Vanhalen Posted August 7, 2004 Report Posted August 7, 2004 The three letters looked innocent enough - E, L and Z. But when Trey Wright combined them to make LEZ during the US Scrabble contest finals being taped for television, he provoked uncommon excitement. The 32-point score put him on the verge of victory, but the use of a slang term for lesbian threatened to take him off the air. Judges and TV directors, briefly lost for words, were sent scrabbling for answers and ruled that LEZ had to go. In normal Scrabble rules, any legitimate word is fair game. But for the finals, which are to be televised later, a list of potentially offensive words had been drawn up and their use banned. The crowd watching the finals live at the New Orleans venue are reported to have erupted with complaints at the ruling. And to make matters worse Mr Wright, a 30-year-old concert pianist from Los Angeles, had already drawn his two replacement tiles before the referee could spot the problem. "He violated the rules. But there were also people who were upset that the word was played, Americans should not be subjected to this language" John Williams, executive director of the National Scrabble Association, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. The game was halted and the players were consulted. Mr Williams and other members of the association's advisory board held an emergency meeting. But LEZ had to go. Mr Wright showed the two letters he had pulled from the bag to his opponent, David Gibson, before returning them and retaking his turn, playing a less controversial GUV for seven points. He continued with more innocent words, ending with TEOPANS (Mexican temples) to clinch a win, the title and the $25,000 first prize, and seemed unfazed by the row. "Meaning has no consideration when I play," he was quoted as saying.
The Mandarin Posted August 7, 2004 Report Posted August 7, 2004 If he had have spelled out BOOBY, I think there would have been a full-fledged riot.
razazteca Posted August 7, 2004 Report Posted August 7, 2004 You have to realize who plays this game.........Peggy Hill types.
Boner Kawanger Posted August 7, 2004 Report Posted August 7, 2004 I got in trouble in the fifth grade for detailing how a well-placed "SEX" would get you an assload of points. I can feel his pain.
Guest Smell the ratings!!! Posted August 7, 2004 Report Posted August 7, 2004 I think the real question here is when did "lez" become a word?
AndrewTS Posted August 7, 2004 Report Posted August 7, 2004 Is "LEZ" considered a slur, or does it merely have to do with it referring to homosexuality? Is it in the Scrabble dictionary? Yeah, I know it isn't Scrabble, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had a Boggle equivalent. I always through the proper spelling would be "LES" myself.
EricMM Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 Um they're not talking about Boggle. I mean, boggle has dice not tiles...
Ravenbomb Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 Man, that's totally fucked up. The show Scrabble on TV?!
AboveAverage484 Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 I think the real question here is when did "lez" become a word? Fuck that, when did "GUV" become a word?
Crimson G Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 Lez isn't a word to be used in scrabble. I don't think I've ever heard anyone use that abbreviation (hence why it's not a legal scrabble play anyways) in an actual sentence. The fact that they allowed another player to use guv (as in short for governor) as a word shows what kind of bullshit tournament they were in in the first place. But, it's not the first time ESPN has cracked to pressure. I'm sure we all remember Playmakers.
Guest Kid Kablam Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 Man, that's totally fucked up. The show Scrabble on TV?! And they don't show racquetball. Hmmmmm
Ravenbomb Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 On ESPN none the less. well, if it were the Ocho I'd understand
tommytomlin Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 I've said it before and I'll say it again - America is full of prudes.
Guest Kid Kablam Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 Was "Lez" on the banned list? If not, then it should be fair game.
Highland Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 (edited) "Lez" and "Guv" are not words. And the FCC and every media outlet/corporation that cowers before them needs to fuck off. If you don't like what you're watching change the channel instead of letting some government organisation babysit you all. It's sad. The US has the smartest doctors and other professionals, yet isn't trusted with the remote without someone making sure they don't flick to a bad channel. Edited August 8, 2004 by Highland
Ravenbomb Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 I've said it before and I'll say it again - America is full of prudes. what do you expect, it was "founded" by puritans
Boner Kawanger Posted August 8, 2004 Report Posted August 8, 2004 Man, that's totally fucked up. The show Scrabble on TV?! There was a Scrabble game show in the early ninties. It ran (or was being reran) on USA weekday mornings.
starvenger Posted August 9, 2004 Report Posted August 9, 2004 The fact that they allowed another player to use guv (as in short for governor) as a word shows what kind of bullshit tournament they were in in the first place. But, it's not the first time ESPN has cracked to pressure. I'm sure we all remember Playmakers. I just want to see a Spelling Bee where a kid gets the word right and yells "Fuck yeah!" in celebration, just to see what ESPN will do. Also, why are they televising a Scrabble tournament? Firstly, if Chuck Woolery isn't hosting, what's the point? Second, this is not likely to be a ratings grapper like poker or a piece of Americana like the Spelling Bee and Nathan's Hot Dog contest, so why is ESPN even bothering?
Guest Fook Posted August 9, 2004 Report Posted August 9, 2004 I just want to see a Spelling Bee where a kid gets the word right and yells "Fuck yeah!" in celebration, just to see what ESPN will do. Proctor: All right, this is for the silver medal. Spell "forensics". Child: Ah fuck that! Why should I fucking have to spell "forensics"? Other children: Yeah! Child: Here you go. S-U-C-K-M-Y-A-S-S: Forensics.
griffinmills Posted August 10, 2004 Report Posted August 10, 2004 Come now folks, dictionary.com is less than 15 keys away and it has LEZ in it listed as "offensive slang, short for lezzies." Strangly it does not have the alternate accepted play, GUV, in it unless you go to the alternate achronym section where it is, obviously, short for Governor. What if he had spelled PENIS or ~TAINT!? *dies*
Vanhalen Posted August 10, 2004 Author Report Posted August 10, 2004 They did a little bit on this on the radio this morning, mostly laughing at the people in charge for being so prudish, but they had a Scrabble champion on, and apparantly any word in the Oxford English Dictionary is allowed(www.oed.co.uk), it doesn't matter how offensive.
Vanhalen Posted August 10, 2004 Author Report Posted August 10, 2004 Sorry, its http://dictionary.oed.com/ not www.oed.co.uk, theve changed over.
Ravenbomb Posted August 10, 2004 Report Posted August 10, 2004 I just want to see a Spelling Bee where a kid gets the word right and yells "Fuck yeah!" in celebration, just to see what ESPN will do. Proctor: All right, this is for the silver medal. Spell "forensics". Child: Ah fuck that! Why should I fucking have to spell "forensics"? Other children: Yeah! Child: Here you go. S-U-C-K-M-Y-A-S-S: Forensics. Fuck yeah!
Jericholic82 Posted August 10, 2004 Report Posted August 10, 2004 Isnt that just short hand for Lesbian, which is an acceptable word used by homosexual women? so why is it banned AND WHY IN THE HELL IS SCRABBLE ON ESPN IT SHOULDN"T EVEN BE ON ESPN 3
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now