Post by QPR Report on Nov 16, 2008 10:56:47 GMT
Daily Mail/Piers Morgan
"...It's big of little Bernie to admit that he's wrongThe phone rings. ‘It’s the ignorant dwarf here!’ Ah, Bernie Ecclestone, the richest and most powerful man in Formula One.
I’ve never actually met the man, but his tough-guy reputation precedes him. I gulp nervously.
The problem with writing a ‘frank and fearless’ column is that occasionally the victims of your furious tirades of abuse actually confront you about them.
I branded Bernie an ‘ignorant dwarf’ last Sunday after he appeared to trivialise sickening racial taunts and gestures against Lewis Hamilton by Spanish motor-racing fans.
‘I want you to know that I’m not a racist,’ he protested.
‘I didn’t say you were, Bernie,’ I replied. ‘But you should have condemned those idiots, not said they were just having a joke. It sent out entirely the wrong signal.’
‘I know, I know. It came out wrong. I was having a shave at home when the radio station rang me, it was early in the morning and I wasn’t really concentrating. No excuses, but I was careless in my choice of words. I mucked up. I rang Lewis and his dad to apologise, and they accepted it immediately. They know I am not a racist.’
Blimey. It’s rare to hear such contrition from anyone in public life these days. And even rarer from anyone in Formula One, where a man like Max ‘spanker’ Mosley still refuses to apologise for dragging his sport’s name into the gutter with his Germanic dungeon hooker orgies.
‘It’s not too late to make amends,’ I said.
‘What do you suggest?’
‘You could come out now, in this column, and call for anyone who blackens their face at a grand prix, or makes monkey noises, to be evicted and banned for life.’
‘OK, I will.’
‘Really?’
‘Really. That’s what should happen, and I am happy for you to say that I want it to happen.’
Pause. ‘But you can’t keep calling me an ignorant dwarf!’
We both laughed. ‘Fair enough.’
‘Well, actually,’ chuckled Bernie, ‘come to think of it, I am a dwarf and I am pretty f***ing stupid. Oh all right then, carry on!’
I stand by my criticism of Bernie Ecclestone’s initial remarks. But I tell you what: he may be lacking in height, but he’s a big man to make that phone call, accept I was right and take proper action to correct his mistake.
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1086199/Were-grip-recession-Ronaldo-just-wants-more.html
"...It's big of little Bernie to admit that he's wrongThe phone rings. ‘It’s the ignorant dwarf here!’ Ah, Bernie Ecclestone, the richest and most powerful man in Formula One.
I’ve never actually met the man, but his tough-guy reputation precedes him. I gulp nervously.
The problem with writing a ‘frank and fearless’ column is that occasionally the victims of your furious tirades of abuse actually confront you about them.
I branded Bernie an ‘ignorant dwarf’ last Sunday after he appeared to trivialise sickening racial taunts and gestures against Lewis Hamilton by Spanish motor-racing fans.
‘I want you to know that I’m not a racist,’ he protested.
‘I didn’t say you were, Bernie,’ I replied. ‘But you should have condemned those idiots, not said they were just having a joke. It sent out entirely the wrong signal.’
‘I know, I know. It came out wrong. I was having a shave at home when the radio station rang me, it was early in the morning and I wasn’t really concentrating. No excuses, but I was careless in my choice of words. I mucked up. I rang Lewis and his dad to apologise, and they accepted it immediately. They know I am not a racist.’
Blimey. It’s rare to hear such contrition from anyone in public life these days. And even rarer from anyone in Formula One, where a man like Max ‘spanker’ Mosley still refuses to apologise for dragging his sport’s name into the gutter with his Germanic dungeon hooker orgies.
‘It’s not too late to make amends,’ I said.
‘What do you suggest?’
‘You could come out now, in this column, and call for anyone who blackens their face at a grand prix, or makes monkey noises, to be evicted and banned for life.’
‘OK, I will.’
‘Really?’
‘Really. That’s what should happen, and I am happy for you to say that I want it to happen.’
Pause. ‘But you can’t keep calling me an ignorant dwarf!’
We both laughed. ‘Fair enough.’
‘Well, actually,’ chuckled Bernie, ‘come to think of it, I am a dwarf and I am pretty f***ing stupid. Oh all right then, carry on!’
I stand by my criticism of Bernie Ecclestone’s initial remarks. But I tell you what: he may be lacking in height, but he’s a big man to make that phone call, accept I was right and take proper action to correct his mistake.
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1086199/Were-grip-recession-Ronaldo-just-wants-more.html
