Most definitely the highlight of the night came from Toronto Maple Leafs goalie, Jonathan Bernier. Bernier was interviewed regarding Nelson Mandela, a superior athlete who he allegedly grew up watching. The interview went rather poorly as Bernier appeared to have absolutely no idea what Nelson Mandela was truly being remembered and celebrated for.
Reporter1 (Sports Net mic): Alright Jonathan, how important is, uh, the legacy of Nelson Mandela to you?
JB: Well obviously he’s been, uh, a tremendous, uh, athlete and you know obviously what, uh, he means to all the sports you know when you know the worl- the world can uh be changed by the sports it’s pretty amazing. And I think he’s definitely uh got a lot of respect in every sports and uh he’s definitely one of the athletes I watched growing up as well.
Reporter1’s mic disappears from frame
Reporter2: Why is it important for you to come show support tonight?
JB: Well I think any good cause is, uh, sorry (he’s apologizing to someone to the left of the screen, not sure who/why), it’s always, uh, you know I love supporting, uh, any kind of cause obviously it’s for the Afri-, in Africa it’s obviously it’s, uh, a great cause, and enjoying, I guess, the basketball game.
Reporter2: Thanks.
Posted By Greg Wyshynski (https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/jonathan-bernier-clueless-about-nelson-mandela-at-nelson-mandela-event-215605061.html)
Painfully clear in the interview, Bernier comes across as completely clueless towards the legacy of Nelson Mandela, only stating that he was a great world renowned athlete that he grew up watching, which would also be false as Bernier was born when Mandela was at the age of 70, and I don't think Mandela was exactly a senior athlete.
Now obviously the media likes to inflate situations like this that aren't exactly extremely important, and frankly I don't find it a big deal that he's going to be ridiculed for not knowing one of the worlds great men. Its probable that there was plenty more people watching that basketball game, and supporting that event, that had no idea what Mandela really did for the world. Simply put a lot of people just don't know the history of humanity, and is it really that big of a deal for one person to either have a brain fart on camera or just not know. Generally, no, to me it isn't.
Media has done well at inflating the situation and systematically make Bernier look like a heartless jerk. Truthfully, just because Bernier made a single mistake regarding a heroic figure, doesn't really make him any less of a person. Its just pretty crystal clear he's not a history major
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