Rick Reilly during all-star coverage

[sturg1dj]

for a long time I was a fan of Rick Reilly but that changed over the years. By the time he left SI I was actually glad to see him go.

just wanted to give some background before my rant


was anyone else sick of Reilly during the HR derby telecast? Everyone was talking about Josh Hamilton's story, which was getting old but I could handle it then Rick Reilly decided he needed to mention it every 2 minutes during the telecast.


my least favorite thing he said was after he mentioned how Josh Hamilton found religion he said "its a bad day to be an atheist."


now I am not an athiest, I am a catholic. I also do not want to talk about religion and it has no place here. I just wanted to point out how really stupid the comment was and how it had no place at the game.


Thoughts?

[KevinWI]

I really liked Rick Reilly's columns in SI.

I agree, he is actually pretty annoying on the broadcasts. I never saw him on TV before tonight, and I always thought he would be like a Buster Olnvey-type. Instead he was incredibly annoying.

I think he just wanted to say cocaine on national TV. He liked to rattle off Hamiltons' additions a lot.

The atheist line was werid too. I'm protestant, but his atheist comment really made everything werid.

Early in the Derby coverage, he went on about how he loves homeruns and said "This is like eating desert, without eating the meal." and said they should do home run derbies "all the time".

Jeez, you've lost a fan tonight, Mr. Reilly. ESPN, keep him in text. I hope he doesn't call the game tomorrow.

[giantsrule]

even as a muslim i tripped off that athiest line too, like, cmon guy lets keep it light-hearted, religion and politics for that matter have no place in basbeall...

[KevinWI]

I think he was trying to be funny, but it just sent a chill through the air.

[HomeRunHomer]

I have a feeling he's going to be suspended/fired for those remarks.

[KevinWI]

I think he was the one who said early after an Uggla home run "Who needs steroids?" that was also followed by an uncomfortable silence from the other ESPN commentators.

[Westlake]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing about Reilly. Just incredibly annoying and kept making weird references (the 'who needs steroids?' line was just awful). I loved his columns and even bought 'Life of Reilly' a while back -- but I'm just tired of him now.

[rockin500]

I have a feeling he's going to be suspended/fired for those remarks.
eh, I'm pretty damned closed to being an atheist myself (agnostic, actually) and thought it was just someone trying to be funny. Didnt even come across as weird or anything like that. Reading too much into something.

[kevinlancaster]

yea the "who needs steroids comment" caught my hear. I thought they had brought in some non-sports related person as a guest but then realized it was a former SI writer and such. I think he will not be doing any other braodcasts anytime soon. And the atheist comment was wierd

[bakes781]

lol When I saw this thread I immediately expected it to be about his comment that there were no minorities in the derby. He said "No disrespect, but we have 8 white guys here. This is like a Kiwanis Club meeting!" :rolleyes: The awkard silence that followed was priceless

[KCGHOST]

I used to enjoy Reilly but I think he fell victim to the Sports Reporters mentality. A writer gets a lot more attention for being provocative than he does for being insightful.

[Transplanted Fan]

I believe last night was Rick's first live commentary assignment for ESPN. A lot of TV personalities have had a rough time of it duing their debut. Chalk it up to inexperience; he still needs to learn the difference between typing a good line at is desk and saying one on the spot.

Now that I think of it, Rick has been in the booth before, and if this piece from the SI archives (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/magazine/life_of_reilly/news/2000/07/04/life_of_reilly/) is any indication, it didn't go too well then, either.

[sturg1dj]

I think he was the one who said early after an Uggla home run "Who needs steroids?" that was also followed by an uncomfortable silence from the other ESPN commentators.


yeah, I forgot about that one. That one really bugged me too!

[Saltzy007]

What about when he said "How come its all white guys? 10 of the last 14 winners have been Latino. There needs to be more of them"...

Not really racist, but certainly toeing the line the way things work these days....

[sturg1dj]

eh, I'm pretty damned closed to being an atheist myself (agnostic, actually) and thought it was just someone trying to be funny. Didnt even come across as weird or anything like that. Reading too much into something.

to me they were less offensive and just more stupid. Its a bad day to be an atheist? Do you think there were atheists around the country watching Josh Hamilton and saying,

"man look at what he is doing, because of what this baseball player is accomplishing it has become clear that I have made the wrong choice when it comes to religion."



that is the first thing I thought when I heard the statement and immediately I wanted Reilly to go away!

[Captain Cold Nose]

to me they were less offensive and just more stupid. Its a bad day to be an atheist? Do you think there were atheists around the country watching Josh Hamilton and saying,

"man look at what he is doing, because of what this baseball player is accomplishing it has become clear that I have made the wrong choice when it comes to religion."



that is the first thing I thought when I heard the statement and immediately I wanted Reilly to go away!

I've wanted Reilly to go away for years. He always came across to me, via his SI work as well as his radio appearances, as just a smug journalist who just lives for sneering at anything that doesn't fit what he himself views as the proper way as applied to all walks of life.

I'm glad where I was watching the derby had the sound off, for the most part. But I do take the atheist comment as an ill-advised joke, not a slam against atheism. No more than some of the joke commentary you'd hear from time to time where a player falls short of doing something and the commentator, talking as if he were the player, would scream something like "Why has God forsaken me?"

If Reilly weren't suspended for nearly getting into a fist fight with one of the anti-Martha protesters at Augusta a few years back (nice professional ethics there, Reills) he won't have anything done to him, in a public manner. He may be kept away from the booth, to focus on his writing, or something like that.

[Buzzy05401]

lol When I saw this thread I immediately expected it to be about his comment that there were no minorities in the derby. He said "No disrespect, but we have 8 white guys here. This is like a Kiwanis Club meeting!" :rolleyes: The awkard silence that followed was priceless


I thought that quote was hilarious. When I think about it now, I still laugh. I've always liked observational comedy I guess....

[sturg1dj]

I've wanted Reilly to go away for years. He always came across to me, via his SI work as well as his radio appearances, as just a smug journalist who just lives for sneering at anything that doesn't fit what he himself views as the proper way as applied to all walks of life.


couldn't have said it better myself


I remember reading an interview with a famous blogger (have no idea what his name was) who said that sports blogging has gained the steam it has because people are sick of sportswriters who they cannot relate to like Rick Reilly. He pointed to situations where Rick Reilly drives race cars, refs games and generally does things that a normal player cannot do.


I also think he goes for the fluff piece more than anyone in sports. I wonder if he could do a normal beat job anymore at this point in his career.

[bakes781]

I thought that quote was hilarious. When I think about it now, I still laugh. I've always liked observational comedy I guess....

If he intended it as a joke I could let it slide, but I don't think it was. He went on, like the other poster said about all the previous winners being latino. Just imagine if we were at a 3-point shooting contest & Charles Barkley commented on TNT... what's with all these black guys? This is like an NAACP convention!

[Captain Cold Nose]

couldn't have said it better myself


I remember reading an interview with a famous blogger (have no idea what his name was) who said that sports blogging has gained the steam it has because people are sick of sportswriters who they cannot relate to like Rick Reilly. He pointed to situations where Rick Reilly drives race cars, refs games and generally does things that a normal player cannot do.


I also think he goes for the fluff piece more than anyone in sports. I wonder if he could do a normal beat job anymore at this point in his career.

Reilly is a columnist, so it is a really different mindset. I don't know his background, though, never saw him anywhere outside SI. I'd like to see if he could actually work a beat or even post a story that focuses on what's around him. The problem I have with SI in general is we see too many stories where the writer becomes part of the story. Maybe the writers are trying to emulate Reilly in that sense, I don't know. ESPN has a more casual feel, so I'm sure he feels more at home there. I let my subscriptions run out to both.

Reilly is not a comedian by trade, so if all he's going to do is crack jokes, they'd be better served to put someone in there the rest of the crew would expect to make jokes out of it. At least with Dennis Miller or a guest like Bill Murray, they knew what they were getting. While he can be insightful, I wouldn't consider Reilly to be a humorist by any stretch, Bill Simmons would have been a better choice if they wanted humor (albeit with a lot of bias, but humor nonetheless.)

[Williamsburg2599]

Every time I found a copy of SI back when Reilly was with them, I would immediately flip to the back to read his column. But that was all I really knew about Reilly, I didn't follow any of his other work.

Unfortunately, I lost a ton of respect for him last night. Of course, I'm not expecting brilliant wordplay during a Home Run Derby contest, but regardless, last night was a huge step back wards in what could of been a solid commentator's career (for ESPN at least).

[abolishthedh]

I used to enjoy Reilly but I think he fell victim to the Sports Reporters mentality. A writer gets a lot more attention for being provocative than he does for being insightful.

Right onspot, KCG. The more negative press and feedback he gets from his peers, the better. I didn't see the telecast because I'm too oldschool for those shenanigans, but from the sound of things he'll get some negative vibes from his fellow broadcasters over time when he keeps this up.

[Senor Octobre]

Yeah, Reilly said some asinine things last night... what was he doing covering the HR derby anyway? Last time I checked he wasn't a baseball writer but a purveyor of sports-related human interest stories... oh wait, now I get it!!! He was on there to contribute to the force-feeding of the at once nice, but now excrutiatingly overbearing Josh Hamilton angle at the derby... I'm not sure I even want to watch the ASG tonight now :ughh ...

[Afterglow]

I have a feeling he's going to be suspended/fired for those remarks.

WTF?:confused:

That is crazy. Why on earth would he be suspended? I am so sick of political correctness.

I saw nothing weird or bad. Or felt anything weird in the air when he said that. I actually liked the comment.

I am now waiting for someone to make a thread about how Hamilton shouldn't have been allowed to thank Jesus. Cause someone might get offended.

Humans are really starting to freak me out.

[Ubiquitous]

Was it Reilly who blurted out in the broadcast "who needs steroids?" when somebody from the first roun hit one out? Awkard silence followed then on with the show.


To me I don't think there is anything worse then letting Chris Berman run wild, Reilly spouting off, and then cutting to Erin Andrews for some banal useless bit.

[sturg1dj]

WTF?:confused:

That is crazy. Why on earth would he be suspended? I am so sick of political correctness.

I saw nothing weird or bad. Or felt anything weird in the air when he said that. I actually liked the comment.

I am now waiting for someone to make a thread about how Hamilton shouldn't have been allowed to thank Jesus. Cause someone might get offended.

Humans are really starting to freak me out.

well, even though I don't think he should have been fired for saying that...what if Hamilton was a catholic and Reilly said 'its a bad day to be a protestant'

once again...it was just a stupid comment

[Afterglow]

well, even though I don't think he should have been fired for saying that...what if Hamilton was a catholic and Reilly said 'its a bad day to be a protestant'

once again...it was just a stupid comment


What if? Well he didn't say that.

And no I really don't see it as a stupid comment either.

[sturg1dj]

What if? Well he didn't say that.

And no I really don't see it as a stupid comment either.

so basically because he didn't pick on your group then you are ok with it? I guess since you are against political correctness then that is what you will do, and that is ok. I'll accept that


the real reason I thought it was stupid is this: I wrote this earlier, the statement suggests that atheists who saw this were pretty much saying this:

"man look at what he is doing, because of what this baseball player is accomplishing it has become clear that I have made the wrong choice when it comes to religion."


why is that stupid? because Baseball should have no bearing on someone's beliefs. Religious beliefs or lack there of are a personal thing that should bot be swayed by sporting events.

[giantsrule]

and then cutting to Erin Andrews for some banal useless bit.



i couldve watched 3 hours of her lil' interviews last night...


mmmm, mmmm:blush:

[Ubiquitous]

Technically I'm a catholic but organized religion doesn't mean a lot to me so I wasn't offended by what Reilly said. Still though it is pretty stupid for a paid mouthpiece who isn't on the 700 club to crack religious jokes on air. Religion is very much obviously a hot button issue and with the elections and 9/11 it is even more so. If one wishes to avoid trouble, if one wishes to not jeopardize their employment then one doesn't make off the cuff wise cracks like that. I don't think he should be suspended or anything like that, I think ESPN should never employ him again on air, not because of his joke but because he was so bad and annoying at the task they assigned him.