Daley Thompson

gerard65

Anyone watch him on the One Show cracking anti-Irish jokes. Charming man:mad:
Always thought he was a bit of a knob, now confirmed.
Edit - Alex has apologised twice. I'd say someone in the BBC pooed themself. His hopes of lighting the flame may have just disappeared with that remark!

lucidus

Yep, I saw that... I did wonder/hope at first if it was because the presenter pronounced the misspelling as "oil-impic" and if Daley T was relating this to an Irish accent. I'm not so sure though.

I saw her apologise jokingly at first and then more seriously at the end of the show... I wonder if he will!?

walshb

Any clips of this?

lucidus

I can't see any. It should appear here enough soon though: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007tcw7/episodes/player

I am in London but not sure if you'll be able to see it or not from there (without messing around with foxy-proxy or something to spoof your location).

notsofast

What did he say? Have to say I've always liked him. Am I about to change my mind?

gerard65

notsofast wrote: »

What did he say? Have to say I've always liked him. Am I about to change my mind?

They showed a photo of a torch bearer with 'oylmpic torch bearer' tattooed on her arm. thompson pops up with 'tattooer must have been irish'. He was quickly corrected that the tattoo had been done in the USA. You could hear a pin drop in the studio.

MrCreosote

Aren't we being a bit too sensitive?

I suppose he was implying the tattooist was drunk? Saying "Irish" in that context is a fair cop.

3ndahalfof6

higher, faster, stronger, plonker.

plodder

I've a vague memory there was a similar episode with the Irish olympic team, possibly at one of the olympics that Thompson competed at. There was some gear / track-suits or something with the same spelling error. I can't find any reference to it online, but maybe someone else remembers it. Was he thinking of that?

3ndahalfof6

plodder wrote: »

I've a vague memory there was a similar episode with the Irish olympic team, possibly at one of the olympics that Thompson competed at. There was some gear / track-suits or something with the same spelling error. I can't find any reference to it online, but maybe someone else remembers it. Was he thinking of that?

I think I remember something about that, it was on the track suits, it should of said Irish Athletes but it said Irish Athletes.

pc11

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

I think I remember something about that, it was on the track suits, it should of said Irish Athletes but it said Irish Athletes.

You are never allowed to comment on English mistakes again. This is a red card offence.

3ndahalfof6

pc11 wrote: »

You are never allowed to comment on English mistakes again. This is a red card offence.

I wasnt going to go anyways, Susie asked me over, so der.

the_real_lamp

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

I think I remember something about that, it was on the track suits, it should of said Irish Athletes but it said Irish Athletes.

Is that an intentional typo?

Kells Kid

I was one of the people that complained straight away on the BBC.

I think Thomson thinks that all Irish people are stupid and he is up his own arse he can say what he wants. I have lived in England now for over 20 years and have encounted many people saying "that's Irish" meaning "Stupid" this is what Thompson is refering to, and I have no doubt he has this phrase in his vocabulary.

Here is the response from the BBC.


Dear Mr G******

Thanks for contacting us regarding ‘The One Show’ broadcast on BBC One on 19 July.

We understand you felt a comment made by Daley Thompson regarding Irish people was extremely offensive.

We have received complaints from some viewers unhappy with a comment made by Daley Thompson, and we made the Executive Producer of the show aware of these concerns.

At the beginning of the show Matt & Alex introduced Daley Thompson to the show and discussed the Olympic Torch, showing a picture of an unfortunate spelling mistake on a torchbearer’s tattoo. Daley's comments about this were clearly meant as a joke but we apologise if any offence was caused; it certainly wasn’t our intention. Matt corrected Daley straight away and Alex offered an on-air apology at the end of the show.

Please be assured we do note your strength of feeling on this, and therefore your complaint has been registered on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's made available to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers.

The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Kind Regards

BBC Complaints

www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

NB This is sent from an outgoing account only which is not monitored. You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided.

The Master.

Ill never load up Daley Thompsons decathlon on my spectrum after this news. Shaking with rage.
Seriously though if you are upset over this look closer to home at maybe Marty Whelan commenting on the Eurovision.Cringeworthy stuff.
Somebody has to be the butt of jokes, for Englishmen its the Irish. For Irishmen its the Kerrymen.

Galwayguy35

MrCreosote wrote: »

Aren't we being a bit too sensitive?

I suppose he was implying the tattooist was drunk? Saying "Irish" in that context is a fair cop.

So are you saying all the Irish are drunks?

Kells Kid

Remember people:

Daley Thompson did not apologise himself. The BBC apologised, not Daly Thompson!

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Kells Kid

The BBC did nothing wrong here and they do not wish to affend anyone, all they did was have a guest that thinks the Irish are stupid.

plodder

plodder wrote: »

I've a vague memory there was a similar episode with the Irish olympic team, possibly at one of the olympics that Thompson competed at. There was some gear / track-suits or something with the same spelling error. I can't find any reference to it online, but maybe someone else remembers it. Was he thinking of that?

If this is the basis for his comment, then it's fair.

If its not, then he owes an apology. And that's the end of the matter.

I think we can get a bit too sensitive. Come on, deres more to Oireland dan dis.

MrCreosote

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

So are you saying all the Irish are drunks?

I'm saying that the drunken Irish stereotype is there for a reason.

This week all the newspapers have been doing the usual soul-searching about our alcohol problem.

Brianderunner

lucidus wrote: »

I can't see any. It should appear here enough soon though: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007tcw7/episodes/player

I am in London but not sure if you'll be able to see it or not from there (without messing around with foxy-proxy or something to spoof your location).

Just watched that there and it seems fairly innocent to me. But the 2 presenters knew straight away that it wasn't the right thing to say and laughed it off.

robinph

Brianderunner wrote: »

Just watched that there and it seems fairly innocent to me. But the 2 presenters knew straight away that it wasn't the right thing to say and laughed it off.

Just watched myself now. Nothing in it really.

I'd say it was down to the way "oylimpic" was said sounded a slight bit O'Irish to him so was therefore the first thing that popped into his head.

jack presley

The Master. wrote: »

Ill never load up Daley Thompsons decathlon on my spectrum after this news. Shaking with rage.
Seriously though if you are upset over this look closer to home at maybe Marty Whelan commenting on the Eurovision.Cringeworthy stuff.
Somebody has to be the butt of jokes, for Englishmen its the Irish. For Irishmen its the Kerrymen.

Best game ever!

Jame Gumb

It's an incredible mentality...

That of people who write/ring in complaining about stuff like this.

It was a joke. Get over it. For Christ's sake...there are people getting machine gunned to death at a movie premiere and we're worrying about nonsense like this.

He made a joke, it wasn't funny...move on.

TheTurk1972

I know so many people whose life is about waiting for the next thing to take offence at. It consumes them.
They are nearly depressed when something doesn't happen that's offensive to them. Or else they get offended on behalf of other people who might be offended by the action or comment.
Very sad.

gerard65

Fair enough. Lets starting cracking jokes about other ethnic groups, gays, people with disablities, etc. Sure its only a joke.
If he had have refered to the tattooist who could'nt spell as been female or black would the same people be so glib.
The year is 2012, but some here seem to be living in the 70's. Racism is no longer tolerated in the workplace or general society and all media outlets have very stong charters regarding same.
And the English refering to the Irish drink culture brings to mind the words kettle, black and pot.
I wonder will Jim Davision will be on next week.

walshb

gerard65 wrote: »

Fair enough. Lets starting cracking jokes about other ethnic groups, gays, people with disablities, etc. Sure its only a joke.
If he had have refered to the tattooist who could'nt spell as been female or black would the same people be so glib.
The year is 2012, but some here seem to be living in the 70's. Racism is no longer tolerated in the workplace or general society and all media outlets have very stong charters regarding same.
And the English refering to the Irish drink culture brings to mind the words kettle, black and pot.
I wonder will Jim Davision will be on next week.

We don't need the English to remind us that we have issues with drink and that we're fascinated and consumed by alcohol. We do enough promoting ourselves.

robinph

If the typo had been "O-la-la-ympics" then it would not have been racist for him to say that the tattooist must have been French. From listening to what was said I think it was purely about the way that the other presenter read the word, not to do with the Irish being rubbish at spelling.

ecoli

I think people are getting a bit hypersensitive about this. Have these people not seen any of our comedian exports?

Go to any Tommy Tiernan or Dara o'Briain gig in any country (either here or abroad) and you will find a hell of alot worse yet the same people complaining here would be the ones laughing to these jokes.

It was a bad joke sure but nothing more than that

gerard65

ecoli wrote: »

I think people are getting a bit hypersensitive about this. Have these people not seen any of our comedian exports?

Go to any Tommy Tiernan or Dara o'Briain gig in any country (either here or abroad) and you will find a hell of alot worse yet the same people complaining here would be the ones laughing to these jokes.

It was a bad joke sure but nothing more than that

I don't find either very funny, but I don't think either subscribe to a racial stereotype.
Thompson has been always been a controversial bore - his gay slur against Carl Lewis and his recent comments towards Steve Redgrave.

thirstywork2

This T-shirt was shocking-made for Carl Lewis.They have never talked since !!!


http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=daley+thompson+gay+t+shirt&hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1T4ACAW_en___IE414&biw=1366&bih=641&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnso&tbnid=F1pqqE4ffxNN_M:&imgrefurl=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/london-2012-olympics-100-quirky-798462&docid=jdFPlPoBI7Qa8M&imgurl=http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article798625.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/1984%252BOlympic%252BGames%252Bin%252BLos%252BAngeles%252BUSA.%252BGreat%252BBritain%252Bs%252BDaley%252BThompson%252Bcelebrates%252Bafter%252Bhis%252Bgold%252Bmedal%252Bsuccess%252Bin%252Bthe%252BDecathlon%252Bevent%252Bwith%252Ba%252Bhumorous%252Bmessage%252Bon%252Bhis%252Bt-shirt%252Bwhich%252Breads%252BIs%252BThe%252BWorld%252Bs%252B2nd%252BGreatest%252BAthlete%252BGay%25253F%252B.%252B9th%252BAugust%252B1984.&w=615&h=917&ei=j0oMULCBGoiphAfvy_XoCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=277&vpy=114&dur=2907&hovh=274&hovw=184&tx=87&ty=150&sig=116560712932248781524&page=1&tbnh=147&tbnw=96&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:70

gerard65

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9418536/London-2012-Daley-Thompson-accused-of-racism-after-Irish-gag-on-One-Show.html

Careful what you write on Boards. You'd never know where your comments might turn up:D

menoscemo

gerard65 wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9418536/London-2012-Daley-Thompson-accused-of-racism-after-Irish-gag-on-One-Show.html

Careful what you write on Boards. You'd never know where your comments might turn up:D

Haha, they way the telegraph reports k*** it looks like a baddly spelt cnut.

rom

ecoli wrote: »

I think people are getting a bit hypersensitive about this. Have these people not seen any of our comedian exports?

Go to any Tommy Tiernan or Dara o'Briain gig in any country (either here or abroad) and you will find a hell of alot worse yet the same people complaining here would be the ones laughing to these jokes.

It was a bad joke sure but nothing more than that

tbh its context. Tommy Tiernan or Dara O'Briain are both Irish so making Irish jokes would mean that they are the butt of their own jokes. But I agree one mountain out of molehill, you are always going to get people like this and are not a representation of the majority and tbh him even being considered for the role based on previous stuff is mental but then again it seems that there is a thin line in the UK. I thought it was a coincidence just look at the line of of English peno takers in the euro's and their histories . Was not long ago that BBC weather had the republic the same colour as the Atlantic as if it didn't exist.

sham69

rom wrote: »

tbh its context. Tommy Tiernan or Dara O'Briain are both Irish so making Irish jokes would mean that they are the butt of their own jokes. But I agree one mountain out of molehill, you are always going to get people like this and are not a representation of the majority and tbh him even being considered for the role based on previous stuff is mental but then again it seems that there is a thin line in the UK. I thought it was a coincidence just look at the line of of English peno takers in the euro's and their histories . Was not long ago that BBC weather had the republic the same colour as the Atlantic as if it didn't exist.

Is Dara O'Briain not English

It was a joke which didn't happen to be funny, I don't think it was a racist remark.
Shame really that it was made at all though, was a big fan of Daley and his games, he owes me a few joysticks that I have broken over the years...

plodder

gerard65 wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9418536/London-2012-Daley-Thompson-accused-of-racism-after-Irish-gag-on-One-Show.html

Careful what you write on Boards. You'd never know where your comments might turn up:D

The Irish Times has the story now, quoting the Telegraph:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0723/breaking36.html

Thompson does sound like a complete knob though.

walshb

It's of no surprise that Daley came out with something like this. Very hard to like fellow since he came onto the scene:

Good read this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/the-champion-that-time-forgot-why-do-we-find-it-so-hard-to-love-daley-thompson-876424.html

But by god what an athlete and performer. Best of the best he was.

Nesta99

People so easily get their knickers in a twist. P.C gone mad! Ok it was a careless throw away remark that may or may not be a reference to an Irish stereotype ie the thick paddy. I find it quite amusing that even in Ireland the term 'Paddy Wagon' is often used for police van.....

In my experience living in London for 8 of the last 10 years it is often noted by the natives, in a positive manner, that Irish people both laugh at themselves and dont automatically assume rascism or bigotry when things dont go our way!
Believe me we can dish it out as for every tirty tree and a terd(sic) there is a firhey free and a fird.

All sour grapes with Dayler there as us Irish are better educated, better spoken, wealthier, and just all round great people loved the world over...we are never rascist, we never have a bad thing to say about anybody especially the Brits, we have, of course, forgiven and forgotten entirely our lovely neighbours and our past histories. We would never suggest that everywhere the English 'civilised,' war and civil strife followed, - we definately would never suggest that a potholed road must have been tarmaced by a Knacker. The Scots are very generous, the Welsh dont have any special grá for sheep, Nothern Irish peoples' special word is not 'situation' either and us southerners never scoff at bowler hats and little orange thingys thrown our northern bretherns necks. Glasgow Celtic is Oirish I tell yiz..

Pillars of all Political Correctness and morality us Micks :rolleyes:

bunkbedman

Should this have been an Irish or English person who said a defect or less than normal occurrence must have been created by a black person they would NEVER work TV again. Don’t be a schmuck trying too hard to be 'all grown up' this is clear cut; inferring Irish are thick is racism. How we react is an aside and should not detract from the wrong.
He is clearly a pompous arrogant twat who is struggling with his absence from centre stage.... his comments about Steve Redgrave sum him up.
Incidentally he previously swore on TV when getting an award and courted controversy by stating to Ernest Cashmore when he asked Thompson to be interviewed for his book, Black Sportsmen, "I don't know what you want to talk to me for," he said. "I'm not black." Despite his Nigerian heritage, he did not see himself as a black sportsman. Not surprisingly, this did not make him popular among other athletes of African ancestry.
Of note he has still not apologised for the remark or any offence it may have caused, the mark of a real legend is how they carry themselves in life showing modesty and class Daley Thompson has neither.

pontia

see how long he would have lasted if it he was a white guy talking about a black,would have been sacked and charged,reverse racism

legendary.xix

Will he be arrested and charged for his racist remark? Surely racism like that cannot be tolerated?

robinph

bunkbedman wrote: »

... inferring Irish are thick is racism...

Yep, but I think he was inferring that the word sounded Irish, not that the tattoo artist must have been Irish due to not being able to spell Olympics.

walshb

Bottom line:

Thompson was bang out of order. A guy like him should never be in a position of responsibility, nor ever be considered for a position of influence as regards a role model. Can you imagine the uproar if someone passed a comment about his skin colour? It was a derogatory and racist remark he made.

Kintarō Hattori

Just watched it there now and it's a fuss over nothing. He made the joke based on the way the presenter pronounced the word. Nothing more.

Big fuss...... over nothing.

gerard65

Judge for yourself, but from where I'm looking it had nothing to do with the way Matt pronounced it. Otherwise why did the BBC feel the need to apologize?
And lets face it, we're dealing with Daley Thompson, if the cap fits...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Btl4ecpNc8

legendary.xix

He has to be charged. Is anyone in the UK in a position to make the complaint?

robinph

In full agreement that Thompson has been a bit of a plonker with some of his previous comments, but not on this one. He won't have actually seen the picture of the tattoo at the time so all he was going on was the way the presenter was saying it, not how it was spelt. Just listen to it rather than watch it and it's the way it's being said.

gerard65

robinph wrote: »

In full agreement that Thompson has been a bit of a plonker with some of his previous comments, but not on this one. He won't have actually seen the picture of the tattoo at the time so all he was going on was the way the presenter was saying it, not how it was spelt. Just listen to it rather than watch it and it's the way it's being said.

It was on a big screen on front of him.:rolleyes: He's clearly seen looking at it when the camera pans out. You are seeing and hearing what you want to.

pc11

Could people please stop using the word "inferring" wrongly?

Thompson was a hell of an athlete, but a dick of a human. That Carl Lewis shirt was worn on his lap of honour in LA, appalling.

Jame Gumb

Sounded to me like the host said "Oil-Im-Pick" in a sort of "Frosted Lucky Charms" leprauchan accent, and that's what Thompson picked up on.

Either way, we (i.e. Irish people) aren't a race, so to invoke racism is ridiculous.

ultrapercy

gerard65 wrote: »

It was on a big screen on front of him.:rolleyes: He's clearly seen looking at it when the camera pans out. You are seeing and hearing what you want to.

Ya it was nothing to do with pronunciation,it clearly was a jokey remark along stereotypical lines. But do we realy want to become whiney moaney cry babies like all the other minority agenda groups. Anyway who would care about DTs opinions? Only opinion hed have worth listening to is how to achieve mediocrity at 10 different things, Im allready mediocre at at least 10 things and bad or terrible at many more.