Here’s what Bryant Gumbel – host of HBO’s Real Sports - said during the sign-off for the February 7, 2006 show:
"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."
You can watch the entire spew by clicking here. You probably should watch Gumbel spit out the above passage. Printed words just don’t do justice to the nonsense uttered by this guy.
Why insult thousands of athletes? Why impugn the motives and efforts of a multi-national coalition united in celebrating the achievements of their diverse cultures?
The reason is simple: Bryant Gumbel is a racist. Forget his juvenile attempt at political humor, he’s an intolerant redneck. He has no patience for any culture that doesn’t fit his idea of a proper culture.
Bryant Gumbel - for all his pseudointellectual pretense - is just another bigot who obviously feels that blacks are the world’s greatest athletes regardless of the endeavor. Gumbel is just as bad as the white idiots who say that blacks can’t be good quarterbacks. Or golfers. Or swimmers. What Gumbel said is worse than anything Jimmy the Greek, Al Campanis or Rush Limbaugh said.
Gumbel sees everything through the prism of skin color. He’s as ignorant as those bigots who said Jackie Robinson wasn’t fit to play Major League Baseball.
A big golf fan, does Gumbel avoid The Masters or the U.S. Open golf tournaments and view them with the same kind of comtempt he expressed toward the Winter Olympics?
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - paul
This is the most exposure that crappy sports show has received ever... HBO finally has a reason to give these guys air time, because we are talking about it. Gumbel is on the island of washed up personalities, he does not know how to swim to the big island, so he will say anything to be heard. To take that show or him seriously is a waste of good air, it took a week for anyone to even see the distress signal..... Let him go back to his soft comfortable leather chair, and maybe he will say something else that is off color or stupid, if he does not get canned today, it will come another day, either due to zero ratings or he will retire to a nice quiet golf community where all the other old, white men retire to play golf and sip scotch and talk about how great they were a long time ago.. Gumbel is the whitest black guy i have ever seen... He takes Uncle Tom to the next level...
2 - Harold
Bryant Gumbel dumped his family and divorced his black wife -- for a White one. He's a hypocrite of the highest order.
3 - Paul Roy
Great post. These double standards do make me sick.
4 - chris
Good post but I think you should lose the link to the National Enquirer.
5 - Lois
Basketball is too choclate.
6 - Howard
Sal, I agree with your disgust for the man and his philosophy. My question to you is why the post? Why anyone would waste his time listening to his drivel is beyond my comprehension. You simply gave him some of our time by writing about him. He remains nameless for me.
Howard
7 - serg
personally i agree with mr. gumbel, but only to an extent...one must look at the ratio of whites to other races and ethnicity to see that perhaps the playing field isn't as level as in other sports, but thats just the reality of the games...black athletes dominate many other sports...i dont see the need to have to make comments about race in regards to the winter games...this is why i am a huge soccer fan, its the most level playing field out of any of the sports, any nationality, race, ethnicity can play the game and compete at a high level (Ah! the "Beautiful Game")...in regards to the ridiculousness of the games i agree with gumbel. i dont like "sports" that are "judged" (incluiding boxing i think boxers should fight until they cant fight anymore, or not fight at all), judging is a subjective process and we all know how fallible human judgement can be.
8 - whynot
It's refreshing that Bryant can complain about a lack of black athletes during the winter olympics, but where was he during the summer olympics where the majority were black. Or shall he call into question the NFL, NCAA football/basketball. Of course not. Maybe instead of him worrying about a lack black athletes at the winter olympics, maybe he should be calling out to help them train and qualify. Or was his outburst aimed at eveyone to give black athletes a handout, or a free pass into the olympics.
9 - Greg Williams
I don't have a lot of love for Gumbel but, did he lie?
10 - Greg Williams
Why ask for a URL if your system blocks access? That's not nice.
11 - Dave D
What a joke Gumble is! I have always disliked his chip on the shoulder attitude. It's this stupid attitude that keeps the country divided. If things are so lop-sided for african americans why is he making soooo much cash in this land of opportunity as a black man? It's these dumb **&^ comments that only hold back others and reveal the reverse racism he wallows in!
12 - Jeff Shauger
Pretty offensive if you ask me. I hate to break the news to Gumbel but black people aren't the only athletes in the world. Other than a few high profile sports that are ingrained in African American culture the vast majority of other sports are dominated by people of many diffrent racial backgrounds.
Plus the Winter Olypmics are dominated by the same few countries who experience heavy snowfall and long winters...gee go figure, no wonder not many Africans are doing well.
His comments are racist and insensitive to people of many racial backgrounds. It also illustrates the double standard in the media seeing as I haven't heard a peep about this from the liberal media (who are busy working on stories that will further perpetuate the stereotype that only white men are evil and that minorities are the victims of our conspiracies).
I will not watch anything containing Gumbel until he aplogizes to everyone who is of a race other than African Americans.
13 - Leo Harp
Hy Gumbel you idiot
How many Ancient Greeks ever heard of Basketball, and other games of the Summer Games? Also the next time a Boxing match goes the distance who picks the winner-a panel of "subjective judges"-maybe the fighters need a crying area also.
Leo
14 - larry
there was the jamaican bobsled team.
15 - Anthony Grande
First, I would be very surprised if there is more blacks at the Democratic Conventions then there are the the GOP Conventions.
Second, can you imagine if some white celebrity said that he doesn't like basketball because everyone is black and it reminds him of a 19th Century plantation?
Third, didn't Rush Limbaugh get his ass fired and had to answer many questions from many people when he involved race into sports?
16 - pete
Well said.
Gumbel's natural home is BET or MTV.
17 - Ken
While I think that it is ridiculous that this issue, or any previous similar issue in the history of broadcasting, journalism, etc., should be dwelled upon by the whining masses, I am glad of one thing: It brings out into the light the fact that black people can be quite racist against their white counterparts. Most white people know this, and perhaps feel that blacks may harbor more racism against them than vice versa; but as a rule, it's not an appropriate topic for conversation. Well, let's finally have a conversation about this. It's about darned time.
Why are there so few blacks at the Winter Olympics? Oh, I don't know... Maybe for the same reason I see so few blacks when I go skiing. Is that because they're to disadvanteged to go skiing? I doubt it; surely some are, as are plenty of whites. But not the ones in the Hummer H2's with $6000+ worth of wheels on them. Perhaps they just don't like the cold. Or skiing. Or hanging out with a bunch of white people. Who knows for sure?
The Winter Olympic sports just aren't like the Summer ones. For one, they tend to require equiptment to start playing or participating in them - significant equiptment - and so that might prevent the economically challenged from getting a start in them. But the same could be said even moreso about the Equestrian events at the Summer Games. Is is our fault that when some black people come into money, they spend it on shiny cars and shiny clothes instead of private school, horses, or hockey pads? No. And it's not our fault that poor white children don't become medal contending figure skaters either. I for one don't want my tax dollars funding anyone's dream of their child someday making the U.S. Olympic Team. Black or White, Hispanic, Martian, or Canine. If you can't afford it, sorry, you don't get to have it. That's not elitist - that's realist. If I had a child, and I wanted them to get a good education in a private school, guess what? I'd have to give up skiing, because I couldn't afford it. And therefore, by association, my white child would have a significantly reduced opportunity to participate in a future Winter Olympics. Boo hoo. Sorry little Johnny - if I have to give up skiing, I'm sure as hell not giving up my nice cars:)
Aw, the heck with it. Move over NOW, white people of the world. Bryant Gumbel wants his oppressed brothers and sisters to take that next downhill run. They've been waiting eighty years for this, and they're gonna go whether you like it or not. Too bad they don't know how to ski...
18 - Alex
I agreed with Gumbel 100%
19 - Paul N.
I feel the same way. This man needs to apologize at least. HBO needs to fire him, just because he is washed up. You can also let HBO how you feel.
http://www.hbo.com/apps/submitinfo/contactus/submit.do?title=Real%20Sports&questiontype=realsports
You can go to this link at their web site and send a comment.
20 - Ed Frankie
One of the big differences between the summer & winter Olympics is speed. To question whether these winter Olympians are atheletes, one has to ask wheter they would be willing to travel over 70mph on skis down a bumpy trail?
In my book, they are athletes and Mr. Gumbel is nothing more than a bigot.
PS. Thanks for the HBO link, I sent my comments ;-)
21 - John Conlin
I think all of this shows the insanity of this continued illusion called race. Racism is very real from people of all shapes, sizes, and colors â€" but race is a failed scientific theory from a few hundred years ago. These problems will never go away until we throw the whole concept of race in the trash can of history.
For those who claim that race is a real, physical thing I ask please define in real physical terms the black and white races. Please don’t attempt to give me the finer points of genetics for two reasons:
1 â€" the geneticists already have this one settled â€" there is only one race, the human race. Of course there are differences (both external and internal) based on various breeding groups that have existed in relatively recent time (I’m an ex-geologist so I look at time from a more realistic viewpoint, i.e. from about 3.5 billion years ago when the first pulse of life began on this planet). These differences show themselves in many areas â€" but they do not “create” the existence of the black and white races.
2 â€" when people use the terms black this, and white that in everyday usage, they are not talking about the finer points of genetics â€" they are talking about a whole lot more than that â€" this is the definition I desire.
So please â€" if it is real and not a social construct (i.e. it is made up by societies) then please enlighten me as to its definition. I certainly don’t seem to get it. I’m little slow (must be my race ;-)
22 - Gord Oakes
As a Canadian I take offence to the fact we did not have slaves(I am sure someone in Canada did). Funny how you can be lumped into one group for never doing the wrong thing. This has more to do with the lack of Afro-whereever's from most of the countries in the Winter Games. Canada had a black man win a silver today, The USA had a black man win a gold yesterday. Canada has a black man on their hockey team(who knows if they can win anymore games...medal may never come). Korea has had many medals, as well as China and Japan. Please get off the white thing. Yes, people are cruel, but I am sure someone, somewhere has done you wrong at sometime. Get over it and stop making the people that are trying to do the right thing feel like...they can do no right. Stop attacking people in general...I for one have done nothing wrong. I like people because of who they are and how they make me feel. Not because of their colour.
What would happen if you had nobody to blame?
Gumbel is an ass...black or otherwise!
23 - Scott Butki
Can a black man be a redneck?
And yes there are more blacks at dem conventions than repub ones. I've attended and covered both.
24 - sal m
i think a redneck is a state of mind as much as it is a lifestyle...why should a skin color be a limiting factor in any area, good or bad? although you could substitiute "ignorant elitist pig" if you prefer a high brow term.
25 - RJ Elliott
The best Winter Olympics atheletes are from countries like Russia, Estonia, Norway, and Switzerland. How many black people live in those countries? Answer: Not many...
And, yes, the US and Canada (who perform quite well in the Winter Olympics) have relatively large percentages of blacks in their countries...but I guess blacks in the US and Canada aren't terribly attracted to sports like Luge and Ice Dancing...
Bryant Gumbel apparently graduated from the "Spike Lee School of Racial Identity"...if there is anything in the world that is popular and doesn't include a large number of blacks, that thing must be either racist or worthless...