ESPN Commentator's Reported Firing A Reminder You Don't Always Know Who You Think You Know

Ron Franklin

From deep in the files of WTF ...

Ron Franklin, for years, has been an announcer I've enjoyed listening to for football and basketball games on ESPN.

Of course, there are times you see or hear a different side of a cat, and such is the case with Franklin.

From Huffington Post:

ESPN reportedly fired announcer Ron Franklin on Tuesday after he was pulled from the Fiesta Bowl broadcast for making sexist comments to sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards.

According to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, an ESPN spokesman said "based on what occurred last Friday, we have ended our relationship with him."

Before Friday's Chick Fil-A Bowl, Franklin said to Edwards, "Listen to me sweet baby, let me tell you something."

After Edwards told him not to address her like that, Franklin responded by saying, "OK, then listen to me a-hole."

Franklin apologized for his remarks on Monday and said he deserved to be pulled from the Fiesta Bowl.

According to SportsByBrooks, Franklin was fired after he didn't apologize to Edwards personally.

Ron, Ron, Ron ... what are (were) you thinking big fella?

I guess it's no wonder ESPN told you to follow the trail on out of Bristol with that kind of behavior and that kind of mentality.

Rush Limbaugh Takes Sexist Swipe At Hillary Clinton

This is the headline of a Media Matters for America story.

Limbaugh on Bill Clinton’s trip to North Korea: “[W]here is Hillary? … Is North Korea too important to send the girl?”

Nothing like a sexist statement from Rush Limbaugh degrading Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

It’s interesting to see how little respect Limbaugh has for women.

Media Matters Notes Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Continuous Use Of Anonymous Sources To Advance Sexist Stereotypes

There is a time and place for anonymous sources in journalism. But, in general, anonymous sources do bring into question the reasoning behind the anonymity. For that, among other reasons, it’s generally best to avoid anonymous sources if at all possible. It’s especially wise to avoid anonymous sources when those sources are slamming a person and, as is the case with Judge Sonia Sotomayor, slamming her with stereotypes that some would consider sexist. In this case, the anonymous sources, if they do in fact exist, seem cowardly and perhaps motivated by partisanship or ulterior motives.

From Media Matters:

On their July 14 evening news broadcasts, both ABC’s World Newsand NBC’s Nightly Newsreported Sen. Lindsey Graham’s citation of anonymous criticism of Judge Sonia Sotomayor published in the Almanac of the Federal Judiciarywithout noting that Sotomayor’s colleague on the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Guido Calabresi, has reportedly said of criticism of Sotomayor’s temperament on the bench, “It was sexist, plain and simple.” Additionally, neither ABC nor NBC noted that, in the words of CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, “[I]f you look at the full entry in this lawyers’ guide, Senator Graham did pick out the most negative comments, and there were a lot of positive comments in there, as well,” or that the American Bar Association rated Sotomayor its highest possible rating, “well qualified.”

Citing these anonymous sources, and cherry-picking the most negative comments about Sotomayor brings into question the credibility and integrity of Graham.

It was pretty taboo, during the presidential campaign last year, to discuss the supposedly bad temper of Sen. John McCain. Now, it seems to be open season on Sotomayor’s temperament (utilizing anonymous sources and not balancing the opinions of the supremely-qualified and well-reviewed judge).

Nutrition And Fitness Expert Jason Whitlock Slams Serena Williams

While Serena Williams was basking in the glow of yet another dominating performance in winning the 2009 Wimbledon women’s tennis championship, someone was plotting against her: Enter columnist Jason Whitlock with this gem: “Serena could be the best ever, but ….”

At age 27 — the same age as Federer — Serena owns just half as many major titles (11) as Steffi Graf, the greatest women’s player of all time. That’s a terrible shame.

With a reduction in glut, a little less butt and a smidgen more guts, Serena Williams would easily be as big as Michael Jackson, dwarf Tiger Woods and take a run at Rosa Parks.

You can call me unfair. You can even scream that I’m sexist.

But there’s an inescapable truth about Serena Williams: She’s an underachiever.

And all the people making excuses for Serena and rationalizing her failure to totally dominate women’s tennis are the very people uninterested in seeing women rise to a level of equality with men.

Those are quite the strong statements to make in trashing Serena Williams after a strong performance to win yet another Wimbledon title. Attacking Serena for her build seems inappropriate and ignorant considering the way she has stood atop the sport of tennis during her career.

It takes guts and conditioning to win a championship of that magnitude. Hell, look at the guts Andy Roddick showed as he fell to Roger Federer in the men’s final.

More from Whitlock:

Serena Williams has all the ingredients to be Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali rolled into one made-for-TV package. She is quite possibly the most gifted female athlete in our lifetime.

Unfortunately for us, she lacks the courage to fulfill her destiny.

She’d rather eat, half-ass her way through non-major tournaments and complain she’s not getting the respect her 11-major-championships résumé demands.

She complains about being ranked No. 2 in the world when she’s not bitching on Twitter or her blog about new rules that forbid Wimbledon players from eating in the locker room.

Seriously, how else can Serena fill out her size 16 shorts without grazing at her stall between matches?

I know, you think I’m a hypocrite. No, I’m not. Sports writers are supposed to be plump and lazy. I’m fulfilling my destiny.

And you probably think I don’t like Serena. You’re wrong. I love her. She’s the main reason I watch tennis. She’s fascinating. Her power and skill are breathtaking. And when she’s in shape, she’s every bit as sexy as Beyonce.

Again, these attacks on Serena Williams’ build strike me as wrong in addition to being misguided. Whitlock appears to be smearing Serena Williams in an effort simply to be controversial … you know … just because.

But, the main thrust of his column stinks.

Here is a argument counter to Whitlock from Carmen Dixon as published on Black Voices:

Leave it to sports columnist Jason Whitlock to take a glorious moment of athletic achievement and pervert into an overly simplistic and degrading evaluation of appropriate female booty size. Just two days after Serena Williams triumphed in her third Wimbledon win, this time over her big sister Venus, Whitlock comes out with a column slamming her body and athletic accomplishments.

I would encourage you to read Dixon’s column (and Whitlock’s) as she makes some compelling points.

Look, Serena Williams is high athletic and very muscular – a combination rarely seen in women’s athletics.

Not all great athletes have to be thin as a pencil to be in good shape or to be in great shape.

Serena Williams is getting it done and has been a dominant player during long stretches of her career.

She doesn’t have to apologize for her great professional sports record and she sure as hell should not have to apologize for her physical build.

I will apologize for my build, but Serena doesn’t have to apologize for her’s.

Here is another thought about Whitlock’s attack on Serena Williams: http://www.examiner.com/x-2892-Faith–Media-Examiner~y2009m7d6-Columnist-Jason-Whitlock-goes-too-far-in-attacks-on-Serena-Williams

Remember this: Whitlock is playing the game. He is utilizing shock-and-awe columnist journalism by purposely running counter to mainstream opinion (with a healthy dose of shock value) to allow himself to stand out (the way he did in the Don Imus controversy).

Sen. Lindsey Graham Falls For The Sexist Stereotyping Of Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, is falling for sexist stereotyping of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Think of how exceedingly rare it is for men to be criticized as having temperament problems. It’s something you here frequently with women because they are supposed to carry themselves in a more docile and less aggressive fashion. It’s a shame Graham is still living in the gender-role dark ages with this tired stereotype. Graham has been a part of a sizable group of right-wing people running down Judge Sotomayor. He has not trashed her as bad as other right wingers, but it’s safe to question his ability to fairly judge her. All of the criticisms of her are based mostly on out-of-context statements and smears from anonymous sources (talking about her temperament).

GRAHAM: I believe she does have the intellectual capacity, but there is a character problem, there is a temperament problem.

Some Republicans continue to reach hard to blow anything out of proportion to find a way to derail Judge Sotomayor’s candidacy for the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s a shame Sen. Graham seems incapable of judging her by what he has seen with his own eyes and heard with his own ears. Instead, it seems the senator is more interested in anything negative from her – regardless of the source or the motive of the source.

Right wingers are reaching because they have very little real ammunition to use against Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who has a strong record and is a worthy candidate to replace the retiring David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/03/graham-sotomayor-character/

Read the Think Progress story closely. At the end, the author posts a video where it seems Sen. Graham may have contradicted himself.

Great Blog By Crooks And Liars On Republicans Calling Sonia Sotomayor Racist

Crooks and Liars has a story about some of the far right wingers laughably trying to portray Sonia Sotomayor as a racist – if not calling her one outright. It’s the usual far-right individuals talking up that aspect. It all begins, as one might expect, from individuals like current Republican leader Rush Limbaugh and former conservative leaders like Pat Buchanan.

Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/look-whos-calling-sonia-sotomayor-ra