Cowherd no longer on ESPN air after comments about Dominicans

[Eleazar]

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.

[GloucesterChief]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

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.

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.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Cunning Linguist

An unorignal, fat Republican? Just what chiefsplanet needs.

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

[Hootie]

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

[lewdog]

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.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by lewdog

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.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

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

Same. People bag on ESLs for not being fluent in English while hardly having a grasp on it themselves.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by notorious

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

Unfortunately that's not the case for me when I have the radio on.

[Hootie]

if someone gave me a shit ton of adderall I could probably learn to speak semi-fluent spanish in a year or so but ... I'd need a shit ton of adderall

otherwise I would just not have the patience

[milkman]

Much ado about nothing.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

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

So DR is a hotbed of higher learning? Yeah, I don't think so. Instead of getting all pissy, why don't some of these whiney MFers go help these Dominican kids then? What he said is right. These people aren't dumb, they are uneducated just like most other citizens of undeveloped and poor areas of the world. They could probably do something great in the right conditions. Being a pissy whiner doesn't help anyone.

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.

[WilliamTheIrish]

I learn something new every day. A guy ridiculing athletes that can't spell Huck 'Fin'.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

I learn something new every day. A guy ridiculing athletes that can't spell Huck 'Fin'.

And that IS ironic...and when someone opens their mouth about people being uneducated, they'd better triple check everything about what they just said before hitting "send".

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by loochy

So DR is a hotbed of higher learning? Yeah, I don't think so. Instead of getting all pissy, why don't some of these whiney MFers go help these Dominican kids then? What he said is right. These people aren't dumb, they are uneducated just like most other citizens of undeveloped and poor areas of the world. Being a pissy whiner doesn't help anyone.

and this is why I think it's hilarious

how is anything that he said there offensive? Maybe his tone? I don't know, I'd have to hear it ...

I'm so tired of not being able to speak truths because they might be misconstrued. What a ****ing joke.

[tk13]

A day later, it's still a stupid argument. Most athletes aren't world class academics. Sure the Dominican Republic may not have the education system the US does, but that has zip to do with sports. American athletes have more opportunities for education but they probably aren't much more intelligent than Dominican athletes. They have to dedicate their lives working in their sport. I don't know if he should've been fired for it, but he's not speaking the truth or making some grand point that needs to be made.

I mean, honestly, just look at this thread.

[ThaVirus]

By some academic standards, Americans are considered less educated than many other countries