The 'where are they now?' files

[dom9]

And one of mates is nicknamed Arnie, purely because of his size and physique, not because he's an identical twin.

I guess we'll just have to stop all nicknames based on physical similarities......white and black. Or is it when referring to black individuals ?

The acute, and important difference here IMO, is that there is a physical reason why Heskey garnered the nickname.

If anyone thinks Emile Heskey looked like Frank Bruno then I think they need their eyes testing.

[Venton]

And one of mates is nicknamed Arnie, purely because of his size and physique, not because he's an identical twin.

I guess we'll just have to stop all nicknames based on physical similarities......white and black. Or is it when referring to black individuals ?

The acute, and important difference here IMO, is that there is a physical reason why Heskey garnered the nickname.

And surely a large part of that is skin colour, surely?

A genuine question - why do you think Heskey asked not be called it when he moved on?

[dom9]

"The fans knew me, from age 17 to 22, as Bruno. How do you stop that? Half of them don’t even know what I am talking about because they don’t understand it."

Those last four words sum it up, right?

[McDermotX]

And surely a large part of that is skin colour, surely?

A genuine question - why do you think Heskey asked not be called it when he moved on?

Of course it is, much the same way as my mate is white and garnered the name 'Arnie', as opposed to 'Ronnie', after Ronnie Coleman..........doesn't look like either FWIW, bar dimensions. Not being colour-blind doesn't equal racism.
What would be more obsequious is outwordly likening an individual to a cross-purposes black or white person to appear 'right'.....almost racist it itself if you ask me. Should Heskey have been called after a white, well built individual......, I dunno, 'Cooper', after Henry Cooper (not a boxing fan), so just not to trigger a response such as this ?

Why Heskey asked not to be called Bruno after his move is purely for Heskey to answer, but he clearly had his reasons, but like all of us, his outlook is filtered by societal norms on reflection. He even suggests it in his interview, whereby he states what the reaction would be to a young player nowadays being named after a black figure. Why ? If a player these days was breaking through and looked like a body builder, would we go out of the way and call him 'Arnie' even though he more resembled 'Ronnie' ?

Now that I've answered your question Venton, would you be so kind as to answer the one I put ?

I guess we'll just have to stop all nicknames based on physical similarities......white and black. Or is it when referring to black individuals ?

Because there's a whole lot of posts here and elsewhere that'll need editing.

[dom9]

Of course it is, much the same way as my mate is white and garnered the name 'Arnie', as opposed to 'Ronnie', after Ronnie Coleman..........doesn't look like either FWIW, bar dimensions. Not being colour-blind doesn't equal racism.
What would be more obsequious is outwordly likening an individual to a cross-purposes black or white person to appear 'right'.....almost racist it itself if you ask me. Should Heskey have been called after a white, well built individual......, I dunno, 'Cooper', after Henry Cooper (not a boxing fan), so just not to trigger a response such as this ?

Why Heskey asked not to be called Bruno after his move is purely for Heskey to answer, but he clearly had his reasons, but like all of us, his outlook is filtered by societal norms on reflection. He even suggests it in his interview, whereby he states what the reaction would be to a young player nowadays being named after a black figure. Why ? If a player these days was breaking through and looked like a body builder, would we go out of the way and call him 'Arnie' even though he more resembled 'Ronnie' ?

Now that I've answered your question Venton, would you be so kind as to answer the one I put ?



Because there's a whole lot of posts here and elsewhere that'll need editing.

In answer to your unanswered question, my unanswered response...

If anyone thinks Emile Heskey looked like Frank Bruno then I think they need their eyes testing.

[Venton]

Of course it is, much the same way as my mate is white and garnered the name 'Arnie', as opposed to 'Ronnie', after Ronnie Coleman..........doesn't look like either FWIW, bar dimensions. Not being colour-blind doesn't equal racism.
What would be more obsequious is outwordly likening an individual to a cross-purposes black or white person to appear 'right'.....almost racist it itself if you ask me. Should Heskey have been called after a white, well built individual......, I dunno, 'Cooper', after Henry Cooper (not a boxing fan), so just not to trigger a response such as this ?

Why Heskey asked not to be called Bruno after his move is purely for Heskey to answer, but he clearly had his reasons, but like all of us, his outlook is filtered by societal norms on reflection. He even suggests it in his interview, whereby he states what the reaction would be to a young player nowadays being named after a black figure. Why ? If a player these days was breaking through and looked like a body builder, would we go out of the way and call him 'Arnie' even though he more resembled 'Ronnie' ?

Now that I've answered your question Venton, would you be so kind as to answer the one I put ?



Because there's a whole lot of posts here and elsewhere that'll need editing.

I think it's absolutely obvious he asked for people not to call him it - because he didn't like it. It blindingly obvious, the whole article frames it exactly that way. Saying he doesn't seem to mind it is a joke.

The answer to your question is piss easy. We don't have to stop nicknames based on physical similarities. But I wouldn't use them when they are lazy and reductive like that. I'm genuinely mystified by your response to this, and you're tying yourself in knots with your strawmen.

[Pablo]

I know I'll probably get flack for this, but I struggle to see how an endearing nickname for Heskey, like 'Bruno' was (Heskey even says that in the article), was seen as an issue. He was a big, well built bloke, much like Bruno was renowned for being. I didn't think skin colour even came into it, or is that naive thinking to assume it was just a compliment based on his physique?

Edit: Looking to be educated.

Appreciate the honesty but this is shockingly naive.

He definitely wouldn't have been nicknamed 'Bruno' if he was white though would he. Loads of big, well-built white players and to the best of my knowledge not one of them has ever been nicknamed 'Bruno'.

There was a big 6'5 centre-forward at Chesterfield in the 90s called Andy Morris whose nickname was also Bruno. He looked absolutely nothing like Frank Bruno, literally nothing like him, but he was big and black. Same as Heskey - he looks nothing like Frank Bruno, but he's big and black so he gets called Bruno.

Absolutely this

[dom9]

I think it's absolutely obvious he asked for people not to call him it - because he didn't like it. It blindingly obvious, the whole article frames it exactly that way. Saying he doesn't seem to mind it is a joke.



The answer to your question is piss easy. We don't have to stop nicknames based on physical similarities. But I wouldn't use them when they are lazy and reductive like that. I'm genuinely mystified by your response to this, and you're tying yourself in knots with your strawmen.

Mad that this even has to be said.

[Buzzo]

I think it's absolutely obvious he asked for people not to call him it - because he didn't like it. It blindingly obvious, the whole article frames it exactly that way. Saying he doesn't seem to mind it is a joke.

The answer to your question is piss easy. We don't have to stop nicknames based on physical similarities. But I wouldn't use them when they are lazy and reductive like that. I'm genuinely mystified by your response to this, and you're tying yourself in knots with your strawmen.

A lot of these discussions have been had over the last few years within sexism as well. ‘She didn’t seem to mind at the time’. Society is trying to move on and people who had to begrudgingly live with ‘something’ which existed because society hadn’t evolved enough are allowed to now say ‘you know what, I didn’t like that, I never liked that’. In speaking out they are the ones moving us forward.

But yeah as you say the entire article is based around the fact that he clearly didn’t like to be referred to as Bruno. It’s at the very least his prerogative to have a POV on his own life experience.

Society now has to be open to listening to the right voices and changing.

[McDermotX]

I think it's absolutely obvious he asked for people not to call him it - because he didn't like it. It blindingly obvious, the whole article frames it exactly that way. Saying he doesn't seem to mind it is a joke.

The answer to your question is piss easy. We don't have to stop nicknames based on physical similarities. But I wouldn't use them when they are lazy and reductive like that. I'm genuinely mystified by your response to this, and you're tying yourself in knots with your strawmen.

Perfectly clear on my stance, thanks for the response.

[baitman]

If heskey was big and white and got called arnie would that have been racist too.

[Buzzo]

If heskey was big and white and got called arnie would that have been racist too.

This is such a pointless debate, the comparison of something that happened versus something that didnt. Heskey isnt white and he didnt get called Arnie.

But, to indulge it for even a second. Where is the white equivalent? Big Dunc was just big Dunc for example. No big white centre forward was called Arnie.

And thats without acknowledging the centuries of racism that DID happen. The nickname existed because of the lazy visual association between 2 high profile muscular black men. He looks nothing like Frank Bruno FFS. The nickname is purely because of the colour of his skin.

Heskey tells stories of other areas in his life where he was persecuted, this was one area which he initially let go. And even then he points out he asked for it to stop as it clearly bothered him, it just didn't bother him as much as the getting chased and having to hide bothered him.

[S-RED]

The nickname existed because of the lazy visual association between 2 high profile muscular black men. He looks nothing like Frank Bruno FFS. The nickname is purely because of the colour of his skin.

Spot on

[EwarWoo]

Heskey tells stories of other areas in his life where he was persecuted, this was one area which he initially let go. And even then he points out he asked for it to stop as it clearly bothered him, it just didn't bother him as much as the getting chased and having to hide bothered him.

That's grim as ****. I just can't imagine living like that.

Well, to a degree, I've hidden in bushes being chased by smack heads, but it's really not the same.

[Rigadon]

Middlesbrough 0 Swansea City 3
Brewster (18' minutes, 21' minutes), A Ayew (34' minutes pen)