Problems With College Stereotypes

[caption id="attachment_9381" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="ESPN, we're ready for our close ups."]Poon of the SEC.)" title="TennesseePoon" width="500" height="375" class="size-full wp-image-9381" />[/caption]

(Image from Poon of the SEC.)

I'm sure you guys have heard by now (from blogs such as With Leather) about this Awful Announcing post concerning ESPN's tacky and stereotypical casting call. And believe me, if you haven't read it yourself, it is gawd awful. For example:

[ GONZAGA ] MALE. No one knows what Gonzaga looks like because no one knows where to find him. He is still stuck in the grunge look, reckless, in from the wild. Flannel look. Chews tobacco. Guy that would go to school in the Pacific Northwest.

What does this even mean? If the casting director really would have known college basketball, the description would have read simply "Crying Adam Morrison lookalike."

[caption id="attachment_9384" align="alignnone" width="312" caption="He worked so hard! So passionate! So ugly!"][/caption]

Then there's this entry:

[ LOUISVILLE ] MALE. Louisville is very true to place. He's short. He's HISPANIC. And one day he hopes to carry on in proud Louisville tradition and race thoroughbreds.

That's a bunch of hokey. If we're going strictly by negative stereotype -- as this casting call clearly is aiming for -- then Louisville guy should be white with a distinctive taste for hip-hop style clothing. The fan cares less for the horses than he does his Camaro and his tailgating stripper pole accessory.

Then there's the Duke descript:

[ DUKE UNIVERSITY ] MALE. Our guy for Duke UNIVERSITY is a smart, with it, young WHITE male. He's handsome. He's from money. He is, in short, the kind of guy, everyone can't stand. He is the kind of guy everyone wants to be.

Oh. Okay, I guess that one is dead on.

One stereotyped fan missing is the Kentucky fan, and several other SEC schools. I will leave those written description up to you as an writing exercise.