Why am I posting clips from a TV cooking competition? To highlight a simple point: you just don’t bring cancer into a competition like that, and that pudgy, short-sighted pun merchant isn’t the only one learning that lesson lately.
Take Swindon Town defender Kevin Amankwaah. During a recent league game with Millwall, he decided to take a page from Marco Materazzi’s book and taunt his marker, Lions striker Neil Harris. Instead of going for mother/sister comments like The Matrix did in 2006, he decided to make a few comments about testicular cancer, a nasty disease that nearly claimed Harris’ life in 2001.
Stay classy, Amankwaah.
We don’t know exactly what was said, but the club and the defender have come out with apology guns blazing, presumably to avoid action from the league (though I’m not entirely sure what the league or the FA can do about such things).
Said Swindon in an official statement: “Kevin Amankwaah acknowledges that he may have reacted inappropriately to a verbal exchange between the two players and made what could be construed as an insensitive comment relating to the illness that Harris successfully fought. Kevin stated that his comments, which were very out of character, were made in what was a highly-competitive match, where passions were running high.”
I don’t care how high passions were… you don’t do something like that!
Harris and Amankwaah get acquainted
Amankwaah’s apology was wonderful in deflecting some blame for the comments upon Harris himself: “While I feel I was the subject of some abusive comments I regret any offence my comment may have caused and extend an apology to Neil, a player and a man for whom I have a high regard.”
Full disclosure: this bothered me more than it might most because I battled the disease successfully back in 2005. It took a lot of time, money, energy and determination, not to mention several nasty, invasive surgical procedures. I can crack a few jokes here and there with my friends, but I’d be kinda pissed (and sensitive) about it if someone started poking fun at it while I’m at work. While Harris is no saint on the pitch and surely did himself no favors in this war of words to provoke such an outburst, it doesn’t excuse Amankwaah’s comments.
Harris took the high road, refusing to disclose what was said.. shame there weren’t any lip-readers in attendance to shed some light on the matter. “It was probably the worst thing that’s ever been said to me on a football field. Things are said on the field all the time – some should never be said.”
So, to review: mom jokes = a-ok. Cancer jokes = big no-no.
Here’s hoping the pair have more cuddly exchanges in the return fixture.
“I regret any offence my comment may have caused”
That’s not an apology, it’s a dodge. Scumbag.