[ad_1]
Several media figures and other members of the baseball establishment are criticized for hastily and ultimately wrongly accusing a Colorado Rockies fan of repeatedly shouting racial slurs at a Miami Marlins player which is black, some later flip-flopping on this.
When the Marlins’ Lewis Brinson, 27, was at home plate in the ninth inning on Sunday, the microphones at Coors Field in Denver picked up the fan repeatedly shouting something that many critics immediately said was the n-word, apparently directed at the fan. ‘opposing team. To beat.
An examination of the situation revealed that the fan, who was not identified, was actually shouting “Dinger!” to the Rocky Mountain Purple Triceratops mascot. The man allegedly tried to get Dinger’s attention so he could take a picture with his grandchildren.
But a lot on social networks have circulated video of the incident assuming the man was shouting a racial epithet.
Former ESPN sports presenter Keith Olbermann, also a former member of the left wing of prime-time MSNBC programming, denounced the alleged insult on Twitter – calling on the Rockies organization to prove it “apprehended the racist and what he did to him”.
Olbermann further called for a Major League Baseball investigation, noting that he is “responsible for the conduct of their customers”.
On Monday, the outspoken commentator had changed his tone somewhat, calling the anonymous grandfather “the supposed ‘Dinger’ howler”, and calling the situation “obviously confusing” because the Rockies had yet to retracted their initial statement criticizing the fan.
In their initial statement, the team also condemned the fan, saying they were “disgusted by a fan’s racist comments directed at Marlins’ Lewis Brinson.”
“Although the subject was not identified until the end of the game, the Rockies are still investigating this incident,” the initial statement continued.
However, on Monday, the Rockies informed via Twitter that they had completed the aforementioned investigation and also concluded that the fan was trying to get the attention of Dinger the Triceratops.
“There have never been racist slurs,” they said.
ESPN also neglected to feature its initial coverage of the unclear audio, stating in its original headline that “fan uses racial slurs” towards Brinson.
Brinson himself said he did not hear the man scream while at bat, and then saw the tape again which then went viral.
“So I watched the video at least 50 times in the last 15 to 16 hours,” Brinson said on a Zoom call ahead of Monday night’s Marlins-Padres game in San Diego. “Personally – this is still my personal opinion – personally I keep hearing the n word. It’s not that I want to hear it, I never want to hear it. Personally, I have never been called in person to my face on the baseball field, outside the baseball field, never, so I don’t know what my reaction would be if I was called that. “
“But so far, repeating this, I haven’t spoken personally to the Rockies or to this fan. If so, then I’m sorry for any backlash or whatever he’s getting right now.” , he added.
As for other media coverage, Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross took a screenshot of the original Washington Post coverage – which indicated that the “n-word was shouted multiple times” at Coors Field.
“No ambiguity whatsoever,” Ross said. “They could have thrown a qualifier somewhere, but chose not to.”
The Post later concluded that the Rockies’ team investigation concluded that the man was indeed yelling at Dinger, not Brinson.
Marlins play-by-play announcer Paul Severino also quickly called what he believed to be hate speech directed at Brinson:
“I am absolutely disgusted by the language that was picked up over the microphones late in the game today. The level of hatred that has been displayed has no place in this world. Unfortunately, it is still far too prevalent. We have to be better. And soon. Awful, “he tweeted, in a message that was then deleted.
Severino then responded to the deleted statement, writing that he had heard “what, at the time I thought was a racial insult”.
“I quickly asked our production team if they heard what I thought I heard. They agreed and we decided to apologize immediately on air. At the moment, I have not benefited from this. ‘A complete review. I’m relieved that I was wrong, that what I thought I heard was wrong, “he said, apologizing personally to the fan in question and lamenting the backlash the big father received.
Washington WMAL radio host Larry O’Connor condemned the Rockies and the media for their hasty reaction to the incident, saying the MLB team had been intimidated by the “social media crowd” in declaring one of their fanatical fans, lest they be quickly criticized. in line.
“The Rockies were forced to throw their own fans under the bus like despicable racists lest they endure the 24-hour cycle of rage on Twitter,” O’Connor said.
“They chose to call their own fanatic fans to appease the social media crowd. Think about it. By the way.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The team later said fans who were seated nearby contacted the club to defend the fan after they released a statement saying he was disgusted by the epithets thrown at Brinson while he was in the ninth inning of the Rockies’ 13-8 victory in Denver. .
Steve Staeger from 9NEWS in Denver said he spoke to the fan, who did not want his identity revealed. The man told Staeger he was at the game with his wife and grandchildren, and he wanted everyone to take a picture with the Rocky Mountain mascot.
Staeger says the man was “devastated“that people misheard him. The man wouldn’t have heard of anything until his daughter called him today because the Rockies called her about the incident.
Daniel Canova of Fox News and Associated Press contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link