Manti Te’o has been in the news a lot during the past few
months; his presence has transcended sports and has been felt in the community,
especially in Hawaii, his home state.
It’s not as though sportscasters haven’t known he’s been
around. Even last year he was leaving his mark as a defensive linebacker on
Notre Dame’s football team. And, as the Fighting Irish inched closer to an
undefeated season, his name became almost a household word.
The result? He was one of three college gridders invited to
the Heisman Trophy presentation this past weekend, one of three finalists.
So how come sportscasters still mispronounce his last name?
The most common mispronunciation is “Tey-ow.” As in “ow, that hurt” Fellas, it’s
“Tey-Oh” … how hard is that? And yet, I keep hearing it pronounced incorrectly.
The worst offender is Kevin Carter. Not once during the
season have I heard him pronounce Te’o’s name correctly, even as everyone else
around him has gotten it correct. In fact, it irritates me so much that
whenever he mispronounces, I yell out a loud correction.
See, to me, his mispronunciation this late in the game is
nothing short of offensive. It shows he doesn’t really care – about Manti,
about Manti’s father, about Manti’s family, about Manti’s heritage. It’s just
plain offensive.
No comments:
Post a Comment