Using the "n" word

[rainmaker]

I don't think this is a clear cut issue. I know Rutledge will sign on here sooner or later, and say that where he works, if you gave a flagrant T every time you heard the N-word, there wouldn't be anyone left playing. I think you really need to talk to folks in your area, and gauge from their reactions. There are a couple of coaches here I could ask, and would, if I thought I would be dealing with. Also, some refs who've been around the horn and back. I'd go by their judgment.

I am personally offended when I hear this, even if it's said by a black person to another black person. I really don't like it. But I also know that there are neighborhoods where no one thinks twice about it, and it's just part of the language. If neither coach, neither player, and none of the coaches' or players' mothers care, then I'm not going to call it.