Kudos to radio talk-show host
Larry Elder
for publicizing some eye-opening remarks from
Bryant Gumbel on the most recent episode of HBO's
Real
Sports With Bryant Gumbel. The comments have received scant
coverage, with the
San Francisco Chronicle (in a betting column) and
The Columbus Dispatch (in a "People in the News" column) among
the few outlets that have even mentioned the episode. According to
a
transcript posted by a television columnist named Seth Frelich,
Gumbel said the following in his closing monologue last week (emphasis
mine):
"Finally, tonight, the Winter Games. Count me among those who
don’t care about them and won’t watch them ... Because they’re so
trying ... Like, try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to
link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of
skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when someone says these
are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that
makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention. Try not to
point out that something’s not really a sport if a pseudo-athlete
waits in what’s called a kiss-and-cry area, while some panel of
subjective judges decides who won ... So if only to hasten the
arrival of the day they’re done, when we can move on to March
Madness — for God’s sake, let the games begin."
Gumbel's remarks have been followed by many angry posts at
HBO's Real Sports Bulletin Boards. The story was also picked
up at
Free Republic, where one poster wrote, "Remember what they did to
Rush over the McNabb remark. I will contact HBO." (A
reminder)(Contact
HBO)
You'd think these remarks would have received more attention than
they have. (Well, maybe not.) It's just hard to imagine a Bill O'Reilly
or Sean Hannity getting a pass on something like this. Don'tcha think?
Flashback:
MRC: "Bryant Gumbel: Liberal Activist Masquerading as Impartial
Journalist"