Former ESPN MLB analyst Curt Schilling on Thursday said he regrets sharing an image and commentary on his Facebook account that was "interpreted in a way it wasn't intended to be," according to Steve Buckley of the BOSTON HERALD. Schilling was fired for the post, the latest in several controversial comments or social media posts he has made in the past year, and he said, "I know that sounds like I'm shoving the blame to other people. I'm not. ... It's part of the black hole of social media and the problem with social media." However, Buckley writes it "wasn't the black hole of social media that got" Schilling into trouble. It instead was Schilling himself. He "re-posted somebody's grotesque caricature of a transgender person, and in doing so he stepped away" from being the person who previously had indicated would "embrace an openly gay teammate" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/22).
RULES ARE RULES: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir notes ESPN in firing Schilling "shed itself of a nuisance who did not, or could not, follow corporate policy and could not grasp that passing around an anti-transgender message digitally might affect people who are finding their way to new gender identities" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/22). In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal writes whatever people think of Schilling's views and the "manner he expressed them, the bigger problem is he persisted in weighing in when it was so unnecessary and clearly not in the commercial interests of those who employed him" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/22). The NEW YORKER's Ian Crouch wrote despite various outcries against his previous statements, Schilling "still had his job last week." All he had to do to keep his position was "stop posting on Facebook" or delete his Twitter account. Instead he "seems to have been overcome" by the "compulsion to do something that one knows is wrong for the very precipitous thrill of doing it" (NEWYORKER.com, 4/21). In Orlando, David Whitley notes the point of Schilling's firing "is his employer asked him, told him, all but begged him to stop saying things that turned off a large segment of its customers," something he did not do. ESPN "gave him another chance, but Schilling can't seem to help himself." Whitley: "It's as if he's genetically programmed to spout off about thing unrelated to baseball" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/22).
DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS: CNN.com's Roxanne Jones wrote the day Schilling "walked off the mound and decided to collect a paycheck as a baseball analyst, he gave up his right to publicly rant about just any subject that popped into his head." Freedom of speech in the real world "has limits, especially for employees" (CNN.com, 4/21). The GUARDIAN's Les Carpenter noted ESPN put Schilling in its lineup of baseball announcers "because he seemed to have something valuable to say." He "was interesting" in the booth, and he "gave depth to the broadcast." However, the "social media Curt Schilling is hateful" (GUARDIAN, 4/21).
