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Who is Bryant Gumbel?


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Some people amaze me.

 

 

NEW YORK -- The job status of Bryant Gumbel, scheduled to be the play-by-play broadcaster on the eight late-season games on the NFL's in-house network, could be the subject of a discussion by NFL officials after Gumbel's suggestion that Paul Tagliabue show his successor "where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash."

 

Tagliabue said Monday that incoming commissioner Roger Goodell and Steve Bornstein, who runs the NFL Network, will discuss the remarks after Goodell takes office Sept. 1.

 

Gumbel addressed his closing remarks on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" last Tuesday to Goodell.

 

"Before he cleans out his office," Gumbel said, "have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash. By making the docile head of the players union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch."

Tagliabue strongly disagreed with the tenor of Gumbel's comments.

 

"I think things that Bryant Gumbel said about Gene Upshaw and the owners are about as uninformed as anything I've read or heard in a long, long time, and quite inexcusable because they are subjects about which you can and should be better informed," Tagliabue said.

 

 

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I hate Gumbel. He also said the winter olympics were unwatchable because they had too many white people in them. Can you imagine if a white broadcastor had made a comment like that about the NBA? He is a complete tool...

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I hate Gumbel. He also said the winter olympics were unwatchable because they had too many white people in them. Can you imagine if a white broadcastor had made a comment like that about the NBA? He is a complete tool...

 

 

Like a moth to a flame ...

 

:D

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Gumbel might be a tool and a waste of air.... but he is right if I was a player in the NFL I would look at the other sports and wonder how come my money isnt guaranteed like theirs even if I suck. Upshaw has done what is best for the league and sport in my opinion but not for the players pockets.

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I hate Gumbel. He also said the winter olympics were unwatchable because they had too many white people in them. Can you imagine if a white broadcastor had made a comment like that about the NBA? He is a complete tool...

 

The funny thing is that he's a white man trapped in a black mans body.

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Gumbel might be a tool and a waste of air.... but he is right if I was a player in the NFL I would look at the other sports and wonder how come my money isnt guaranteed like theirs even if I suck. Upshaw has done what is best for the league and sport in my opinion but not for the players pockets.

 

 

Ummm, wouldn't be doing what is best for the league also be doing what is best for the players, since the salary cap numbers (and hence salaries) are based upon a direct percentage of the gross revenues of the league?

 

There is main reason why the NFL is easily the most popular of the 4 majors (if you can call the NHL a major anymore) - the salary cap levels the playing field for all franchises. Franchises that used to spend decades being bad can, with shrewd management & good coaching, turn the franchise into a legit contender in 3 years - even less at times. That gives all fans legitimate hope for their teams every year before the season starts, and that's good business all around - for ticket sales, merchandising, and for the players.

 

My God, think if the NFL were as stupid as MLB or the NBA and offered guaranteed salaries for the entire length of a contract, given the roster sizes of the NFL. Teams could be literally in financial hell for huge blocks of years at a time with no recourse, which in turn would ruin the league.

 

Bryant doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to the business side of pro sports, and what he said above is blatant proof of that.

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The funny thing is that he's a white man trapped in a black mans body.

 

 

:D:D:D

 

In all seriousness, why does this surprise everyone? We blasted the media the other day over the "Brett Favre Retirement News Conference" and then let this surprise us.

 

There are too many talking heads in the media. There's no responsibility any more to report the facts; people want to state their opinions, create headlines for themselves, and then make a news story out of the reaction to something THEY said or did. Then they run and hide behind freedom of the press. IMO, the Constitution no longer works with regards to the media in this country. They prove that freedom is not always a good thing. And I love this country.

 

:D

Edited by The Wolf
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Ummm, wouldn't be doing what is best for the league also be doing what is best for the players, since the salary cap numbers (and hence salaries) are based upon a direct percentage of the gross revenues of the league?

 

There is main reason why the NFL is easily the most popular of the 4 majors (if you can call the NHL a major anymore) - the salary cap levels the playing field for all franchises. Franchises that used to spend decades being bad can, with shrewd management & good coaching, turn the franchise into a legit contender in 3 years - even less at times. That gives all fans legitimate hope for their teams every year before the season starts, and that's good business all around - for ticket sales, merchandising, and for the players.

 

My God, think if the NFL were as stupid as MLB or the NBA and offered guaranteed salaries for the entire length of a contract, given the roster sizes of the NFL. Teams could be literally in financial hell for huge blocks of years at a time with no recourse, which in turn would ruin the league.

 

Bryant doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to the business side of pro sports, and what he said above is blatant proof of that.

 

 

I agree with you that it would be the worst thing for the sport. BUT and this is a big but what is best for the sport is not what is always best for the players. The sport would not die if players were guaranteed their money it would just cause some change in the system (which would seriously suck). Without guaranteed money thou they are one injury away from a career at Mcdonalds. We tend to look at the top players and think they are all rolling in cash and that every player is set for life even through injuries and the damage they do to their bodies. Shouldnt they all be compensated for that risk regardless. Upshaw has taken some slack from players too. We dont get fired from our jobs if we have a debilitating injury caused at work. SHouldnt they get the money they were promised even if they cant do the job. They got hurt doing the job makes sense they should be compensated. This is what guaranteed money does.

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I also can't stand Gumbell. On Real Sports I hate how he quizzes the correspondents after each story as if he's their professor. Then he has to offer up his pearls of wisdom at the end of each show, as if we care what's in his petty little mind. What a pompous, pseudo-intellectual a$$wipe. And I agree that he got away with the Olympic comment, and he'll get away with this, for a very unfortunate reason. It's one of the ass-backwards aspects of political correctness that we have to endure in today's society.

 

Also Gumbel is completely dishonest with his rhetoric. He's should be smart enough to know why salary caps and non-guaranteed contracts are a blessing for the NFL. Look at the mess that is MLB. But Gumbell sucks up to a certain contingent so he can "keep it real" and maintain his credibility with that segment. It's so transparent.

Edited by matt770
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The best thing Bryant ever did was "Gumble to Gumble" that Miami Vice-like show where he and his brother rode around on bikes to catch bad guys.

 

That said, his closing remarks on that HBO show of his are always, always, always sarcastic and meant to be humorous, albeit coming from a man who has no sense of humor.

 

When did the PC Police add the commissioner of football to the list of things you can't joke about?

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I agree with you that it would be the worst thing for the sport. BUT and this is a big but what is best for the sport is not what is always best for the players. The sport would not die if players were guaranteed their money it would just cause some change in the system (which would seriously suck). Without guaranteed money thou they are one injury away from a career at Mcdonalds. We tend to look at the top players and think they are all rolling in cash and that every player is set for life even through injuries and the damage they do to their bodies. Shouldnt they all be compensated for that risk regardless. Upshaw has taken some slack from players too. We dont get fired from our jobs if we have a debilitating injury caused at work. SHouldnt they get the money they were promised even if they cant do the job. They got hurt doing the job makes sense they should be compensated. This is what guaranteed money does.

 

 

Um, they are compensated for their risk with guaranteed money. It's called a signing bonus. They also are insured and are compensated with settlements if they are debilitated on the job.

 

You ought to do a bit of research.

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I hate to say it, but Gumbel is right.

 

NFL players have gotten shafted for years.

 

Imagine playing by far the most dangerous (legitimate) sport out there. Knowing that your career could very easily end on the next play if (more likely, when) some 300 lb guy rolls up on your leg or someone gives you a helmet to helmet shot and you're paralyzed for life. Then, you get your measly signign bonus (not much unless you're Peyton Manning or Donovan McNabb), and you're told to go packing and have a nice life.

 

How many baseball players do you see carted off the field on stretchers with neck braces on? Not many. Yet these guys have guaranteed contracts and football players do not. It's a disgrace.

 

Jason Giambi uses steroids, all but admits to it, goes off them, shrinks to half his original size, goes into an historic batting slump - but the Yankees can't cut him because he is guaranteed $82 million. Onterrio Smith smokes a doob and gets caught with a prosthetic weeener and he's banned from football. Fair?

 

Luckily for the Yankees organization (and probably with the help of the Yankees organization), Giambi was able to find a new undetectable substance to shoot into his buttocks so that they could recoup some of that $82 million.

 

Onterrio might as well be flipping burgers.

 

The NFL makes more money than any other professional sports league. They rape the players financially. The owners are sitting on a gold mine.

 

If I represented the NFL Players Association, they would all have guaranteed contracts and there would be no salary cap. That might upset the balance of power, but too bad - the players are getting shafted right now, no two ways about it.

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Sorry, I don't feel sorry for an athlete who makes 30 to 50 times more than the average working person, right from their rookie year. That's even a guy making the league minimum. If you're too short sighted to invest a good chunk of that big salary and opt instead to buy 7 cars and a phat house so you can show it off on MTV, you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

It would kill the NFL game if contracts were guaranteed, there are too many busts who never make an impact at the pro level. Teams would go broke paying those guys and the level of competition would sink like a rock. The median starting salary in the NFL is enough to live on confortably for a long time if invested properly. The problem is these young guys think they are invincible and spend the money like it's never going to run out.

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Sorry, I don't feel sorry for an athlete who makes 30 to 50 times more than the average working person, right from their rookie year. That's even a guy making the league minimum. If you're too short sighted to invest a good chunk of that big salary and opt instead to buy 7 cars and a phat house so you can show it off on MTV, you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

It would kill the NFL game if contracts were guaranteed, there are too many busts who never make an impact at the pro level. Teams would go broke paying those guys and the level of competition would sink like a rock. The median starting salary in the NFL is enough to live on confortably for a long time if invested properly. The problem is these young guys think they are invincible and spend the money like it's never going to run out.

 

 

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

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Sorry, I don't feel sorry for an athlete who makes 30 to 50 times more than the average working person, right from their rookie year. That's even a guy making the league minimum. If you're too short sighted to invest a good chunk of that big salary and opt instead to buy 7 cars and a phat house so you can show it off on MTV, you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

It would kill the NFL game if contracts were guaranteed, there are too many busts who never make an impact at the pro level. Teams would go broke paying those guys and the level of competition would sink like a rock. The median starting salary in the NFL is enough to live on confortably for a long time if invested properly. The problem is these young guys think they are invincible and spend the money like it's never going to run out.

 

 

 

I think this logic is flawed.

 

The average NFL player plays 3 or 4 years. So, comparing what they make in a year to what the "average" American makes is meaningless.

 

Secondly, they posess a skill that 99.999% of Americans don't have. They are able to perform at a level such that people like me (and millions of others) are willing to pay $70 a ticket 8 times a year to see. And millions of others are willing to sit and watch Bud commercial after Bud commercial in order to see these guys perform.

 

I'm not going to pay $70 to watch you do whatever your job is.

 

No sponsor is going to pay millions of dollars to advertise on a broadcast that shows an accountant fill out tax forms or a garbage man pick up trash cans.

 

It's supply and demand. These guys provide a service that very few people can provide. They deserve not only what they are currently making, but much much more.

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I agree with you that it would be the worst thing for the sport. BUT and this is a big but what is best for the sport is not what is always best for the players. The sport would not die if players were guaranteed their money it would just cause some change in the system (which would seriously suck). Without guaranteed money thou they are one injury away from a career at Mcdonalds. We tend to look at the top players and think they are all rolling in cash and that every player is set for life even through injuries and the damage they do to their bodies. Shouldnt they all be compensated for that risk regardless. Upshaw has taken some slack from players too. We dont get fired from our jobs if we have a debilitating injury caused at work. SHouldnt they get the money they were promised even if they cant do the job. They got hurt doing the job makes sense they should be compensated. This is what guaranteed money does.

 

 

Nope, they should get a f'n education so they don't HAVE to work at McDonalds. They spend what they make, and that's the problem, if they were wise with there money, that one big payday would be enough to set them for life. :D

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after years of getting famous being the whitest black dude on the planet, bryant got sick of it and decided to try and get some street cred by being "outspoken". the before and after are equally pathetic manifestations of a weak little man uncomfortable in his own skin.

 

 

First off, why does race have to be an issue with this?

 

Second, was Bryant Gumbel saying anything the majority of veteran players don't already think about Upshaw?

 

Third, of course when you criticize your boss, your employment is subject to being called into question. He shouldn't have been so harsh. The reality is that the NFL has enjoyed labor peace precisely because the union is extremely weak due to the continual turnover of its membership. That's not Gene Upshaw's fault, but I've always wondered how he has managed to hang on to his job.

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