Via Sports Media Watch, the Deseret News reports ESPN's Ric Bucherz made some touchy comments on Colin Cowherd's ESPN radio show about why the Utah Jazz have such a strong home court advantage. Apparently, we should credit the Church of Latter Day Saints."Let's be honest. They're Mormon. And they're in Salt Lake. And there's nothing else there," he said. "You've got to smile and be happy all the time. This might be one opportunity for fans to get vicious."So instead of drinking and gambling, like the rest of us rube pagans, Jazz fans focus their esprit mal on yelling insults at Warriors or goading Ron Artest into an ejection? Even if it weren't uncomfortable in its plain bigotry (with the turn of phrase "let's be honest" a nice indicator of coming insensitivity), it's plain bad logic. News columnist Scott D. Pierce places the expected perspective on it.
If Bucher had been talking about the Knicks and said, "They're Jews and they're in New York City"; if Bucher had said, "They're African-Americans and they're in Memphis," he would have been suspended if not fired by now.SMW does note Bucher isn't on the docket for any upcoming playoff games on ABC or ESPN ... not even the Lakers' home game. (Michelle Tafoya got the call.) Whether it's a suspension or not, we'll never know, because ESPN will never tell us. ESPN PR says Bucher was not scheduled this weekend before the incident occurred.
UPDATE: ESPN VP of Public Relations Josh Krulewitz sends along this statement: "We spoke to Ric and he understands that his comments were inappropriate. This type of religious generalization has no place on our outlets and we apologize." Bucher's own apology is after the jump.
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SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 07: (L-R) Reverend Jesse Jackson and NBA hall of famer Clyde Drexler talk prior to the 2008 NCAA Men's National Championship game between the Memphis Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks at the Alamodome on April 7, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
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SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 07: (L-R) Reverend Jesse Jackson and NBA hall of famer Julius Erving talk prior to the 2008 NCAA Men's National Championship game between the Memphis Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks at the Alamodome on April 7, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
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SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 07: (L-R) Reverend Jesse Jackson and NBA hall of famers Julius Erving and Clyde Drexler talk prior to the 2008 NCAA Men's National Championship game between the Memphis Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks at the Alamodome on April 7, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
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SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 04: Rod Strickland, assistant co-ordinator of basketball operations of the Memphis Tigers, looks on during practice for the NCAA Men's Final Four at the Alamodome on April 4, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. Strickland is a former NBA player. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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BEIJING - APRIL 04: BEIJING - April 04: NBA Star Yao Ming walks on crutches as he arrives for a news conference about Olympics and his foot injury on April 4, 2008 in Beijing, China. Yao Ming will try the therapeutic method of Chinese medicine for his foot injury after coming back to China yesterday. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
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BEIJING - APRIL 04: BEIJING - April 04: NBA Star Yao Ming holds his crutches during a news conference about Olympics and his foot injury on April 4, 2008 in Beijing, China. Yao Ming will try the therapeutic method of Chinese medicine for his foot injury after coming back to China yesterday. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
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BEIJING - APRIL 04: BEIJING - April 04: The injured foot of NBA Star Yao Ming is seen as he answers a question about Olympics and his foot injury during a news conference on April 4, 2008 in Beijing, China. Yao Ming will try the therapeutic method of Chinese medicine for his foot injury after coming back to China yesterday. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
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BEIJING - APRIL 04: BEIJING - April 04: NBA Star Yao Ming answers a question about Olympics and his leg injury during a news conference on April 4, 2008 in Beijing, China. Yao Ming will try the therapeutic method of Chinese medicine for his leg injury after coming back to China yesterday. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
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BEIJING - APRIL 04: BEIJING - April 04: NBA Star Yao Ming answers a question about Olympics and his leg injury during a news conference on April 4, 2008 in Beijing, China. Yao Ming will try the therapeutic method of Chinese medicine for his leg injury after coming back to China yesterday. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
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BEIJING - APRIL 04: BEIJING - April 04: NBA Star Yao Ming answers a question about Olympics and his leg injury during a news conference on April 4, 2008 in Beijing, China. Yao Ming will try the therapeutic method of Chinese medicine for his leg injury after coming back to China yesterday. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
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"I apologize for my remarks. I knew immediately that I had made an inappropriate connection between Mormons and the harsh reception that opposing teams sometimes experience inside EnergySolutions Arena. I regret making that connection and apologize to anyone of the Mormon faith for having done so. The point I was trying to make is that the manner in which some Jazz fans get on visiting teams is counter to the general friendliness that the people of Salt Lake City are known for and have exhibited to me. I tried to revise my remarks later in the broadcast and remove any connection between that behavior and the Mormon faith, but I clearly did not go far enough. I hope that this apology will do that and that all citizens of Salt Lake City will find it in their hearts to welcome me as hospitably as they have in the past."
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. Thanks for the heads up. As a Mormon, I always get a kick out of the double-standard applied to Mormons vis-a-vis just about every other distinct and insular group. As we saw w/ Mitt Romney, for some reason or another, it's always fair game to bag on Mormons, but we absolutely, positively can't touch other "minority" ethnic, religious, racial groups. I guess the crying baby gets the milk, and, well, Mormons don't cry.
By the way, the Church's name it The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; you're post's reference to the Church omitted the most important proper noun.
Posted at 12:58PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Joaquin Fenix
2. Yes, this was quite the interview. We see a slightly hilarious side of Bucher that's (smartly) been repressed in the past.
Posted at 1:16PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Ryne Nelson
3. Jazz in 7.
Posted at 1:29PM on Apr 18th 2008 by frank
4. let's not be so fast to paint utah fans as the victim. don't forget that their fans made some blatantly racist remarks towards the warrior players in last year's playoffs, not to mention their fans throwing stuff at opposing players, most notably the spurs. i don't think what bucher said was right, but somehow the maxim about stuff that goes around comes around springs to mind.
Posted at 1:56PM on Apr 18th 2008 by jay
5. Nobody is painting Jazz fans as the victim. There's a distinction here b/w the nation's fourth-largest religion and one NBA team's fan base.
Let's also not act as if the actions jay attributed to Jazz fans are unique to them. I'm a Mavs fan, and there have been plenty of incendiary remarks hurled by (drunken) Mavs fans (against the Spurs, if I had my way), some of which have included racial overtones. As for throwing stuff, does anybody here ever recall the Artest melee? You know, the all-out brawl in the stands that killed the Pacer's franchise, all of which was instigated by a beer thrown from a fan.
Besides, the point of the post was to emphasize the bigotry exhibited by Bucher, a nationally recognized personality for the WWL, not the poor behavior shown by a few random fans.
Posted at 3:17PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Joaquin Fenix
6. I might be missing something here, but what part of the statement is offensive? I realize that painting any group with broad strokes is borderline insensitive, but isn't he generalizing Mormons as nice people except when they get in EnergySolutions Arena? That seems like more of a compliment than anything else.
Posted at 3:39PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Casey
7. I never said I took offense to Bucher's comments (although the "You've got to smile and be happy all the time" remark is a little retarded). In fact, in my first post, I said that "I always get a kick out of the double standard...", not that his remarks upset me, per se. As Mr. Pierce was quoted in the post, the same (seemingly) innocuous remark couldn't have been made about Jews or blacks.
I'm pretty anti-PC b/c I think we, as a society, have gone way overboard in that respect; however, a little fairness in the way we treat groups, whether in an un-PC or PC-like manner, couldn't hurt.
Posted at 4:07PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Joaquin Fenix
8. Will we ever get off our high horses? PC is getting ridiculous. Everybody takes exception to everything. People need to SLOW down and then get a life!
Posted at 9:12PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Al
9. As a Roman Catholic, I rather appreciate someone else getting dumped on once in a while....
It is amazing what people will say not even realizing how blatantly prejudicial their remarks are.
Posted at 9:15PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Oddibe
10. I live in Salt Lake, am NOT Mormon (though I was raised in a Mormon household) and am a hardcore Jazz fan, and I don't see what the big deal is. If there's a victim here, it's Bucher... a victim of his own ignorance, anyway. He both paid a compliment to Utah fans and exposed a large degree of naivety all at once. This happens every year, from one columnist or another, and the topic is old and tired.
Posted at 9:20PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Spencer
11. What was so different between what Bucher said and Obama said in SF last week about middle Americans and their guns and their anger. He never appolized!
Posted at 9:34PM on Apr 18th 2008 by jimme
12. mormons are crybabies! go bang your fifth wife!
Posted at 10:11PM on Apr 18th 2008 by rtk23
13. Remember when there was "free speech", and people realized that EVERYTHING offends SOMEONE? This country completely has become an embarassment.
Posted at 10:18PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Mike Joseph
14. A lot of bull about nothing.
Posted at 10:35PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Dean
15. It takes so much energy to recognize & apologize constantly or referee the unabashed version of what our new behind the scenes elitist want us to say & do socially. I can't even recall how many public figures have had to apologize in the past few months over things that if we were "normal" again should be inconsequential. We're getting tired as a nation watching every small thing we comment on being magnified or forming a rallying point for the opposition to destroy or quiet a viewpoint. Honest observations albeit crude at times should be taken as such & intelligence should be the judge of the source & the magnitude of it's true importance. In reality, who cares this comment was made? It won't change the status of the mormon church or its' believers. In reality 99% of what's scrutinized to hell & back anymore won't change the structure of a single topic or biased comment. In summation of my rant I can't remember hearing one grievance in the last ten yrs that's truly changed someone's life for the worse because we all have selective short memory loss & one week from now not a living soul will care. The Mormons are squeaky clean & if they wanna get off a little let em do it. Who truly gives a shit?
Posted at 10:46PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Bobby
16. Let's get one thing straight: the Mormon commenter on this post (me) did not take offense to Bucher's comments. Please see posts #1, 5, and 7. We can all agree that PC is gay; however, many us will conveniently renege on this deal as soon as the subject of the un-PC remark is, let's say, black.
For instance, does anybody recall the resignation of Geraldine Ferraro? You know, the Clinton aide who said that "if Obama were a white man, he would not be in this position." She did have a valid point: no relatively unknown white man w/ zero political experience would bust out of the gate w/ 90% of the black vote, especially running against a Clinton. But, of course, she had to resign b/c of her honesty. Where were all you PC haters then, huh?
BTW, rtk23: maybe my fifth wife will be your wife; my sixth will be your mom.
Posted at 11:18PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Joaquin Fenix
17. Joaquin Fenix Not true, look at all the christian bashing going on in today society, however, nary a word is said about it.
Posted at 11:25PM on Apr 18th 2008 by James Porter
18. You know what people in this country have forgotten. That as a free country we have the right to feel about any other race, religion, fat, skinny, ugly, homosexual person or group that we choose to. We simply cannot discriminate based on those criteria. We all have our own bias's and we all see things and people in different light based on our upbringing and our own experiences. I personally feel that people need to stop being so freaking sensative about all this politically correct bullshit and acknowledge that someone may not like you because of who you are. Someone may say something that is off color or gender biased in nature and not be a racist or a womanizer. I am part bohemian, I don't take offense when someone tells a bohemian joke. Come on people, lighten up, toughen up, and stop scrutinizing every word that comes out of peoples mouths.
Posted at 11:36PM on Apr 18th 2008 by James Porter
19. Religion unlike race or gender is a choice, so it's fair game. deal with it!
Posted at 11:41PM on Apr 18th 2008 by Buster
20. J Fenix your points are well taken.
We all get slamed at one point or another in our lives for whatever the case may be.
I didn't see Romney twist in a knot when shots were leveled at him. That man has character,intelligence, articulates and is not thin skinned. I'm not a mormon I'm a heretic who belives in God but not organized religion but respects others who are respectful. Butcher lacks diplomacy and tact but he's a sports jock. They get excited they rally the crowd, much like the fans.
Obama will not cowboy up and Hillary is not a straight shooter, but Ferraro was right on.
I for one have had enough of the PC BS.
America toughen up and ligten up, now is not the time for whimps. We all have a tough ride ahead of us and we will ride it out.
Posted at 11:55PM on Apr 18th 2008 by J Emily