Ballers, Gamers and Scoundrels

Enough with the Bill O’Reilly-Sylvia’s flap! Who cares what he thinks about a) anything - even when he is trying to be complimentary about us; and b) a restaurant?! A restaurant where even the owners weren’t all that put out by what O’Reilly said. Why should they be? They received millions in free pub over the last week.

The FOX Talk-show host’s comments do not have one iota of an impact on me, you or anyone else in America. However, the blatantly racist remarks made by a Rutgers professor this week not only besmirch the image of a university on the rise but are a slap in the face of every non-white athlete at the school. In an article published in the New York Times, English professor William Dowling, one of those nutty professors who believes the rise of athletics at a university automatically  means the decline of intellectual elitism and, well, the fall of civilization as they want it to be, said: “If you were giving the scholarship to an intellectually brilliant kid who happens to play a sport, that’s fine. But they give it to a functional illiterate who can’t read a cereal box and then make him spend 50 hours a week on physical skills. That’s not opportunity”

Now, here’s where it gets good: “If you want to give financial help to minorities, go find the ones who are at the library after school.”

This is someone who is responsible for educating our youth? God help us - or more specifically, our youth.

Not only are Dowling’s comments racist, they’re stupid and WRONG. In May, the NCAA Academic Progress Rate report, a calculation of graduation rates at institutions, ranked the Rutgers football program seventh in the nation among Division I-A schools. Ahead of them were only Stanford (Go Cardinal! Sorry, alum-bug pinched me), Navy, Duke, Rice, Boston College and Air Force.

It doesn’t quite sound like the young men who have elevated the Scarlet Knights to national prominence over the last two seasons are having any trouble reading their cereal boxes.

It took long enough for someone to speak out about this madness. On Thursday, Rutgers president Richard McCormick (Has this guy had a YEAR or what?!) called the comments “inaccurate and inhumane.” In a statement issued by the university, McCormick acknowledged the racist tone of the comment. “It also has a racist implication that has no place whatsoever in our civil discourse,” he said.

Like O’Reilly, Dowling said his comments were taken out of context. (I agree with O’Reilly, frankly; but Dowling is delusional) He said he was merely answering a question related to minorities. he said: “If someone has a way to answer that question without mentioning race, I would like to hear it.”

No word yet on whether Dowling will be allowed to continue infecting, uh, teaching young minds.

In the 1960s, was actually arrested protesting in support of the civil-rights movement. Sorry, professors, your freedom fighter cared has been revoked.

“Thanks” to I-Man, girlfriend went on The Oprah Show! Seemed her name was pretty good back then.

I’m not sure whether this is simply about a quick buck. (Okay, maybe it is.) Or whether it’s a mere case of a still impressionable young woman, a college student, getting bad advice. (All right, maybe it’s that, too). But I definitely know this: The recent move by Kia Vaughn, one of the young women on the Rutgers basketball team, to sue Don Imus because she says his reference to the team as “nappy headed hoes” during an all-fated show on April 4 damaged her character, reputation and “good name,” according to her attorney, is stupid.

Bad move, young lady.

I know. We live in a society where anyone has the right to get the money any legal way they can. And this is legal. But what is the basis for her claim? Well, since Kia isn’t talking all we know is this: “This is basically about vindicating my client’s good name,” said Richard Ancowitz, her lawyer. “This is not a situation she ever asked for, and she would love to turn the clock back. But unfortunately she can’t.”

Vindication? To me, in the wake of the fallout over Imus’ reprehensible comments, there were no women in America with better “names” that than the members of the Rutgers women basketball team. The day they went on national TV and told us how hurt they were by Imus’ words was the day the radio host was doomed. In the following days the young women stood tall, proud and strong and came off as America’s daughters.

Yes, they would forever be known to some as the women Imus referred to in such a heinous fashion. On the flip they’d also be able to leverage their notoriety for gain. Next season, they’ll be cheered in every arena in America. And once the young women were out of school, is there a corporation that would turn away one of them away?

By filing the suit, Vaughn, a 6-4 junior center, now puts each of her teammates in the unenviable position of having to explain that they’re not not that member of the team, the one that filed the suit. And as for her own job prospects. who wants to hire someone who’s already shown to be litigious?
Now a colleague for whom I have tremendous respect disagrees with me on this. She says she has no problem with the suit because the young women, no matter the dignity with which they carried themselves, will always be know “around water coolers all over Corporate America” as one of the nappy-headed hoes Imus was referring to. “Get it now,” my colleague said, referring to a more of Imus’ reported $20 million settlement with CBS (which came to light only hours before the suit was filed. Coincidence? hardly.) “They she may not have to worry about it.”

She certainly has a point, but I’m a take-the-high-road guy (or at least I try to be), and I believ in tyransforming bad into good With their national TV appearances - including on the saintly Oprah Show - the Rutgers women put themselves in postion to win.

With this suit, Kia Vaughn only makes herself look like a victim and a loser. Who wins that choice?

This is fascinating. What began as a simple, caustic and repugnant remark by a wrinkled radio host has evolved into one of the most intriguing experiences of my career. This isn’t about Don Imus anymore. It isn’t even about the noble young women who put remarkable faces on the ugly words Imus uttered.

Right now, it’s about how we got here and where we go now to ensure - as much as humanly possible - that we never go here again. It’s being referred to as a “tipping point,” a time when our collective consciousness simply said, Enough. No longer would the language of hate be tolerated. No longer will the words we’ve become densitized to be tolerated.

Not from Imus.

Not from anyone.

Enough.

“Imus in the Morning” is a wrap. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not in two weeks. But the show is toast - later if not sooner. Long before that happens, though, the calls will be made to those who helped lay the groundwork for the ugly language that got us here - among them, the music industry.

And one of the first calls I make is to Debra Lee, CEO of BET.

Why? Because for decades now the network has been ground zero for the language and terms that had become so pervasive a wrinkled white man thought it was okay it use them on national radio and television. In the wake of recent revelations, how can the network - along with its new siblings, MTV and VH-1 -still justify airing videos that glorify “bitches” and “hos?”

BET Founder Bob Johnson, in an interview on MSNBC, offered the same lame response he offered a decade ago in the midst of criticism about the network’s content. He said he’d long ago gone to the music labels and said BET would air cleaner, less offensive videos if they’d produce them.

In the same breath Johnson said Imus should be fired, he said he was not accountable for the content in the videos that ran on BET.

That may have flown for many years. But it ain’t flying any more.

If BET is reading the winds of change, Lee will announce soon that the network will not longer glorify misogyny and refused to air music videos and programming that degrade black women.

As I said, this is fascinating.

This is what I mean: A Philadelphia radio DJ as fired today for being stupid. Last week, this might have been considered funny.

Ghettonation author Cora Daniels: “I’m a Nappy Headed Ho.”

Is this the beginning of the end? Tonight, it was reported by Bloomberg that two major advertisers of the “Imus in the Morning” show - Staples and Bigelow Tea - had put stop payments on their checks. Addtionally, it was reported the Procter & Gamble, the venerable consumer goods company, was pulling its support as well.

Forget Rev. Al Sharpton. If CBS ultimately cans Don Imus for his repulsive remarks last week about the Rutges basketball team, it won’t be because anything the right Reverend says or does. It’ll be because Madison Avenue decides the IntM is finally too tainted, too despicable, too dangerous to hawk its wares.

Staples spokesman Paul Capelli said he company ran its final television ad on the Imus simulcast on Monday. “Recent comments that were made on the program about the Rutgers basketball team prompted us to revisit our decision to advertise and we decided to stop advertising on the program,” he said.

Bigelow Tea co-president Cindi Bigelow pulled its ads and told Bloomberg that future sponsorship is “in jeopardy.”

“Our company does not condone or support in any way the unacceptable comments made by Imus,” Bigelow said. “We are deeply saddened by Imus’ remarks.”

The biggest hurt may come from the loss of P & G bucks. “Effective Friday, April 6, we pulled all P&G’s brand advertising from the MSNBC daytime rotation,” P&G spokeswoman Jeannie Tharrington told The Toronto Star. She added P&G would not advertise again “until we can evaluate the Imus situation fully.”

Cue the dirge. If more advertisers follow suit, the two-week suspension levied by MSNBC and CBS on Thursday might turn into a forever-more reality.

Why” Imus generates a whopping 25 percent of CBS Radio’s annual ad revenue, or about $12.7 million, Bloomberg estimates. Any decline in that figure would hurt like a jhot comb on your scalp.

If you’re keeping score, here’s a list of national firms that advertised on Monday’s simulcast on MSNBC:

Cargill (food production/distribution)
Genwirth Financial
British Petroleum

Head-on pain reliever
Angie’s List

Ditech (home loans)
Boeing
Ameriprise Financial
Olay
Campbell’s
Buick
Hilton Hotels
Prilosec (heartburn relief pills)
Idearc Media (Yellow Pages)
Shell Oil
Staples
Travelocity
Scottrade (on-line trading)
Ferris Mowers
GE
Orbitz
Flexon eyewear
American Express
Ameritrade
Rozerem
Sandals (Travel/Timeshares)
HSBC direct
Smith and Wollensky Steakhouse
Cardiscan.com

American Century Investments
ING Direct
Cadillac
Lamisil
Sprint
Mylanta
Delta Air Lines
NutriSystem
Enablex
Mass Mutual Investments
Hyndai
ServPro (carpet cleaning)
Transitions Lenses
GEICO
Scott’s Turfbuilder
Holiday Inn
Capital One
Neulasta
Pip.com
Commercial Financial Services Association
Panasonic
Credit Card Debt.com

Do with it what you will.

America watched, heard and felt. What had heartofore been mere words took on a face today, or many faces. The Rutgers women stepped from behind the curtain today and further showed just why Don Imus’s comments were repulsive, reprehensible and, perhaps now, even unforgiveable.

In an eloquent 20-minute statement, head coach C. Vivian Stringer, one of the most successful and respected caches in America told a tale that touched all hearts. She told of personal discrimination. She told of her painful ordeal becoming the first black cheerleader at her school as a youth. Most of all, she told of the pain and consequences of the words uttered last week by the not-so-shocking jock. “We all must change,” she said.

The NCAA could not have created a more powerful visage for the student-athlete. Represented by two noble spokeswomen, the Rutgers players showed themselves to be everything we want our daughters, nieces and young sisters to be. They told us that they agreed to meet Imus, and then asked us not to define them by the ugly words uttered by the radio host but by their achievements on and off the basketball court.

Done.

Kudos to NBC’s Al Roker for speaking out publicly. (Read: here) It is indeed a new age.

UPDATE ALERT!!!

This afternoon, MSNBC, which simulcasts Don Imus’s syndicated radio show, announced it was suspending the host for two weeks for remarks he made last week regarding th eRusterg’s women’s basketball team. Soon thereafter, CBS radio and WFAN announced they were doing the same. The suspensions begin next Monday. The actions followed a day of further protests for Imus calling the young women “nappy-headed hos” during his show. The post below was written prior to the suspension announcements.

Now that everyone has had a chance to smack each other around, can we all take a deep breath, embrace sanity and figure out how to move ahead? Today, Don Imus appeared on Rev Al Sharpton’s radio show and took his lumps with the host, NABJ President Bryan Monroe, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus and other guests. Imus dished it out a bit too, refusing to stand idly after Monroe characterized his early career by saying Imus “did commercials selling used cars.”

Boy, boys…

The most occured when Imus said he had no clue how he should pay for his vulgar and deplorable statements. We all know he won;’t be fired. He means too much to the bottom line for WFAN or his CBS, which syndicates his show, “Imus in the Morning.” So what should happen?

Imus thinks a face-to-face apology to the Rutgers women’s team and their parents is enough.

I don’t. Here’s what I think he (and his way-too-silent employers) should do:

1) Imus and Producer Bernard McGurk, who instigated the offensive conversation, should be suspended for at least two weeks. Sports fill-in Sid Rosenberg should fired, this time for good. He should never appear on the show again.

2) Imus should immediately hire a producer who is African American - someone to sit at the table and help shape his daily show whose presence would remind Imus and his minions that the rest of the world does not look and sound and think like they do. (NOTE: On Tuesday, Imus said “there should be an African-American on this show every day.” We’ll see, starting with his firt show following the suspension.)

3) Imus should immediately include a politically savvy African American journalist to his mix of regular contributors to debate the issues of the day right alongside Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, et al.

4) Imus, MSNBC, WFAN and CBS MUST create a scholarship fund for minority women who want to pursue careers in the media. The group should also create a minority internship progam for the show.

It could take awhile but these changes - along with Imus’s stated promise that his show would change going forward - will ultimately change the culture of the popular radio program. Imus must stop telling us what he’ll do next and start showing us.

Who knows. I might even start listening again.

Things are heating up for Don Imus, who offered a striking 20-minute explanation this morning for his comment last week about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. “I’m not a bad person. I’m a good person, but I said a bad thing” he said. “But these young women deserve to know it was not said with malice.”

Imus will appear this afternoon on Rev. Al Sharton’s radio show. You may listen here.

This morning, a women’s group FINALLY spoke up about Imus’ attack on a group young women. The National Organization of Women joined the chous or organizations calling for Imus to go. Their statement here.

Stay tuned …

Teams win games, and lose them. That’s partly why I call the Heisman Trophy the most overrated award in sports. It’s supposed to go the the best college football player in the nation. Period. But forget that. It goes to the best QB or running back on one of he best teams in the country. Moreover, a great player and viable candidate can be eliminated simply because his team loses. Even if he has a great game. And that’s not right.

This year, two men have been appointed as the only legitimate Heisman candidates - No. 1 Ohio State QB Troy Smith and Golden Boy Brady Quinn, the Notre Dame QB. Forget that the best player in the nation just might be Georgia Tech wideout Calvin Johnson. The Wreck are only 7-2 and languishing in the bottom half of the Top 20. How on earth could the BPITC (Best Player in the Country) play for such a low-life.

Listen to me: If Ray Rice, the Rutgers running back is not among your top three legitimate Heisman candidates, your cable will be turned off.

Rice, a homie from my ’stead in New Rochelle, led the Scarlett Knights to the biggest upset of the 2006 college football season tonight. He carried the ball 22 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns against No 3 Louisville to lead the undefeated 15-ranked Knights to a stunning 28-25 upset in Piscataway. (Check Mapquest.)

The sophomore now has more than 1200 this season and 13 TDs. More important, the Knights are unscathed, and they’ll no doubt be among the Top 10 in the next poll and poised for a BSC game.

Right now I’m loving Ray Rice. He just may be poised to pull another upset.