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