Curt Schilling

[Cable]

Just wanted to start a dumpster fire about his recent comments. It was not a surprise, nor him finally getting fired. But what is worse to me is he is minimizing his continuing polarism by comparing himself to Stephen A Smith comments. I somewhat agree with him, but comparing and trying to excuse himself is not helping. Own the comments, and show some acknowledgement of the other perspective.

http://m.weei.com/sports/boston/this-just-in/212147961/schilling-dc-addresses-espn-firing

The guy is also a bit yellow in that he only goes on this particular radio show. It is well known that D&C have a right leaning outlook. He defended himself on that same station show when he fucked over the state of Rhode Island with his ill-thought out 38 Studios video game venture. He still cannot explain why it was ok for him to take 75million of "bonds" from taxpayers when he is anti-government. He continually defends it as the money was already there, and if he didn't take it, the money would have vanished. I've never heard of many more stupid things in my life.

He defends himself by saying it's his opinion, it's his own Twitter or whatever. As much as I don't like the pedestal athletes are on, the moron fails to realize he is a famous former athlete. As a result, people will follow you on Twitter. And you are getting paid to be a public figure on TV. Therefore, stuff you believe that you publicly air are no longer private. That also may influence the fact that ESPN has ads, and some of those companies might not like your opinion. As a result, your extreme one sided opinions might make one of those big companies decide to pull their ads. That influences the employer.

[KevShmev]

Schilling is an ass, but he is right.  I think he went too far with his comments - he could have had the same opinion and stated it in a less confrontational manner - but his main point about the race card and how the reaction would have been different if he were a liberal is on the money.

[Cable]

I agree, but from a little different angle. And the fact that the race card can get thrown around is not fair. Look at the Donovan McNabb thing. If Stephen A would have said would Limbaugh did, I don't feel he would have gotten jumped upon. And Limbaugh IMO was kind of right about McNabb. He was mediocre at best during most of his career, especially in the beginning. But he is white, a well known GOP supporter, and was being controversial.

[kingshmegland]

I don't agree with everything he says but I absolutely see his point. I find the media very liberal and if you don't agree you are fucked.

Now he is sooooooo brash he's bringing attention to him. It's a no win situation.

[orcus116]

It's hard not to agree with the Steven A. Smith stuff but Schilling acts like a guy who doesn't realize the real reason why he gets backlash at some of the insane shit he shares or posts. He seemed confused when people were coming after him over the muslims/Nazi thing a few months ago and his main defense is always "it's because I'm a Republican that's why" which isn't really an excuse for the way he approaches expressing his viewpoints. It's a copout, really.

[portnoy311]

Transgenders in bathrooms, over the top climate change denial, and constant anti evolution posts and tweets have nothing to do with sports. His RGIII example is missing that point. The dude's an idiot.

[El Barto]

First, the disclaimer. This is the first time I've heard anything about the guy in ages. The only thing I know about the current goings on is what I read in this thread and the linked article.

Every company in the USA is going to fire somebody that represents them poorly. Some nitwit working an Arby's fryer can say silly things because it won't reflect back on his employer. Schilling is [I gather] an analyst with a major network. His comments are going to resonate. I understand why they might want to sack him if they feel his comments were detrimental to their brand. Also, as handy as it is to blame things on the liberal media, the fact is that roughly half of the population of this country is going to fall into the liberal camp. As we're seeing, companies have very little interest in kicking the proverbial hornet's nest. We're at a point where it's viewed as better for the bottom line to throw in the towel before things blow up. Sounds like that's what happened here. 

[Prog Snob]

Schilling is an ass, but he is right.  I think he went too far with his comments - he could have had the same opinion and stated it in a less confrontational manner - but his main point about the race card and how the reaction would have been different if he were a liberal is on the money.

This, exactly. There is an obvious bias and double standard in the media. It's not going away anytime soon. Curt can say whatever he wants but he has to realize that there are repercussions. Voicing his opinion in a public forum is not the wisest thing to do unless he is intentionally trying to ruffle some feathers. I don't think he's stupid in that he didn't think his comments would be free from fallout. Shit, doesn't he remember the Twitter incident with his daughter? He knows that anything said on Twitter, Facebook, etc, is open to scrutiny. I just think he felt justified in voicing his opinion like so many others do.

[El Barto]

Schilling is an ass, but he is right.  I think he went too far with his comments - he could have had the same opinion and stated it in a less confrontational manner - but his main point about the race card and how the reaction would have been different if he were a liberal is on the money.

This, exactly. There is an obvious bias and double standard in the media. It's not going away anytime soon. Curt can say whatever he wants but he has to realize that there are repercussions. Voicing his opinion in a public forum is not the wisest thing to do unless he is intentionally trying to ruffle some feathers. I don't think he's stupid in that he didn't think his comments would be free from fallout. Shit, doesn't he remember the Twitter incident with his daughter? He knows that anything said on Twitter, Facebook, etc, is open to scrutiny. I just think he felt justified in voicing his opinion like so many others do.

His mistake. He's not.

[kingshmegland]

El Barto is correct.  You have to feel the pulse of your company and it's obvious the leanings of ESPN.


I think this PC world is going to hell.  People watch who they hate and Curt would get ratings.  They should have had him do radio and the talk circuit on ESPN.

[cramx3]

I haven't followed his rant/firing/backfire whatever, but I always hated Curt and always felt like he was a real asshole so without knowing the details, I'm inclined to say this is more of Curt being Curt.

[Prog Snob]

Schilling is an ass, but he is right.  I think he went too far with his comments - he could have had the same opinion and stated it in a less confrontational manner - but his main point about the race card and how the reaction would have been different if he were a liberal is on the money.

This, exactly. There is an obvious bias and double standard in the media. It's not going away anytime soon. Curt can say whatever he wants but he has to realize that there are repercussions. Voicing his opinion in a public forum is not the wisest thing to do unless he is intentionally trying to ruffle some feathers. I don't think he's stupid in that he didn't think his comments would be free from fallout. Shit, doesn't he remember the Twitter incident with his daughter? He knows that anything said on Twitter, Facebook, etc, is open to scrutiny. I just think he felt justified in voicing his opinion like so many others do.

His mistake. He's not.

He's definitely within his right to voice an opinion. Whether or not it's wise is a completely different story. You can't tell the man he's not allowed to say something just because you disagree with what he said. I don't agree with everything he says but I sure as hell won't tell him he's not allowed to say something just because it's offensive. The repercussions, though many times hypocritical, will be plentiful.

[El Barto]

Well, I suppose it comes down to how you define freedom with regard to repercussions. Regardless, I was only referring to those repercussions.

Though in this case I suspect there was very specific language in his contract that limited him to what he could say in any forum. Once he signed that he waived that freedom.

[Prog Snob]

Well, I suppose it comes down to how you define freedom with regard to repercussions. Regardless, I was only referring to those repercussions.

Though in this case I suspect there was very specific language in his contract that limited him to what he could say in any forum. Once he signed that he waived that freedom.

I'm curious as to the terms of the contract, too. I'm sure most commentators sign something in regards to forbidden words, topics, etc.

[portnoy311]

I feel like a lot of the narrative about this whole situation is missing that Curt wasn't even fired for just having ideas. It's that he's so over the top forceful, sarcastic, inflammatory, and frankly trollish with his "beliefs."

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/11/curt-schilling-charles-darwin-evolution-mlb

Just try to follow along with what he's saying there about evolution. Besides being factually incorrect, he's putting himself on this pedestal that has nothing to do with being "conservative," or some double standard. It's not the liberal media that makes diatribes like that ridiculous.

Let's look at his recent tweets.

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/8/25/9206495/curt-schilling-tweets-deletes-awful-meme-comparing-muslims-to-nazis


http://www.outsports.com/2016/4/19/11461618/curt-schilling-espn-transgender





It's always amazing to me that someone can be an epic prick, but then hide behind the "it's because I'm conservative!!!!" defense. No, Curt. It's not the liberal media or any bias. It's because you're an ignorant close minded asshole who acts like a 12 year old. That has nothing to do with being "conservative."

[Stadler]

It's always amazing to me that someone can be an epic prick, but then hide behind the "it's because I'm conservative!!!!" defense. No, Curt. It's not the liberal media or any bias. It's because you're an ignorant close minded asshole who acts like a 12 year old. That has nothing to do with being "conservative."

Pragmatically, you're right, but the reality is, for some people "ignorant close minded asshole who acts like a 12 year old" IS "conservative".   

I had a conversation with another parent the other night at my daughter's school.  I took my kid to the Trump rally and we ran into her kid and her husband there.   She said "Oh, thank you so much for taking one for the team.   I had to have [husband] go; I just couldn't.  You know, being a woman and all..."  and it was everything I could do to not say "NO, actually, you self-centered, haughty pretentious liberal bitch, I DON'T know.  What does being "a woman" have to do with it?  There were 1,000's of women there.   It's the capital city of our great state, it was a beautiful evening, and it was broad daylight.  What did you think was going to happen???"

[kingshmegland]

[portnoy311]

It's always amazing to me that someone can be an epic prick, but then hide behind the "it's because I'm conservative!!!!" defense. No, Curt. It's not the liberal media or any bias. It's because you're an ignorant close minded asshole who acts like a 12 year old. That has nothing to do with being "conservative."

Pragmatically, you're right, but the reality is, for some people "ignorant close minded asshole who acts like a 12 year old" IS "conservative".   

I had a conversation with another parent the other night at my daughter's school.  I took my kid to the Trump rally and we ran into her kid and her husband there.   She said "Oh, thank you so much for taking one for the team.   I had to have [husband] go; I just couldn't.  You know, being a woman and all..."  and it was everything I could do to not say "NO, actually, you self-centered, haughty pretentious liberal bitch, I DON'T know.  What does being "a woman" have to do with it?  There were 1,000's of women there.   It's the capital city of our great state, it was a beautiful evening, and it was broad daylight.  What did you think was going to happen???"

Again though, if she's saying she thinks Trump is sexist she should be able to do so, regardless of what political party he is registered to this year. It's not like Trump is representative of all conservatism.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

For some reason, Schilling kinda reminds me of John Rocker, albeit with slightly less fratboy douchebaggery.

[Stadler]

It's always amazing to me that someone can be an epic prick, but then hide behind the "it's because I'm conservative!!!!" defense. No, Curt. It's not the liberal media or any bias. It's because you're an ignorant close minded asshole who acts like a 12 year old. That has nothing to do with being "conservative."

Pragmatically, you're right, but the reality is, for some people "ignorant close minded asshole who acts like a 12 year old" IS "conservative".   

I had a conversation with another parent the other night at my daughter's school.  I took my kid to the Trump rally and we ran into her kid and her husband there.   She said "Oh, thank you so much for taking one for the team.   I had to have [husband] go; I just couldn't.  You know, being a woman and all..."  and it was everything I could do to not say "NO, actually, you self-centered, haughty pretentious liberal bitch, I DON'T know.  What does being "a woman" have to do with it?  There were 1,000's of women there.   It's the capital city of our great state, it was a beautiful evening, and it was broad daylight.  What did you think was going to happen???"

Again though, if she's saying she thinks Trump is sexist she should be able to do so, regardless of what political party he is registered to this year. It's not like Trump is representative of all conservatism.

Of course; but that's NOT what she's saying.  She's saying that ALL conservatives - or at least a significant majority - are so distasteful in their views that she feels she is in some kind of danger - physical?  emotional? - even being around them.  That's the kind of attitude you have when contemplating going to a frat party not a political gathering where (ideally) ideas will be exchanged.   She's essentially saying that no conservative - at least of the type that is following Trump - is even worth being around, let alone trading ideas with.

It was condescending and insulting. 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Are you sure she didn't just mean that she didn't feel safe being around the type of crowd one might find specifically at a Trump rally?  That would've been the first thing I took it to mean, based on what you posted, but I wasn't there.

[El Barto]

Perhaps she's saying that the many of the sorts of people who attend Trump rallies, once worked up into a lather, constitute a crowd scene she's not comfortable with. They're not exactly friendly towards dissenters. As with any other group, there's a difference between conservative individuals and a conservative collective. In the case of Trump's brand of populist conservatism, a collective with a strong undercurrent of fear and distrust.

edit: Also known as what Coz just said

[Stadler]

I think you both are largely right.   But I don't think that's different than what I'm saying.  Just because it's "populist" doesn't mean that "as a woman" she should be scared.  This wasn't a Hell's Angels rally.

There literally was not ONE ARREST at the Trump rally in Connecticut.   Not even a random drunk and disorderly from the night club across the street. 

[El Barto]

I think you both are largely right.   BUt I don't think that's different than what I'm saying.  Just because it's "populist" doesn't mean that "as a woman" she should be scared.  This wasn't a Hell's Angels rally.

I suppose that's true, based on the "as a woman" part. While I think a pretty good argument could be made for them being anti-woman in some ares, that doesn't translate to imminent threat to the female attendees.

[portnoy311]

I mean, Stadler your own report painted a little different picture.

By the way, I went to the Trump rally in Connecticut on Thursday of last week.  What a crazy thing.   Absolute circus, and not in a good way.   7:00 rally, I got there about 5:45.  At that point, the line was out the door and snaking through the parking garage.  We (my daughter and I) parked and decided to get some food.  We failed, but we found one of my daughter's friends, and decided to get in line.  It was LONG.    The guy behind me was very upset, because he got all the way up to the metal detectors (the last line before getting into the center itself) and he had a vape pen or some shit, and they wouldn't let him in with it.  Rather than ditch the $250 unit, he went back to the car while the other three went in.  So we make our way and we get to within about 50 feet of the detectors and the line breaks down and it's just a rush to the detectors.  There are seven, but only four are working, serviced by TSA agents.

We stood for almost 45 minutes in that mass, slowly moving forward.   The only even remotely saving grace was that the woman in front of me was very attractive, which should tell you all you need to know about my prospects of getting in.  As it got to about 7:00, we could see in through the glass, and sure enough, Trump took the podium.  No other speakers, nothing, and he talked for about 35, 40 minutes.  They were still letting people in, but it was half-hearted, and we got as close as about 20 feet before Trump ended and they let people out. 

Here's the thing:  they didn't let people out the same way they let them in.  We went in on the downstairs floor, and went upstairs inside to the metal detectors.  They let the people out upstairs, to walk down a set of outside stairs.  To where the protesters were camped out.  So they basically funneled the Trump supporters down a concrete chute right into the protestors.  It was moderately calm, but still.  The Trump supporters (and neutral observers, like me) outnumbered the protestors about 10 to 1 if not more.  At one point, some woman was taking photos of every person in line as they walked by; I asked her what she was about and she said something snotty about "If you're proud of your position and your candidate, you shouldn't mind being in a photo at his rally", so I said "Proud of our position, eh?" and I took her picture on my phone and then said "well, fair point, but be careful about what you assume.  You know, assume, ass, you, me...  I'm here for the educational moment, and you should be more respectful of that."  She stopped at that point.

Most of the protestors were the same spiel; "Stop the Hate", "No homophobia, no Islamophobia, no something I can't remember-phobia" stuff.   Honestly, most of the people there were there for the spectacle.   There were supporters but it wasn't the mass race war that the press makes it out to be.  There were in fact ZERO arrests that night (though at the end, we walked over to the center of Hartford to get food, and on the way back, the police were sweeping the streets of protestors). 

Best sign of the night:  guy had a simple 8.5" x 11" paper with "I'm Not Down With Donald Trump's Ideas" on one side, and as he turned, I saw the other side that said "Donald Trump Listens To Creed" and thought that was hilarious.




That sounds like an awkward situation based around a candidate she probably thinks is sexist. I'd probably avoid it as well.

[Stadler]

Eh, I see what you're saying, and I stand behind what I wrote, but I don't think it connects like you are implying.  "Chaos" in the sense of one door get 7,000 (or however many; I'm making that number up) people in the door.  "Chaos" in the sense of not waiting until everyone was in before starting.   "Chaos" in the sense of pitting the protestors against the supporters.  But there is/was nothing there that was inherently "Trump" (meaning unique to him as a candidate) or inherently "conservative".  If anything the protestors were the most out of line (one kept trying to climb the light pole right outside the doors and just didn't have the body strength to pull himself up; it was actually kind of funny).

Her position wasn't based on logistics, it was based on her pre-conceived notions of what a "Conservative"/"Trump" political rally should look like. 

[Cable]

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2016/05/17/stephen-a-smith-on-curt-schilling-your-ass-is-gone-because-you-did-not-want-to-listen/


I guess Curt is continuing to talk dirt about ESPN? Anyway, thought this was interesting. As much as Stephen A criticism is deserved, and he himself has been on the line, his view isworth considering. Also, I do like how he handled the ethnicity/race thing with Rob Parker's infamous statements;

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq67eSxF9Ho