There’s an outbreak of foot-in-mouth disease in sports reporting these days, at least as far as female anchors are concerned. WorldNetDaily.com reported today that ESPN suspended anchorwoman Dana Jacobson for certain remarks that she made at a recent celebrity roast. Jacobson’s suspension comes soon after the Golf Channel suspended Kelly Tilghman for two weeks for suggesting on-the-air that young golf players should take Tiger Woods and “lynch him in a back alley.
Dana Jacobson’s Remarks
On January 11, while speaking at a roast to honor Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, hosts of ESPN radio’s “Mike & Mike in the morning,” Jacobson peppered her remarks with the F-bomb. She’s quoted in WorldNetDaily.com as saying “F— Notre Dame,” “F— Touchdown Jesus” and “F— Jesus.” Mike Golic is a Notre Dame alum and “Touchdown Jesus” is the nickname of a statue on the Notre Dame campus.
Traditionally, celebrity roasts are raunchy, uncensored affairs where anything goes, as witnessed by the legendary Comedy Central roast of Pamela Anderson a few years ago. At times, the vulgarity level of the jokes at that roast became so high that it almost was difficult to watch.
Personal attacks also are fairly common at these events. When Comedy Central roasted William Shatner, his “Star Trek” co-star George Takei was at the receiving end of some especially ribald remarks about his sexual orientation. Prior to the event, Takei had publicly revealed that he was gay.
Was the Booze Talking?
A random sampling of Internet websites indicates that Jacobson was drinking a large quantity of Vodka while making her remarks. Jacobson’s comments were directed primarily at Mike Golic and, according to the Press of Atlantic City, comedian Eddie Griffin had to come to her defense when the crowd started to boo. Griffin’s comedy leans towards the offensive, so there’s a bit of irony in him coming to Jacobson’s defense.
As a representative of ESPN, Dana Jacobson really should have known better. It’s safe to assume that this isn’t the first time she’s had too much to drink and, while in an “on-duty” situation, she should have stuck to drinking soft drinks and coffee until her responsibilities were complete. If you can’t hold your liquor, don’t drink at a public event.
Source: The Press of Atlantic City, “Roast of ‘Mike & Mike’ in Atlantic City runs from brilliant to terrible,” Scott Cronik
Kelly Tilghman vs. Dana Jacobson
When searching for something clever to say on-the-air, it’s easy for reporters and anchors to blurt out an unintentionally inappropriate remark, which is what happened to Kelly Tilghman a few weeks ago. Her comment about Tiger Woods, while offensive, had no true malice behind it. It was simply a case of an anchor whose brain short-circuited while on camera.
Dana Jacobson, on the other hand, really is more accountable for her verbal tirade. By all accounts, she walked up to the podium intoxicated and delivered a rant that offended the Catholic League. Jacobson should take part of her involuntary week of vacation and rethink the image she plans to project for her employers in the future.
Source: WorldNetDaily.com, “ESPN shelves host for ‘F— Jesus’ rant”
