No limit on stupid

CatsUpNorth · Post by **CatsUpNorth** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:43 am

Yikes... I am no defender of ESPN, but they asked the employee if he wanted to switch games, and he agreed. Almost definitely unnecessary, but also not a big deal. The announcer apparently wanted to avoid screenshots and being made into a joke online, and based on how much attention this has already received, it's hard to blame him.

Assigning political leanings to ESPN is also a fruitless exercise, since people from both sides will insist that ESPN is representative of the other.

MLC67 · Post by **MLC67** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:50 am

Yikes is right - the ESPN Top Executives call Bob Lee into their Board of Directors conference room and say to him: "Well, Robert, you have a great name there, it would be a shame should something very bad happen to it."

Sure, Robert then quickly "volunteered" to change the game he would be allowed to broadcast. No implicit coercion there.

As to ESPN's political leanings, I await citation to one published report that declares this broadcaster to be "conservative", or "right wing". Should one be provided, Steve Lee (related to Bob?) will send that resourceful person a case of Johnnie Walker.

wildforthecats · Post by **wildforthecats** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 12:05 pm

http://youtu.be/fVq4_HhBK8Y

citycat · Post by **citycat** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 12:25 pm

There was a reporter for Fox Business named Jenna Lee whose father was Robert Lee, a NFL QB. He played for the Falcons in '73-'74 and had some success. He was called General Bob or Robert Lee.

There is a descendent of "the Robert E. Lee" who is an athletic director at Potomac High School outside Washington DC.

wildforthecats · Post by **wildforthecats** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 12:46 pm

QB Bob Lee had a decent career with the Vikings and Falcons mainly.

stevelee · Post by **stevelee** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:03 pm

I am probably about as kin to this Robert as I am to the general. I think there were two or three unrelated Lee families in Virginia from colonial times. Y-chromosome tests show that we are of the same species, and that's about it. I might be related to the general on the Carter side if at all. We likely had numerous common ancestors within the last 100,000 years.

I had a seminary classmate named Kun Ho Lee, who I called Cousin Kun Ho. He studied Hebrew seriously in hopes of doing the first complete Old Testament translation directly into Korean. He had two cute little kids. I was proud to claim kin with them all.

Post by **chantillycat** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:04 pm

citycat wrote:There is a descendent of "the Robert E. Lee" who is an athletic director at Potomac High School outside Washington DC.

There are two Potomac High Schools outside DC, one on each side of the river. And there's The Potomac School, which is in McLean, VA, and The McLean School, which is in Potomac, MD. Finally, we have two Freedom High Schools, built in 2004 and 2005, both in Virginia and less than 25 miles from each other.

We're really not very good with names up here.

slowcat95 · Post by **slowcat95** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:53 pm

Davidson currently employs a Robert Lee. He is my friend. Two decades ago, Davidson enrolled a Robbie E. Lee. She is also my friend. I doubt either would like to be associated with the general right now, and would be happy to not be the butt of jokes about their names (although knowing them both, they could take it).

FWIW, my disordered mind and I think it was appropriate for ESPN to offer the commentator the opportunity to switch broadcasts if he wanted to. Wanting to avoid controversy has nothing to do with political leanings.

Dr. Bliss · Post by **Dr. Bliss** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:27 pm

It's difficult to see how the corporate types at ESPN couldn't envision the ridicule this would subject them to. Gang aft agley.

MakeIt-TakeIt Cat · Post by **MakeIt-TakeIt Cat** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:36 pm

In reference to the ESPN executives:

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

David Foster Wallace, 2005

MLC67 · Post by **MLC67** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:39 pm

While I fully comprehend your honesty and sincerity (on reflection, totally redundant) SC, I am mystified how you can really believe that Mr. Lee asked to be moved to avoid controversy - when doing so [absolutely predictably] has been the sole and exclusive cause of worldwide ridicule and that totally avoidable controversy had ESPN not gone all stupid with no limit.

Do you truly believe that American football fans would care at all that an Asian-American doing TV game commentary had a name similar to this dead general?

And finally, do you truly believe that Mr. Lee is such a snowflake that he asked to be removed from the UVa, game so his feelings would not be hurt by similar name jokes? Please!

slowcat95 · Post by **slowcat95** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:03 pm

I don't pretend to know anything about Mr. Lee, but based on what little I've read, I hear he was given the choice. I judge neither him nor ESPN on the move. We all have our own reasons for doing what we do. I try not to judge...though I rarely succeed.

Post by **chantillycat** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:07 pm

FWIW, here's the tweet containing the email from ESPN to New York Magazine.

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/900219648473522178

MLC67 · Post by **MLC67** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:28 pm

ESPN statement "proving" Bob just wanted to avoid becoming infamous - "We raised with him the notion of him switching games. EVENTUALLY, we mutually agreed to switch." [Emphasis added].

Fortunately, soon thereafter, Bob was reunited with his wife, children and his career prospects.

bobmckellar · Post by **bobmckellar** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 6:44 pm

WWII Admiral Willis Lee used his Naval Academy nickname as an "in the clear" code to issue commands during confusing actions.

His nickname became a sort of code signal at one point during the Guadalcanal campaign, establishing Lee's bona fides when it became necessary to send clear voice transmissions:
This is Ching Chong China Lee. Refer your big boss about Ching Lee. Call off your boys!

A nice historical patriotic nickname like that should work fine even for ESPN.