"The terrorist"

Dean Jones calls Hashim Amla a terrorist and get fired!

And then he says this..

"It was a silly and completely insensitive thing to say and, obviously, it was never supposed to be heard over the air. I am truly sorry to have caused offence to anybody and the last thing I intended was to be disrespectful."

Ummm... what? So, it is ok if it was not aired but just heard by your colleagues?

I wonder how he is going to get out of this. Unlike Mel, he was not drunk* and was obviously in full control of his senses and speech. I also wonder whether he would say "the terrorist has got another wicket" whenever Murali gets one.

Dean Jones has just axed his career short. I do not think we will see this guy commenting on TV again.

* Though being drunk is no excuse for his alleged anti-semitic hate talk.

Update: Others commentators comment on Dean Jones' "gaffe"

Harsha Bhogle, a prominent broadcaster with ESPN Star Sports, pointed out that commentators have to always be on their guard. "We work in a news room or commentary box, so we have to be careful of what we say," he told The Times of India. "You have to assume that the microphone is always on. There will be some network somewhere who will be on live even when there is a break. We have directorial microphones too, so we have to be very careful. Sometimes producers do tell us that it is leaking, be careful. I have made up my mind not to swear even when not on air."

Wait a minute. The issue isn't he made the statement on air but that he made the statement. Whether he makes it in the locker room or in public does not matter because the statement was bloody bad! Harsha, what the fuck are you talking about? Arn't thou able to condemn Jones's remarks!

Then comes the explanation...

Syed Saba Karim, the former Indian wicketkeeper-turned-commentator, did not condone Jones but believed it could have been an honest mistake. "We do chat off camera and off air but I have never experienced anything like this. Nowadays with the ICC being strict with what comes on air, strong action has already taken place," he said. "Dean Jones is popular with so many cricketers, maybe it came out inadvertently. He must be given a chance to explain his stand."

oh! he made a honest mistake, did he? But what the hell is the honest mistake? Calling someone a terrorist because of their religiousness and their appearance? Bullshit!

Arun Lal, the former Indian batsman and prominent commentator, maintained that it was a bad mistake. "It's a very unfortunate incident. Just one of those things, when he has probably tried to sound witty. Knowing the gentleman I am sure he did not mean it. It was just a mistake, nothing else."

I am sure he is, now that he has lost his job for his faux paus.

I wonder how these guys can talk about how this is all a big mistake and that Dean Jones is not really a bad guy. He probably is not a nutcase but if this is his idea of a joke, I do not want to know him nor would I like to be around him...

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