Inside Lacrosse Indoor Roundtable: Racism Rears Its Ugly Head in National Lacrosse League

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Fri Jan 18, 2019, 03:24 PM - Edit history (3)

IL Indoor Roundtable: Racism Rears Its Ugly Head in NLL

Wednesday January 16th, 2019 10:00am



Inside Lacrosse Staff

Comments directed to Lyle Thompson of the Georgia Swarm during last weekend's game in Philadelphia have been the focus of many discussions. (Photo: Paul Sasso)

To call the development out of Philadelphia over the weekend disappointing is a massive understatement. During Saturday night’s game between the Georgia Swarm and Philadelphia Wings, arena announcer Shawny Hill was attempting to fire up the fans — not, in and of itself, unlike other arena announcers in the National Lacrosse League. But where Hill went off course was late in the game when he said it was time “to snip the pony tail” of the Swarm’s Lyle Thompson. If that weren’t bad enough, there were calls from a pocket of fans who said Thompson should be scalped.

Thompson tweeted about the issues on Saturday evening and the conversation built momentum (he also followed up with more extensive comments Tuesday). Hill and the Wings offered an apology, the NLL condemned the statement and said it would investigate and then announced Monday that Hill would no longer work Wings games.

IL Indoor staffers Bob Chavez, Brian Shanahan and Stephen Stamp share their reactions via the roundtable format.

{snip}

Link to tweet

Lyle Thompson Calls Out PA's Inappropriate Comments; Wings, NLL Respond

Sunday January 13th, 2019 10:45am

From IL Founder Bob Carpenter: The Braid a Symbol of Strength, Spirituality and Respect

Monday January 14th, 2019 9:00am

Philadelphia Wings Remove In-Arena Announcer Following Inappropriate Comments

Monday January 14th, 2019 6:00pm

Lyle Thompson's Statement Challenges Followers To Spread Awareness

Wednesday January 16th, 2019 6:00pm

In the wake of wide conversation following last weekend's instance of racial insensitivity and abuse during the Georgia Swarm's win over the Philadelphia Wings at the Wells Fargo Center, Lyle Thompson issued an extensive statement Tuesday night, clarifying his thoughts, challenging his followers, thanking his supporters and stating his hope to work with institutions to bring about change.

Thompson issued the statement in two tweets that contained five images with text written over a photo of him in a Swarm uniform. The statement is transcribed unedited below.

{snip}

First off I want to thank all of my fans and the lacrosse community for all the love and support. I've experienced this before, and I've always just let it go and forget about it, tell myself it's not a big deal, that's the way I've always handled it. But I've decided that this is my chance to use my platform and let everyone know how I truly feel. After this weekends incidents I took some time to think about all the troubles my braid gotten me in over the years. School fights, suspensions, tears, stress, being told I'd have to cut it (private school), judgements, the list goes on. And when someone asked why i have it I've always responded in a way that exemplified PRIDE. What I didn't realize is I wore it in resistance, bravery, and toughness. Is that necessary? should it represent bravery pr toughtness? Because to me it should represent PRIDE, and thats it. I'll learn a lot from this incident, Wells Fargo arena will always have that memory for me. The ignorance of people in my life has taught me a lot and has given me thicker skin, and taught me what not to be. To be patient and to be respectful. My main focus and concern is the young brown skinned long haired boys and girls behind me. My daughters and my baby boy. I don't want to look back and regret what I didn't say/do, so I challenge everyone reading this to talk with whoever is in your household. Tell them that native people exist. Tell them we have our own languages, music, cultures and traditions. But also tell them that we are professional athletes, teachers, doctors, and leaders. and have a conversation about racism, compassion, empathy, and respect. Show them how to stand up for what is eight, even if the situation isn't directed at them.

All that I've done for the game has not been enough, I guess this is the way the creator works. I need to do more. Make more changes. The Pain of this incident has pointed me in a directions I must go. I have a lot of love on my team, in my family and in all Native Communities. THANK YOU ALL for all of your support.

I am hoping to work with the NLL, the WINGS and other youth leagues to make these changes with me so that our young biys won't have to keep brushing their feelings off and allowing this type of treatment on themselves.

{snip}

Several links:

Fastbreak Newsletter --January 17, 2019--

[2naSalit]

1. Not surpised that this is a thing...

but almost surprised that it's getting exposed.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Update: Philadelphia announcer 'removed' for taunting Lyle Thompson

Update: Philadelphia announcer 'removed' for taunting Lyle Thompson

by Jourdan Bennett-Begaye 5 days - edited

Announcer Shawny Hill yelled to the crowd, “Let’s snip the pony tail!” Two fans said they're going to "scalp" Thompson.

During a professional lacrosse game, an “in-arena host” shouted insensitive remarks to the crowd directed toward a Haudenosaunee lacrosse player this past weekend in Philadelphia.

Lyle Thompson, Onondaga, was running with the ball when announcer Shawny Hill yelled to the crowd in the Wells Fargo Center, “Let’s snip the pony tail!” ... Thompson kept playing but tweeted about it after the Georgia Swarm beat the Wings, 13-11.

In “2019 and the @NLLwings arena announcer saying ‘let’s snip the pony tail’ to the whole arena and fans saying they’re going to scalp me.... damn Daniel,” said the Georgia-Swarm player. “I know Philly takes pride in their ruthless fans but I didn’t know it was like that lol.... now I know.. just haven’t heard stuff like this since [high school].”

Thompson also clarified on Twitter that the scalping comments came from two people, not the entire crowd. ... "The crowd did NOT chant anything about scalping. This was 2 individuals behind swarm bench," he wrote.
....