‘Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language,” wrote Dale Carnegie, famed author of yesteryear’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Want people to like you? Say their name. Want to make a bad impression? Mispronounce their name like it doesn’t matter.
Names matter. It’s important to say them correctly. It’s important to make the effort.
Repeatedly mispronouncing an unfamiliar name without apology or correction is a particular affront: “Mutilating someone’s name is a tiny act of bigotry,” writes education blogger Jennifer Gonzalez. “Whether you intend to or not, what you’re communicating is this: Your name is different. Foreign. Weird. It’s not worth my time to get it right.”
The National Education Association warns that minimizing the significance of getting a student’s name right is a kind of microagression, an everyday act of discrimination.
So what does it mean when a group of network announcers, people who are professional speakers, are paid to call a baseball game on live national television but can’t be bothered to correctly pronounce the names of the players?
I’m looking at you, ESPN. You need to know that all of Hawaii is watching when island teams go up to the Little League World Series year after year, and at this point no one is giving you a pass on the kids’ names. It’s been too many times already. Get some coaching.
Not only did Karl Ravech, David Ross and Kyle Peterson fumble the names on air, their disregard spilled over to the kid broadcasters who were calling the game on ESPN2. You guys, it’s not enough to joke about your inability to learn to say a kid’s name correctly. You need to get it right. According to Ravech, all of you have children of your own. How would you feel if, on national television with cameras focused right on your brave and brilliant child, some sloppy announcer messed up his or her name?
One of the Maui parents was even in the stands holding up a phonetic spelling of her kid’s name: NAH-KAY-AH KAH-HAH-LAY-HAU. The cameras kept focusing on that sign, and still the announcers couldn’t get it together to say Nakea Kahalehau’s name correctly. Logan Kuloloia’s name was said about five different ways, none of them close. Kamahao Akina, Kayden Miyaki-Matsubayashi … same thing. Kids’ names might be tricky at first glance, but the point of being a pro is preparing for the gig so that you aren’t first-glancing the roster.
It’s a respect thing — respect for the players, respect for the game, respect for their jobs as broadcasters of an international tournament of great prestige. The people saying the names should learn the names, practice them, get their mouths to move in the right direction and apologize when they mess up.
Hawaii is going to keep sending teams to the Little League World Series. Hopefully, ESPN will step up its game and commit to doing the homework and practice required to say the players’ names correctly.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
