Re: Bob Ryan suspended one month

["Sean Smyth" <ssmyth@suscom.net>]

Peter Q. George wrote:
> It serves him right.  Idiotic remarks like the ones
> made by Ryan have NO place on radio, television or any
> media whatsoever.  ANY type of domestic abuse, PERIOD,
> is totally unacceptable.

First, let me issue this disclaimor: I am not in ANY way defending Ryan's
actions, and the words were improper.

No one seems to have really talked about the context in which this quote was
apparently issued, though. I didn't watch the show, but I did see the quote
on the Globe's website. I've only seen it discussed in one place the proper
context of Ryan's quote.

Despite sticking foot in mouth, Ryan was NOT advocating domestic abuse. His
comments were regarding how he felt Jason Kidd's wife had "used" the
situation at the Garden during last year's playoffs for exploitative
purposes. (I believe she said she and her child were personally harassed in
the section where they sat.) I believe at the time that, indeed, there was
some debate over whether she was intentionally throwing herself out there in
the middle of the fan section (not with the other family members, and not in
the skyboxes) with her kid to gain sympathy for her husband and their
family. I seem to recall at least one debate about this on national
sports-talk radio. I am not condoning the harassment Joumana Kidd received
during last year's playoffs, but she should also realize she was putting
herself in the middle of a maelstorm, too.

Here's the exact quote (taken from the Globe's site) Ryan made on Sports
Final:
''I got theories with this woman, this Joumana Kidd who wants to be a star,
wants to be a TV star. 'She wants face time on camera. The great way to get
face time is to bring the cute, precocious kid. Oh, great. I'd like to smack
her.''

Now, of course, Ryan appears on every TV show under the sun, practically, so
at best his comments smack of hypocrisy. Nonetheless, he was entitled to his
opinion -- the jist of which is that he feels she's exploiting her kid for
face time. Suggesting to smack anyone (man or woman) is a tad tabloidish,
though.