John Motson apologises for calling Millwall’s Tom Elliott ‘big, black and brave’

[Burney]

Which of the these three things is Tom Elliott not, then?

Is John Motson not dead, then?

I suppose if we look at it t'other way about it makes more sense. If you were to say something negative about someone, to add their skin colour would make it worse, since it's irrelevant, but suggests their skin colour is an important issue to you. Thus 'You cheating ****' is rude, but preferable to 'You cheating black ****'. The same goes for compliments.