Imus Desperate for Attention

By KEVIN B. BLACKISTONE,

AOL

Posted: 2008-06-25 14:00:57

Filed Under: NFL, Sports

Sports Commentary

Until I saw an advertisement just a few weeks ago with his face broadside on the side of commuter bus, I’d all but forgotten the abrasive Don Imus was back on the airwaves. Apparently, a lot of other people, some maybe conveniently, forgot as well. Take New York, for example.

Broadway is where Imus made it so big he wound up on the cover of Newsweek magazine. Then he imploded last year with his infamous and inexplicably nasty comment about black women basketball players at Rutgers. It cost him his national talk shows on TV and radio.

And when the first ratings’ period since his return last December on ABC Radio Network was reported in April, it showed he was no longer the audience magnet he was in his previous run.

The winter Arbitron survey in New York showed the new Imus in the Morning on WABC-AM ranked 20th among listeners aged 25 to 54. Its share of 1.5 percent was a 17% drop from the morning show it replaced.

Imus also wasn’t racking up the ratings he had on the all-sports’ station in New York that cut ties with him after the Rutgers’ embarrassment, WFAN-AM.

But Imus was must-listening again Monday and Tuesday – Monday for the tape of his latest utterance that offended plenty of people, and Tuesday for his clumsy defense and explanation of what he’d said.

Sports and Racism

Radio host Don Imus recently made a controversial comment about Cowboys defensive back Pacman Jones during a show in June. Imus later said his remarks were to show the unfair treament of blacks.

AP / Getty Images

Mauricia Grant, seen here working at Daytona International Speedway in 2007, is suing NASCAR for $225 million, alleging racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Laura Reitz, AP

In an April newspaper interview, Los Angeles Angels star Torii Hunter stated he had heard racial taunts from Red Sox fans at Fenway Park in the past. "'That N-word.' Some people would chant that out, some people would throw beer or whatever ... batteries," said Hunter.

Lisa Blumenfeld, Getty Images

Kosuke Fukudome has become a sensation in his first season in Chicago, but shirts emblazoned with a stereotypical caricature of Asians and the words "Horry Kow" (a play on ex-Cubs announcer Harry Caray's home run call) offended the Japanese outfielder.

Nam Y. Huh, AP

Earlier this year, Golf Channel analyst Kelly Tilghman said on air that other golfers should "lynch [Tiger Woods] in a back alley" to better compete with him. In the aftermath, Golfweek Magazine ran a cover with a hanging noose, for which editor Dave Seanor was fired.

Golfweek / AP

Radio host Don Imus caused a stir in 2007 when he referred to members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." CBS canceled his long-running show 'Imus in the Morning,' but he returned to airwaves with ABC later in the year.

Spencer Platt, Getty Images

Rush Limbaugh was hired as a commentator for ESPN's NFL pre-game show Sunday Countdown, but he lasted only a few weeks after implying that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb received great praise mostly because he was black.

Getty Images

Former golfer and current CBS commentator Bobby Clampett made waves at this year's Masters when he referred to golfer Liang Wen-Chong as "the Chinaman" on air.

Mike Powell, Allsport / Getty Images

African soccer players, like Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o, are often the targets of racially charged taunts in Spain. Fans of Real Zaragoza made monkey-like chants at the Barcelona striker during a 2005 match, and he nearly walked off the pitch during a match against the club the next season.

Phillippe Desmazes, AFP / Getty Images

In an interview with HBO's Real Sports last summer, former Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield claimed that manager Joe Torre gave white players preferential treatment during his time in New York and said that biracial shortstop Derek Jeter wasn't "all the way black."

Mark Mainz, Getty Images

To quote those two cartoonish characters on the Guinness stout commercials: “Brilliant!” Imus made himself relevant again, at least for a while.

How else to view his potentially fireable offense on Monday of suggesting that suspended NFL star Pacman Jones had a propensity for run-ins with the law because it is a natural property of his being black? At least that was what it sounded like Imus was saying.

“Warner [Wolf] and I were talking about Pacman Jones being arrested six times, in which I obviously think they’re picking on him, so I asked Warner what color he was,” Imus explained Tuesday. “Well, obviously I already knew what color he was. The point was, in order to make a sarcastic point, I asked Warner what color he was, Warner tells me and I said, ‘There you go, that’s the point.’ ”

The conversation Imus referenced from Monday was said to follow a news report that reminded that black men and women per capita made up more of this country’s prison population than any other race. Hence, the “point” Imus said he was making that too many of us misconstrued.

The problem is that when you have the history of Imus you shouldn’t be able to afford leaving anything misconstrued - unless, of course, you’re in need of the attention.

In April, Imus had Jesse Jackson on to talk about the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. Remember that show? Or how about all the other shows Imus patted himself on the back Tuesday for hosting since he came back that he said dealt with the delicate issue of race, no matter than he treats race relations’ discussion like a kickball?

FanHouse

MDS says:

"But in reality, Imus has a history of racially insensitive comments, which suggests that he meant not that Jones has been arrested because the police like to arrest black men, but that he is a criminal because he is a black man."

»Read the post

But Imus said something questionable about an athlete who made himself as despicable as any athlete over the past year or so and it raised eyebrows everywhere. (Who would’ve thought Pacman Jones could come out looking like the good guy in comparison to another subject in the same story?)

This is how Don Imus and other on-air yappers and interviewers of his ilk have made it and prospered. And they count on my knee jerking into my chin hard enough to make me give them more exposure. That is just what I’ve done.

After all, on the Imus scale of 1-to-10, what Imus said Monday – with calculated purpose or sheer mistake or out of some deep-seated anger – was more tremor than catastrophic. From my desk, it was more troublesome reading the comments of his two black co-hosts, Karith Foster and Tony Powell, who defended their boss’s comment without any suggestion he could have found a better way to make whatever point he claimed he was trying to make. Does Monday prove Imus is a racist? I don’t know.

Should he be fired? I don’t care.

Did he not learn his lesson? I’m not so sure.

Did You See That?

In this photo provided by the USGA, a black bear runs across the 13th fairway during the second round of the 2008 U.S. Senior Open Championship at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Friday, August 1, 2008. (John Mummert, USGA/AP)

John Mummert, USGA/AP

Australia's Sophie Edington balances a water bottle on her forehead during a training session in the Olympic Aquatic Center at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Tuesday, August 4, 2008. (David J. Phillip,AP)

David J. Phillip, AP

Flames rise around Chrissy Wallace's car after a crash in turn one the ARCA RE/MAX Series Pennsylvania 200 auto race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008. After the fire burned out, Wallace restarted her car and drove to the garage. (Russ Hamilton, AP)

Russ Hamilton, AP

Mike Mason competes in the Moto X Freestyle Final during X Games 14 on August 2, 2008 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. (Jonathan Moore, Getty Images)

Jonathan Moore, Getty Images

Houston Astros' Hunter Pence (9) and Mark Loretta, center, score to tie up the game as New York Mets catcher Ramon Castro (11) loses the ball in the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008, in Houston. The Astros went on to win 5-4 in 10 innings. (Pat Sullivan, AP)

Pat Sullivan, AP

Ideye Brown (R) of FC Neuchatel Xamax fights for the ball with FC Aarau's Frederic Page (C) and goalkeeper Ivan Benito during their Super League soccer match in Neuchatel August 2, 2008. (Stefan Wermuth, Reuters)

Stefan Wermuth, Reuters

A diver practices at the National Aquatics Center ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 3, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Jamie Squire, Getty Images)

Jamie Squire, Getty Images

Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Office Depot Ford, celebrates with a back flip after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway on August 3, 2008 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Jim McIsaac, Getty Images)

Jim McIsaac, Getty Images

U.S. Olympic basketball team center Dwight Howard makes a slam dunk during a match against Lithuania in Macau, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. (Kin Cheung, AP)

Kin Cheung, AP

Green Bay Packers safety Atari Bigby rides a small borrowed bicycle a block from Lambeau Field to Clark Hinkle Field for training camp in Green Bay, Wisconsin August 1, 2008. (Allen Fredrickson, Reuters)

Allen Fredrickson, Reuters

But given the other things he’s said about people of color, different religions and women, I’d say this episode represents some progress. Imus even went a whole half a year on the airwaves this time without us having to pay a peep.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, a host on XM Satellite Radio, a frequent sports opinionist on other outlets and the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he currently lives in Hyattsville, Md.

2008-06-18 01:21:12

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1678 comments

kherman925 09:23:16 AM Jul 07 2008

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Why was Sharpton quiet on this one? And where was Jackson? What is the reason they're missing? Interesting, could it have something to do with Obama?

mybrotherandy 10:22:37 AM Jul 02 2008

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They all go on about Imus. What ever happened to Jemele Hill's comments? They are 10 times worse than his, OH YEA she's black so it's OK. I think kmeit has a point. BLACKISTONE your as bad as she is. You ignore her comments and jump on Imus. His comment was based in numbers. You may not like them, but they are there. hers on hatred. She is a filthy biggot whose venom should should be silenced. BLACKISTONE if your going to attack people for their words, attack all people for their wordsevenly reguardless of color. SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!!

kmeit 01:32:28 AM Jul 02 2008

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I hate Imus but his opinion is right on. Would we be talking about this if it was a black or hispanic radio host saying this about a white!? Hell NO!!! This Country shouldn't be happy unti we have a white American day, the White College fund of America and so on.

timhoover7 05:27:42 AM Jun 28 2008

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kevin blackis-stoned is a loser who can't keep a job

timhoover7 05:24:54 AM Jun 28 2008

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yo, bokeeliabob-if he's a never was then why do so many peopal know who he is while no one knows or cares who the f you are?

timhoover7 05:19:44 AM Jun 28 2008

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yo tnlin40-your ANALogy of rainy1419's comment shows you to be a blithering idiot! and about your comment to ann24b- is she a racist like obama, who stated his grandma is a typical white person? way to throw grandma right under the bus!

naturalturf1 02:55:22 PM Jun 27 2008

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Check out this football simulation game (MMORP). Create a player to sign with a team.Run an organization as GM Its free and awesome.http://goallineblitz.com/game/signup.pl?ref=12028999

bdactor2 11:57:11 PM Jun 26 2008

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Hey AL.... I never was a hater,, then you came along and destroyed any hope that was left for the human race to become one.... you Al are a very evil dude.........

bdactor2 11:53:16 PM Jun 26 2008

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WRONG !!!!! IT SHOULD SAY ...( sharpton desperate for any attention he can find )

bdactor2 11:50:08 PM Jun 26 2008

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TO Al Sharpton., where are you when the little girl in the projects gets caught in the gang that cant shoot straight, dont ya think you should go preach the good word to your own people who are killin and illin and make a difference where you are most needed????? KISS MY ASS AL SHARPTOUNGE,,,,,.........

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