Jonathan Bernier - Nelson Mandela Comments

[toby91_ca 620]

Anyone hear about this? The Toronto Raptors held a bit of a ceremony on Friday night before their game to honor Nelson Mandela....I didn't see it, but apparently they made a big deal out of it and several big names flew in for it (e.g. Magic Johnson).

Anyway, some of the Maple Leafs came out for the event as well, red carpet type thing. Jonathan Bernier was one of them and he got asked a couple questions that went something like this (not exact words):

Reporter: How important is the legacy of Nelson Mandela to you?

Bernier: Well, he's obviously been a tremendous athlete and has meant so much to sports all over the world. He really showed how the world can be impacted by sports. He's definitely one of the athletes I watched growing up as well.

[puckloo39 5,686]

He's a hockey player, I didn't expect him to be politically correct and informed - some of those guys live and breathe hockey from the time they can balance on skates as toddlers. He might be one of them. I feel sort of bad that he got embarrassed (if in fact this did embarrass him).

On the other hand, he might have tried googling Mandela before the game, since it was a tribute night for the great man.

I bet I could ask a random sample of the professional consultants I work with about Nelson Mandela and they might not know who he was, either.

[rick zombo 3,739]

He's a hockey player, I didn't expect him to be politically correct and informed - some of those guys live and breathe hockey from the time they can balance on skates as toddlers. He might be one of them. I feel sort of bad that he got embarrassed (if in fact this did embarrass him).

The man should still know who Nelson Mandela is.

[LeftWinger 5,065]

Who cares....the question from the reporter was just as stupid. WTF did Nelson Mandela stand for that would have any affect on Bernier's life or career? It was a dumb ass question to ask a white hockey player.

Besides Mandela was a communist and a criminal to the state. He was arrested numorous times for sedious activities and tried for treason.

Influenced by Marxism, he secretly joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) and sat on its Central Committee. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the SACP he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, leading a sabotage campaign against the apartheid government. In 1962, he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.

What happens in America or Canada if you conspire to overthrow the government, you don't get arrested and sentenced to life, your compound gets invaded and you and your "family" end up being killed/murdered and labeled a domestic terrorist, and label your extended friends and family have to liove with the rest of their lives. You most definitely do not get honored at a sporting event. And yes, I do believe our government keeps us racially divided as well. But as long as we get to watch the WWE and drink our beer, we don't care what goes on outside our doors. I understand that Mandela was standing up against his government's position on divind and serpeating the races, and good or him on that, but you stood for a lot of evil things as well that were in his own agenda. -rant over

This has nothing to do with Bernier, but it still was more stupid of the reporter to ask that question to him, than for Bernier to asnwer the way he did. I will have to admit though, you have to be pretty frickin narrowminded and blind to not have heard of Mandela as much to know who he was...to not know too much about him is fine, but to never had heard of him? Crap they had concerts and songs just for him and anti-apartheid. "Not gonna play Sun City" ring a bell?

Edited December 8, 2014 by LeftWinger

[rick zombo 3,739]

This has nothing to do with Bernier, but it still was more stupid of the reporter to ask that question to him, than for Bernier to asnwer the way he did. I will have to admit though, you have to be pretty frickin narrowminded and blind to not have heard of Mandela as much to know who he was...to not know too much about him is fine, but to never had heard of him? Crap they had concerts and songs just for him and anti-apartheid. "Not gonna play Sun City" ring a bell?

That's all I was saying.

[jimmyemeryhunter 2,747]

Ha

[frankgrimes 1,836]

Stupid question in my mind. I mean, he knew the guy was famous and that's more than enough. Same thing here I know Mandela was famous but not why had to search it myself so a total nonstory.

It's like asking a hockeyplayer about a famous athlete from another sport. The guys should focus on hockey and that's all that counts, some reporters these days jesus..

Edited December 8, 2014 by frankgrimes

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

If you don't know who Nelson Mandela is then your education system failed you...

[rick zombo 3,739]

Stupid question in my mind. I mean, he knew the guy was famous and that's more than enough. Same thing here I know Mandela was famous but not why had to search it myself so a total nonstory.

It's like asking a hockeyplayer about a famous athlete from another sport. The guys should focus on hockey and that's all that counts, some reporters these days jesus..

Wait. Did you just excuse Bernier of his ignorance because you also didn't know who Mandela was?

And this "hockey players" should only focus on hockey thing is complete crap, by the way. I'd expect these people to have, at least, a general ******* clue about what's going on outside of the sport. I guarantee that Bernier knows who Miley Cyrus is, for example, FFS.

[LeftWinger 5,065]

exact! I knew his story a bit, knew some things he did, knew why he was arrested. I researched him with my son a few years ago, so I knew more than I would've if I hadn't, but even today I had to go to wiki to "remember" some things. But I for sure knew he wasn't a professional athlete...still a dumb ass reporter to ask that question. I am willing to bet that 75% of the basketball players in attendance that night don't know the whole story of Mandela. Especially that he was a communist.

[toby91_ca 620]

The issue isn't really that he had no clue who Mandela was. While that is crazy to think, not totally unbelievable as a lot of these guys would have been totally focused on their crafts from a very young age...spending little to no time staying up on current events.

So, he'd get a pass from me for not knowing. The issue I have is that he was attending a red carpet type event honoring an individual....you'd think he'd take a few minutes to understand the guy he was going to honor. On top of that, he made it worse by trying to make something up to avoid embarrassment.

[ogreslayer 1,069]

exact! I knew his story a bit, knew some things he did, knew why he was arrested. I researched him with my son a few years ago, so I knew more than I would've if I hadn't, but even today I had to go to wiki to "remember" some things. But I for sure knew he wasn't a professional athlete...still a dumb ass reporter to ask that question. I am willing to bet that 75% of the basketball players in attendance that night don't know the whole story of Mandela. Especially that he was a communist.

You are invited as a celebrity, athlete or not, to attend an event with a red carpet & reporters to honor someone. You clearly do not know anything about said someone. You can't take a couple of minutes before hand to at least google the guy for god's sake? You don't even need to spend 10 minutes reading his wiki, just pull out your phone & google the dude. None of that is on the reporter who is there to cover the damn event, it's Bernier being an utter & complete moron.

And with that, here's a picture of the ugliest Christmas Elf standing next a guy collared after an appearance on Dateline NBC.

[kipwinger 8,675]

I'm not sure why anybody thinks it is dumb for a reporter to ask a hockey player about Nelson Mandela when said hockey player is attending a ceremony specifically to honor Nelson Mandela.

If Justin Verlander attended Margret Thatcher commemoration night, and when asked said "Ms. Thatcher is the best player the WNBA has ever seen, and I loved watching her play when I was a kid", he would be a fool. As is Bernier, clearly.

Edited December 8, 2014 by kipwinger

[kipwinger 8,675]

The issue isn't really that he had no clue who Mandela was. While that is crazy to think, not totally unbelievable as a lot of these guys would have been totally focused on their crafts from a very young age...spending little to no time staying up on current events.

So, he'd get a pass from me for not knowing. The issue I have is that he was attending a red carpet type event honoring an individual....you'd think he'd take a few minutes to understand the guy he was going to honor. On top of that, he made it worse by trying to make something up to avoid embarrassment.

Right. Did he not google Mandela on the way to the event?

Ohhhhh, you know what it is. He probably forgot to look it up, and couldn't on the way to the event because everbody knows that smart phones still don't exist in small provincial Canadian towns like Toronto.

[ogreslayer 1,069]

Right. Did he not google Mandela on the way to the event?

Ohhhhh, you know what it is. He probably forgot to look it up, and couldn't on the way to the event because everbody knows that smart phones still don't exist in small provincial Canadian towns like Toronto.

By answering the way he did, Bernier pretty much just said, "I am completely ignorant as to who who this guy is & was too lazy to look up even the most basic of information on him. I am only here because I was offered free tickets to the game.".

If only the reporter had responded with...

Edited December 8, 2014 by ogreslayer

[The Greek 323]

Besides Mandela was a communist and a criminal to the state. He was arrested numorous times for sedious activities and tried for treason.

What's your opinion on guys like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, or John Adams?

[rick zombo 3,739]

Right. Did he not google Mandela on the way to the event?

Ohhhhh, you know what it is. He probably forgot to look it up, and couldn't on the way to the event because everbody knows that smart phones still don't exist in small provincial Canadian towns like Toronto.

No. The logic being sold to us here by the Leaf apologists in our mix is that Bernier was way too focused on being an average hockey player on an average team to even think to google Mandela. Like, that guy's in the zone, 24-7. he barely has time to text or check his emails. He's probably never even watched tv or gone to a movie. Actually, scratch that. He probably saw Idris Elba play the gatekeeper in Thor because it's an action movie, but has no clue that he played Mandela as well.

I don't know why we don't all just admit that most jocks are kind of dumb, especially Leafs.

[kipwinger 8,675]

What's your opinion on guys like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, or John Adams?

Please take this back. Please?

No. The logic being sold to us here by the Leaf apologists in our mix is that Bernier was way too focused on being an average hockey player on an average team to even think to google Mandela. Like, that guy's in the zone, 24-7. he barely has time to text or check his emails. He's probably never even watched tv or gone to a movie. Actually, scratch that. He probably saw Idris Elba play the gatekeeper in Thor because it's an action movie, but has no clue that he played Mandela as well.

I don't know why we don't all just admit that most jocks are kind of dumb, especially Leafs.

Exactly. No knock on Bernier. I'm sure he's a nice guy and all. He's just kinda dumb. I'm kinda dumb too, so it's not like I'm casting stones lol.

[gcom007 1,465]

Just one more thing to cross off my sadness scavenger hunt...

[LeftWinger 5,065]

What's your opinion on guys like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, or John Adams?

They were criminals against England and treasonous. I understand the reason's behind Mandela's vision, but at the time Communism was the apex of the axis of evil. I guess what he tried to do was no different than what our fore-fathers did, just a differnet time in history. Other than that, outside of being communist, I guess they had the same goal as Mandela. I am not saying what he wanted for equality was wrong, just that he wasn't that "good" of a guy. I really cannot defend our guys any more than I can defend Mandela. Thank you for making me see the similarities. And with that I apologize for criminalizing Mandela and makes me wonder even more, how the f*** someone is so clueluss to who this guy was!?!?

p.s. I am not being sarcastic either, I do appreciate the eye opener today!

[number9 3,297]

exact! I knew his story a bit, knew some things he did, knew why he was arrested. I researched him with my son a few years ago, so I knew more than I would've if I hadn't, but even today I had to go to wiki to "remember" some things. But I for sure knew he wasn't a professional athlete...still a dumb ass reporter to ask that question. I am willing to bet that 75% of the basketball players in attendance that night don't know the whole story of Mandela. Especially that he was a communist.

What's wrong with being a communist?

[kipwinger 8,675]

What's wrong with being a communist?

Dear god no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wheelchairsuperhero 1,453]

Dear god no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cracking me up.

In all honesty though I can live with him not knowing Mandela's story. I've come to terms with the fact that people don't know a lot of things I'd expect them too. It's just annoying to me that he proceeded to make up something stupid and play it off.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Wheelchairsuperhero

[The Greek 323]

I'm sorry for taking this further off the rails.

Please take this back. Please?

Why?

They were criminals against England and treasonous. I understand the reason's behind Mandela's vision, but at the time Communism was the apex of the axis of evil. I guess what he tried to do was no different than what our fore-fathers did, just a differnet time in history. Other than that, outside of being communist, I guess they had the same goal as Mandela. I am not saying what he wanted for equality was wrong, just that he wasn't that "good" of a guy. I really cannot defend our guys any more than I can defend Mandela. Thank you for making me see the similarities. And with that I apologize for criminalizing Mandela and makes me wonder even more, how the f*** someone is so clueluss to who this guy was!?!?

p.s. I am not being sarcastic either, I do appreciate the eye opener today!

You have no reason to apologize. I don't even know you, but I cannot say enough how much I respect you for being receptive to an opposing viewpoint. Too many people, when faced with error, only retreat further into their beliefs. Instead of doing that you faced it head-on. For the record, Mandela is an overrated sellout.

Dear god no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's not something that is wrong with communism.

[LeftWinger 5,065]

You have no reason to apologize. I don't even know you, but I cannot say enough how much I respect you for being receptive to an opposing viewpoint. Too many people, when faced with error, only retreat further into their beliefs. Instead of doing that you faced it head-on. For the record, Mandela is an overrated sellout.

Well, I just never compared the two situations before, and when looking at it in that respect, they were all very similar. Not that I didn't know the story of both, just never related the two for some reason...its almost like a fresh breath of air.