While Glenn was out of the country last week and through the weekend, America was wrapped up in “Linsanity”. It was pretty “Lincredible” how much people were focused on New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin. But fascination turned to outrage when ESPN printed an overnight headline of “A Chink In the Armor”. Was it racist or an honest mistake? And were the drastic steps that ESPN took appropriate? Glenn weighs in, but warning – he doesn’t know a lot about sports (but he does get the Constitution).
A Stu explained, Knicks superstar Jeremy Lin had a bad game, and someone in their headline department wrote “A Chink in the Armor” as a headline.
“So, they're saying that they believe this headline writer wrote it because he's racist and was saying "chink" in the derogatory Chinese way rather than just the phrase that everyone uses all the time,” Stu said.
Stu explained that the guy who wrote the headline had been fired, and someone who said it on air was suspended for 30 days.
Oddly enough, the sportscaster has revealed in a tweet: ““Wanted 2 apologize 2 all those I have upset. Not done with any racial reference. Despite intention, phrase was inappropriate in this context.”
“My wife is Asian, would never intentionally say anything to disrespect her and that community,” he added.
On radio, Glenn played the audio of the sportscaster saying the offensive phrase, but noted he did not sound like he meant it ina derogatory fashion.
“Absolutely no sense of irony there. He wasn't saying it like that,” Pat said.
“This guy who wrote the headline, you know, an unknown guy who was he's a young man who was building his career and now has lost his job over this says he's written chink in the armor in headlines and stories a hundred times and he had no he was not at all talking about trying to make a pun or anything about this,” Stu explained.
“This is what the left's standards have created this, situation where guys who are married to Asians talking about chink in the armor, a phrase that people use all the time, get applied to them this racism that's not there, lose their job, get suspensions for no reason.
“ESPN and ABC should be ashamed of themselves for firing this guy. He’s 28 years old. He said he's used the phrase at least 100 times in headlines and thought nothing about when he used it on the Lin story. Frederico, his last name is Frederico, called Lin one of his heroes, not just because he's a big Knicks fan but because he feels a kinship with fellow outspoken Christian. My faith is my life. I love to tell Jeremy what happened and explain that this was an honest mistake. It was Frederico's last headline of the night before heading home at 2:30 a.m. It might be the last he ever writes. ‘I had a career I was proud of. I'm devastated I caused a fire storm.’ And they fired this guy,” Stu said.
“What a bunch of spineless worms,” Stu added.
“He is not making a racist comment,” Glenn added.
“And ABC, you think you're going to get the news straight? Do you really think you're going to get the truth from an organization that on the sports side will fire somebody for that? Do you think any, any news person worth their salt is going to step out of line and give any other view than the accepted view? Anybody going to take a chance? No way. No way,” Glenn said.
“Try to get them to say something actually important. Try to get them to say something actually risky. You think they're going to do it?! Look at how they have corrupted this system,” he said.
