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"In a cringe-worthy introduction on Thursday night, the CBS analyst dropped an odd reference to race when when was introduced by host Greg Gumbel. Said Gotllieb, "Cream rising to the crop. I don't know why you guys asked me, I'm just here to bring diversity to the set here. Give the kind of white man's perspective on things from the point guard position". Colleagues Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith laughed awkwardly and Greg Anthony looked at Gottlieb in a similar manner that U.S. officials look at North Korea. Gottlieb later apologized for the statement saying, " It was not a smart thing to say and I apologize". Barkley later came to the defense of his media member telling people to "get a life".
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| What's Gottlieb's Defense a 1-2-2 or Man to Man? |
Was Gottlieb completely off base? Were his comments meant to be something they weren't? Or could there have been a thin-skinned panel he was offering his introduction to?
Let's look at a couple of things.....first off, when CBS hired Gottlieb away from ESPN last year, they thought they had a star in the making. They planned on making him part of college basketball broadcasts (which they have) and also had a TV show in the works. Still might. And......with Steve Kerr's contract an issue, Gottlieb was squarely in sights as a replacement.
Secondly, Gottlieb has spent many years working the ESPN radio beat as a talk show host. In that position, you can imagine he's had to fill thousands of minutes with comments people can be offended with. And he did.....and they were. Yet, he was still thought enough of for CBS to lure him away from the mega-star Sports Network. And here is one of the reasons....because he wasn't afraid to say something.
I know, you can say his comments were racist. You can say they were done with little thought. But I think you'd be wrong in those assessments. I'm pretty positive, it was Gottlieb being Gottlieb. You don't spend all those hours behind a radio microphone thinking, "if I say this will I offend anyone.....or maybe I better stay away from that because someone might take it wrongly". You do what you do and offer your perspective and move on. If someone is offended, so be it.
That's what's so disheartening about the Gottlieb apology. I'm not so sure it was his doing.....or simply the network who felt it needed to save face.
Frankly, being politically correct is getting old. Time and time again we see people speaking their minds.....politicians, religious leaders and talk show hosts just to name a few. But when the media feels they've overstepped their bounds.....they pounce with everything imaginable. Then come the "sorry I didn't mean to say that".
We might not have heard the last of this Gottlieb thing....and if this thing lingers on, maybe the network will feel they have to dump the former Oklahoma State baller.
If CBS does indeed dismiss him, I've got a thought for Gottlieb to consider. He might have found a new name for a show, one that might have mass appeal. How about, "A White Man's Perspective in Sports.....with Doug Gottlieb." Or......with rumors of several gay NFL players coming forward, he might consider "A Straight White Man's Perspective in Sports with Doug Gottlieb". That would cause the phone lines to light up, you can be assured of that.
Listen, I've heard some pretty amusing things over the years watching sports. Several years ago, Don Criqui was broadcasting an NCAA game involving the University of Iowa. The Hawkeyes had a young 7-foot center by the name of Brad Lohaus, who at the time, was still learning his craft. Anyhow, as the game wore on and it was apparent Lohaus had some refining to do to his game. After missing a dunk, Criqui said, "it's apparent he has white man's disease". Offensive? Maybe a little......Funny???? Ah, yeah. In fact, over the years, the story has been told among my Hawkeyes friends, that Lohaus, indeed had "white man's disease". Sickly dunk anemia. We've had many laughs, that's for sure
Big Ten Network analyst Shon Morris tossed one of the funniest lines I've heard when he was just beginning his broadcast career. After watching an Northwestern basketball team be beat continually on the boards, he fired a shot at a player who for the life of me I can't remember. He was a good rebounder and that's why Morris offered this analysis. "He's been out rebounded all night. My gosh. In fact, he has only one more rebound than a dead man". I remember being in the TV production truck the night Morris made the comment. There was a whole lot of oooohs and aaahs because he sure made his point.
There's one other circumstance I'd like to share. And tell me if this got taken out of context. A couple of friends of mine were coaching some youngsters the fine points of soccer. Their team had not enjoyed much success. Really, they were down right pathetic. During a practice the coaches asked the boys to round up and let's talk some things out. "What do you think is our problem", the head coach started with. For several seconds there was silence. Then one of the boys offered this. "My dad said, the coaches suck".
Okay, I know they asked for it. But that might have been a little more than they were seeking. Anyhow, as the story goes, the mother of the boy who made the remark found out what was said. She, mad as a hornet, told her husband to go an apologize to the coaches. Maybe those are the times when we need to suck it up and say "I'm sorry".
So ultimately we are back to the Charles Barkley summation. "People get a life". And don't take yourself so seriously.
And that's from the perspective of another white man.
Thanks for reading,
John
