2008-11-04

He Can Always Claim He Was Misquoted

The Montreal Gazette Sports pages had a piece asking Montreal Canadiens player Georges Laraque (who has become an instant celebrity in the city) what he thought about the election in the United States. Yeah. Right.

Here's a quote from Laraque (Georges is black and obviously an Obama supporter) the article that caught my eye:

"You look at 20, 30 years ago, we were in the back of the bus."

Come again?

Let me see. 20 years ago brings us back to 1988. 30 brings us to 1978. Yes. Those years were critical moments in the civil rights movement.

Were blacks at the "back of the bus" back then? Well, a black girl we knew named Heather sat at the back of the bus with us in high school. Does that count?

Maybe he meant to be figurative in some mis-factual but poetic way or something.

So Laraque was mistaken. That's ok. He's a hockey pugilist. Not a scholar. What I don't get is why didn't someone perhaps correct him and properly edit the quote?

Something like, "Hey, Georges dontcha mean 40 or 50 years ago?" Or at least mention it in the piece somewhere. No?

I get they had to print what was quoted and reported but did it have to be plastered prominently on the page?

Just something that raised an eyebrow. That's all.

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