Great piece of pub from ESPN's Page 2

[Guest AstroBull]

Thought it showed the character of our players.  Found it at the end of one of the columns

Last week I wrote a piece about the n-word in the locker room and my decision to rid it from my vocabulary. As a columnist, I always sit in front of my computer with two goals – to be honest with the readers and to try to write something that touches them. With that said, I was truly humbled by the overwhelming number of e-mails I received in response to the piece. From soldiers in Iraq to schoolteachers in Japan, readers from all walks of life chimed in on the subject matter with personal stories, additional questions, thank yous and rebuttals. I am still going through my in-box but I didn't want too much time to pass before saying thank you. I also wanted to share a note that I found particularly inspiring.

It was from Walt Javian Walker, starting right tackle for the University of South Florida football team. Walt told me the column prompted a dialogue within the squad and the eventual decision by the players to not only stop using the n-word in the locker room, but to rid it from their vocabulary as well. Many of you who wrote in asked what you could do to help race relations. I'm no expert, but I believe Walt and the USF Bulls are onto something – not being afraid to talk to each other with an open heart.

I have never rooted for USF in anything before in my life, but you better believe when the Bulls face East Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl on Dec. 23, I'll be pulling for them. In more ways than one.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=granderson/061207

[Guest]

Nice. Shows the character of this team.

[Velcro]

wow, very nice find Astro!  Thanks for posting.

[80mins]

Great find! Excellent--both the content and the pub itself.

[T-Man]

Nice read!

[Don Toro]

I'm proud of our boys!

[Knight_Light]

Great find and a even better result.

Not surprised that the n-word was used alot among football players, but columnist/journalist?

What kind of a professional "writer" uses/used the N-word?

Bravo to the USF Football Team...seems like at least the writer of that story "woke up".

[MikeG]

welcome to my world gents

jk

[E.T.]

Thanx for the post.

Just so Proud of the type of guys Leavitt recruits !

[80mins]

Great find and a even better result.

Not surprised that the n-word was used alot among football players, but columnist/journalist?

What kind of a professional "writer" uses/used the N-word?

Bravo to the USF Football Team...seems like at least the writer of that story "woke up".

Struck me as odd too, but I guess when you're in the locker room often enough that you get to know the players, and/or when familiarity leads to better stories, speaking on a familiar level with the players is not out of the question. It's not that far-fetched at all when you think about it.