Jemele Hill of ESPN suspended..

[SirFozzie]

For comparing rooting for the Celtics to rooting for Hitler or the Russians.

She wrote in a column: “Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim. It’s like hoping Gorbachev would get to the blinking red button before Reagan"

The ESPN Statement stated. “Jemele has been relieved of her writing and on-air responsibilities for a period of time to reflect on the impact of her words,”

(wait, she had on-air responsibilities?)

[MikeVic]

Haha.

[Honolulu_Blue]

She wrote in a column: “Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim. It’s like hoping Gorbachev would get to the blinking red button before Reagan"

She got suspended for that? Really?

[korme]

She was a frequent member of First Take

[Young Drachma]

Well people have been wanting her to get suspended for a while. The commenters over there HATE that black writers write about race so much. And ESPN just baits them into it. I've seen her on Jim Rome a few times and she doesn't strike me as particularly knowledgeable and her writing seems limited.

I'm guessing her editor let it slip because he probably wanted an excuse. Because NO WAY you let Hitler go in a sports story for any reason. I don't care. She didn't make a cogent point and why insert politics into an article where 1) the majority of the audience won't get it and 2) she didn't make a clear point.

But then, this is ESPN. Big shock.

[JediKooter]

Comparing the Celtics to Hitler? She must be one hard core Lakers fan.

[SirFozzie]

She got suspended for that? Really?

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/2008_06_18_ESPN_suspends_columnist_Hill/srvc=home&position=1

and for even more opinion on it

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1101533

[SirFozzie]

Comparing the Celtics to Hitler? She must be one hard core Lakers fan.

a fan of DEEEtroit basketball ;) (she grew up in the days of the Celtics-Pistons rivalry.

[Jas_lov]

Good riddance

[Honolulu_Blue]

She didn't make a cogent point and why insert politics into an article where 1) the majority of the audience won't get it and 2) she didn't make a clear point.

But then, this is ESPN. Big shock.

I agree with this. Her statement about Hitler (I suppose no one really cares about her equating the Celtics with Cold War Russia) just doesn't make any sense. I mean, how is rooting for the Celtics "like saying Hitler was a victim"? I just don't get it.

It's not like she's saying rooting for the Celtics is "like rooting for Hitler." I guess she's implying that rooting for the Celtics is like having sympathy for Hitler? I don't know.

It's all pretty stupid.

[DeToxRox]

Yawn. I never thought she was much of a writer. Take away the tits and she's anyone else.

[Ksyrup]

This doesn't really seem like a big deal to me. Surely, TSG has made some sort of hyperbolic reference like that to make a point, probably about the Yankees.

Is she a Page 2 writer? Never heard of her. But that kind of half-joking "commentary" seems to be what ESPN was going for with Page 2 to begin with. Jim Caple's attempted humor is so bad. I haven't read a Page 2 article in months.

Meh.

[Sgran]

15 yards for gratuitous hyperbole.

[Honolulu_Blue]

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/2008_06_18_ESPN_suspends_columnist_Hill/srvc=home&position=1
(http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1101533)

This one is pretty stupid.


http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1101533

This one is beyond the pale.

[Autumn]

I haven't read anything more than I see here, but I would guess what she meant was Celtics fans are acting as if the Celtics were some kind of underdog because they haven't won in 21 years, while fans of other teams look at the Celtics 17 championship banners and say boo-hoo. So, it's kind of like (not really, but I'm trying to work with her here) acting as if Hitler is the victim when in fact he's the perpetrator. Here the Celtics are acting as an underdog when in fact they're a hugely successful franchise. Not a well done analogy but I think that's what she was going for. I'm sure there is a better analogy out there but she didn't find it.

[Young Drachma]

This doesn't really seem like a big deal to me. Surely, TSG has made some sort of hyperbolic reference like that to make a point, probably about the Yankees.

Is she a Page 2 writer? Never heard of her. But that kind of half-joking "commentary" seems to be what ESPN was going for with Page 2 to begin with. Jim Caple's attempted humor is so bad. I haven't read a Page 2 article in months.

Meh.

She's a Page 2 writer, yes. I think she came on after Whitlock was dismissed. All they had her do was write race articles. Not particularly good ones at that. Made the comment folk ride her for ages. All of her stories probably have tons of comments.

This incident will likely get her a job somewhere else, whereas if they'd just canned her and been done, she'd have been an afterthought.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I haven't read anything more than I see here, but I would guess what she meant was Celtics fans are acting as if the Celtics were some kind of underdog because they haven't won in 21 years, while fans of other teams look at the Celtics 17 championship banners and say boo-hoo. So, it's kind of like (not really, but I'm trying to work with her here) acting as if Hitler is the victim when in fact he's the perpetrator. Here the Celtics are acting as an underdog when in fact they're a hugely successful franchise. Not a well done analogy but I think that's what she was going for. I'm sure there is a better analogy out there but she didn't find it.

That could be it. Maybe it'd make sense in the context of the entire column, but I'll never know because I don't really care to read it.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I think it had something to do with the mentality that a lot of non-partisan fans had, saying "I don't like Boston, but I do like Pierce, Garnett, and Allen, so it will be nice to see them win the trophy."

So, under that analogy would the Celtics be the Nazis and Hitler be Pierce, Garnett, and Allen? Or would the Celtics be Hitler and Pierce, Garnett, and Allen be Hitler's unfortunate and troubled youth that led him to do what he did?

I still don't understand.

[Autumn]

Stop before you get suspended too!! Where will this madness end?

Gorbachev's really getting the raw deal here. Nobody cares.

[Mustang]

ESPN is worthless. Buncha yapping dogs in a kennel trying to be noticed.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Gorbachev's really getting the raw deal here. Nobody cares.

I agree. Everyone is up in arms over that muddled "Hitler as victim" analogy, while no one appears to care at all about the whole rooting for the Celtics is the equivalent to rooting for the nuclear annilhilation of our entire planet (since everyone knows it doesn't matter who pushes the red button, once it's pushed... it's all over for EVERYPEOPLE).

Maybe this is why the new Indiana Jones movie just doesn't quite work, no one cares about the Russians anymore. They should have stuck with Nazis. Everyone hates those guys.

[Passacaglia]

Comparing the Celtics to Hitler? She must be one hard core Lakers fan.

I assumed she was a Knicks fan from Hymietown.

[Honolulu_Blue]

ESPN is worthless. Buncha yapping dogs in a kennel trying to be noticed.

You should be suspended for a day due to your insensitive comments equating ESPN writers to our country's poor, abandoned shelter dogs.

You need time to reflect on the impact of your words.

[MikeVic]

Can you complete your ellipsis?

[JediKooter]

a fan of DEEEtroit basketball ;) (she grew up in the days of the Celtics-Pistons rivalry.

Ahhh. So she was trying to Lambier her opinion then?

Why is it so hard to just comment on the finals themselves and leave out a somewhat obscure Cold War references and Hitler?

[Fidatelo]

Would it have been ok if she had said that rooting for the Celtics was like rooting for slave owners? Discuss.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Would it have been ok if she had said that rooting for the Celtics was like rooting for Cobra Kai? Discuss.

[Fidatelo]

out foxed again!

[Pumpy Tudors]

It boggles my mind that professional journalists try so hard to be edgy that they pull stunts like this. Regardless of whether she "could" make those comments or "should" make those comments, the bottom like is that - as a journalist writing to a mass audience - you just don't do that. I learned that shit in my first freshman communications course.

Hell, I'm all for people trying to break down barriers or make strong statements that they believe in, but what was she really trying to do? She was just trying to insult a basketball team and/or basketball fans. The lady could maybe pick a better spot in which to be controversial.

It's hard for me to feel for a journalist who can't even grasp Mass Media 101.

[larrymcg421]

Would it have been ok if she had said that rooting for the Celtics was like rooting for Cobra Kai? Discuss.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NCDEoodZD90

[Ksyrup]

Again, I blame this on the TSG Phenomenon. It's just that racism and 80s culture aren't exactly equivalents, so when you push the boundaries of sarcastic analogies in a sports reference in an attempt to be funny, you can't expect the same reaction.

[JediKooter]

Would it have been ok if she made those comments while being naked?

[Young Drachma]

My sense is that she was probably trying to show how smart she is by making a reference like that.

[Ksyrup]

ESPN is owned by Disney, and Disney is a bit sensitive about nazi-related matters. To wit:

Walt Disney: Hollywood’s Dark Prince is a biography by Marc Eliot, about the darker side of entertainer Walt Disney. Among the serious character flaws and deeds of Disney’s of which Eliot claims are his life-long anti-Semitism (including a deleted scene from the 1933 Silly Symphony Three Little Pigs in which the Big Bad Wolf dresses as a Jewish peddler), his covert employment by the House Un-American Activities Committee as a spy against Communists in Hollywood, intense right-wing politics (claiming he wore a Barry Goldwater badge when receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon Johnson just before the 1964 election and refusing to lower the American flag at Disneyland after the assassination of John F. Kennedy) and his fear that he was the illegitimate son of a Spaniard.

[larrymcg421]

*What is she, some nutty nut girl who's nuts?



*Here we go again...

[General Mike]

Good riddance

+1

[spleen1015]

This is what happens when you hire people based on things out side of intelligence and their ability to be good at the job you are hiring them for.

[Critch]

She should have gone with Darth Vader.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Would it have been ok if she made those comments while being naked?


A resounding yes

[Suburban Rhythm]

I think I speak for most of America when I say--

Who?

[cuervo72]

My sense is that she was probably trying to show how smart she is by making a reference like that.

Wow, that's Dennis Miller level esoteric right there. I mean, who's heard of that Hitler guy anyway?

I think she runs into problems here a bit because of the past perception that the Celtics were the white man's team (Bird, McHale, Ainge), that the organization was racist. It's a long time ago, but I think this perception was held by a few folks in the 80s, rightfully or not. Autumn summarizes pretty well what her angle probably was, but it wasn't a particularly smart analogy and it could be easily misinterpreted.

[JediKooter]

A resounding yes

Excellent

[Passacaglia]

Wow, that's Dennis Miller level esoteric right there. I mean, who's heard of that Hitler guy anyway?

I think she runs into problems here a bit because of the past perception that the Celtics were the white man's team (Bird, McHale, Ainge), that the organization was racist. It's a long time ago, but I think this perception was held by a few folks in the 80s, rightfully or not. Autumn summarizes pretty well what her angle probably was, but it wasn't a particularly smart analogy and it could be easily misinterpreted.

Seriously. Didn't you people ever see American History X? The white guy liked the Celtics, and the black guy liked the Lakers, duh!

[Desnudo]

That fact is backed up by the House of Pain video

[RendeR]

I think I speak for most of America when I say--

Who?


Thread winner.

Cock it, Rock it, and Lock it.

[terpkristin]

I never read any of her pieces, but I thought she was utterly talentless and useless on-air, in the times I saw her fill-in for Jim Rome or saw her on First Take. I think she was an idiot for what she wrote, but frankly I won't miss her.

/tk

[Logan]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1101533

I read this earlier today...and I gotta say, I have no fucking clue what this guy is talking about or trying to say.

[Noop]

They are a private company so its at their discretion to do what they please with her as far as the job is concerned. I don't agree with what she said but she had the right to say it in my opinion.

[Logan]

They are a private company so its at their discretion to do what they please with her as far as the job is concerned. I don't agree with what she said but she had the right to say it in my opinion.

Disney's shareholders disagree.

[Noop]

Disney's shareholders disagree.

Too clarify I meant they are their own business and have the right to fire anyone.

[Logan]

Yeah, shockingly I was just being a prick.

[Arles]

I'll predict what happens next:
1. She first goes on a "leaves of absence"
2. Writes an online/magazine article about how this wouldn't have happened if she was white.
3. Ends up as a columnist for some midwest paper.

[mckerney]

Clearly inappropriate when rooting for the Lakers is far more like cheering for Hitler. Think about it, Phil Jackson is Hiter, Kobe is Hermann Göring, and Vladimir Radmanovic is Colonel Klink.

[Noop]

Yeah, shockingly I was just being a prick.

Off topic. Why did you feel the need?

[Honolulu_Blue]

I'll predict what happens next:
1. She first goes on a "leaves of absence"
2. Writes an online/magazine article about how this wouldn't have happened if she was white.
3. Ends up as a columnist for some midwest paper.

Well, she was a columnist for either the Detroit News or Free Press before moving on, so, I guess, she could always come home again...

I'd be surprised if she played the race card, however. Hilter is pretty much off limits regardless of who you are.

[fantom1979]

Yeah, she was the MSU beat writer for the Free Press. She has also worked for newspapers in Raleigh and Orlando

[korme]

Would it have been ok if she had said that rooting for the Celtics was like rooting for Cobra Kai? Discuss.

SportsGuy Trap Alert

[mrsimperless]

I read this earlier today...and I gotta say, I have no fucking clue what this guy is talking about or trying to say.

It would appear that page 2, along with the last paragraph or so of page 1, are different articles.

[PurdueBrad]

I was never a fan of hers although she did write one article that particularly stood out to me as being good journalism:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/070412

Having read some of her other stuff though, I'm not surprised this is where it has ended up.

[Karlifornia]

I was never a fan of hers although she did write one article that particularly stood out to me as being good journalism:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/070412

Having read some of her other stuff though, I'm not surprised this is where it has ended up.

Good article. I hadn't seen that one until you posted the link. That kind of "call out" is very, very important.

Saying that, Jemele Hill is no huge loss to ESPN, if they never end up reconnecting. Also, it's my personal opinion that ESPN is no big loss for Jemele Hill. I'm sure Mrs. Hill and most other aspiring journalists would disagree with me there, though.