Sunday, February 04, 2007

The Super Bowl and Muslim names

Just watching the Super Bowl on ITV. Did I hear it right? Did the the crowd just boo Muhsin Muhammad of the Chicago Bears when his name was called out? What was that about?

Is there a history there or was it just because he has a Muslim name? If it is because of his name would they boo anyone based on their name, say for example Muhammad Ali? Will Barack Obamas name really be an election loosing issue in the 2008 Presidential race? How messed up is that? Someone, please tell me I'm wrong.

Right now I'm supporting the Chicago Bears because I want to see Muhsin Muhammad lift the Vince Lombardi trophy, something those who just booed him will never get to do.

[Update 23:55]
They did it again. Muhammad just scored a touch down and they booed him. Bastards. The commentators have not mentioned it but it is kind of obvious and other bloggers2 have3 mentioned1 it as well. Come on the Bears!

[Update 00:04]
Here are some stats on Muhsin
Muhsin Muhammad #87 Wide Receiver Chicago Bears
Height: 6-2 Weight: 215
Born: May 5, 1973 - Lansing, Michigan
College: Michigan State
Draft: 1996 - 2nd round (13th pick) by the Carolina Panthers

His religion shouldn't be an issue, official web sites don't mention his religion, as well they shouldn't, but Wikipedia says he is Christian. update: A MySpace site claiming to be his lists his religion as Muslim. But like I say his religion shouldnt be an issue.

[Update 00:10]

I'm getting lots of hits to my blog with people searching for "booing mushin muhammad". Looks like lots of other people noticed it as well.


[Update: 00:18]
It has been pointed out by Paul in the comments (and I found mentioned on a site that claims to be Mushin Muhammads own MySpace site) that his nickname is "Moose" which I suppose could be what the crowd are shouting? I'd have to hear it again to know for sure. I hope that is the case.

[UDATE: 01:46]
I heard it again. I'm 90% sure that it is not, repeat NOT booing, but instead the fans are chanting "mooooosssee". The commentators mentioned it as well confirming this. So my sincere apologies to the fans! I should have known better.

[Update: 3:00]
Congrats to the Indianapolis Colts for winning 29-17. Time for bed now.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wanted the Colts to win, because I wanted to see Peyton get a Superbowl ring.

Now? Hope the Bears take it all the way...

Although my wife has dug around and it is apparently possible that they might be shouting "Moose" (nickname maybe? - Moose, Muhsin?). We'll see.... If they are shouting that I'll retract the comments in my blog, but otherwise...

Anonymous said...

I just did a Google blog search for Muhsin Muhammad because I distinctly heard "booing" in the crowd. And I wanted to know if anyone else noticed it. What is that all about? I am just a little 'ol housewife, who knows nothing about football. Is there a reason for the crowd to boo Muhammad other than his Muslim name? If it is just his name I a sickened.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm with you on this one. I made the same comment as soon as it happened, probably along with 1000's of others. Screw the crowd. They've gotta be a bunch of jerks. I've been searching the web for some dirt on Muhammad, i.e., something naughty he might have done recently, but have found nothing so far. Like you I really hope the crowd is not that vile, but then again . . people, especially in crowds, do really shitty things.

JHB jhbutler01@comcast.net

Julia said...

Yeah, the Wikipedia entry says they say "Moose". But as the husband says, we'll see... I don't know - if I was doing the commentary for a big game going out to a billion viewers, and if one of the players had a nickname that when shouted out sounded like "boo", I'd have taken 5 seconds to explain that they were calling his nickname. So I'm not convinced.

Simon said...

After watching the Rugby today. How is this a sport. It stops every few seconds. As for the booing. I am not surprised.

Anonymous said...

Muhammad’s nickname is “Moose”, and fans in the crowd often wear moose antlers in support of him. Additionally, fans will often yell "Moooose!" when Muhammad makes a catch first down or touchdown pass.
From wikipedia

Declan said...

Simon,
Yeah, and whats with all the padding and helmets. In rugby all you need is someone to stitch your face or head back together like Jonny Wilkinson and Denis Hickie this weekend.

Anonymous said...

nerds and Football. lol. The crowd isn't "booing" the Muslim name, they are cheering "MOOSE", his nickname. At least, that is what I tell myself to avoid the same irking fear you have all shared. Kinda scary tho, huh.

Anonymous said...

Yeah. I listened closely this time, and it was "Mooooooose."

Trivia: Muslim name, Christian faith. He was given a Muslim name by his father at age 4, when his father converted to Islam. Muhsin is a Christian, though.

No Blood for Hubris said...

Just came online to Google "Muhsin Muhammad" to find out if he'd shot someone or something. Then I come to you, and find out his nickname. Who knew? Anyway, it's a good thing that people don't want to see racist namecalling.

Anonymous said...

Hey Simon and Declan, just so you know, the padding was introduced in 1904 when President Roosevelt was threatening to make American football criminal due to the large number of players who died that season (27 I believe died).

If an American Footballer tackled a rugby player, the rugby player would die. I've played both, and all that padding means you can hit someone waaaay harder than you ever could in rugby. And because you can, you do. So you need the padding to avoid getting injured. Plus, with the padding, you are about 100lbs heavier, so you're hitting power is so much harder.

As for the stopping and starting, the clock stops whenever the ball goes dead, so in a 60 minute game you get close to 60 minutes of actual play, unlike soccer where in 90 minutes you're sometimes lucky to have the ball in play for above 45 minutes.

American football - it's like chess with violence.

Chris said...

They just did it again

Chris said...

That was a boo, not a moose BTW - you are first on Google's search for this.

Anonymous said...

I'm Canadian says I watched the superbowl game this afternoon and couldn't believe my ears! I will never believe fans would boo someone because of thier name. No one is that stupid! They were chanting MOUSSE....had to be!!!!

Declan said...

Paul,
"27 players died in one season", holy crap! No wonder they need padding.

Anonymous said...

As said in other posts, they were NOT booing him. The majority of the fans were Bears fans and were saying "Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse".

It's ironically like that with ALL players in all sports who have names that have a "oooo" sound. The San Francisco Giants in 2003 had a Jose Cruz who made spectacular catches in the outfield and fans called out "Cruuuuuuuuuuuuz" whenever he made a catch. The Giants later had Moises Alou and whenever he made a game changing hit, the crowed called out "Alooooooooooooooooouuuu"

All players in all sports get that treatment, which is not booing, it's cheering.