Jemele apologizes

[Boobie Miles]

Edit: all three have since been fixed. Maybe it would be wise to proof-read the stories before posting them for the wold to see though.

Not to mention the world.

Damn it.

 

[shockey]

equote author=JayFarrar link=topic=57545.msg1870717#msg1870717 date=1213733557]
Here's my question, why should she?
Honest question.
She's already got what most people consider the most plum gig in sportswriting — a full-time column for ESPN and on-air appearances.
What's next after that?
If improvement is the first step to promotion, she's got not reason for improvement because she can't really be promoted.
And again, if you don't like reading her, then why are you reading her?
[/quote]

i don't. only when her columns are cited here do i give her a look. and i've NEVER been impressed.

my initial point here was exactly that: i worry that she won't improve 'cause why should she? same deal with my old buddy rob parker. no one i know argues that he's a good columnist. not even close.

but what motivation does he or jemele have to strive to be better, to hone their craft? absolutely zero, imo.

and that is both sad and a terrible notion for this business that has been so wonderful to me for so long. :'( :'(

 

[henryhenry]

more than a lapse of judgment. it's lack of judgment. total lack.

incredibly immature.

it will take a long long time before i would trust what she writes, if ever.

 

[forever_town]

more than a lapse of judgment. it's lack of judgment. total lack.

incredibly immature.

it will take a long long time before i would trust what she writes, if ever.

I said the same thing about John Tomase and I got vilified for it.

 

[Ace]

more than a lapse of judgment. it's lack of judgment. total lack.

incredibly immature.

it will take a long long time before i would trust what she writes, if ever.

I said the same thing about John Tomase and I got vilified for it.

So you're the *******.

 

[WriteThinking]

more than a lapse of judgment. it's lack of judgment. total lack.

incredibly immature.

it will take a long long time before i would trust what she writes, if ever.

I said the same thing about John Tomase and I got vilified for it.

You shouldn't have been.

I still say the issues with Tomase were/are much worse than this. His situation should call into question practically everything he's ever done, just because we'll never really know.

This was just a dumb, overblown and out-of-context comparison that was made for effect.

I'd forgive momentary stupidity and a poor choice of words over intentionally sloppy and probably knowingly deceptive reporting/writing any day of the week.

 

[beardpuller]

Agreed Mustang. I've heard the same things from ESPN bosses. I've heard her speak and, despite youth and relative inexperience, she is very level-headed and aware of her ummm.... unique place in the business. She made a horrid analogy here, but she's generally provocative, and the greatest sin she could commit in the eyes of ESPN would be to be boring.

Look at the ESPN roster of columnists if you get a chance. Now look at Yahoo, NBC Sports, CBS Sportsline... Hard to argue a minority's path is paved with gold.

I'm glad someone up there doesn't fit the mold, even if she's not perfect. And hopefully she grows from this.

Agree with this completely.
As for some of this other crap ... I joined this board a long time before I started posting regularly on it. One of my reservations was that it seemed there were a whole bunch of people here with low-profile jobs who were falling all over themselves to anonymously throw stones at people who have the jobs they think THEY should have.
I came to feel I was being too harsh with that. But sometimes, it still applies. Yeah, she made a poor comparison. Let's stone her in the town square.

 

[slappy4428]

Calling Hitler a "victim" is tasteless.

It's also Jemele... who the pipeline says is not far away from getting teed up on a national stage by another columnist.

 

[mustangj17]

I find it hard to believe she would be hired because of her skin color.

this might be the most naive post in the history of naive posts.

STFU Shockey; everyone else understood what that meant.

 

[WaylonJennings]

Calling Hitler a "victim" is tasteless.

It's also Jemele... who the pipeline says is not far away from getting teed up on a national stage by another columnist.

Yes! Just what readers want! Another columnists war!

 

[WriteThinking]

Calling Hitler a "victim" is tasteless.

It's also Jemele... who the pipeline says is not far away from getting teed up on a national stage by another columnist.

Yes! Just what readers want! Another columnists war!

Before those shots are fired, this is just for the record, for clarification's sake: Hill did not call Hitler a victim, either in the original version, or in the edited one.

She wrote that “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.”

Big difference. In fact, she really is contending there that Hitler wasn't a victim.

 

[shockey]

I find it hard to believe she would be hired because of her skin color.

this might be the most naive post in the history of naive posts.

STFU Shockey; everyone else understood what that meant.

then by all means enlighten me. without cussing me out, please, kind sir

i mean, the aforementioned rob parker might be the nicest, most earnest guy i've ever worked with. it just hasn't translated into good writing for him.

 

[mustangj17]

She has talent and hard work in her corner; and she just so happens to be African American.

 

[21]

Notwithstanding the fact that the Hitler reference was a turd, is it possible for her to write something dopey without the inevitable connect-the-dots with her race and gender?

Seems there are plenty of really crappy columns out there, and rarely does the criticism lead to 'Whaddaya expect? Aging white guy!'

 

[shockey]

She has talent and hard work in her corner; and she just so happens to be African American.

agree to disagree. the fact she so happens to be African-American, from the evidence i've read, has more to do with the forum she occupies than her writing ability. she works hard? good to know and good for her. but as for the primo spot jenele occupies on the sportswriting landscape. ... well, methinks you buried the lede on why she occupies the seat. there.

 

[mustangj17]

Who's Jenele?

 

[armageddon]

I'm glad someone up there doesn't fit the mold, even if she's not perfect. And hopefully she grows from this.

Not going to happen.

Jemele, with whom I've crossed path many times over the years and like personally, has been making "youthful mistakes" all along the way -- from Detroit to Orlando and now at ESPN.

The time to teach and learn was years ago. Sadly, it's too late now.

 

[hondo]

I'm glad someone up there doesn't fit the mold, even if she's not perfect. And hopefully she grows from this.

Not going to happen.

Jemele, with whom I've crossed path many times over the years and like personally, has been making "youthful mistakes" all along the way -- from Detroit to Orlando and now at ESPN.

The time to teach and learn was years ago. Sadly, it's too late now.

So true. You'd think the situation with her personal web site would have taught her a strong lesson. But years later, she's equating Hitler and nuclear war with liking a particular sports team.

 

[Monroe Stahr]

ESPN, basically, is the Noah's Ark of sports. They try to have two of everything -- so that every race and ethnicity is represented, every gender, every age group, every sports preference. That way, nobody will feel excluded, no one will have a reason not to watch their programming/visit their Web site/read their magazine. They have writers, let's face it, who target imbeciles, other writers who aim for the middle, others who aim a little higher. It's all about being all things to all people, about appealing to everybody, so that TV ratings, Web traffic and magazine subscriptions can be maximized. They leave no one out. That's their business model. Quality doesn't even enter to it a lot of the time. So to even discuss how "good" or "bad" a columnist Jemele might be . . . it's beside the point. It's like Mae West said, "Goodness had nothin' to do with it."

 

[outofplace]

Agreed Mustang. I've heard the same things from ESPN bosses. I've heard her speak and, despite youth and relative inexperience, she is very level-headed and aware of her ummm.... unique place in the business. She made a horrid analogy here, but she's generally provocative, and the greatest sin she could commit in the eyes of ESPN would be to be boring.

Look at the ESPN roster of columnists if you get a chance. Now look at Yahoo, NBC Sports, CBS Sportsline... Hard to argue a minority's path is paved with gold.

I'm glad someone up there doesn't fit the mold, even if she's not perfect. And hopefully she grows from this.

Agree with this completely.
As for some of this other crap ... I joined this board a long time before I started posting regularly on it. One of my reservations was that it seemed there were a whole bunch of people here with low-profile jobs who were falling all over themselves to anonymously throw stones at people who have the jobs they think THEY should have.
I came to feel I was being too harsh with that. But sometimes, it still applies. Yeah, she made a poor comparison. Let's stone her in the town square.

It was exactly the type of comparison she has complained about in the past. It wasn't just poor, it was insensitive to another ethnic group.

And this is not her first screw-up of this nature.

Save the jealousy argument. You're not a very good mind-reader, so it might be best to keep the failed attempts out of your posts.