Griese Suspended (Resident Racist…); What “A Message from ESPN” Really Says about the Big Disney; Woody Paige-Jemele Hill
October 27, 2009 by dwil
Here’s the latest from the AP:
ESPN broadcaster Bob Griese has been suspended one week for a remark he made about NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya.
ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz says Griese will not be working a game this week.
Krulewitz says ESPN has spoken to Griese and “he understands the comment was inappropriate.”
Then there’s this…
Only someone within ESPN could say this. In this case, ESPN president George Bodenheimer:
A Message from George Bodenheimer
Top Story 10/23/09 @ 4:19 PM
ESPN is clearly one of the most dynamic companies in the world and we take great pride in our work. Our success often leads to media stories about our business and people. Those stories are often very positive, but not always.
During the last few days, we have received a fair amount of unwanted media coverage, including a series of Internet posts where the editor expressly stated that many of these items were based on rumor and that they had not attempted to verify their accuracy. Compounding this issue is my disgust that some of our own unidentified employees are leaking materials to the media thereby contributing in a significant way to these destructive efforts. As you know, we have policies that govern how and who should be in contact with the media regarding the company. I feel it is very important to make clear to all employees that violating these policies is a serious offense which can, and very likely will, result in the immediate termination of employment of the offending employee.
ESPN has a hard working, creative culture that produces outstanding content every day. Our culture and our people are the keys to our continuing success. I also want to reaffirm our commitment to maintaining a workplace where all employees have the opportunity to grow, are free from harassment of any kind and are respectful and positive toward each other.
If anyone feels that we are not living up to our commitment or that your work environment, either in our offices or at any remote location, is of concern, you can and should bring that to the attention of your supervisor, your HR business partner, our HR Leader Paul Richardson, Ed Durso or to me personally.
Our mission is to serve sports fans. Our values call for us to show care and respect for all employees. I want to assure you the leadership of ESPN is committed to achieving both.
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Perhaps it’s the weather, but there are tears – not just chinks – in ESPN’s armor. The Worldwide Bleeder’s penchant for accruing talent – people – by way of throwing incomprehensible amounts of money at them just because they perceive that person to be a threat from another sports news media outlet is just bunk. Then they take that person and bury their work if the product is outside of Disney’s socio-political agenda. Beautiful.
And yes, I have been told by someone presently at ESPN that what I surmise is in fact true, but is not even the half of what really goes on behind the scenes at the Big Subliminal.
Since I now have confirmation (I told MODI about some conversations with an ESPN staffer and a former employee a couple of weeks ago) that my sense of the environment at the Big Sports Disney is accurate, let me take this another step…
Rather than employ strong editors at ESPN.com, ESPN’s big-wigs chose to hire unfinished, but fairly known writers who achieved their status more through happenstance of their being (take that as you may) rather than through the quality of their work and placed them throughout the .com. And their work is deemed “untouchable,” which leaves the unfinished producing unfinished work.
Brilliant.
Why? The perceived threat is one reason. Another is to project a diverse public image (there are extensive articles and commentaries here at SOMM going back two years about this phenomenon that is pervasive throughout the Big Subliminal), when the number of actual black journalists at ESPN is nowhere near the White-Black population percentage in the U.S.
A third is ESPN knows it has no need to produce quality work across the board. In fact, there is little interest in producing quality work at the Big Subliminal. There is, though, a huge interest in pushing what the socialist-fascists at the corporate level of the company and its parent company, Disney, want to see, hear, and read. That is why there is an all-too-obvious negative portrayal of Black athletes. We see this most readily when various television personality crews discuss Black quarterbacks in college and in the NFL. To think that there is only one minority driver in NASCAR, Juan Pablo Montoya, a Columbian, and NCAA football announcer Bob Griese basically calls him a “taco-eater.” What if he was Black? Would the Black Montoya equivalent be off eating watermelon or fried chicken, Bob?
That Griese made that statement chuckling the whole time is what is called in poker, a “tell.” It is something an opponent does that gives away the quality – or lack, thereof – cards in his or her hand. In the case of Griese, the tell is that talk like this is normal of-camera, while traveling, in hotel restaurants over dinner and drinks.
Remember the “Malice at the Palace” when then Indiana Pacer Ron Artest and Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace had an altercation that ended in various Pacers players fighting with fans, and more? If you remember, the in-studio crew that night of John Saunders, Tim Legler, and Greg Anthony were unanimous in blaming – correctly – the drunken, racist, Auburn Hills crowd for starting and exacerbating the incidents that night.
The three were not seen on an ESPN NBA broadcast for a week following that night. Why? Because they told the truth and people like George Bodenheimer wanted to lead the way in making sure the Black players on the Indiana Pacers team, especially Artest, who were the objects of the surly crowd’s violence, became the villains of the story.
Artest comes from the Queensbridge Projects in New York City, one of the most blighted urban areas in America. It is a place White America holds up, not as an example of their own failure to hold true the value of equality for each citizen in America, but as an example of what is wrong with Black people, in general, in America.
Any attempt to truly contextualize Artest with his background by a writer outside of ESPN tantamount to that writer signing their own name to the company’s list of persona no grata writers and television personalities. And notice no Black writer at the .com or the Magazine ever published anything remotely close to providing the public with an understanding of how great are the odds of Artest escaping those projects and living as normal a life as Artest has led (and yes, as I am writing this I am watching Rachel Nichols’ E:60 segment on Artest).
This is what happens when a company has all the money it needs and finds, for a number of reasons but especially because it is so vital as a “dumbing down of America maintenance tool,” that it is recession proof.
All it has left to protect is its public image and its socio-political and socio-cultural agenda.
In this light, Griese’s comment, the employees’ behind-the-scenes debauchery (what has been published is the least of it), the sexism, the racism, the misogyny, the Man-Tanning, and the daily acceptance of all this and more is more easily understood and more readily perceived.
It was once written here that upper management at ESPN couldn’t wait for Ralph Wiley to hurry up and die.
You don’t see another voice that strong at ESPN.com or at ESPN, the Magazine, or anywhere else in the ESPN “family of networks,” do you?
Well, they did hire Rush Limbaugh, once upon a time…
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“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?!” Why is Jemele Hill smiling (see above for reason)?
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I missed this. I began watching the Minnesota-Penn State game, but had the sound down. fortunately it was featured over at Bomani Jones.com. Listen to Bob Griese “joke” about NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Then to compound issues, SBNation editor, Chris Mottram, brother of one-time AOL Fanhouse editor and Yahoo Sports director of something or other, Jaime Mottram, tweeted about Griese’s remark. The term Chris Mottram used to describe Griese’s heinous remark was, “subtle racism.”
Here’s a snipet from Bomani’s commentary about the issue:
I went back and forth with Chris, and he said he’s reluctant to say that something is racist. That’s his right, and I fully understand why he takes that tack. It’s almost like saying someone’s racist is worth a scarlet letter, as if such people are rarely-seen relics.
They’re not that uncommon, actually. And if you think that people who, when all the math is done, are racists are rare, you certainly can’t deny the presence of racism. I don’t know any thinking person that does.
Then why is it so friggin’ hard to get someone to acknowledge that something like, “he’s having a taco” in reference to a Colombian, is racist?
(It’s also important, at this juncture, to make sure it’s understood I’m not singling Mr. Mottram out. He’s just the most recent person I’ve had this conversation with. He knows this post is coming, so no need to run and tattle “ooooooh, Bomani’s talking about you!)
Really, subtle my behind. But this is privilege #1,235,795 of being White in America. You feel privileged enough to commit the socio-cultural cardinal sin of racism and then say pronounce that there are “degrees” of your sin.
Unlike Bomani, I did not have a conversation with any Mottram before writing the following: now I understand exactly why my stay at Fanhouse back in the day was so short. So, if you’re inclined to go “run tell dat” to the M. brothers, go ahead. I don’t know Chris from Adam but I kept the back-and-forth e-mails with Jaime and other sundry editors and writers at Fanhouse (some of whom are still there) from back in the day for moments just like this.
No wonder these mainstream Internet sports news outlets can’t seem to find the stomachs to even hire Black “bloggers” to write about the NBA, let alone pick out “unknown” black sports “bloggers” to be columnists.
Ain’t nothing subtle about that.
That’s like old boy at the Masters with Tiger Woods, in your face and obvious.
These people are such cowards. Call it what it is losers.
Big Man-
I dislike harping on these fools at the Worldwide Bleeder but then you have people who want to minimize the damage, jude it as something it isn’t, classify it so when Griese say something insightful down the road and some joker from SBNation commends him on how fair-minded he is, he can be fine with letting the statement go. Then if ESPN ever comes calling, he can feel okay with signing in blood because he’d never have the guts to ask for a clause saying he can’t get fired if he criticizes Disney Sports.
It is sort of wimpy RE: ESPiNners…and tacos are usually associated with Mexican cuisine (Montoya is Colombian). These days, when these cats refer to the blacks=fried chicken, I kindly point to the Colonel from Kentucky…>_<
Ohhhhh snap…Jemele done got that REAL good weave and been to the M.A.C. counter in Macy’s!! She movin on up to the eastside! Around The Horn!
Reminds me of this movie (and sadly, this was the real promo for the movie)
http://videodetective.com/TitleDetails.aspx?publishedid=00003455
“During the last few days, we have received a fair amount of unwanted media coverage, including a series of Internet posts where the editor expressly stated that many of these items were based on rumor and that they had not attempted to verify their accuracy.”
Wait, is the head of espn talking about the accuracy of rumors? when is les miles going to coach michigan.? what were the results of the vikings imposed deadline on their brett favre decision?
when it comes to rumors and accuracy. espn has no ground to stand on.
I don’t think the Taco comment was that bad, it was a throw away line, and not really malicious. I’m sure we can all relate to some throw away comments that could be interpreted as racist, now the problem with ESPN is the pattern of racism.
I think we do ourselves a disservice, by hanging every guy who makes a stupid comment, because it doesn’t really prove much. Just my two cents.
D, is George Bodenheimer the top dog? Higher than vince doria? is this the main man we could thank for ESPN’s daily “outstanding content”, and thus should spend more energies focusing in this man’s direction.
on a side note: the very odd thing is that this is one of the very few days i can remember in a long time that the content at ESPN was actually good. i normally hate the style-over-substance of ESPN-60, but the pieces Ron Artest and Theo Fleury’s disclosure of sexual abuse were quite good. Also some decent footageof Ali-Holmes on their “30 for 30″ documentary series. while i really hate to see anything from this time in Ali’s career, I always feel bad that larry holmes never gets any historical respect. So i was happy to see him on Outside the Lines.
But I digress, the point was — fuck George Bodenheimer for the outstanding crap that he regularly puts out, and building an empire off of the steroid-fueled reporting of black athlete misbehavior while under-reporting the trials and tribulations of white ones.
Johnny, I have heard the “I think we do ourselves a disservice…” reasoning 1000 times from well-meaning people, but it just simply does not wash. My response is less directed at you, but 1000 people.
I completely agree that a less obvious “pattern of racism” is more destructive than one man’s comment. but no one is suggesting a “hanging” of bob griese, but just an accurate diagnosis of what he said, so that we might move on to the broader ‘patterns of racism” that you speak of.
i think that the first step is to remove this utterly absurd “scarlet letter myth” around the word “racist”. Let’s be real. Don imus got his show back despites a 30 year “pattern”. Dog the Bounty Hunter got his back despite a despicable audiotape recording. Mark Fuhrman (have you read those transcripts?) has written two best selling books, landed a radio sho and is a frequent analyst on Fox. meanwhile glenn Beck and Rush limbaugh get dominant ratings in TV and radio. Accurately assessing Bob Griese’s comment actually puts him more in line for a promotion than anything else. Bob will be just fine. I’m absolutely sure of it.
No hangings, no floggings, no “drawn and quartering”, let’s just diagnose it and move on to those more important patterns — but lets diagnose it.
The MAIN reason we can ever address ‘patterns” of racism is because can’t address “instances” of racism. As Bomani jones explained nicely in the linked column, there is a direct connection between the excused Bob Griese comment, and how serial offenders like Rush Limbaugh get excused by so many people. Rush fans also see ‘throw away lines” — instead of seing just one line, they just throw 100 of them away. And the real disservice is how we enable them.
George basically just telling everyone to keep klan business inside the klan
MODI-
You should watch the Artest piece again (I noted I was watching it as I was writing) and listen for how many times they used a derogatory term, phrase or sentence to describe Artest. And the Fleury piece is a rehash of an ESPN, the Magazine piece and an OTL series about abuse and junior hockey players. This time they just honed in on one well-known player. See, I remember submitting 10 ideas to them at the behest of an editor, ran them by 2 different mainstream journalists, one of whom had worked at ESPN, and they said all were good and four were golden. I was told they had all been done before in some form or fashion and that ESPN didn’t rehash ideas…. then I saw Mark Schlereth do my idea on the communication between offensive linemen….
Johnny G-
So, talking about a Columbian race driver who is about 50X wealthier than Griese being out eating a taco (a derogatory reference to Mexicans) is a throwaway line? Hmmmm………..
i don’t think we can realize the extent of our racist behavior until we stop thinking things we say are “throwaway lines”. as long as we keep excusing what we say or do, either to get laughs or to get paid, we will never come to grips with our own racism. imo, there’s no such thing as a throwaway line, only such a thing as a symptom of what’s going on inside ourselves.
Johnny G,
It was a throwaway line by Griese, but the INTENT was there to make a stereotypical statement based on the food someone is supposed to eat….except that tacos, as someone stated, aren’t necessarily something a Colombian would consider native to his country.
This was Christian Laettner stepping on a UK player’s chest and Verne Lundquist trying to excuse the behavior by saying that, perhaps, Laettner didn’t mean anything by it, and Len Elmore chimed in immediately and said, “Yeah, he did.”
JohnnyG
I think racists need to be called racists and as long as we run away from that word, then nothing with improve. I’ve written about it at my own blog and commented on it in many places. Euphemisms have their place, but as Dwil wrote, the reason why most white people don’t call other people racist is because it makes them uncomfortable. That’s crap.
They are comfortable calling people “thugs” with the slightest provocation, but when it comes to using the word “racist” the only way you merit it is if you actually burn a cross.
That is some crap. Complete and total crap. The same standard needs to apply to everyone. Either we’re careful with everybody, or we flame everybody. This crap where only black people get flamed has got to stop.
I LOVE this place!
And oh yeah,
FUCK BSPN!
D, i’ll watch the Artest piece again….
Now I know this isn’t germane to your well-taken point on ESPN, but I thought that the Fleury piece was inctredibly important on a subject that can’t really be rehashed enough. Given Fleury’s all-star stature, the tough-guy sport he plays, and his candor, it may be one of those things whose effect goes beyond the field or the specifics of his own case.
There is simply nothing more valuable to a cause than a public face. At minimum, it could have a therapeutic effect for other kids who have been sexually abused, and at maximum, it could help lead a trail for other athletes or non-athletes to come forward with their past. There has been some general social acceptance for women to come forward about such matters, but not men. Perhaps Fleury can make a dent here.
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Hey Kevdog!
Amen Kevdog.
The question I want to ask…………did ESPN even address that Fleury flunked 10 drug tests in his playing career and the league never suspended him.
Heads up go to Des I believe on the drug info.
But ESPN is a racist and sexist place to work. I wonder do those people of color and women know that they sign their soul over for a few 100Ks when they start working there.
Whatever type of racism and sexism that your avg. corporate company has, I bet ESPN has that beat 10 X over.
The one thing I’d like to know: Did that ESPN game feature any/many live reads for Taco Bell – i.e., as a sponsor of the game, or for their promotional taco. Their commercials for that promotional taco have been ubiquitous on the sports I’ve watched recently.
While it doesn’t excuse the comment, it would put it into context — in the way that a bad morning radio show would do a callback joke on a topic.
LA-
No, no announcer saying, “… and brought to you by, Taco Bell. Grab a blackjack taco today.”
@Origin – I was a programming exec for ABC; you have NO idea…