• bald guy

    John….do you have an answer for the question the article opens with?:

    “Could anyone recall a black athlete who had come off the bench like Tim Tebow or out of the blue like Jeremy Lin, flared to immediate stardom and received the sort of impassioned outpouring of love that has enveloped Tebow and Lin?”

    I’m not saying race is involved. But, do any names come to mind?

    • Dan

      Locally, Antonio Brown comes to mind.

      • Maynard G. Krebs

        Antonio Brown is the anti-Tebow or anti-Lin. He acts like a fool & he sounds like he went to Louisiana-Lafayette Polyester Tech. In other words…DUMB.

        • Dan

          Are you serious with this crap? I think you have Brown mistaken with someone else.

      • bald guy

        There was little to none national attention. And even locally, the coverage of Antonio Brown was timid as opposed to the craziness about Tebow and Lin.

        • Dan

          Yea, he isn’t a great example, but honestly I can’t think of a black athlete that it’s happened to who hasn’t had any pedigree before having big success like Brown, at least locally. Dejan Kovacevic had a great example with Johan Hedberg a few years ago but he’s a white guy – which does not diminish his accomplishments.

        • PG Blues

          Hey hairless, if Antonio Brown won 2 Heismans and had the guts to wear his values on his sleeve, he’d have a massive following, too. If Antonio Brown preached abstinence and went on a prolife commercial with his Mom, and spent his off seasons in 3rd world countries–and not to mention, played QB, he’d have gotten the same attention. You want spotlight for a black person that came out of nowhere? How about Barack Obama? Maybe it is all about race, come to think of it, bald guy.

  • Maynard G. Krebs

    Anybody else SICK of the incessant Whitney Houston coverage? Talk about reverse racism. She was a drug addict & now she is practically being canonized. Reminds me of the over the top coverage of Jacko’s funeral. And he was just a pervert. Hell, Sinatra didn’t get one-tenth this much coverage when he died.

    • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

      Well beyond sick.

      • bald guy

        As Justice Scalia has said, “If you don’t like what you see, turn off the TV.”

    • Tim

      CNN is spending no more time on Whitney Houston than they did on the royal wedding. Last time I checked, they were white. You may want to believe its reverse racism but you’re ignoring the fact that it’s our celebrity driven culture that is the cause of overbearing news coverage. I don’t see why you had to bring race into it.

    • bald guy

      The media frenzy over Houston is no different than their frenzy over Princess Diana’s death.

      You know, sometimes it’s NOT about race.

      • PG Blues

        You mean Princess Diana, the humanitarian that gave most of her time to charities? For a second there, I thought you were comparing her with a drug abusing, “crack is whack,” talent-abusing diva.

  • Chuck

    Where’s the cries of racism from the white fans of the Steelers? I think they had something like 8 or 9 white players on the whole 53 man squad this past year, and that total included the punter and long snnapper. They haven’t had a white player drafted these past 2 years for certain, and the year before that I think. Where’s the outrage????

  • JustAnotherBloke

    So now we need to carefully consider on which sports figures to confer our adulation? Maybe we can ask for the formation of a government agency that will guide us on this matter.

  • KMan

    monopoly

  • a-dawg

    In speaking about race…..I watch a lot of sports programing and three shows inparticular (The Sports Reports, Around The Horn and PTI)….and one thing I’ve noticed from watching these 3 programs overthe years is that the black commentators always stand up for the black athletes….while the white commentators stand up for the white athletes. And this is pretty much universal across the board.

    You also see this behavior a bit on shows like Sunday NFL Countdown. Especially when talking about QBs (expcet Tebow).

    I thought this was 2012 and this type of behavior was behind us.

  • KMan

    It is a liberal protected industry for balcks to comment on race. They have a momonpoly on it because white people get fired over the topics they opine on. Jason Whitlock can print penis jokes at Lin’s expense and is fine. A white man making a joke like that would be fired. See Imus, Don

  • Naper

    How about Tony Norman in the Post-Gazette? While he isn’t a sports guy, he never misses a chance to bring up race.

    • DavidMcGwire

      There’s nothing wrong with that. Race and Racism is something we should talk about…and when people act stupid (as the kids (and apparently security) at Brentwood did in his last article) they should be called on it.

      In my opinion, pretending racism isn’t prevailent in society today is no worse than blaming racism for all of a minorities problems.

      • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

        Here’s the definition of racism: belief that some races of men are by nature superior to others, ALSO: discrimination based upon such a belief.

        I really don’t think that that idea is “prevalent” in the United States.

        • Dan

          It’s a flashier, shorter, easier word to spit out than prejudiced and thus the definition has morphed over time, that’s my theory at least.

          • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

            It used to be a strong word. Now it’s almost meaningless. Abraham Lincoln was a actually a racist. He believed that blacks were inferior to whites. But so did 98% of the population.

          • DavidMcGwire

            You will also find in websters dictionary that racism is defined as “hatred or intolerance of another race or races.”

            It is prevalent in the world, not just in the United States. When ignorance is shown in our society, it should be reported on. Like many things, you will find a group of people oversensitive to the issue, It doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

            I live in Brentwood and kids at the High School dressed in banana costumes and made monkey chants on top of other derogatory slurs at the members of the primarily black Monesson basketball team. I’m glad this was reported on so that these kids parents hopefully will be mortified enough to look in the mirror and wonder what lessons they’re teaching their kids.

            People should be called out when they act like this.

    • Chad Farthouse

      Sometimes it needs to be brought up. Despite popular misconceptions, racism is still one of the biggest problems in this country. Some (not all) criticism of the president stems from racism for example.

      • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

        The word “racist” has lost its meaning. The number of people who are truly racist is miniscule. Some are prejudiced. Some are ignorant. But that is a long way from racist. At least it used to be.

      • JimGott

        ” Some (not all) criticism of the president stems from racism for example.”

        -And some (not all) “support” of the president stems from racism.

    • Gary M

      True Tony Norman story.
      There was a racially charged court case several years back. My mother was chosen as a jurist. So, I followed the case pretty closely.
      Tony wrote an opinion piece that I thought was so out of line, I had to respond. Which I did. At the end of the email, I told him, I didn’t give permission to him or the post to reprint any portion of the email. I told him I was sorry, but I had my reasons. I didn’t want there to be any thought that my mother was discussing the case outside of the courtroom, which, she would never do. It could cost the city a lot of money and time if someone put together my last name and jurist #6.
      He sent me back, which I never expected, saying basically, that I was a coward. I never responded to him and my mother has since passed all I can think of is, Hey Tony, see, some people have legitimate reasons for not wanting something published. But for a race baiting writer like yourself who sees other racists behind every corner, you just couldn’t fathom that. To a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail.

      • JimGott

        -Completely agree about Tony Norman. He’s entirely out of touch with what reality is. One of many reasons I stopped buying the post gazette.

      • PG Blues

        The kids at Brentwood acted like idiots, but they also dressed like that and acted like that at home games against teams made up of only whites. Maybe they did it for the “go bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s” cheer or something. Either way, they should have picked another costume. But you can bet that Tony Norman, regardless of cause, will find race issues with everything. I don’t remember him being upset about the black panthers intimidating voters in Philly in 2008, though. Tony Norman is classless…he’s made a career by race baiting and bashing white people–only white people, with the rare exception of a black person who Norman feels acts too white.

      • PG Blues

        Mark Madden blogged about this, too. I thought he was better than that. As usual, people love making blacks victims, because it’s inserted into our brains beginning in kindergarten and it continues all the way through our graduation from a university filled with liberal professors. My two best friends are black, but that’s about the only thing they are victims of–being my friend.

    • Dave

      Norman needs counseling or medication. His columns are a running joke at my workplace.

  • Joe

    To the point of his article, everyone is overlooking Jeff Blake as an African American athlete that came out of nowhere, was thrust into the starting lineup after other options had been exhausted and led a revival in his city.

    His first start was against the Aikman-Smith-Irwin Cowboys and Blake almost led the Bengals to an upset over that juggernaut. His 40 yard bombs to Carl Pickens and Darnay Scott electrified the NFL and gave a perenial loser a glimmer of hope. In fact, it was Blake’s play that is widely credited with rekindling interest in football in Cincy and getting the tax passed for building a new stadium. Granted, Blake’s success was relatively short lived, once defenses had a chance to dissect his game (and the same fate might still befall Tebow and Lin).

    BUT (and here’s the big difference) that was 15 years ago – before twitter, before youtube, etc; when it was just ESPN’s NFL Countdown and PrimeTime.

    • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

      I loved Blake in college. If I’m not mistaken, he tortured Pitt.

  • Matt

    It’s Linsane that the editor was fired. Poor guy’s career is ruined over political correctness.

  • Ken

    I can’t believe that ESPN fired that guy over the “chink in the armor” headline. There shouldn’t have been a firing, or even any apologies.

    It’s a common expression. The first time that I remember reading it was in grade school. In WWII, the Bismarck sunk the HMS Hood when a shell found a “chink in the Hood’s armor” and penetrated through to the magazine.

    Lin handled it partially well. He accepted the unnecessary apology. But when told that the writer said that he’s used that in “hundreds of headlines in his career,” Lin said that this was “sad.” Huh? Why?

    Reminds me of that episode back in the 90’s in DC city council when a white councilman offended the black council members by using the word “niggardly.” He actually had to apologize for having a good vocabulary because they thought it sounded too similar to a certain other word. (It means cheap or miserly.)

    • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

      The headline writer was probably making 12 bucks an hour. It was an attempt to be funny that bombed–something that ESPN writers are really good at.

      • Ken

        Was it even trying to be funny?

        Is “chink in the armor” really unfamiliar to people? I hear it all the time.

        • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

          I’ve heard it a million times. Not on a headline with a picture of an Asian basketball player on national TV. He knew exactly what he was doing and it was stupid. He should have been fired. Not for the severity of the mistake but because it shows that he’s too stupid or too immature (or both) for the job.

          • Ken

            I didn’t see how the headline was presented on the website. I’ve only heard people discussing it.

            Just reading it, I don’t hear anything offensive. Or funny. it just sounds like a normal way to express what happened. Knicks finally lost with Lin playing. He turned the ball over. There’s a chink in the Knick’s armor and in Lin’s play.

          • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

            If the guy didn’t see that it was the wrong time to use that expression than he should be fired for his general stupidity.

          • Ken

            They’d have to fire me too. I just don’t get why it was wrong. I’ve heard people call the Chinese “chinks,” but the writer wasn’t doing that. He used a real word and a common phrase.

            If the Red Wings ever lose another home game, would a headline saying that there’s a “chink in the Wing’s home armor” be offensive to someone?

          • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

            I don’t know if it would be offensive, but if the Red Wings had an Asian player, who was the talk of the sports world, and his picture appeared with the headline, the guy should be fired for being incredibly stupid.

    • George Washington

      ESPN CONSTANTLY uses bad puns in many of their headlines. This guy thought he was being funny. I don’t buy it was a common expression BS – that was CYA time.

      He didn’t think it through, obviously. Good lesson to learn while he’s young. Think BEFORE being an idiot. Alas, most never learn that one.

      • Ken

        It is a common expression. “Chink” is a real, legitimate word.

        • Dan

          It’s also a racial slur for Asians that should never be used as a headline when an Asian is in the picture. Sorry Ken, this is an obvious Tony Kornheiser “GOTS to go” situation.

          • Ken

            I think they should close down any restaurant that offers a white person crackers with their soup.

          • Richard

            It’s more akin to having a picture of a black athlete with the headline, “Calling a spade a spade.”

            The phrase is common and has no racial origins, but to use it as a headline about a black athlete is making a pun on a racial epithet the same as the word “Chink” is used in the Lin headline.

          • Ken

            Political correctness run amok. Anyone who was offended by the that headline comment really needs to grow up. I mostly agree with John, but I think he’s just way off here. To be fired for using a common phrase is ridiculous. Chink means a gap, a crevice. It has nothing to do with Chinese people, particularly in the “chink in the armor” context.

          • http://justwatchthegame.com John Steigerwald

            We disagree. You just don’t use that word when it accompanies a picture of an Asian player who is the talk of the sports world. I’d have to see where, if ever, he used the word before.

    • Tim

      ESPN has a brand and an image to protect. You damage it, you go. That’s Capitalism 101. That’s why Hank Williams was fired and its why this guy was fired. If he wants to make jokes like that he should go write for the NY Post or The Onion. The lesson to be learned here is that you don’t embarrass your employer when their are probably hundreds of people similarly qualified to do your job.

  • Mason

    Five minutes of my life I can’t get back.

    • franji1

      But at least you RECOGNIZED it was a waste – THAT, in and of itself, is an ACCOMPLISHMENT! (Just think of all the people out there that not only READ it, but AGREED with it – Bob Hope has a name for those kinds of people – ZOMBIES).

  • Mike from Monroeville

    Three weeks ago he was a nobody who was sleeping on his brother’s couch. Thats why its a story.

    • Mike V

      I agree. He is the American dream. Hard work and dedication paid off.

      Remeber the movie, “Revenge of the Nerds”? At the end, one of them gave a talk to the crowd about being a nerd and the world has a lot more nerds than the jocks they were up against. Everyone related to it. Lin is the nerd from Harvard everyone can see a little of themselves in and admires him for his life accomplishments. If Lin didn’t play another second in the NBA, he would find success in another profession.

  • Rizzenman

    What else is new. There are some who lurk around waiting for a public slip so they can jump on it. It’s like a hobby. The card is running low on juice, it’s like the boy who cried wolf. Most people block it out. Many times the alleged victim is the one who cares the least.

  • jwit

    I wonder where this guys sense of racial right and wrong was when espn ran a story about why there are no white cornerbacks in the nfl. They interspliced clips of black nfl players saying, “slow, not quick, slow feet” regarding the perception of while athletes trying to play cornerback. I wonder if they trotted out the lesser scores on standardized tests that minorites routinely post and say they can’t be coaches or qb’s, if that would recieve the same chuckles from Tom, Boomer and the boys. Funny this guy doesn’t mention Tiger woods’ fan love until he showed what a dirtbag he really was.