Curt Schilling, ESPN Analyst, Is Fired Over Offensive Social Media Post

Schilling seems determined to prove to the world what an ignorant jackass he is. This is what happens when athletes get elevated to superstar status and think people care what they think outside of the sport they earned their fame from.

On a related note, I listened to the ESPN cast of baseball last monday (cubs v. cardinals) which schiling was a part of and he was distracting, annoying, and just made the game hard to listen to with his babbling. That's coming from a guy who appreciates the often boring 3 hours of a baseball game in its entirety. His dismissal, which will be sure to be accompanied by cries from the social conservative knuckle draggers, will not affect the quality of ESPN one bit.

At least with sportscasting, schilling cannot put the taxpayers on the hook for any more millions of taxpayer dollars this 'conservative' has already wasted with his failed business ventures. He should stick to what he knows, and that exclusively is baseball.

 

No one has argued whether ESPN had the "right" to fire him. The complaint seems to be how folks are so easily being terminated now for having a political view contrary to that of your employer. For instance, had Schilling voiced support for transgender bathrooms, or been opposed to such as the recent NC law, do you think he loses his job ? Expand that argument to other PC topics, such as baking a cake for a gay wedding. The issue is not so much having a political view contrary to your boss, but rather having a Conservative, or religious-based view.

 

You're assuming that ESPN's decision reflects "political" views of the people who own ESPN and ignoring that they are a business who requires positive public perception in order to function as a business. They don't make something people need or use in their everyday lives, they aren't going to stay in business providing things for other companies as if they made a common part in a car engine or something obscure that nobody knows or cares about. People choose ESPN to get sports, but they aren't the only place to get sport's so people's individual perception of them as a company is part of the decision to buy what they sell.

How hard is it to consider that a major corporation would make a decision based on protecting their bottom line without it being personal for the people who own the company? For example, Google and Microsoft have spoken out about censorship and software controls before, yet they do business in China where those things are enacted. Choosing to do business in China is better for their bottom line than opposing Chinese laws and abstaining is.

It's all about money for large corporations. All the time. That's why they hire the people they do to run those corporations. People who can make it all about money, all the time.

 

And how hard is it for you to consider that had Shilling made a comment on the opposite side of the issue, which would have been contrary to an equal, if not greater number, of the opinions of viewers, that he would still have his job ?

 

Disregard

 

Conservatives simultaneoulsy disparage labor unions while extolling the virtues of unbridled corporatism.

We see Corporatism at work here. Disney has an inclusive corporate culture that embraces the LGBT community..it is what it is.

Don't like it?

Don't work there.

At will means he has no obligation to the employer any more than they do to him.

Quit and then feel free to post jokes and images on Facebook/Twitter...but as a current employee, you have to be more careful about voicing something contrary to corporate policy on the internet which is subect to Worldwide viewing.

What he did was thoughtless, if he cared about keeping a steady income.

 

Without a specific comment to use as an example, all I could say is that if ESPN did not perceive his comments as being detrimental to their business, they would have no need to fire him. Using something extreme as an example here, but, if he had shared a post that just said "I love America" and people raised a stink, I doubt ESPN would have fired him because the amount of people for whom that might be a factor is probably quite small and falls within acceptable margins.

People have morality. Corporations have bottom lines and shareholders. The entire legal idea of a corporation is to create an entity separate from the people it's made of. It's hardly illogical to assume that the people who own or are paid to perpetuate and grow the corporate entity would make decisions in the best interest of that entity instead of playing personal politics, since the continued growth and success of that entity generally equals continued growth and success of their personal assets as well. Hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars are a great motivator for playing to the crowd instead of taking stands on contemporary political issues.

 

What? He's not nice? No, no...what's not "nice" is some flippy, selfish male who stoles into the women's restroom filled with 10/13 year old girls.

 

*shrugs*

They have the right to fire him if they feel he's toxic to their environment and business. These are the breaks... you'd think these employees would learn.

 

ESPN as a business is getting hurt because of decoupling..

http://recode.net/2016/02/09/disney-says-skinny-bundles-are-hurting-espn-and-will-save-espn/
http://www.businessinsider.com/espn-cord-cutting-losses-2015-12

ESPN is just trying to walk on egg shells and not unset ANYONE.. Oh well.. Whatever..

 

OK, Whatever. He still got fired from his job over this.
I had nothing to do with that.
He brought it all on himself w/ his obnoxious behavior.
If this guy had been a more decent person in his demeanor, he would still have his job at ESPN.
In the end it maters less what your opinion is, but rather how one conducts them self.

 

Which is fine, but also misses the larger point raised here. For instance, look at the Christian College that wanted to let go a professor who violated the "statement of faith" that all faculty signed and must maintain. First off, it does not get any more fundamental than that, but they caught hell from all over for wanting to do that. They did it regardless, but the contrast is clear.

Voice a Conservative or Christian based political view on you own FB or Twitter, and face the wrath of losing your job, with very little willing to stand up for you, and the MSM will tar and feather you as well. But voice an anti-Christian view, and your job is not only safe, but should anyone want to let you go, you will have plenty of support from the media.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...professor-larycia-hawkins-20151216-story.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...n-college-professor-fired-20160105-story.html

 

Yet another example of what happens when you don't take the lib/prog point of view: you are toast and the first thing to go is your job. Diverse opinions are no longer tolerated.

 

Maybe because there's a far-lower chance of that person getting the tar kicked out them by insecure lime-lighters like Schilling?

 

LOL! He's free to say whatever he'd like, tweet whatever he'd like, post on FB whatever he'd like.

He's also free to suffer the consequences of what he says. His employer made a business decision, and Schilling was aware that they took a dim view of expressions like that from a prior incident.

This is all on him, and now he's free to find other employment

 

That is just it. You are not "free" to voice an opinion, etc., if you can be fired for such. The difference being, had be posted in support of trans-gender, he likely still has a job. So that "freedom" is not freedom.

 

There are limitations on what's acceptable speech by employers. One is still free to say whatever one wants, but that statement may bring consequences.

That doesn't really change anything about what I've stated.

Schilling is a grown man who knew where his employer stood on issues like this based on a prior, similar incident. He chose to freely express himself i/o continuing his employment there.

Too bad, so sad, but that's the way the world works.

 

This is where liberals just can't admit the truth. We all understand that companies have policies about spreading political views, religion, etc., on the job. It makes sense that other employees may not want to hear it, and shouldn't have to. Such can disrupt the workplace.

But what if the policy was "You can spread Islamic views, but not Christian views", for instance ? Or, as in this case, just post such on your own non-company FB or Twitter ? Had Curt been pro-trans-gender bathroom use, he is OK. So the issue is not about having or voicing a political view. Its about whether it is a liberal view, or not.

 

Schilling has a history of controversial statements on Facebook/Twitter.

Comparing Muslims to Nazis as an example

This was the last straw.

He retweeted an image essentially mocking a transgendered person. I think had he just said his opinion rather than deride the "community" it would have made less of a splash.

It's not always what you say, but how you say it.

I'm not necessarily defending unisex lavatories or a man dressed as a woman using a woman's lavatory, but I am defending Disney/ESPNs right to fire him.

He has a public job and how he represents himself on the internet may reflect back on his employer. It's not outrageous to expect some limits to free speech as a representative of a company and still expect to keep your job by disregarding these limits. He'd been warned before about some of his comments.

ESPN is not preventing Schilling from expressing his opinion or having an opinion, by firing him they are distancing themselves from that opinion and they have a right to do so.

 

And at least some of us see the duplicity for what it is, and hopefully can also hit ESPN in the pocketbook.

 

Herk. Read what he wrote. He compared "Muslim Extremists" to Nazis. Look it up. Is that so far-fetched ? Hell no !!

And again, no one is saying that ESPN has not the right. Its the continuing hypocrisy that such as ESPN is fomenting. As already explained.

 

Exactly, dude either has to learn to keep his ideas to himself(and his mouth shut about those ideas) or find another line of work.

 

Just more proof that PC is used to control ones thoughts and actions.

 

I am glad that he was terminated by ESPN.

He is an idiot.

In 2012, he claimed to have lost his "baseball fortune" and he was "tapped out" because of a bad investment called 38 Studios.

His career baseball earnings were in excess of $100 million.
And he claimed to be "tapped out"?
Sounds like a real genius in money management.

ESPN gave him a gig, now he has messed that up.

Not surprised by this story, he has proven time and time again that he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

As is your right to do.

I find it a non-issue, myself, and don't watch sports on TV in any case.