ESPN Has No Plans To Suspend Holtz For On-Air Hitler Reference

ESPN Has No Plans To Suspend Holtz Following Hitler Reference

ESPN said that it "had no plans to suspend" college football studio analyst Lou Holtz for referencing Adolf Hitler during a conversation about Univ. of Michigan (UM) coach Rich Rodriguez Friday night, according to Dick Weiss of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Holtz was part of a set discussion about Rodriguez' leadership ability when he said, "Ya know, Hitler was a great leader, too." Holtz made an on-air apology Saturday during halftime of the Georgia Tech-Clemson 12:00pm ET game, saying, "Last night while trying to make a point about leadership, I made an unfortunate reference. It was a mistake and I sincerely apologize." Weiss reported ESPN execs also apologized to UM AD Bill Martin, who "called the network to complain after being told about Holtz's comments" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/19). Rodriguez said after UM's loss to Penn State Saturday that he "had not heard about Holtz's remark." After hearing the comment, Rodriguez said, "What is the correlation there? I don't know where his correlation is" (DETROIT NEWS, 10/19).

DOUBLE STANDARD? SI.com's Stewart Mandel wrote ESPN "needs to fire, or at the very least suspend, Lou Holtz." Mandel: "Holtz went waaaaay out of bounds. Sports commentators have been fired in the past for making racially insensitive remarks" (SI.com, 10/19). In Hartford, Paul Doyle, noting ESPN should suspend Holtz, wrote Hotlz "didn't just cross the line, he sprinted past it and should be off the air for a while" (HARTFORD COURANT, 10/19). COLLEGE FOOTBALL TALK's Michael David Smith noted Holtz not receiving a suspension is a "departure from ESPN's approach" when columnist Jemele Hill was suspended for a week this spring when she wrote rooting for the Celtics "is like saying Hitler was a victim" (COLLEGEFOOTBALLTALK.com, 10/18). AWFUL ANNOUNCING writes, "Just because he's a kooky old man, doesn't mean that Holtz shouldn't be forced to take time off as well, and I'd be upset if I was Jemele Hill" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 10/20). THE BIG LEAD wrote Hill "can't be too impressed with the kid gloves Holtz was seemingly handled with" (THEBIGLEAD.com, 10/18). FANHOUSE.com's Will Brinson: "If I was Jemele Hill, I'd be freaking teed off that Holtz wasn't getting suspended" (FANHOUSE.com, 10/18).

MORE LOU TO COME: ESPN VP/Communications Mike Soltys said the net will announce today Holtz will join Rece Davis and Mark May in the broadcast booth for Thursday night's Auburn-West Virginia game. The regular Thursday night crew of Chris Fowler, Craig James and Jesse Palmer "will move into the studio" for the game (USA TODAY, 10/20).