Anything but Humble Gumbel

Bryant Gumbel hasn't done something this stupid since he wrote that memo to Today executive producer Marty Ryan in 1989.



The anything but humble Gumbel savaged his Today colleagues. He said the beloved Willard Scott "holds the Show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste...This guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in."

Gumbel also moaned that Gene Shalit's movie reviews "are often late and his interviews aren't very good."

In Gumbel's defense, this memo was leaked to the press. It was not a public statement. Taking that into consideration, I thought that Gumbel had been victimized. A private memo was splashed for all to read. Gumbel was held accountable in a public forum for opinions he stated privately.

Although Gumbel's arrogant true colors were exposed, the manner in which it played out was unfair to him. He never intended to criticize his cohorts publicly.

That distinction is important when comparing the arrogant Gumbel of 1989 to the 2006 version.

His recent comments about the Winter Olympics were not said in private. He meant them to be heard.Dave Pierre posts on NewsBusters:

There were some eye-opening remarks from Bryant Gumbel on the most recent episode of HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. According to a transcript posted by a television columnist named Seth Frelich, Gumbel said the following in his closing monologue last week (emphasis mine):

"Finally, tonight, the Winter Games. Count me among those who don’t like them and won’t watch them ... Because they’re so trying, maybe over the next three weeks we should all try too. Like, try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention. Try not to point out that something’s not really a sport if a pseudo-athlete waits in what’s called a kiss-and-cry area, while some panel of subjective judges decides who won ... So if only to hasten the arrival of the day they’re done, when we can move on to March Madness — for God’s sake, let the games begin."

Pierre notes that Gumbel's comments have been all but ignored by media outlets.

He points out a comment on Free Republic that recalls the outrage over Rush Limbaugh's McNabb remark.

Pierre also suggests that had Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity made such statements, it's unlikely they would be given a pass.

I agree completely.

If a conservative had made such racist comments, no doubt the White House press corps would be demanding that someone in the Bush Administration apologize, or resign, or go to jail. Of course, it would make no sense to hold Bush accountable, but that's exactly what I've come to expect from those loons.

If all things were equal, if there were no liberal bias in the media, Gumbel would be required to apologize for his racist statements or be dismissed immediately.

He has no respect for Winter Olympians.

He implies that white athletes are inferior to black athletes.

His disrespect for figuring skating, because "some panel of subjective judges decides who won," is disgusting. He seems to have no knowledge of the revamped judging system for the sport.

More disturbing is Gumbel's clear dismissal of the achievements of African Americans in figure skating.

Apparently the guy has never heard of Mabel Fairbanks, Atoy Wilson, Tai Babilonia, and 1988 bronze medalist Debi Thomas.

This is black history month. Gumbel obviously needs to do some studying.

Regarding his criticism of subjective judges, all sports rely on subjective officials and referees to some extent.

Many sports include judges in the scoring process. For example, freestyle skiing is entirely based on judging. The only purely objective factor in the sport occurs in the moguls event where the clock counts, too. Otherwise, it's all subjective.

In ski jumping, the athletes are scored on style, a subjective judgment.

Hockey relies on subjective calls made by referees, just like football and basketball.

Thus, Gumbel's belief that the Winter Games are somehow inferior to other sporting events reveals that the very non-humble Gumbel is seriously lacking in terms of knowledge regarding athletic competition.

His comments also prove him to be a racist. At the very least, one must consider his comments about the Winter Games and its athletes to be racist.

I think an apology from Gumbel is definitely in order, or maybe HBO should just give him the axe.

It's hard to say which would be the best approach in this matter. It's a subjective call.