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Curt Schilling says ESPN is biased against political conservatives
One week after being fired from ESPN
after commenting on and promoting a controversial anti-transgender meme on his Facebook page, Curt Schilling is firing back at his former employers.
In a one-hour guest appearance on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s “Breitbart News Patriot Forum,” the former pitcher-turned-analyst flatly accused the sports network of being biased against political conservatives and having inconsistent standards when it comes to reprimanding on-air talent.
[Related: Raúl Ibañez to replace Curt Schilling on ESPN's Baseball Tonight]
According to Newsday, Schilling's commentary was recorded on Wednesday afternoon and is scheduled to air at 8 a.m. Thursday morning. Here's just a sampling of what he had to say.
“It was apparent to me early on that if you wanted to go off topic as a sports person you had to go off topic left, or you were going to get in trouble.”
“Some of the most racist things I’ve ever heard have come out of people that are on the air at ESPN. They’re some of the biggest racists in sports commentating.”
Asked to clarify his remarks after the show, which was recorded before a live audience at SiriusXM headquarters in Manhattan, Schilling said, “The memo that was sent out more than once was about they wanted on air-talent to focus on sports. To me that means focus on sports unless you want to talk about something that is part of the liberal agenda.
Schilling points to several specific instances that he believes support his claims. That includes one involving Stephen A. Smith, who was in the baseball news cycle on Wednesday after raising the ire of Jake Arrieta.
“You listen to Stephen A. Smith, and Stephen A. Smith was the guy who said that Robert Griffin didn’t play quarterback for the Redskins because he’s black. No, Robert Griffin didn’t play quarterback for the Redskins because he [stunk]."
"Tony Kornheiser compared the Tea Party to ISIS. I don’t know any planet where those are sports topics. But I don’t care. It’s OK. I think those conversations need to happen. But as soon as you go to the flip side, the right side, there are repercussions for not talking about sports.”
When asked for a response on Wednesday, ESPN declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Schilling has not been at a loss for words. He's been unapologetic since his firing and has remained defensive, but he apparently just biding his time or waiting for the right forum before really letting loose. These are obviously some strong words here and some strong accusations that he's been waiting to express.
They're out there now though, and they will no doubt be met with the same fervor from those who support him and those who honestly felt ESPN didn't fire him soon enough. Both bandwagons have plenty of occupants and enough fuel to keep their animosity waging for months.
[Elsewhere: Tigers say Tyler Collins' demotion 'not linked' to obscene gesture]
Worth noting, the discussion wasn't just centered around Schilling's issues with ESPN. He also shared his opinions on other topics, including expressing his support for New York passing laws that ban tobacco at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. It was a wide-ranging discussion that's worth reading more about at Newsday and listening to on Thursday.
For now though, the focus will be on the controversy, because when Schilling speaks there's always plenty of controversy to focus on.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
