Curt Schilling, ESPN Analyst, Is Fired Over Offensive Social Media Post

Considering the source, is it really surprising?

Schilling is who he is. I don't think anyone would every mistake him for a warm and fuzzy sort of fellow, a veritable welcoming tent with a warm hug for everyone.

He is certainly one of the most dominant pitchers I have seen in my lifetime, bloody dock and all, but on a personal level, the guy is, well, what he is.

Already suspended form his job once for stupid comments on Twitter, he apparently has struggled, to put it politely, with social media over the years, often getting into Twitter flame wars.

And then the latest. if you saw the picture, well, it was no different than what you would see on Cousin Bubba's Facebook page, not overly offensive, in my opinion, but certain stupid.

So it cost him his job.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/sports/baseball/curt-schilling-is-fired-by-espn.html?_r=0


Curt Schilling, a former All-Star pitcher and one of the highest-profile baseball analysts on ESPN, was fired from the network Wednesday, a day after he drew intense criticism for promoting offensive commentary on social media.

Schilling, who had worked for the network since 2010 and most recently offered analysis on “Monday Night Baseball,” was dismissed after sharing a Facebook post this week that appeared to respond to the North Carolina law that bars transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not correspond with their birth genders.

The post showed an overweight man wearing a wig and women’s clothing with parts of the T-shirt cut out to expose his breasts. It says: “LET HIM IN! to the restroom with your daughter or else you’re a narrow-minded, judgmental, unloving racist bigot who needs to die.”

To that, Schilling added: “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”

“ESPN is an inclusive company,” ESPN said in a statement. “Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.”

Schilling, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.

It was the latest in a number of commentaries by Schilling on social media that have drawn controversy. He was suspended for a month after he posted a comment on Twitter in August that compared radical Muslims to Nazis.

Earlier Wednesday, Schilling appeared on a show on WEEI radio in Boston and defended himself against accusations of intolerance and racism.

“To be in a place where people actually believe I’m a racist or I’m transphobic says to me that something has gone horribly askew somewhere,” he told the hosts on WEEI, sounding weary and bewildered by his latest social media furor.

Schilling told WEEI: “I replied to the post. I didn’t post that.”

But a screen image captured by Outsports.com showed that Schilling had shared it and added his own comment.

On his personal blog on Tuesday, Schilling did not back down, even as advocates in the transgender community called for his dismissal.

“Let’s make one thing clear right upfront,” he wrote. “If you get offended by ANYTHING in this post, that’s your fault, all yours.” He added: “This latest brew ha ha is beyond hilarious. I didn’t post that ugly picture. I made a comment about the basic functionality of men’s and women’s restrooms, period.”

Schilling’s son, Grant, defended his father Tuesday on Facebook, saying: “And while I will say he’s not the most well informed in the modern LGBT+ culture, i can assure you he’s made great strides to understand people today. If he were a bigot he wouldn’t have allowed my Trans friends to stay over, he’s respected pronouns and name changes- never once have I heard him say something to me that I thought he should keep quiet about.”

After his suspension last season, Jessica Mendoza replaced Schilling on ESPN’s marquee “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcasts. He was subsequently reassigned to the network’s games on Monday nights.

Last month, he waded into politics on a Kansas City radio station when he suggested that Hillary Clinton “should be buried under a jail somewhere” if she gave “classified information on hundreds if not thousands of emails on a public server, after what happened to General Petraeus.”

Last year, David H. Petraeus, a former C.I.A. director and a top general in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sentenced to two years’ probation by a federal judge for providing classified information to a woman with whom he was having an affair.

Analysts said ESPN was left with little choice after Schilling’s repeated offenses.

“If you’re taking a paycheck from ESPN, you have to be extra careful about how you communicate publicly and always err on the side of caution and responsibility,” said James Andrew Miller, a co-author of “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN.”

“It’s not an unfair or impractical position for ESPN to hold,” he added. “If you want to express your own opinions in a provocative way on social media, then ESPN and a lot of other media organizations are probably not where you should be working.”

Schilling describes himself on his Facebook account as a “Conservative pro life pro 2nd amendment American who wants to help those that cannot help themselves.”

Schilling, a six-time All-Star, was one of baseball’s top pitchers over a 20-year career and compiled a record of 216-146 while pitching for the Baltimore Orioles, the Houston Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox. He was even better in the postseason, with an 11-2 record and a 2.23 E.R.A.

He is perhaps best known for pitching in the 2004 American League Championship Series against the Yankees with his right sock bloody from a procedure that had been used to secure a dislocated tendon in his right ankle. Schilling pitched seven innings, and the Red Sox won, 4-2. Boston went on to win Game 7 and then the W

 

Just another victim of the hateful gay mob. They aren't just happy with equal standing under the law , they also demand everyone loves their life style or else! Honestly they are some of the most hateful people you can meet. The sad part is , it's really just a small portion of them... most are fine and good people. But the vocal minority who hates the world they live in spend all their time trying to bring down non gays who don't like their life style. Just hateful behavior.

 

So people are outraged at Curt for:

A man dressing up as a woman in order to use the women's restroom.

 

LOL! He's a victim of himself. He couldn't control his own reactions that his employer found unacceptable and had made clear were unacceptable prior to this incident.

Why do you hate free enterprise?

 

Yep. Liberals continue to stand on their heads and tell you that you're the one upside down.

 

He does not seem to be a very nice person. Too bad for him.

 

Why Schilling (or anyone else) would care where people need to relieve themselves is beyond me. We've got two bathrooms where I work, and both sexes have used them interchangeably without incident.

 

I don't.

Why do you live in a world of make believe? Clearly the 'hateful gay mob' has you clutching your pearls.

 

I don't. What's got you in such a state? Do you need the fainting couch again?

 

Why does a man calling himself a woman feel the need to (*)(*)(*)(*) in a womans bathroom ? Works both ways.

 

If he used the "n" word and posted a picture of a banana eating monkey the same people here would be defending him along the same lines. And probably ask him to post on the PoFo here. He's a big boy. He knew what he was doing. And I seriously, seriously doubt he was surprised at the outcome. No sane executive catering to a mass audience of wide diversity (America, don't ya know) could tolerate that behaviour. Bottom line in a free market economy is the bottom line.

 

Back to the thread topic.

 

So you're saying that ESPN or other companies who find themselves in similar positions shouldn't fire people who say things that might impact their business?

 

Shhhh!!!!! You'll spoil the false narrative and manufactured outrate and ruin the pity party!

 

We don't live in a free market economy , and liberals seem to forget that in this "free market" economy people are forced to bake cakes for gays... free market... lol.

- - - Updated - - -

Is that what you think I said ? Can you quote anything remotely close from my comment ?

 

Sorry but ESPN is watched by a lot of people who find Curt a bit offensive for stuff like that. If he stuck to baseball then fine but leave out the boorish social commentary. Or go get a job with Bigot Broadcasting or Redneck Radio. Or FOX in pretty much any capacity.

 

It's what you implied. The thread is about Curt Schilling being fired for Facebook posts that could be considered offensive. You then rant about how he's another victim of the "hateful gay mob", but it wasn't the "hateful gay mob" that fired Curt Schilling, it was ESPN. So that either means that you think ESPN gave-in to said mob, or ESPN is actually a part of said mob. ESPN itself is probably just making a decision that they think best protects their business and has nothing to do with supporting or opposing same-sex marriage issues. Other companies have taken similar actions.

So that leads me to think you believe one of two possibilities. The first is that companies shouldn't do things like this, fire somebody who make questionable statements that may impact their brand, just because there are those in our society who would take issue with those statements. That was the basis for my question. The other possibility is that you think people shouldn't hold companies responsible for what people under their banner might say or do, and therefore, should not push for action when those things happen. In that scenario, these companies wouldn't find themselves in the position of having to choose in the first place. ESPN should be able to have Curt Schilling as an employee or contributor and nothing Curt Schilling says or does should reflect back on ESPN, only Curt Schilling himself, meaning ESPN suffers no effect to it's business because of what Curt Schilling may say or do.

Since the latter seemed to be highly unrealistic and unrepresentative of the way human beings think and act, I decided to pursue my first possibility, and posed you the question that I did.

 

What's funny is that the vast majority of the demographic that actually watches Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN probably agrees with him.

 

ESPN bowed to the hateful gay mob. Duh.

 

Oh really ? You know that "a lot" of people who watch ESPN find "Curt a bit offensive for stuff like that" ?

What, like 1% maybe ? Is that you idea of "a lot" ? You can bet your ass that a whole lot more find the notion of men with penises in the ladies room offensive.

Push-back is coming.

 

So, should ESPN not be allowed, or even just be expected, to make decisions about things that impact their business like this? Or, should the public not associate the people who work or contribute for a company with that company itself and not have that association affect their perception of the company and desire to buy what is being sold by that company?

How should it work?

 

Not really...

The guy's an idiot. Politics aside, it's more about the nature of his job. You start distancing viewers with offensive remarks like this and you lose viewership. You lose viewership, you get fired. It would be like me opening up a bank and sounding off on my opinion of liberals in NYC. Fine, you are entitled to your opinion. But you' re in a public forum right now. Keep it to yourself.

He just seems like another one of these ****'s who believes free-speech means he can vomit whatever whenever. You can...but other people are similarly free to respond...and he got fired.

 

Though you are correct, the frustration really isn't the legality or the idiocy. It's how sensitive the American sissies have become. We're now a wussified America. Everything offends everyone. The picture he posted is of a man, pretending to be a woman in order to use the women's restroom. That's exactly what some sick individuals want legalized. The people who are outraged are the same people who want that very thing legalized! Makes no sense!

 

What ? Who has suggested that it is about "allowing" anything ? ESPN can do what it wants, within the Law. And folks can disagree, likewise.

ESPN bowed to the gay mafia. I submit that they upset far more of their viewers than appeased them.

 

It's because they know each other. They're probably single user bathrooms.