Cowherd no longer on ESPN air after comments about Dominicans
 

Colin Cowherd no longer on ESPN air after comments about Dominicans

Radio host Colin Cowherd no longer will appear on ESPN following comments he made questioning the intelligence of Dominican Republic players related to baseball one day earlier, the company said in a statement Friday.

"Colin Cowherd's comments over the past two days do not reflect the values of ESPN or our employees," ESPN said in a statement. "Colin will no longer appear on ESPN."

Cowherd issued an apology later Friday via Twitter.

Cowherd had said Thursday that he didn't believe baseball was complex, saying a third of the sport was from the Dominican Republic, which had "not been known, in my lifetime, as having, you know, world-class academic abilities.''

Major League Baseball on Friday said Cowherd owes Dominican players an apology for the remarks, and the MLB Players Association also condemned his comments.

Earlier Friday, Cowherd addressed his remarks from Thursday during The Herd.

"I could've made the point without using one country, and there's all sorts of smart people from the Dominican Republic," Cowherd said. "I could've said a third of baseball's talent is being furnished from countries with economic hardships, therefore educational hurdles. For the record, I used the Dominican Republic because they've furnished baseball with so many great players."

Cowherd on Friday also cited reports and statistics to back up what he said about the country's ranking when it comes to primary education.

"I understand that when you mention a specific country, they get offended," Cowherd said. "I get it. I do. And for that, I feel bad. I do. But I have four reports in front of me ... where there are discussions of major deficiencies in the education sector at all levels. ... It wasn't a shot at them. It was data. Five, seven years ago I talked about the same subject. Was I clunky? Perhaps. Did people not like my tone? I get it. Sometimes my tone stinks.

"I think when you host a radio show, just like Jon Stewart hosts a show, I think sometimes I bring up stuff ... that makes people cringe. I'm not saying there's not intelligent, educated people from the Dominican Republic. I cringe at the data, too."

Major League Baseball issued its statement after Cowherd's show aired Friday.

"Major League Baseball condemns the remarks made by Colin Cowherd, which were inappropriate, offensive and completely inconsistent with the values of our game," it said. "Mr. Cowherd owes our players of Dominican origin, and Dominican people generally, an apology."

Tony Clark, executive director of the MLBPA, also issued a statement in which he took issue with Cowherd's response Friday to his original comments.

"As a veteran of 15 MLB seasons, I can assure you that our sport is infinitely more complex than some in the media would have you believe," Clark said. "To suggest otherwise is ignorant, and to make an ignorant point by denigrating the intelligence of our Dominican members was not 'clunky' -- it was offensive.

"These recent comments are particularly disappointing when viewed against the backdrop of the important work being done to celebrate and improve the cultural diversity of our game. Baseball's partners and stakeholders should help such efforts, not undermine them."

There were 83 Dominican players on Opening Day rosters this year, representing about 10 percent of all players in the majors.

The flap stems from Cowherd's comments on Thursday, which were made while debating whether it was difficult for a front-office executive to take over managerial duties -- using current Miami Marlins general manager/manager Dan Jennings as an example.

"It's baseball," Cowherd said Thursday. "You don't think a general manager can manage? Like it's impossible? The game is too complex? I've never bought into that, 'Baseball's just too complex.' Really? A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has not been known in my lifetime as having world-class academic abilities. A lot of those kids come from rough backgrounds and have not had opportunities academically that other kids from other countries have.

"Baseball is like any sport. It's mostly instincts. A sports writer who covers baseball could go up to Tony La Russa and have a real baseball argument, and Tony would listen and it would seem reasonable. There's not a single NFL writer in the country who could diagram a play for Bill Belichick. You know, we get caught up in this whole 'thinking-man's game.' Is it in the same family? Most people could do it. It's not being a concert pianist. It's in the same family."

Cowherd's comments drew the attention of Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, a native of the Dominican Republic who asked Cowherd via Twitter for further clarification concerning his remarks on Thursday.

Cowherd, who had been with ESPN for 12 years, announced earlier this week that he's leaving the company for another business opportunity.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Boy, he and Donald are building quite the fanbase in the latin community.

Colin is absolutely AWFUL on the air... I hope this costs him his job at Fox Sports radio (or wherever he is going).

At least he still has his other job of sucking Brady and Belichick's nuts.

It's really hard to imagine that it took this long, but it's not surprising it happened as soon as he told them he was leaving.

He made a living at ESPN for spouting out the dumbest generalizations as out and out facts. He's said far dumber things than this, too.

What is interesting is that they let him give a mea culpa on air (the few minutes I caught of it came off as half-assed) and only then did they shitcan him. Funny given that shortly thereafter he was talking about how class ESPN was as a company and that two higher ups called him to thank him for his time.

With that said, it's total hypocrisy on the part of ESPN, given the bullshit they allow from Skip Bayless and Steven A. Smith.

I thought he was leaving anyways, going to Fox or something?

Jim Harbaugh rejoices. Hootie weeps.

Yep they figure they take this chance to look like the SJW hero, and give him a parting shot against ratings at the competitor.

Besides that.. this 'everyone has to be fired for any ****ing thing they' say is getting realllllllllllll old.

Hootie tears in...3.........2....................

I didn't hear the comments but the topic came up with people who did hear it. The way they made it sound was within the context of a majority of the guys are signed so young they don't finish high school, let alone college.

I'm no fan of Cowherd, and if he was putting his foot in his mouth then he made his own bed. He doesn't strike me as as some closet racist, or another senile Imus.

As for ESPN, this is nothing more than a convenient way to stop having to pay the guy for the short time he had left before moving to Fox Sports 1.

People are so ****ing sensitive lmao. Is what he said not true?

Big deal. They are butthurt he was leaving.

Unless it's live sports, I have zero interest in all things ESPN.

Okay, Mike & Mike is okay, but certainly not must hear radio.

first the hulkster, next the herd, who's next, the pope?

Seriously. Thin skin America

Don't have an opinion!!!

and that's the problem. we're such a sue-happy, pussy-willed society anymore. theres no one to hold responsible for their actions. we take away the belt, and give everyone a participaction ribbon.

/not trying to move to the DC

Should have tried to pin it on Skip Bayless

I heard the comments when he made them and I didn't realize it was going to offend anyone because i kept thinking this ****ing idiot doesn't get it.

The gist of his argument was everyone says baseball is a thinking mans game, yet fewer MLB players have a degree than any of the big 3 professional sports so that proves its bullshit.

I was thinking the whole time that the ****ing idiot didn't get it, college education has nothing to do with understanding the nuances and intricacy of baseball.

The Thinking Mans Game thing may be kind of overblown but JFC does anyone think basketball is a sport influenced by education?

Has Cowherd ever heard half the running backs or WR in the the NFL speak to the media?

He should have been fired for his theory being so ****ing stupid not his comments toward Dominicans.

Cowherd is a dick.


I remember him saying something like "Royals might be in the world series but they are still in flyover country. I'm not talking about them"


**** that POS, i hope his career is over

Mike and Mike is by far the worst and most annoying thing I've ever heard in my life. I'd rather watch Michael Moore give Rush Limbaugh a blowjob while fingering Bill O'Reilly's asshole than listen to 15 seconds of those douchebag blowhards' fake arguments. Seriously **** those guys.

Okay? I haven't heard them in at least a year and a half, so I'll accept your impassioned opinion.

Which is basically to say that he's being himself. Cowherd has said stupid, uninformed shit like this for years and passed it off as truth. You could sit down and listen and the logical fallacies would spin faster than an odometer on a spacecraft.

Cowherd is fantastic. Hamas would probably be better but Hamas is great at everything

Is anyone even upset over this? Seems like it's media generated drama.

A few random thoughts

Totally disagree with his premise. The fact that very little of the sport is determined by who has the greatest athletic ability is far stronger evidence against his case than anything he spit out.

Come on. He didn't say anything that damn offensive. Tuck in your flaps and get back on the field. JFC.

It's pretty low class that ESPN played off Cowherd not renewing his contract as them firing him for this offense. Bad form. Way to pander to the torch and pitchfork crowd.

Perfect excuse for ESPN to fire Cowherd after he announced he was leaving, otherwise, they would have just suspended him for a week or two. As for his comments, baseball isn't complicated and the Dominican Republic is perennially in the bottom third in UNESCO's Education For All Development Index.

He spoke the truth. The DR is trash and good for partying and hitting on some good looking chicks.

I don't care what everyone says, it's still a stupid argument. Most pro athletes aren't out there splitting the atom. I would imagine baseball has by far the lowest number of college degrees because it has the best system to develop players straight out of high school.

Baseball is a very complex game. I think most sports are more complex than people give credit for though. There's always tons of little nuances the average fan doesn't really care about.

That is what his apology statement should have been.

Cowherd is so ****ing dumb.

I agree with Cowherd. It's weird how a stat's based "thinking man's" game fields a majority of it's athletes with the education of huckelberry fin or some shit. I'd honestly be surprised if 1/3 of baseball players even knew who huckleberry fin was or could describe what the standard deviation of a set of data means. very ironic. Doesn't mean that baseball isn't still a game of numbers and precision but it speaks to the reality of third world athletes.

I swear the men working for the media on the east and west coast are the biggest ****ing pansies being led around by women with their balls in a purse. :shake:

Given you two have the exact same argumentative style (invent a false narrative and throw shit at the wall), it's not surprising you'd fawn over him.

His general premise can be right and he can still present it like a ****ing moron. It happens on here every day.

That's the great part. Everything he said is 110 percent true.

So what percentage of baseball players do you suppose can correctly spell "Huckelberry Fin"?

Major overreaction to this. You have to want to believe he is a racist to walk away being offended. And I'm sure many want to believe that so it was a feeding frenzy.

Meh. He's a mediocre (at best) talking head that was supported by a shitty network.

Agreed. That doesn't make him a bigot, though. Fire him cause people don't tune in, not for some farcical interpretation of his comments.

Dude's made bank over taking outrageous controversial positions which generate huge responses which lead to sponsor $, engaging in faux dialectic with those that disagree and laughing internally at those who agree with positions he doesn't actually support. I'm not a fan but I doff my fedora...

When you are a douche bag and constantly make douche bag comments, you're eventually gonna get canned. He was already on borrowed time, IMO.

Are there really people at Chiefsplanet who think Cowherd is anything other than an old school moron? The guy doesn't believe in stats ffs.

I used to watch/listen, I cant do it anymore.

LMAO
****ing this...

I hate Mike and Mike. As a matter of fact, all sports radio is shit now but M&M is the worst. Commercials every 10 minutes for **** sake. Fake, scripted arguments. Drives me nuts and all they talk about are the ****ing Patriots and Jets.

Shots fired

Hey.. look.. white guys in America aren't offended.. therefor it shouldn't be offensive to anyone.

Stuff like this doesn't happen if you are not an asshole. Pretty simple.

Does anyone actually think you have to be a scholar to be good at sports? I am very good at my job but can't fix shit to save my life. These athletes are very good at their job but can't tell me the grammar that makes up their language. Does it matter?

I'm no Cowherd fan in the least but as long as ESPN keeps Skip and SaS employed and on the air, it's hard for me to take anything they do serious.

And for the record, I don't watch any programming but a live sporting event on ESPN. Haven't for years.

If u have publuc access with your opinion, u better have some diplomacy....like lewdog said, what does education have to do with it?
There are numerous who made it big in sports with no hint of them having any education. (Even those who attended college)

I hope I never have to hear or see this slappable puss ever again.
Dont think I've ever agreed with anything this shithead has ever said.

I enjoy PTI.

This guy and skip are the same class of douche..
Makes me think the people at ESPN are a collection of these types.

Jesus.

What did he say that was so bad?

I honestly think that this was set up for Colin to leave with a bang.

:spock:

Listen to the show. It was obvious that Friday was his last day.


ESPN did what they do: create a "story" out of nothing to boost ratings.

Dan LeBetard stuck up for Colin on his show

They are buddies, and LeBetard pushes the line, too.


He might be the only show worth listening to on ESPN now that SVP and Cowherd are gone. Rusillo is okay, but the rest is kind of shitty.

I dont necessarily like Cowherd but I really dont see what he said that was so offensive. He didnt say it very eloquently and I dont really agree with his point. All he was trying to day is that the educational systems where many latin players come from is lacking.

His point is entirely flawed because you can be really smart, good at problem solving and critical thinking and still not be well educated

It does not. I agree

He could put on a wig and dress, call himself Stephanie and be back in their good graces before you can say Courage Award.

That would make perfect sense.

He didn't get fired. He was on a few days before and told the audience that he didn't renew his contract because he didn't want to get stale.


That may be unfortunately correct.

Really? I hate LeBatard. They spend waaaay too much time talking about how stupid Stugatts and Greg Cody are and failing miserably to be funny. When they actually talk sports is usually good. But that usually degrades into dumbassery. In fact, they had the best segment on ESPN on Caitlin Jenner and then spent the next hour talking about how Stugatts can't talk. It made my brain hurt.

It's the end of the day when they are on so I am happy. That might skew my perception.

While I'm not of fan of Colin, I'm less of a fan of essssssssssssspn. espn is hot garbage.

An unorignal, fat Republican? Just what chiefsplanet needs.

anyone watching the Pan Am games? Didn't think so...

Don't get yourself all worked up Princess, I'm not on here much. I was so hoping that we could be buds though! Too bad.......

It's too bad he's leaving because he was the best thing we had on air here. Most of our sports radio is horrible local garbage.

He will be back on Fox.

This is a very good post and I was about to say the same thing.

Latin American players may not have great "book" smarts or paper educations ... but that doesn't mean they don't have great "street" smarts or excellent common sense.

Honestly, I'd rather be "street" smart than "book" smart any day. I know a lot of very "smart" people who can't make it in the every day world because they have no ****ing common sense whatsoever and can't interact with the rest of society.

This is where Colin's argument was flawed. But I'm still shocked that what he said, which was totally innocent, took this much flak. This society is a gaping pussy these days.

Sure but I have no idea if his show will be picked up locally here.

Sports is an area where unconventional personalities can flourish because it is a meritocracy first and foremost.

Just look at baseball: Rube Waddell, Yogi Berra, Bill 'Spaceman' Lee, and Manny Ramirez. Add in to the fact that the players from Latin America usually have English as their second language and don't start learning it until their teens. They could be very smart but come off as not so because of the difficultly in communication.

A sandy vag with a stick so far up his pc ass it killed his sense of humor? Just what the world needs...

I've always been incredibly impressed by anyone who can pick up a second language, regardless of how good they are at it ...

It's still pretty common for ignorant people to think someone is stupid because of a language barrier. I am sure people think that of Salvy and he's far from dumb.

Confirmed.