ESPN's Howard Bryant (allegedly) pulls a Jay Mariotti

[Pancamo]

If Bryant stays, Mariotti has a lawsuit. No?

How so?

Both charged with domestic violence. One gets fired. One stays.

Seems like the precedent was set when ESPN fired Mariotti for domestic violence.

Why would one stay and the other go?

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

If Bryant stays, Mariotti has a lawsuit. No?

How so?

Both charged with domestic violence. One gets fired. One stays.

Seems like the precedent was set when ESPN fired Mariotti for domestic violence.

Why would one stay and the other go?

Because employers can do whatever the heck they want. Unless there's a union at ESPN that both belong to.

 

[JC]

If Bryant stays, Mariotti has a lawsuit. No?

How so?

Both charged with domestic violence. One gets fired. One stays.

Seems like the precedent was set when ESPN fired Mariotti for domestic violence.

Why would one stay and the other go?

because employers have discretion on who they keep and who they fire.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

Mariotti was an independent contractor for that one TV show.

From what I read and heard on his podcast with Whitlock, they had a clause that said they could stop using him whenever they wanted, with some cause obviously. When FanHouse let him go, he thinks ESPN just said I guess we should too.

Bryant, I'm sure, has some kind of conduct clause in his deal too. We'll see what happens. He might want to lay low and just work on a book for awhile to get out of public scrutiny this type of thing brings on.

I love his work, which I can't say about Mariotti, or obviously Salisbury.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Mariotti was an independent contractor for that one TV show.

From what I read and heard on his podcast with Whitlock, they had a clause that said they could stop using him whenever they wanted, with some cause obviously. When FanHouse let him go, he thinks ESPN just said I guess we should too.

Bryant, I'm sure, has some kind of conduct clause in his deal too. We'll see what happens. He might want to lay low and just work on a book for awhile to get out of public scrutiny this type of thing brings on.

I love his work, which I can't say about Mariotti, or obviously Salisbury.

Where did you find Whitlock's podcast? I couldn't find it on iTunes.

ESPN didn't fire Tirico.

 

[Susan Slusser]

I hope everyone has seen the most recent story with comments from Howard and Veronique, which should soundly dispel the idea that Howard committed assault. This sounds very much like an overreaction by the police, with hints of racial bias. I hope this all blows over very quickly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6167142

 

[21]

If Bryant stays, Mariotti has a lawsuit. No?

Mariotti wasn't a full-time employee of ESPN. Completely different scenario.

ESPN is designed so that no one is indispensable; no one is bigger than the job. If Bristol thinks your image is a detriment, you're gone. Plenty of talent out there.

 

[21]

I hope everyone has seen the most recent story with comments from Howard and Veronique, which should soundly dispel the idea that Howard committed assault. This sounds very much like an overreaction by the police, with hints of racial bias. I hope this all blows over very quickly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6167142

Just asking, I don't know...does this part not make you wonder?:

Witnesses said they saw a man choking and pinning a woman against a parked car, according to police. A customer inside the Buckland Pizza House called police just after noon on Saturday. Police said they have five witness statements.

 

[Dick Whitman]

If Bryant stays, Mariotti has a lawsuit. No?

Mariotti wasn't a full-time employee of ESPN. Completely different scenario.

Doesn't matter anyway. Unless there is some Connecticut state law I'm unaware of, employees have no legal obligation to treat employees the same. If it were the other way around - ESPN keeps Jay and fires Howard - then Howard might have a case that it was a race-based different treatment. But even that would be a big hurdle to clear as long as ESPN could somehow differentiate the two situations, which I'm sure it could.

Think about it in coaching terms. For example, couldn't Vinny Del Negro have sued the Chicago Bulls for treating him differently, i.e. having a quicker hook, than Tim Floyd if this were the standard? Employers have to have some discretion.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I hope everyone has seen the most recent story with comments from Howard and Veronique, which should soundly dispel the idea that Howard committed assault. This sounds very much like an overreaction by the police, with hints of racial bias. I hope this all blows over very quickly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6167142

Just asking, I don't know...does this part not make you wonder?:

Witnesses said they saw a man choking and pinning a woman against a parked car, according to police. A customer inside the Buckland Pizza House called police just after noon on Saturday. Police said they have five witness statements.

Yup. Makes me wonder.

But my "what can you bet really happened here" barometer tells me that a black guy was having a heated argument with his wife outside a pizza place in a small town. Someone in the pizza place called the police. The police pulled him over down the road, saw a black guy in a car and got all chippy with him. The black guy didn't stay all quiet, got threatened with a taser and then got really pissed off. And he ended up with a resisting arrest charged tacked onto the domestic assault charge. The police, meanwhile, found four other people who "saw" the assault take place. You know, after the people in the pizza place -- who probably all know each other -- had some time to discuss what had happened and confirm the details with each other and get their memories all crystal clear.

Do I know that to be true? Nope. Is it way too often true? Yup.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I hope everyone has seen the most recent story with comments from Howard and Veronique, which should soundly dispel the idea that Howard committed assault. This sounds very much like an overreaction by the police, with hints of racial bias. I hope this all blows over very quickly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6167142

Just asking, I don't know...does this part not make you wonder?:

Witnesses said they saw a man choking and pinning a woman against a parked car, according to police. A customer inside the Buckland Pizza House called police just after noon on Saturday. Police said they have five witness statements.

Yup. Makes me wonder.

But my "what can you bet really happened here" barometer tells me that a black guy was having a heated argument with his wife outside a pizza place in a small town. Someone in the pizza place called the police. The police pulled him over down the road, saw a black guy in a car and got all chippy with him. The black guy didn't stay all quiet, got threatened with a taser and then got really pissed off. And he ended up with a resisting arrest charged tacked onto the domestic assault charge. The police, meanwhile, found four other people who "saw" the assault take place. You know, after the people in the pizza place -- who probably all know each other -- had some time to discuss what had happened and confirm the details with each other and get their memories all crystal clear.

Do I know that to be true? Nope. Is it way too often true? Yup.

Those are a lot of steps in between your theory and the simplest explanation.

 

[poindexter]

I hope everyone has seen the most recent story with comments from Howard and Veronique, which should soundly dispel the idea that Howard committed assault. This sounds very much like an overreaction by the police, with hints of racial bias. I hope this all blows over very quickly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6167142

Yeah, throwing out the race card is a GREAT way to sweep it under the rug quickly.

Works every time.