of context.

yes, like i said. the most regrettable thing is that everyone laughed at his poor taste joke.

I suspect that it would have been a sort of embarrassed laugh.

The remarks seemed like a throwback to another century: even White talking among themselves in North Queensland pubs would probably draw the line at referring to Indigenous folk as "cannibals".

The supposed "humour" wasn't the least bit funny: I hear alcohol being raised as a potential contributing factor, but what about dementia?

The whole thing would, and should, have been ignored by the media but for the fact that it gave the Sydney-based media a free kick back at AFL following the Johns incident.

[plugger66]

As you say, context is important. This was said at a private function in front of people he knew well (the football fraternity).

Racism is racism, irrespective of context.

yes, like i said. the most regrettable thing is that everyone laughed at his poor taste joke.

I suspect that it would have been a sort of embarrassed laugh.

The remarks seemed like a throwback to another century: even White talking among themselves in North Queensland pubs would probably draw the line at referring to Indigenous folk as "cannibals".

The supposed "humour" wasn't the least bit funny: I hear alcohol being raised as a potential contributing factor, but what about dementia?

The whole thing would, and should, have been ignored by the media but for the fact that it gave the Sydney-based media a free kick back at AFL following the Johns incident.

No it should not have been ignored by the media. This is how people learn. That is just like saying the 2 Rugby guys should have sorted out the problem themselves as a few Sydney neanderthals are saying.