Jemele Hill's Nazi Comment Not Sitting Well In Beantown
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Deadspin found a quote from Jemele Hill over the weekend that, while over-the-top and since taken down, is not sitting well with Celtic fans at the start of this week. Jemele tried to take the angle that rooting for the Celtics is like "saying Hitler was a victim," and MSM sites like CBS TV in Boston are now picking up on it....
The writer behind the poor choice of words was Jemele Hill. She wrote on ESPN.com, "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."In all honesty this just makes me laugh. Not only is making a Hitler comparison to a Basketball team idiotic, it's just stupid to even bring that name into any discussion. You know it's going to upset people so why even attempt it? I mean would it have been fair to say that rooting for Kobe is like rooting for John Wayne Gacy? Of course not.
Some Celtics fans told WBZ its one of the most insensitive comparisons they have ever heard.
"We're not talking about war; we're talking about basketball," one fan outside the Garden said. "How can you compare Hitler to a basketball game?"
"I don't think you can say Hitler is a victim no matter what the circumstance is. That's over the top," another fan said.
Late Saturday night, the online article was changed. ESPN spokesperson Paul Melvin told WBZ, "the column as originally posted made some absolutely unacceptable comparisons. It was edited to correct those and we will continue to look into the issue."
I know I say this a lot but again, it's just Sports....let's all just calm down, enjoy the games and have a little fun with them. Okay?
Harsh Words For Celtics Fans Pulled From ESPN (WBZ TV)
Celtics Fans Are No Longer Hitler Sympathizers (Deadspin)
16 Comments:
Unless you're writing a piece about the history of WWII, "Hitler" probably. Not good word choice on her part, but consider the source. She does for writing excellence what Jim Jones did for Kool-Aid.
Surely ESPN can hire better columnists than this. She makes Skip Bayless look good. Well, almost.
What does Hill's comment even mean? I would like to see Boston win, because I believe KG deserves a title. Am I an anti-semite? That sentence doesn't even make sense.
Jemele Hill can't hide behind the defense of "someone else wrote that" this time like some argued here when she said "Shawne Merriman's car deserved to be burned" on Jim Rome is Burning.
The funniest thing is that this is the exact type of thing ESPN would run with: coverage on every Sportscenter, numerous .com posts addressing the "issue", and "OTL" episode dedicated to the alleged fallout of the comment... if, you know, it was said by someone other than one of their own writers.
I think it would bother me more if it was coming from someone other than the clear cut winner of ESPN's "Look at our black female columnist" contest. She may be the worst writer I've ever heard.
Also, might I point out that you are fat and ugly Ms. Hill. I wouldn't fuck you with Scalabrine's dick.
I'm tired of everyone picking on Hitler. He was a smart man with good ideas.
She's racist, dumb, and a terrible writer. I suppose the main news here is that someone actually reads her drivel.
"When asked how Hill’s remarks made it onto ESPN’s Web site, ESPN spokesman Paul Melvin said there was a “breakdown in the system of editorial checks and balances.”"
What the hell does this mean? Does it mean that she didn't give her column to her editor before it got posted? Something else, or just bullshit?
She may be the worst writer I've ever heard.
How does that work?
My fiancee just dug through espn.com to find the "apology". And guess what? ESPN apparently does not publish their own press releases on their own website. How bizarre? (sorry for getting that song stuck in your head, not really)
OT: This woman needs to get fired. ASAP Boston has a very mixed history on Race, please highlight the good along with the bad. She's good but her foot in mouth syndrome is approaching that of BillO
She may be the worst writer I've ever heard.
How does that work?
Dammit! I knew someone was gonna catch that. Although her voice is pretty grating too, she is the worst writer I've ever READ. Can I pretend I was being ironic?
I am calling for Jemele Hill's firing. She called for Imus's firing after his insensitive comments towards African-Americans and didn't accept his apology, neither do I hers. E-Mail ESPN.com and ask for her to be fired. Why should there be a double standard?
CALL FOR HER FIRING
http://www.wbcn.com/pages/2428584
please dont call Boston "Beantown" no one from Boston, near Boston hell even Massachusetts or probably New England refers to Boston as "Beantown".
Do you here people from LA call call it "Tinseltown"?
She was a terrible writer here in Detroit, and she's a terrible writer now. It's just another scar on ESPN's fast-becoming tattered reputation.
This is such a staple of MSM. Take a comment that was meant to be an outlandish joke and ask random people on the street to give their opinion of the comment after you quote it to them out of context.
After the person on the street says that they are offended, presto! you have a story.
People need to lighten up.