Brent Musburger’s first reaction to the flap about the Katherine Webb situation came on TMZ. Seems appropriate given the tabloid nature of the story.
Musburger didn’t have much to say other than he clearly wasn’t pleased with ESPN issuing an apology in the wake of his comments.
OK, can we all move on now?
Nor should ESPN have issued an apology, Musburger did nothing wrong.
The problem is that ESPN, given the history of some of its employees and the “politically correct” world we live in immediately tried to blunt what they thought was going to be a wave of negative stories by doing this.
Big, BIG difference between what Brent said and his 50 years in the business and what for example another then-ESPN employee,Gary Miller did back in 1997 if memory serves.
Instead of basically throwing Brent “under the bus” (as noted philosopher and part-time manager Ozzie Guillen used to say) ESPN should have taken a moment, looked at what happened and acted accordingly…which is to say not do anything.
Mark Liptak
I’ve watched Brent Musberger since the “NFL Today” days. His many years at CBS before being fired right before the 1991 NCAA Basketball Tournament. ABC quickly hired him that year and he’s been going strong since. I don’t feel he said anything inappropriate about Ms. Webb. The real story is ESPN. Do they want to go forward with Brent in these days of social media? The man is nearing his mid-70’s. IMO, just as with Keith Jackson finally retiring at the right time, I would like to see ESPN keep Musberger on, but not as the lead announcer on Saturday Night Football. It’s time the torch be passed on to Brad Nessler who has quietly paid his dues at ESPN/ABC.