Debbie Schlussel: Will Michael Irvin Get the Jimmy The Greek/Campanis/Limbaugh/Issel Treatment?
So ESPN football commentator Michael Irvin--in his umpteenth faux pas--says that NFLer Tony Romo's athletic skill must be due to some Black blood in his background. Only his comments are far more specific than that--having to do with breeding. Here's what he said on the Dan Patrick radio show, according to KRT Newswire:
"Somewhere there are some brothers. . . . (Maybe) his great, great, great, great Grandma ran over in the hood or something went down."That's what Irvin said Monday on the Dan Patrick radio show. The host then asked Irvin if having black ancestry was the only way to be a great athlete.
"No, that's not the only way, but it's certainly one way. Great, great, great, great Grandma pulled one of them studs up outta the barn."
Remember how Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder lost everything when he made similar comments? Al Campanis? All Rush Limbaugh said was that the media wanted Donovan McNabb to succeed because he's a Black quarterback. And he was fired, too.
So, will Irvin get the same treatment? Don't count on it. Black athletes and commentators get a free pass when it counts to intolerance. As I've written before, Isiah Thomas suffered no harm when he claimed Larry Bird was only getting attention because he's White and that he'd be "just another" Black athlete. Charles Barkley suffered no damage when he said, "That's what I hate about f-cking White people." And, no, he was not using the f-word as a verb. He meant it as an adjective.
And there are a host of others. Michael Irvin will get away with it, too. Mark my word.
ESPN needs to change it call letters . . . to ESPCN.
Posted by Debbie on November 27, 2006 01:37 PM to Debbie Schlussel