ESPN Fires Employee For Jeremy Lin Headline

[MrsSpringsteen]

I watched him yesterday, the first full game I've seen him play and it was just awesome to watch. He's a great story. It's a shame that some people still can't get past this stuff in 2012, and it's interesting that racism and/or use of stereotypes against Asian Americans is seemingly deemed more acceptable by some people. Especially some African Americans - if anyone saw the SNL skit Saturday, I thought that was a spot on statement.

BRISTOL, Connecticut (AP) — The cable television sports network ESPN says it fired an employee responsible for an offensive headline referring to Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin.

The headline "Chink in the Armor" was used Friday on ESPN's mobile website after Lin had nine turnovers in New York's loss to New Orleans.

In a statement Sunday, ESPN apologizes for that headline and also says it is also aware of two other "offensive and inappropriate" comments on ESPN outlets.

An ESPN news anchor who used the phrase has been suspended for 30 days. And ESPN says a similar reference was made Friday on ESPN Radio New York, but the commentator is not an ESPN employee.

Lin is the NBA's first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. He has captivated fans by leading the Knicks to seven straight wins before Friday's loss.


Staff report Sporting News


Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock apologized for an insensitive-at-best, and racist-at-worst, tweet about Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, which Whitlock posted after Lin’s 38-point performance against the Lakers on Friday.

In a thinly-veiled reference to a stereotype about Asian men, Whitlock tweeted, “Some lucky lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple of inches of pain tonight.”

On Saturday, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) demanded an apology from Whitlock.

The tweet “doesn’t hold up to the conduct of responsible journalists, those in sports or otherwise, who adhere to standards of fairness, civility and good taste. Nor does it meet the standards of Fox Sports, with which you are associated,” the AAJA wrote on its Facebook page. “Outrage doesn’t begin to describe the reaction of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) to your unnecessary and demeaning tweet.”

Later Saturday, Whitlock, who is black, wrote on FoxSports.com, “I've cried watching Tiger Woods win a major golf championship. Jeremy Lin, for now, is the Tiger Woods of the NBA. I suspect Lin makes Asian Americans feel the way I feel when I watch Tiger play golf.

“I should've realized that Friday night when I watched Lin torch the Lakers. For Asian Americans and a lot of sports fans, his nationally televised 38-point outburst was the equivalent of Tiger's first victory in The Masters. I got caught up in the excitement. I tweeted about what a great story Lin is and how he could rival Tim Tebow.

“I then gave in to another part of my personality — my immature, sophomoric, comedic nature.”

Read more: Jason Whitlock apologizes for offensive Jeremy Lin tweet - NBA - Sporting News

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQG61psFaKQ

 

[Irvine511]

i hope someone wasn't accused of racism.

because that's way more offensive and troubling than a headline like "Chink in the Armor."

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

i hope someone wasn't accused of racism.

because that's way more offensive and troubling than a headline like "Chink in the Armor."

Yes they are saying it's racist. You don't think the use of the term chink is racist or offensive?

 

[Irvine511]

Yes they are saying it's racist. You don't think the use of the term chink is racist or offensive?

i was being ironic. lots of people are far more offended by accusations of racism than they are by actual racism.

like the people who refuse to believe that there's anything race-related in the Tea Party.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

if Lin were not on the team would it be okay to have used the term "chink in the armor?"

Obviously if they are using the term "chink" directly towards him, then i can see the problem. IF they were just making a statement because the team lost, and there happens to be a Chinese player on the team, then its probably just a bad choice of words, nothing more.

I dunno, i think people are overly sensitive these days and blow everything out of proportion.

As for the other comment "couple inches", well sorry but

 

[Irvine511]

i don't see how using the term "chink" about a team where the most well-known, most-talked about player right now is Asian-American could be anything other than offensive?

i don't give a hoot about the NBA, and even i know who Jeremy Lin is.

the more appropriate question is would it have occurred to the writer to use that phrase if Lin weren't on the team? writers and editors know well what they are doing, and especially their headlines.

 

[yolland]

When the headline writer issued his apology, he said the double entendre was completely unintentional and that he was horrified once it dawned on him (it was taken down 30 minutes later), but that he also understood why ESPN fired him. An unintentional *spoken* double entendre might perhaps be different, since there's no time to catch yourself and edit, but you really don't want someone writing headlines for your publication who isn't going to catch
"Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin's 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-stopping Loss to Hornets."

Whitlock's tweet was worse and, per usual (this was not the first time he's gotten in trouble for jokes that were both racist and sexist), his apology was of the "I'm-sorry-you-don't-appreciate-my-humor" nonapology type.

 

[maycocksean]

if Lin were not on the team would it be okay to have used the term "chink in the armor?"

Obviously if they are using the term "chink" directly towards him, then i can see the problem. IF they were just making a statement because the team lost, and there happens to be a Chinese player on the team, then its probably just a bad choice of words, nothing more.

I dunno, i think people are overly sensitive these days and blow everything out of proportion.

As for the other comment "couple inches", well sorry but

Simply asserting that something is offensive isn't "blowing everything out of proportion."

This is reminiscent of my middle school students protest when they're bullying a classmate that "they're just playing and the kid shouldn't be offended."

My response to them is: "Who are you to decide when they should or shouldn't be bothered by your behavior. If someone indicates that they don't like what you're doing than the ONLY decent thing to do is to cut it out, apologize, and move on."

 

[Jive Turkey]

his apology was of the "I'm-sorry-you-don't-appreciate-my-humor" nonapology type.

better than an insincere, kneejerk apology, if you ask me.

 

[PhilsFan]

if Lin were not on the team would it be okay to have used the term "chink in the armor?"

Obviously if they are using the term "chink" directly towards him, then i can see the problem. IF they were just making a statement because the team lost, and there happens to be a Chinese player on the team, then its probably just a bad choice of words, nothing more.

I dunno, i think people are overly sensitive these days and blow everything out of proportion.

As for the other comment "couple inches", well sorry but

It was a statement about how Lin probably cost them the game by turning it over too much, so he was the "chink in the armor."

 

[PhilsFan]

better than an insincere, kneejerk apology, if you ask me.

Well, that's what it was. It was insincere and kneejerk.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I didn't read the apology, but if it was a 'sorry-you-don't-appreciate-my-humour' type apology like yolland said, how is that kneejerk or insincere?

 

[corianderstem]

How is that not insincere?

I don't understand why some people have such a hard time saying "I'm sorry for what I did" rather than putting the blame on the other party. "sorry you were offended."

 

[Jive Turkey]

How is that not insincere?

Because he probably still thinks it was funny. I'd think an "I'm sorry, that wasn't funny" apology would just be dishonest. Giving an apology that you don't actually believe is insincere

 

[corianderstem]

Oh, insincere that way. It's insincere as an apology because it's not "I'm sorry I did this," but "sorry you don't think I'm funny."

 

[PhilsFan]

Because he probably still thinks it was funny

I get Linsanity. I've cried watching Tiger Woods win a major golf championship. Jeremy Lin, for now, is the Tiger Woods of the NBA. I suspect Lin makes Asian Americans feel the way I feel when I watch Tiger play golf.

I should've realized that Friday night when I watched Lin torch the Lakers. For Asian Americans and a lot of sports fans, his nationally televised 38-point outburst was the equivalent of Tiger's first victory in The Masters. I got caught up in the excitement. I tweeted about what a great story Lin is and how he could rival Tim Tebow.

I then gave in to another part of my personality - my immature, sophomoric, comedic nature. It's been with me since birth, a gift from my mother and honed as a child listening to my godmother's Richard Pryor albums. I still want to be a standup comedian.

The couple-inches-of-pain tweet overshadowed my sincere celebration of Lin's performance and the irony that the stereotype applies to pot-bellied, overweight male sports writers, too. As the Asian American Journalist Association pointed out, I debased a feel-good sports moment. For that, I'm truly sorry.

"I'm sorry, it's really Richard Pryor's fault."

 

[Jive Turkey]

Oh, insincere that way.

Yes. I started to realize that we might've been referring to different aspects of the apology

It's insincere as an apology because it's not "I'm sorry I did this," but "sorry you don't think I'm funny."

I can get behind that.

 

[U2DMfan]

I am one of the first to rail against political correctness and the hyper-sensitivity but if you don't think "chink in the armor" is racist in that context, you need to check yourself.

Two things that bothered me.
1. A headline writer gets fired and an anchor gets suspended for essentially the same thing.
2. The sheer stupidity of Jason Whitlock is well known to most sports fans, but his comment about Tiger Woods "Jeremy Lin, for now, is the Tiger Woods of the NBA. I suspect Lin makes Asian Americans feel the way I feel when I watch Tiger play golf." Whitlock doesn't even as much acknowledge the irony of Tiger being 1/2 Asian as well. Knowing Whitlock (and his general ignorance and attitude) he probably doesn't think it 'counts'.

 

[Jive Turkey]

"I'm sorry, it's really Richard Pryor's fault."

He does sound like a douche. I'm not defending what he said, I just don't like when people apologize when it's clearly obvious they don't mean it and are just appeasing the public.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Whitlock doesn't even as much acknowledge the irony of Tiger being 1/2 Asian as well. Wow.

I was thinking the same thing.

Then I thought about the Dave Chappelle race draft episode.

Then I laughed.

 

[U2DMfan]

I thought of that sketch too.

 

[Jive Turkey]

^ That actually raises and interesting point though. Personally, I think that kind of humour is hilarious and harmless when everyone gets the same rough treatment. Why is it ok for Dave Chappelle or David Cross or whoever to have fun with race, but it's not ok for a sports writer to tweet basically the same style? Is it like saying 'fuck' at Christmas dinner?

 

[Irvine511]

Because some people are comedians, other people are sports writers.

 

[deep]

I hesitate to even step in here

this is one of those topics, that the more one the conversation goes on, the more stupid the comments become.


so here is my addition

I don't care about any of these guys that get fired or suspended, good for them, these are only self-inflicted consequences of their own actions.

tweeters and facebookers deserve all the blowback they get for any ignorant postings they make.

if you are watching a game with a 'bunch of your bros' and you make a remark about a "chink in the armor' (get it, ha ha) or 'two inches of pain' or 'slap the ish' out of that guy, who cares?
Either they know you are making stupid bigoted jokes, and you may even be making fun of yourself by acting like an ass, playing to stereotypes or
your 'bros' hi-five' you because they are members of your opt-in stupid guys club.

If you are employed by a private company and are well-known because of that employment and you post these things for millions of people to see, and that can and will reflect on your employer and their bottom line. Then, because of your own actions you have put yourself in a position to be let go.

 

[PhilsFan]

He does sound like a douche. I'm not defending what he said, I just don't like when people apologize when it's clearly obvious they don't mean it and are just appeasing the public.

I don't either. But he's pretending to apologize, when if you read what he's saying, he's not really even apologizing. It's a different way of appeasing the public. Officially, people will report that he apologized. In reality, he just thinks everyone is being too hard on him and his poor, hilarious mother, and he's only sorry that people made a big deal out of it.

 

[deep]

^ That actually raises and interesting point though. Personally, I think that kind of humour is hilarious and harmless when everyone gets the same rough treatment. Why is it ok for Dave Chappelle or David Cross or whoever to have fun with race, but it's not ok for a sports writer to tweet basically the same style? Is it like saying 'fuck' at Christmas dinner?

right because we are all exactly the same and have equally been discriminated against because of our background, race, sex, etc.

 

[Jive Turkey]

Because some people are comedians, other people are sports writers.

That was what I meant by the Christmas dinner comment

 

[anitram]

When I first read this I thought it could easily be one of those completely unintentional things and what surprised me more is that it got published, so I assumed it got past at least one or two people and NOBODY noticed it was offensive? Maybe I work in an industry where we obsess over every "the" and every comma so it's unimaginable to think something like that would slip by.

 

[Jive Turkey]

right because we are all exactly the same and have equally been discriminated against because of our background, race, sex, etc.

How does this address what I asked at all? Did you even read the whole thing? Or did you just glance at it and read "why can black people make fun of whites, but not the other way around?"? Because that's what you responded to