TheoShmeo said:I don't live in the Boston market but I do listen to podcasts of WEEI regularly. I like D&C's interviews. I also like Mike Francessa's interviews, for that matter. I don't like any of them on their own, but they have a knack for asking questions and eliciting good conversation. My point is that I have some limited exposure to Minihane through that vehicle.
Based on that and for other reasons, I think the hysteria around this issue is way overblown. He may be a bad guy. Probably is. But most of what he said is true. Erin Andrews does suck. If she wasn't pretty, she would not have this job, She wouldn't have replaced the hard to looki at but more talented Pam Oliver if not for her looks and weight. Now "bitch" is a dumbass word, especially in 2014, and the waitress line was idiotic too.
But I hate PC much more than I hate these comments, and the notion that people are boycotting that show over this is foolish to me. Minhane made a mistake. He admitted it in a clumsy way. Move on. I thought about joining Traut's group so I could write just this, but I didn't want to be a turd in the punch bowl and decided just to post here instead. So back to where I started, I really enjoy the D&C/Brady conversations, even though Tom rarely says much that's off script, and therefore hope he and his handlers ignore Traut's page.
The concept of "political correctness" has become tortured into a defense for almost any comment from the merely impolite to those that reek of barely concealed racial or sexist animus or ignorance. Punching me in the face for calling your wife a "fat gross pig" is *not* PC run amok. Giving Minihane a hard time or his comments is also not a "PC" issue.
For the 8000th time....if he wanted to say she was no good at her job, or that the job is a waste of time that detracts from the broadcast, I'm all in. IMO there are no "good" sideline reporters, i.e., those that add something to the broadcast. And its not wrong to suggest that men and women's appearance are calculated differently by TV executives. But Minihane went beyond that.
It is possible to look at Minihane's comments as a "mistake." Just as it is possible to look at the "METCO gorilla" comments as a "mistake." The first time. But after calling her a bitch, it's difficult to give him any benefit of the doubt about the "waitress" comment. Yeah, it was idiotic. But he was also demeaning because she's a woman, which is the very definition of sexist. It's one step short (maybe a half-step) of saying "show your tits or get back into the kitchen, dearie, 'cuz that's all you got." Maybe he's just trolling for ratings. Or maybe he's just completely clueless. That doesn;t matter; he deserves whatever shit people can hurl at him.
No offense to you intended, but "the PC reaction bothers me more than the comments" is a cop-out. If Minihane were being carpet-bombed for using the term "blacks" instead of "African American", *that* is PC run amok -- looking for some "-ism" when it obviously isn't there. Or if you say to a group of women, "c'mon guys, lets get going." This isn't that.
Criticizing him, calling for discipline, hoping that Brady, in the name of his sisters, avoids D & C altogether, is not a "PC reaction."