NBA Bans Fan For Racial Slur Directed At Player

[MrsSpringsteen]

He had no business saying that to him, and it most certainly is a racial slur in my eyes. Heckling is one thing, but that is over the line. I just can't fathom the possibility that you could use a word like that unless you have certain sentiments in your heart and mind. I hope he has learned a valuable lesson. There is no place for that crap in sports, especially considering the racial history of most sports.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...ials/preview/2006/10/30/mutombo.ap/index.html


"Hamzehloui sent Mutombo a letter of apology obtained by The Associated Press. In it, he promised $5,000 to the charity of Mutombo's choice and vowed not to attend any games until the 7-foot-2 center gave his blessing.

"I am by no means a racist, and if you only knew me better you would never begin to have those thoughts," Hamzehloui wrote. "What I am guilty of is poor judgment in the use of words while doing what I do to many of the visiting team's players, 'heckle them."'

Hamzehloui asked to meet with Mutombo to apologize in person.

Mutombo told KRIV that Hamzehloui's promise to make a charitable donation "meant a lot" to him but a personal apology was not necessary.

"I thoroughly respect you as a player and as a human being and my only motivation when I have my fun at the games is to 'get under the player's skin' no matter what color that skin happens to be," Hamzehloui wrote."

 

[BonosSaint]

Well, except for the disclaimer at the end, he took full responsibility for it.

 

[randhail]

I think the shirt the fan was wearing warranted a banning on it's own.

 

[deep]

macaca

 

[U2democrat]

macaca

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

other than banning the guy from getting season tickets, i really don't see how they'll be able to enforce the banning... it's not like they ask for ID upon entrance to the arena.

o giuess the intentions were good though

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Another sports-related incident. I love how almost everyone who makes racist, sexist, homophobic, whatever.. comments always insists that they are not a reflection of who they really are. Oops it just slipped out, I'm not really fill-in-the-blank. It's bad enough to say things like that in private.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A college football announcer for ESPNU has been taken off the air for his questionable use of the word "gay" in Saturday's telecast of the Northern Illinois-Iowa game.

Brian Kinchen, a color commentator, will not work his regularly scheduled game this weekend, Josh Krulewitz, ESPN's vice president of public relations told The Des Moines Register.

Krulewitz said the decision was made after network officials conducted an internal review and determined Kinchen's remarks were inappropriate.

During the game Saturday, Kinchen was explaining the need for receivers to make catches with their hands because they are "tender" and can "caress" the ball. He then paused and said, "that's kind of gay, but hey ..."

Kinchen's future as a commentator with ESPNU, the cable network's college football channel, is still under review, Krulewitz said.

Kinchen, a former tight end who played in the NFL from 1988-00, apologized for his remarks.

"They were completely inappropriate and not at all a reflection of who I am or the way I perform my work," Kinchen said in a statement issued by ESPN. "I have learned from my mistake and look forward to continuing my broadcasting career."

 

[Abomb-baby]

my god- Have we all become so thin skinned that we can´t take a little name calling? I mean does someone elses ignorance effect us so much that we must take so much action against it? People have been heckling athletes ever since the beginning of time. I also wonder how much action would have been taken if the athlete was white and the fan was black. Just a thought...

 

[BEAL]

Being a Hawkeye fan I watched the game on ESPN-U. I heard him make the statement.

I just winced a little, and thought to myself that it probably wasn't the right word to say over the air.

What was classic was the silence on air after he said it. Both the PBP and this guy were just like "Ahhhh, Ahhh....Iowa to punt".

The guy has been fired for this comment. I think it's a little harsh.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Racial slurs aren't just "name calling", just as sexist or homophobic or religious slurs aren't. If we didn't take action against the ignorance of others, African Americans might still be sitting in the backs of buses-just to give one example. What good times that would be, huh?

I think adults who have access to the public airwaves should behave in a respectful and mature way and not use such slurs, so should sports fans and anyone in public. If you want to speak like that in private, well that's bad enough but at least others don't have to be subjected to it.

By Jessica Heslam
Boston Herald Media Reporter
Friday, November 3, 2006 - Updated: 04:30 AM EST

WRKO talk jock John DePetro is back in the hot seat and fighting for his job after calling gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross a “fat lesbian” on his radio show yesterday.
Sources say Julie Kahn, vice president and New England market manager for Entercom, owner of WRKO-AM (680) and WEEI-AM (850), is “furious.”
“This corporation has zero tolerance for this type of nonsense. We have a high standard,” said George Regan of Regan Communications, which represents WRKO.
DePetro was pulled off the air today and has been ordered to a meeting at the station.
The latest on-air insult comes nearly four months after DePetro was suspended for two days and ordered to apologize for calling former Turnpike chief Matt Amorello a “fag” on the air.
During yesterday’s show, DePetro called Ross - who is openly gay - a “fat lesbian” while expressing annoyance at the Green-Rainbow Party candidate during Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate. During the TV debate, Ross repeatedly insisted that she and independent candidate Christy Mihos were being ignored by the major party candidates.
DePetro, hired by WRKO in 2004, did not return a call for comment. Ross called DePetro’s comments “offensive.”
“I think he was indeed being nasty. It’s not news to anybody that I’m a lesbian. This is supposed to be about an election, not name-calling,” said Ross, who was on DePetro’s show only once briefly.
Jason Wolfe, vice president of programming at WRKO and WEEI, is investigating the situation. Wolfe was program director in 2003, when WEEI co-hosts John Dennis and Gerry Callahan were suspended for two weeks for comparing an escaped gorilla to an inner-city Metco student.
In July, DePetro called Amorello “Fag Matt” while saying his wife wears “the pants” in the family.

 

[CTU2fan]

The latest on-air insult comes nearly four months after DePetro was suspended for two days and ordered to apologize for calling former Turnpike chief Matt Amorello a “fag” on the air.

Well what do they expect? If he got away with "fag" once already, if anything that was worse.

People have been heckling athletes ever since the beginning of time. I also wonder how much action would have been taken if the athlete was white and the fan was black. Just a thought...

Yeah because you hear a lot of black fans calling white players "monkeys".

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

DePetro got fired

This is what he said on the air, unbelievable

"According to a tape of his Thursday show, DePetro was venting about the previous night's gubernatorial debate. "I could go now a lifetime without Grace Ross," he said. "She has nerve. This whole business of 'well since we're being ignored,' " he said, mocking Ross's effort to get equal time in the debate.

"No, you're irrelevant. Get off the stage!" he continued, directing his remarks to Ross. "I couldn't stand her at the end. At one point I was about to yell: "Will somebody tell that fat lesbian to shut up. . . .

"Shut up. Go home," DePetro said. "Burger King is looking for another third-shift person to work the grill. Enough."

"I was traumatized by you being on the stage," he said of Ross."

More from the Boston Globe article

WRKO station management announced its decision to fire DePetro yesterday. "I have no doubt that terminating John's employment was the right action to take," said Jason Wolfe, executive vice president of Entercom Boston, which owns WRKO.

"In the context of what he said and the tone with which he said it, the comments were completely inappropriate, derogatory, and will not be tolerated," Wolfe said in a statement.

DePetro told the Globe that he was expressing his frustration that Ross and independent candidate Christy Mihos had eaten up so much time during the debate and that Ross was complaining that she was being ignored.

"I didn't violate any laws," he said. "There was no obscene language. I know it's mean, but she is technically obese and lives an alternative lifestyle."

DePetro sought to make a comparison between his remark and other potential characterizations. "What if someone yelled about Kerry Healey being a spoiled, white [expletive] or Mihos being an arrogant, wealthy egomaniac," he said. Of his remark about Ross, he said: "It's amazing. I was sharing my thoughts."

The firing triggered a debate about whether radio has gone too far and whether people have grown weary of radio shock-jocks, whose bad taste may draw listeners, but can also backfire.
think people have had enough of the mean-spirited nastiness," said Janet Kolodzy, chairman of the journalism department at Emerson College. "This political season, there's been a lot of feedback from people about the political process. They're upset about negative ads. They're upset about attacks that have nothing to do with issues."

But some talk radio analysts say they don't think the termination of DePetro signals a new era of civility. "I think stations are constantly changing and constantly reeling their hosts in and reeling them out," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers Magazine, a talk-media trade publication based in Springfield.

Some specialists said they were surprised DePetro was fired.

"That seems like well within what has come to be acceptable language on talk radio. Certainly it's uncivil and rude, but when was that not what they were looking for?" said Alex Jones, director of Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

Added Harrison: "You never know what's going on behind the scenes. Sometimes a host is on thin ice with management and they use any infraction as an excuse to sever ties."

 

[Justin24]

People are way to over sensitve I think. A comedian says the N word we laugh a commentator accidently says something oh you racist blah blah.

Life is to short to bitch about every little thing that is said, get over it and get on with your life for god's sake.

 

[phillyfan26]

But Justin, you have to draw the line somewhere, so any racist, sexist, or orientation-degrading statements need to result in reprimand.

I don't see what was wrong with the handling of these incidents. The guy who insulted the politician already had a history, the fan got his money back, and degrading homosexuality to being something about tenderness or caressing isn't right either. As a commentator, what value could a comment like that possibly bring to a broadcast experience? Why is there any need to say that? There isn't.

 

[Abomb-baby]

So where do you draw the line? As long as its not a racist, gender or sexual orientation insult its ok? How about religious or political affiliation? I mean people call Rush Limbaugh a Fat Ass blow hard republican bastard. Jerry Falwell is a Hate filled air bag. These people are in the public eye as are athletes. I guess as long as something you believe in isn't insulted...

 

[phillyfan26]

Religious no, political yes.