"I am amazed — and troubled — by the large number of 20- and 30-somethings who acknowledge watching and listening to sports programming as long as they are awake."

"This makes it all the more imperative that what sports journalists and commentators say and write does not feed the most regressive parts of an industry that at its worst can be homophobic, misogynistic and racist."

From a NYT sports column by William C. Rhoden about the suspension of ESPN sports commentator Steven A. Smith, who said something that, oddly enough, isn't even quoted in the article. Rhoden seems to want to say something, but I don't know what it is. Maybe: You have to be careful what you say. Well, then this column is a great object lesson, because Rhoden is pussyfooting around so much I can't tell what he means to say.

Rhoden ends with:

If there is a lesson to be learned from the spate of suspensions, it’s that in our zeal to tap new markets and attract new readers, viewers and listeners, we relinquish a sliver of our conscience and our responsibility to at least try to create order out of chaos.

As we chase dollars, we make progressively less sense.

Maybe he's chasing dollars. You know, if you actually care about creating order out of chaos, you could say something clear.

Curious about what Smith actually said, I found this CNN article by Marc J. Randazza, identified as "a Las Vegas-based First Amendment attorney." He says:

If you listen to his entire statement, [Smith] said nothing to suggest that Rice's now-wife, Janay, "had it coming," nor did he make any excuses for Rice's behavior. The only offense he committed was that he blathered so incoherently that he made it hard to see how he managed to get a TV show in the first place. So, if ESPN wants to take him off the air and replace him with a better commentator, I'm all for it.  But I'm disgusted at the rancorous, politically correct swarm that descended upon Smith, and the spineless reaction of the management at ESPN. And once the swarm gets into "beast mode," there is no recovery....

I still don't have a quote of what exactly Smith said. There's video at the link, but it's just CNN talking heads emoting about it, playing some emoting by Rush Limbaugh, then emoting about Limbaugh, whose use of the phrase "elderly feminazis" sidetracks them (which I'm sure delights Limbaugh). 

Okay, here it is. Here's Steven A. Smith saying what got him suspended:



I can see why no one quotes him. It's so long, and it's long because it's so furiously hedged with disclaimers and qualifications.