JoeBucsFan.com Responds To Tom Jones
November 3rd, 2010
"Oh, Joe. I love when you tell it like it is."
St. Pete Times columnist Tom Jones wants you to know that ESPN personality Trey Wingo meant no disrespect to Raheem Morris when Wingo called the Buccaneers “Radio Raheem’s company” during a SportsCenter highlight on Sunday.
And Jones is so bent on making sure Wingo comes off as nothing more than a playful ESPN talking head when he made that comment, Jones devoted a whole column at TampaBay.com to explaining why Joe is an irresponsible moron for writing that Wingo’s comment was an insult of Morris.
Now Joe has to step out of character for a moment, since Jones personally went after the “Joe” who wrote the post. That would be me, Steve Isbitts, one of the two guys known as “Joe” around these here pages.
Forgetting about all the incorrect assumptions Jones makes in his piece (will get to a big one later), the big problem is Jones is unwilling to assign any responsibility to Wingo for how his audience might have interpreted “Radio Raheem’s company.”
So who gets to decide what’s an insult and what’s not?
Who died and left Tom Jones insult-determiner-and-chief? A comment is not insulting until Tom Jones says it is? Please.
It was the take in the original JoeBucsFan.com post here that Wingo’s line was an insult of Raheem Morris and was a comment “born from the color of Morris’ skin.” Jones and Wingo think that was inflammatory and borderline calling Wingo a racist. (Yes, I talked to Wingo today).
Frankly, I wasn’t calling Wingo a racist at all; just keeping it real. I firmly believe Wingo doesn’t drop the one-liner if Morris isn’t a black man, hence the reason the comment was “born from the color of Morris’ skin.”
Bucs fans would be kidding themselves if they thought that those who called Sabby Piscitelli “the next John Lynch” last year didn’t make that comment, in part, because Piscitelli is white.
Does that mean someone who made that comment is racist? No. But the comment is “born from the color” of Piscitelli’s skin. …(No word on whether Lynch was insulted.)
Call me crazy, but it seems pretty clear that nicknaming the Bucs head coach for either the profanity-spewing Radio Raheem character in the 1989 film “Do The Right Thing,” or for the mentally challenged, football-loving Radio in the 2003 movie Radio is insulting.
It’s hardly a leap to think that Raheem Morris and the Bucs organization finds it insulting. But hey, Tom Jones didn’t bother to get a comment from Raheem or the Bucs for his story. … Guess it doesn’t matter when you’re the judge and jury on what is or is not an insult.
Wingo told me, and Jones, he was referencing the 1989 film character, which is fine and dandy. But the problem is that ESPN’s target demographic, viewers 18 to 35, are far more likely to connect the nickname “Radio” to the 2003 film Radio, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. playing the mentally challenged young man who loved football, versus the old Spike Lee flick that had nothing to do with football.
The call here is that Wingo was totally irresponsible in floating “Radio Raheem’s company” when he should have known that it could have been widely misinterpreted by his core audience.
And don’t think for a minute that Wingo doesn’t know the target demographic at ESPN. The whole industry does.
Jones went on to say that a prominent national figure like Wingo surely wouldn’t read local Bucs message boards and know that some commenters have been insultingly calling Raheem Morris “Radio” since he got the Bucs job. …That might hold water if ProFootballTalk.com didn’t write a story about it last year and if ESPN didn’t have a massive staff to screen this kind of stuff.
Regardless, Wingo is responsible for throughly knowing the implications of what comes out of his mouth. His ignorance shouldn’t have any bearing on whether or not the comment is an insult.
Jones goes on to blast me as a second-rate journalist for not calling Trey Wingo to get his take. As I told Jones, what was in Wingo’s head is not relevant. The comment is what’s relevant. Hurling an insult does not require intent. …None of us even know if Wingo wrote the line or was just reading it off a teleprompter.
Finally, Jones closes his attack piece on me with the following nonsense:
Finally, I’m guessing Isbitts is surprised that his post, written on a local blog, caused such a ruckus, and perhaps that’s the lesson here for all of us. Whatever is written on the Internet is not necessarily written into a vacuum. People might actually read it and you better be aware of your words whether you’re writing for a national Web site, a newspaper or hometown blog, or the comments sections of any of them.
This is so out in left field that Joe has asked Jones to edit/delete/correct it.
The reality is JoeBucsFan.com fully expected this to become a national story immediately. So the clueless-local-blog-owner take offered by Jones is baseless and incorrect.
JoeBucsFan.com is partners with BigLeadSports.com, owner of the wildly popular TheBigLead.com. So the fact is when a story is posted here of national interest, it is immediately sent to that site for consideration. And as readers of ProFootballTalk.com know, numerous posts here are picked up by that NBC Sports property.
There’s also a little something called Google alert that millions of businesses and people use to track things on the Internet. Jones seems unaware of such modern and widely used technology.
The minute “Trey Wingo” was posted here, it was known by this writer that Wingo, his agent and ESPN’s public relations team would be all over it.
So for Jones to say that “I’m guessing Isbitts is surprised that his post, written on a local blog, caused such a ruckus,” is completely wrong. In fact, the opposite is true.
It’s pretty sad that Jones had to sum up his spin-filled work with a complete pile of nonsense.
Yes, that’s an insult.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:48 pm
My 2 cents on what Wingo said:
If he said “Radio Raheem…” then he most certainly was referencing Do the Right Thing.
If he said “Radio…” then he was referencing Radio.
Radio’s name in the movie wasn’t Raheem. There’s no Raheem in the movie Radio.
I haven’t viewed the actual video, but I think that’s the way you have to judge what the guy said.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:51 pm
I read joebucsfan daily.
I read the whole story linked via this post.
With that in mind, I have something very short and sweet to say: I’d rather the nonsensical bickering over “Best team in the NFC” go on for the rest of the season, which I’ve been hoping would end two weeks ago, than have this kind of storyline get blown out of proportion. Since it seems the latter is what is going to happen…
Joe: A good point was made in the article. You should have at least attempted to contact Wingo before making bold statements.
Wingo: You shouldn’t have made such bold statements, whose intent could, and has, been easily drawn to racist statements.
You’re both professional journalists who made simple, fundamental rookie mistakes. Shake hands and keep beating the dead horse that is the Best team in the NFC!
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:53 pm
I know this is kind of a more serious matter, but I think it’s pretty funny this guys name is Tom Jones… maybe I’m just immature.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Funny, no one ever loses their s**t when people call Stan Van Gundy, Stan Van Jeremy. Clearly a racist taunt to Italian Americans and adult film stars across the country.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Joe,
I saw your point and I also will say that I believe that Wingo was referring to the Spike Lee’s character because as I stated in the thread earlier my cousins and I call him “Radio-Raheem” “Lets Go Raheem” and “Stats Are For Losers.” I will say that you should expect more hits on your site. Your site is slowly becoming as popular as PewterReport. I like the simplicity of your site and the frequent updates and you interact with the bloggers.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:10 pm
You fecked up, “up” being the operative word, of course, since this is leading to more traffic. If you really think the mainstream host of football on the biggest sports network would out & out call Raheem mentally challenged by using *that* nickname, you clearly have no idea what it means to be mainstream, OR more importantly, accountable for your comments. Sadly(?), this is the way it works on the internets—throw out something outlandish, & get hits—something you admitted today in another post is kindof what you were all about(getting the pageviews). Good luck in the future, because this is the time to prove staying power or not…
Christopher – You might want to read the initial post about this Trey Wingo comment. THere was nothing remotely “outlandish” about it. Sorry you think everyone mainstream never does anything foolish or regrettable. Google might help you with that.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:10 pm
I think Wingo was refering to the Radio Raheem from do the right thing. Wingo is a good guy and wouldnt mean it in a bad way
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Joe here,
Architek79 – You’ll enjoy Joe’s response coming soon. …FYI, the unique visitor traffic total here in September was greater than Joe’s ever seen reported by the PR outfit.
Appreciate the kind words.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:13 pm
But what do i know. Good luck Joe
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Joe,
Don’t take it personally, i love JBF and as an African American and an owner of the DVD”Do The Right Thing “, friends of mine and I refer to Coach Rah as Radio Raheem, not insulting him but as a matter of character respect. Radio Raheem had mad respect in the movies from the brothers and it is a name that sticks with our culture when we hear the name Raheem (because of it is not a popular name
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Joe these writers like Tom Jones and Anwar Richardson amongst others are so completely clueless. How do they get paid to cover the Bucs? From their horrible done video blogs to the mindless blogs and articles, I find piece of mind visiting your site daily.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:17 pm
To all you “cultural icons” out there you are just full of sh**
Do the Right thing – released in 1987 and only grossed 27 million
Radio – starring Cuba Gooding – 2003 and grossed 52 million.
To Trey Wingo – if you are going to write about a local coach then do some freaking homework you idiot.
Trey was born the same year as me s I can tell you this – Do the Right Thing wasn’t on the tip of his tongue. Just fess up Trey, you didn’t realize it was a slur against coach Morris.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:18 pm
This is the only site i go to for Bucs news now. keep it up joe
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Jrock:
Thanks for the kind words.
To be honest, Joe in the past has tried to reach out to others at BSPN, with zero response. Not only did Joe not have Wingo’s contact information (good luck finding that on ESPN.com), but given past history of non-responses and how one fulltime staffer there has told Bucs reporters he wants Joe out of business, well, you can see why Joe didn’t waste his time in another futile effort.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Hunter:
That’s unfair. Very unfair. Joe is also quite close to Richardson, who was Joe’s first assignment editor when Joe moved to this area.
Anwar is top notch. Sorry man. Joe has no ax to grind with Jones either.
The people in this market Joe has issues with, it’s not too difficult to figure out who that is. Joe actually finds Anwar to be fantastic in those TBO videos.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:25 pm
I just can’t believe how so many people just don’t get this. I’m done with the Times and won’t be back. I made my last post.
Get em Joe/Steve!!!
Your site kicks their ass and they are jealous. What idiots though. Well at least it gives you more exposure.
I’m behind you guys 110%. Wingo was wrong and the SPT idiots jumped on the band wagon.
I can guarantee you that Raheem does not like the moniker “Radio”. Didn’t he say as much.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:26 pm
srqrr:
Thanks for the insight. As Joe pointed out, Wingo should know better than to try some stunt that could easily misconceived into a very ugly nickname. Why even go there?
Joe has spoken to some former African-American Bucs players who think Wingo was out of line. Joe contacted these ex-players before he wrote the post. They basically asked, “Why do that to Raheem and not to Rex Ryan or Tony Sparano?”
(Joe finds it very, very, very difficult to believe Wingo knows about “Radio Raheem” and not “Radio.”)
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Joe I agree with you about Anwar and his Bucs vblogs. Surprisingly Ira has gotten better as well
But Freenly is a slob – both on camera and his work; shotty
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:29 pm
BigMacAttack:
No, this is not an anti-Jones thing. Don’t be silly, though Joe appreciates the support.
Joe has no ax to grind with Jones. Please don’t think that.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Thanks Josh, but again, Joe isn’t anti-Jones at all. Stephen Holder and Joe Smith do a fine job covering the Bucs. Joe appreciates the support but no need to boycott Jones, Holder and Smith.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Uh, Joe, nice try. You posted a picture of the Cuba Gooding character, brought him up, described why it was “relevant”(@ least in your mind), &…Trey Wingo is supposed to take that lying down? The question remains—did you actually think Wingo was even *possibly* referring to this infamous nickname, or not? Or did it get you the exact controversy directing traffic to your site you wanted?
YES, I know your argument is “Oh no, maybe Wingo was referring to *another* black character…how dare he do such a thing, seeing as they have the same skin colour?!”…wow, really? Radio Raheem is a respected character, esp. in Wingo’s eyes, & he went there…no one cared that they had the same skin colour but you…
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Joe,
Alright so we’ll agree to disagree. But Joe, I get that Anwar’s your friend and you too have a mutual respect, those video blogs are the most uninformative and comical things I’ve seen.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Josh:
Joe took a beating from a lot of heavy hitters for months/years for using a couple of nicknames that couldn’t remotely be confused with something vulgar or derogatory. You can’t say that about what Wingo did.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Hey Hunter if you think that about the TBO vblogs check out the Steelers group they are so bad it’s not even comical
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:37 pm
People loved to call Sporano “Soprano” for at least the first year. Racist? No. It was again, a beloved character mixed with a fairly unproven coach.
& “Radio” as a movie barely made an impact, while “Do the Right Thing” was a cultural touchstone for a while, & probably still is. This is just all so, so silly, but hey, again…congrats…
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Christopher:
Joe has only seen a handful of minutes of the Spike Lee film and never heard of the Raheem character until last year. Joe, however, has watched — and greatly enjoyed — “Radio” several times. It’s on basic cable often. It’s a football movie and, surprisingly, Wingo is broadcasting to a football audience. Joe’s sure you can do the math.
If Joe cut a video wearing blackface, how do you think that would go over, no matter how innocent the intentions Joe may have had? You and Joe both know what would have happened. Deservedly so.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:40 pm
christopher:
The Spike Lee movie may have been a cultural hit with cultural significance. Joe can’t speak to that. But Joe will use Mr. Lucky’s figures:
As you can see, far more people have seen the Cuba Gooding flick.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Christopher – The topic of Wingo and race was an all day affair yesterday on The King David Show before Joe’s first post. Shaun King had a lot to say about it, so Joe is not breaking ground here. You’re way off.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:41 pm
White on white crime!!! 🙂
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Didn’t the old Buccaneers message board at some point ban the use of the nickname “Radio”? I haven’t seen either movie, but something must have bothered them.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Al:
Joe wrote about that last year.
Go see “Radio.” Really good flick with very good actors. It’s based on a true story. Very good. One of Joe’s favorites.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Thanks for the support Flavio.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Right Joe, definitely…because a it’s a football show, Wingo is not allowed to reference a movie seen as a “classic”, but is ONLY allowed to reference football movies. Yup…
Oh, & a movie that commonly makes top-100 lists of the best movies of all time…*definitely* is culturally more relevant than a small-time, non-respected movie starring Cuba Gooding Jr. on the downside of his career…
You admitted this is about your perception—because you’ve seen “Radio” on basic cable a bunch, this is where your mind went, esp. in relation to the horrible nickname levied by ignorant Tampa fans early on. All I’m saying is, to truly think that the point man(sans Berman)of NFL football on ESPN would even *remotely* go racist, when he said today “Do the Right Thing” is one of his favourites…shows, IMO, you don’t understand the mindset of talking to millions & millions of people daily(like Wingo does). & IMO, if you keep stroking asinine controversies like this, all these new page hits now won’t matter in the long run…
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Christopher what are you smoking?
Do the Right Thing was a box office FLOP! It only grossed 27 million domestic (37 million worldwide) compared to Radio which grossed 52 million domestic. Heck Radio made 13 million in its opening weekend.
Sure DTRT earned Academy nominations and all that crap but the ONLY character I remember from that movie was thinking, why did Danny Aiello stoop that low? Oh that’s right it’s and ART MOVIE!!!! Woooo. Ohhhhh!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Hahahaha – Chris it shows how little you know.
People LOVE to root for the little guy and Joe’s done much more for his fans than that dud Trey.
While I personally think this is much ado about nothing when I read about the ‘football elite’ coming to the defense of Trey and hearing that that DTRT is a ‘cultural’ landmark it only makes me happy to be an average Joe who would rather watch Cuba Gooding in a fair movie than spew (yes SPEW) cultural crap like Do the Right thing.
Go back to the cheese and WHINE.
I for one will have a beer with Joe any day.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:02 pm
christopher:
As Joe wrote before, he cannot speak to the cultural significance of the Spike Lee film. But to suggest fewer people saw the Gooding film is simply inaccurate.
If Joe came to the conclusion he did, surely so too did many, many others. Again, why would Wingo decide to walk on such thin ice?
Hey, Joe likes “Patton.” It’s one of Joe’s favorite movies and it won an Oscar, should Joe start referring to football coaches as Nazi generals?
Is Shaun King wrong? He thought Wingo was out of line… on the air live for all to hear.
Joe spoke with two ex-Bucs players about this before writing the post. Both African-Americans. They too weren’t fond of Wingo’s choice of a nickname.
Are they wrong as well?
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:03 pm
There must be more here than meets the eye. I’m wondering why Jones even bothered taking Joe/Steve to task over his post. Is there a back story here?
Of course, Jones may have just needed something to write about, and as a media critic, all media is fair game.
Anyway, I guess this means JoeBucsFan.com has “arrived,” as the saying goes.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Please guys, again, Joe has no ax to grind with Tom Jones. Please don’t think that. Don’t quit reading Stephen Holder or Joe Smith or Jones over this.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:10 pm
“But hey, Tom Jones didn’t bother to get a comment from Raheem or the Bucs for his story.” – Joe aka Steve
Good point.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:13 pm
This Jones guy is just trying to get some publicity. 95 percent of what he writes is crap i went threw his archive
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:16 pm
I absolutely love this site, read it every day, and will continue to. But your point is asinine. You are apologizing for not getting the actual reference while still saying that Wingo’s comment was insulting. I think you are backtracking without actually backtracking. I think this post should have been an apology to wingo and an admission of ignorance about the real origin of “Radio Raheem”. You mean well to defend the coach, but it was unnecessary.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:17 pm
Mr. Lucky wrote:
Do the Right Thing was a box office FLOP! It only grossed 27 million domestic
==========================================
It was Spike Lee’s breakout film that was nominated for 2 oscars. It wasn’t a flop. It launched one of the greatest film directing careers of all time (whether you like him or not, everyone knows who Spike Lee is). You can’t compare a small independent movie to a large studio venture.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Aaron:
Thanks for being a loyal Joe reader. Much appreciated man!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:21 pm
Hey Christopher
regarding JBF.com and hits – try this. Go to siteanalytics and compare JBF.com vs. PewterReport.
For those who don’t know Pewter Report is DOWN -14.09% in unique visitors for the year. Meanwhile JBF.com is UP +232.5% for the year.
Heck from Aug to Sep 2010 JBF is up 173.15%. That other site – DOWN 15%.
So yeah Christopher you REALLY know what you’re talking about…hey are you a Democrat analyst in your spare time?
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Raheem is black? I didn’t even notice.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Hey FireGregOlson
There are LOTS of smaller films that garner critical aclaim but are box office flops (meaning $$$$) and getting GENERAL acceptance. Rember some film called the Crying Game? it was released a few years before DTRT and scored 6 Academy Award nominations – However at 62 million it was VERY profitable and more memorable than the Spike lee flick
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Oh and Crying Game was a Mirimax release – smaller independent studio
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Joe here:
@Mr. Lucky To be fair, those public analytics sites are terribly inaccurate, although they get the general directions of things right. …They’re not attached to the servers of either site, so they can’t be accurate.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Finally Radio was a FOOTBALL MOVIE so when discussing FOOTBALL, something Trey is supposed to be doing which movie makes more sense:
A. Radio – a football movie based upon real life events
B. Do the right Thing – a much less viewed fictional story about race relations in Brooklyn.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:31 pm
loves me some joe!!!!!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:31 pm
First allow me to say this, Joe, you far and away have the best website for Bucs news out there, keep it up. Second, to everyone claiming that their initial reaction to the “Radio Raheem” comment was DTRT, I wasn’t even born when this thing came out, and I feel like it would be reasonable to say that quite a few other people that heard about this were in the same boat as I was. The only “Radio” reference I know is the one from the 2003 movie. The fact of the matter is, whether Wingo meant DTRT or Radio, making a reference that can be so broadly interpreted was probably a poor choice by espn.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:32 pm
GODORES:
Thanks for the kind words. Joe appreciates it.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Well.. I was born in 1981.. i have never seen either movie. and my mind went to “Radio” when i heard it. Just throwin my two cents in there. I guess im THAT part of the audience. but yeah.. I cant wait til we get back to talkin about football. 5-2 baby! GO BUCCS!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Joe – My point about the unique visitors was this: JBF is smaller but growing and quickly due to the unique viewpoint of Joe(s) as compared to the stagnation of other more established sites. I just happened to use Pewter Report for convenience sake.
I stand corrected by Joe and I’m sure you have much more accurate numbers as this is YOUR site.
I’m just tired of the cultural elite trying to ram news down my throat on the lame stream media and to have a new contributor like Christopher attempt that lame crap here on JBF….Well it just pizzed me off. Sorry about that Joe.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Hawkeye Country:
“Radio” is a very good movie.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Mr. Lucky:
Joe can tell who you follow on TV by your comment and Joe is impressed.
Thanks for your support. “Joe” is growing faster and bigger than anyone imagined. Hell, it’s hard to believe two years ago Joe started with zero traffic and now Joe’s known throughout the country and has a talking head from BSPN immersed in a drama.
Almost makes Joe’s appearance on the “Howard Stern Show” seem whimsical.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Hey for you Trey Wingo apologists did you forget about this headline:
“Trey Wingo Apologizes For Accidentally Calling Champion Lady Vols ‘Pat Summitt’s Marauding Army Of Monstrous Lesbians'” April 2007
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:40 pm
u know what?? screw jones!!!! i dont give a damn about what he says, Joe, i love your site, and im supporting u, no matter what a moron without a life says, its BS to me, dont worry Joe (or steve, or whatever) ur loyal readers loves ya and will be here all time searching for the best bucs info!!! all hail joebucsfan.com
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Dude, that’s an Onion article!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Joe here,
Aldo – El placir es mio.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 pm
In regards to the “cultural relevance” of a movie—who’s to say that a movie made in the late 80’s, & got a ton of press(& is written about & referenced now more than “Radio”, no matter what people here think), *hasn’t* been seen by more eyeballs? Almost 20 years on DVD, a “modern classic”, versus a small, pretty non-respected movie that came out in 2003. It could easily be argued more people saw the Spike Lee movie…esp. if your argument is box office dollars based on inflation…
As for Shaun King, & the two African-American players who were offended…since I’m not black, I can’t culturally relate to racism. But I do know it’s 2010, & we really, REALLY need to stop noticing the race thing…no matter who you are.
& Joe, you should know, if you’re accused of racism, it can tend to end your career. That’s why some thought it was irresponsible that you ramped up your rhetoric from “maybe he called Raheem mentally challenged”, to “he cheapened Raheem as a person by comparing him to another black man”. These quotes do not reflect Joe’s writings, only the opinion of the commenter.
Trey was being innocent with his commentary, going to the simple “Raheem” connection, trying to compare the coach to a beloved character in his mind. That said, it was probably ignorant, even using “Radio” at all in this instance…my question is, isn’t this copy reviewed before it’s read? Clearly they didn’t know of the offensive “Radio” reference.
The question really is—why the hell would Trey do what you imply he did? What would a professional like that gain, other than a negative reaction? Perspective flip here…
Let’s all just get over it. Good luck with the traffic.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:50 pm
I knew this story was going to be a big deal, and I was anxiously waiting for Joe’s response. Bottom line is this, it was a bad choice of words for Wingo. You want to argue that point anyone? I’ll bet my house, car, and anything else you want that Wingo never refers to Raheem as Radio Raheem again. If it offends a decent amount of people, then it was a bad choice, period. It’s really irrelevant as to who he meant (I tend to believe that he meant the “Do the Right Thing” character). As a “veteran” reporter for ESPN, he should have thought it out a little better, and I’m sure he regrets it. Joe was not off base in any way to write his feelings, because that’s what this site is all about, and that’s why we all love it so much. If I want to read the same old s*&%, I wouldn’t come here and neither would any of you. This is an opinionated site, and he has a right to voice his opinion. You don’t like it, go somewhere else.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:52 pm
Joe here,
@Christopher Nobody implied Trey Wingo did anything other than utter an insulting one liner at Raheem Morris. Again, an insult doesn’t require intent. …Nobody ramped up any rhetoric like you wrote and Joe’s going to insert a comment within yours to make sure nothing gets confused.
Joe wrote that the characters referenced were one that spewed near constant profanity (This Joe saw the movie) and a mentally challenged young man. ….Pick one. It’s an insulting reference to Morris. …
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Mr. Lucky, you were the star of The Crying Game…
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:55 pm
I think it’s quite obvious that as a journalist for ESPN, Wingo should have been more conscious of the language he used. Whether he was referring to DTRT or not, he ultimately has to be held accountable for any potential fallout or negative impact that might come about from his comments.
Having said that, I don’t like the fact that this has become a story. Just having to rehash this whole “Radio” comparison only serves to embarass our head coach even more and only provides the haters with more ammo if they hadn’t previously heard of the “Radio” reference.
Morris is intelligent and genuinely seems like a good guy. As much as it’s part of a head coach’s job description to take all the abuse that comes his way, this is definitely crossing the line from a human decency standpoint.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:56 pm
To be honest, I am enjoying all the publicity the Bucs are receiving from RadioGate, and the “We are the Best Team in the NFC” remarks. I don’t care if that Pub is casted in a negative light, after that 3 win season last year I don’t mind backing my boys for the enjoyment they’ve given Bucs fans this season. Joe, I go to school in Mississippi and without this site I don’t know what I’d do (majority Falcons and a surprising number of revived fake Saints fans, hmmm… wonder why). Thanks for all you do and I got your Back!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Rise and fire! Count it.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:58 pm
LOL Hollerin’ Gus Johnson checks in.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:58 pm
BucFan66:
Bring on the haters. Josh Freeman will destroy them!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:59 pm
C Cal:
What, no Chiefs fans there? 🙂
Hey, thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated man. Thanks.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:00 am
pretty simple here. Joe should have made it clearer that he wasnt calling wingo a racist and Tom Jones over reacted.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:04 am
This is the part I don’t get:
“Frankly, I wasn’t calling Wingo a racist at all; just keeping it real.”
Joe, if you step back you can probably see why someone might mistakenly take your comments as suggesting Wingo was a racist. Your post appeared to link the “insult” to a motive: “born of the color of his skin.” Looks like you just meant to say that Wingo’s comment was reckless because you suggest that he should have considered how his viewers may have taken the comment. Hoiwever, I think the initial link you provided could lead someone to the wrong conclusion.
No news is bad news.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:12 am
“However, when reached Wednesday afternoon, maintained it didn’t matter which character Wingo was referring to, that it was still insulting and that Wingo only made the reference because Morris is an African-American.”
You ramped it up, from a “mental retardation” reference to a race thing. NO, you didn’t explicitly call Trey a racist. But again, what the hell *were* you doing. Ah, wait, like you said—you KNEW this would go right to the Big News, & it drove traffic.
& like you said…was Sabby disrespected because someone compared him to a white SS? IMO, it’s disrespecting to a man to think that because someone compared him to an iconic character of his own race, he has been marginalized.
Christopher – You are making up things that Joe said, and that doesn’t fly here. You don’t get to do that and be able to continue commenting. ..Second, posts don’t go up here to get visits. Joe writes his take about what he thinks is interesting about things related to the Bucs. Period. Thankfully, it works. But there’s no “oooh, that’ll get traffic.” It doesn’t work that way, as much as you want to believe it does. –Joe
November 4th, 2010 at 12:13 am
Personally, I love JBF and ESPN. When I read this post and watched the video I was pretty shocked that ESPN allowed that comment to go on air. In hindsight they may not have realized how offensive it could have been and probably we’re referencing “Do The Right Thing” so I’ll give them a pass. (Even though as a 22 yr. old I never would have thought the reference would have come anywhere other than the file “Radio.”)
However, I fully support Steve and JBF and all of their comments on this situation.
As a pro-bucs blog I think that defending his team and their coach is exactly what Steve should have done… especially with comments that could have been that malicious. Steve is a major voice in bucsnation as he is much more in touch with the fans than the other mainstream media outlets. As a voice of the fans, Steve shouldn’t be criticized for defending and supporting the team. Regardless of whether you like Raheem as the coach, the man deserves respect! (especially from “unbiased” media organizations) And Steve had his back! Keep up the good coverage and the good work!
Not to mention Raheem is doing one amazing job this year. To keep a team together during a 3-13 season and be off to the start that they are off too is incredible! Go Raheem! Go Bucs! Let’s beat the Falcons and take this thing all the way to Dallas this year!
November 4th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Jack Black:
Not to mention Raheem is doing one amazing job this year. To keep a team together during a 3-13 season and be off to the start that they are off too is incredible! Go Raheem! Go Bucs! Let’s beat the Falcons and take this thing all the way to Dallas this year!
Thanks for the kind words. Joe’s humbled.
As Joe wrote earlier today, Raheem Morris is the leading candidate for “Coach of the Year” at this point in the season.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:22 am
Other Joe who saw the movie—Radio Raheem was an offensive reference to be called, because he spewed profanity? Profanity, that’s it?
Spike Lee is seen as a constant fighter for black rights, @ least in his cinema…HOW, exactly, is being compared to a character in his movie an insult to Raheem? Unless Raheem Morris grew up sick of being called that because of the movie, I *severely* doubt he took offense to being referenced to a Spike Lee character.
This just strikes me as hyper-sensitivity, under the guise of raising a ruckus to improve the eyes to the site. Like Wingo said…truly nothing to see here…
Christopher, you’re going way beyond the point here and, as added in your comment above, completelly misguided on the intent of the post. And you’re ascribing motives and agendas to Joe, which doesn’t fly. As written before, Joe simply spits out his takes on what he thinks is interesting as it relates to the Bucs, and delivers some hard news when he can and player interviews. There’s no planning or plotting. It is what it is. Wingo said it. And it was ill-advised. Joe wrote his opinion in about six or seven paragraphs without accusing Wingo of anything other than saying something insulting to the head coach. You don’t think it was insulting or could be perceived as such. That’s your call.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:30 am
christopher:
What don’t you understand? Not everyone has seen a Spike Lee flick. In fact, far more people have seen the “Radio” movie and relate to THAT movie’s primary character in question than a 23-year old indie film with a throwaway role.
Wingo’s excuse is nothing more than dodging the bullet. Would it be OK if Wingo called Tony Sparano “Virgil Sollozzo” because Wingo liked “The Godfather?”
Joe seems to recall a former professional sports team owner in this market went wild when a Times beat writer referred to him in a tongue-in-cheek column as “Tony Soprano.”
That was bad but it’s OK to call out Morris?
Nice that we’re making up rules on the fly here.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:32 am
To people putting up the box office numbers of the 2 movies, you might want to use your head and consider that $27 million in 1989 is a pretty huge deal from what was essentially an indie flick with an unknown black director, as opposed to a studio film in 2003. DTRT is much more well known and culturally pervasive, especially to someone Wingo’s age.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:36 am
My take on all this is… no matter what Trey was referencing when he called Raheem Radio Raheem, he did not mean it in any kind of positive way and raheem should be insulted by it no matter what. Either he wasn’t taking raheem and the bucs as a whole seriously because I DOUBT he would do that with any head coach or he is in fact just saying because of raheems’ skin color.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:37 am
I don’t think Trey should have gone where he went with the nickname. It was a sloppy attempt to be clever. He should have known that some people would go to the more recent movie character.
I did want to point out some things about the 2 films. “Do the Right Thing” is much much more respected in movie circles than “Radio”. Many consider it a groundbreaking film for Lee. Both Siskel and Ebert had it as their #1 film of the year in ’89 and also one of the best films of that decade. It definitely was not a box office bomb. Lee’s films almost always cost less than nothing. This one cost a little over 6 million dollars, so it was a box office hit. And if you factor in inflation, “Do the Right Thing” is a lot closer in box office to “Radio” then just looking at the raw numbers. As someone else pointed out, Radio Raheem is a well respected character to many people.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:45 am
Chris are you sure your not Jones or Wingo??? Or a Hire e of either?? Lol hmmmm interesting
November 4th, 2010 at 12:47 am
Joe most people that see radio regaurdless if it says radio raheem or just radi think of the movie radio. The other movie has nothing to do with football so why use the reference. Why can’t people call him raheem morris or coach morris or even coach rah. You do a good job reporting and believe me I know people nation wide that read this blog me included.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:47 am
Joes…finally, I don’t think you can essentially call yourself a site with a blue collar/beer-guzzling sensibility—& then try to delve into & negotiate the racial sensitivity waters. Frankly, Trey *&* JoeBucsFan were both sloppy in their initial commentaries, imo…
November 4th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Here’s a little analogy:
I live in Hawaii, which has a much different culture to the rest of the country. As an example, you never wear your shoes in someone’s house. It’s pretty much equivalent to taking a dump in the middle of their living room. Now if someone who is not from Hawaii enters with his or her shoes, they will quickly be told to remove their shoes. Here is the part where their character will be judged. If they say, “no problem, I’m sorry, I didn’t know”, all is forgiven and everyone moves on. If, however, they say “well, you don’t take your shoes off at my house, so I shouldn’t have to take it off at yours”, then they are quite simply an arse hole. The same applies in regard to race. If a group (in this case African Americans) is telling you it is offensive, then the correct action is to apologize and not do it again. If you choose not to, then don’t bitch and moan if you get labeled a racist. It may not entirely be accurate, but when you don’t respect another group’s culture, that’s how you will be labeled. The correct thing to do is for Wingo to simply apologize for offending anyone (not necessarily apologize for what he said), and all will be forgiven and forgotten. If he doesn’t, he deserves all the criticism.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:01 am
christopher you are being a little foolish
I am 21 years old, I am ESPN’s target audience. The fact that I’ve never even heard of this “do the right thing” movie says something. No I don’t go to Indie film festivals, or stay up late watching my Spike Lee DVD’s, because I don’t have any. Believe it or not, a lot of football fans don’t. I’m not trying to say that because I haven’t heard of the movie that no one has, but I am saying there is a good percentage of ESPN’s viewers that haven’t either. BUT, Radio came out 7 years ago. It didn’t do amazing in the box office, but even people that haven’t seen the movie know about it, and know what it’s about. My point is there is a good amount of people out there who would connect it to the Cuba Gooding Jr. movie before the Spike Lee film, whether you like the one better than the other or not!
November 4th, 2010 at 1:05 am
I am enjoying this publicity for this site. It’s like a class Profootballtalk for the Bucs! I love it. This makes the season that much more memorable.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:08 am
And to Joe, I just wanna say thanks.
As is clear by my name, I’m not from the Tampa Bay area. But I’m a die hard Bucs fan anyway, as much so as they get. I can’t turn on the news and hear about my beloved Bucs, it’s all Detroit and believe it or not Green Bay. I visit your site on average 3 times a day Joe, hoping to find more Bucs news (even during the off-season). I like your site so much better than any other I have come across, not only in content, but in format, style, humor and as someone mentioned above the comment forum and interaction from the writers. So thank you Joe. I know your feeling the love from a lot of commentors right now, and it probly doesn’t mean that much, but I love your website, and will see you again tomorrow morning.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:23 am
MichiganBucsFan:
Thanks for the kind words.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:26 am
Architek79:
Thanks.
Joe is a composite of a variety of sites/visions/media. Florio is one strong influence.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:30 am
As a long time nemesis “Great job” calling it like it sounded. kudos joe
November 4th, 2010 at 1:33 am
Hawaiian Buc, that was very well said and makes all the sense in the world. Great Post.
I still am not going back to the Times’ site, but it is for a whole host of reasons and their MSM attitude, not just this. They changed up their Buc site and they have very little content anymore. Not my cup of tea I guess.
Joe we got your back, brother. Did you expect any less? I know you can can handle it alone, but where is the fun in that?
November 4th, 2010 at 1:44 am
I was born in the late 80s. If there was no mention of the article that Joe wrote and if I just heard Wingo saying “Radio Raheem”. The first thing in my mind would’ve been the movie “Radio”. I didn’t even know of a movie Do The Right Thing until earlier this evening when I read Tom Jones’ article. So, Joe said it correctly, for a demographic they’re trying to target it could be misinterpreted. Maybe a lot of Ol’ timers or folks in their 30s or older know about “Radio Raheem”. I was pretty upset at first thinking Wingo was calling our coach “Radio Raheem”, retarded for making “best in the NFC” comments.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:28 am
Joe- Congrats on your little publicity stunt. Can we get back to talking about football now and stop making issues out of nothing?
November 4th, 2010 at 2:38 am
Never thought id agree with someone from Michigan.. but spot on :o) love this site, oh and i just watched Radio, Tou che, good movie. but still havent seen, (or heard of for that matter).. Do The Right Thing. Guess thats next on the list.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:57 am
Michigan. No offense, but so what. You’re like Joe, in that you admitted when you hear “Radio”, you go to the “mentally challenged” movie, & not the “classic” Spike Lee film. The key here is, this film is what Trey was referring to. So YES, due to this(local, ignorant, message board “controversy” from last year), maybe ESPN shouldn’t have let this go on the air. But the question begs—if Wingo meant no offense, & was simply drawing a tiny corollary between a common name thread(Raheem)to an iconic character in his mind…why the hell did Joe make such a big deal of it? If there was no racism or offense there, why do some people see it? That’s the deeper question to me, one I suspect that won’t be addressed here.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:01 am
Just a big miscommunication, in an insanely hyper-sensitive world…one that somehow involved probably the top Bucs blog(this here site, the top local paper, & the top sports network)….kindof an interesting new world confluence, really. Moving on…
November 4th, 2010 at 3:26 am
What you don’t understand Christopher is just because it doesn’t offend you, doesn’t mean it doesn’t offend others. Again, I’ve stated time and time again I don’t think he was referring to Cuba Gooding Radio, but it was taken that way by many people. You say that there was no racism or offense there, but you are apparently not reading that Joe contacted former black players and they were offended. Again, just because you are not offended or understand doesn’t mean its not offensive. You are in no position to tell people what they can and cannot be offended by. If you don’t get that, then there’s no sense in arguing with you because you’ve got bigger issues
Just because you consider the Spike Lee movie a “Classic”, doesn’t mean everyone is familiar with it. I’m a pretty big movie guy of all types (new and old) and I’ve never seen it. I get it, it’s a world changing movie, but the point is a lot of people have never seen it (or in many cases even heard of it), hence all the people saying they’ve never seen it. It was just a poor choice of words by Wingo, but at this point you really need to lay off of Joe for doing his job.
November 4th, 2010 at 3:59 am
Wow, Hawaiian…way to get personal, & “attack-y”(“you’ve got bigger issues”). I’m just asking honest questions, things I noticed the Bucsnation board didn’t want to even *think* about when the Tanard Jackson ganja issue happened(i.e., “why do we think this way”?). WHY was it offensive? WHY were the 2 black players offended? WHY is everyone so hyper-sensitive, especially *some* black people? You’re right, I do have bigger issues, & I’m trying to get to the heart of them…unfortunately, I like the Bucs, & when things like this happen, I run into messages boards that haven’t even *heard* of Spike Lee(unless as a basketball fan), & are just “You go Joe!”. I guess I’m just glad we’ve moved beyond(almost) “This is the 3rd black coach in the NFL”…to be singled out so, *I’d* be offended.
I guess I’m just disgusted that this hideously stupid black/white issue is still there, even though in this case it actually WASN’T there…
November 4th, 2010 at 4:16 am
I never got personal with you. Trust me, if I did, you would know it. I’m simply telling you why the statement was a regrettable one. BTW, I have no idea what you are talking about with Tanard Jackson???
As to why the 2 black players were offended, it doesn’t matter, they were. Maybe Joe could answer that for you. Point being, if someone says something that offends you, they should apologize as well. Be respectful, it’s really not that hard to do. If all people would do that more often, the black/white (or any cultural differences) issue wouldn’t be there nearly as much.
November 4th, 2010 at 5:49 am
A world full of apologist! I am over 40. Have not seen the Spike lee Movie 20 + years ago. And took it as sa reference to the Football character portraited by Cuba Gooding Jr. I thought it was an insult and racist. At the VERY LEAST, it requires an explanation and apology by Trey Wingo. If not a plash for Ratings insult, it was at the very least very poor taste! Joe is entirely in the right on this one! Jones is being another lollipop guild, pssudeo mind reading sap of an apologist, who should keep his uninformed and naive opinions out of things he isn’t knowledgeable about. Like life!
November 4th, 2010 at 6:50 am
Well i’m over 40, I’ve actually watched DTRT and find it condescending to say it’s a ‘classic’ movie. Plus if you KNOW that Radio Raheem is a character from that movie then I can say with a lot of certainity that we wouldn’t have much in common.
This matter is simple – Trey puts out a statement that says he’s sorry if he offended coach Morris. End of discussion.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:20 am
Joe, Why are you so insulted by Wingo’s comments? You yourself have called Sabby a “goat” for quite a long time! That’s not insulting?
Morris was called “radio” as far back as before the England Game vs New England last year. And the nickname was coined from the Football Movie “Radio” because of the intelligence, not the skin color. Insulting” yes. Racist? no. I would put in on par with sabby being a “goat”. Had “Radio” been white in the movie, Morris would have still been compared because the “insult” was based upon football intelligence. Why does everyone have to pull the race card for any insult? Morris is a public figure. Therefore, fair game. Just as Sabby Piscitelli is for you, Joe.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:31 am
FWIW, Joe:
1) Adjusting for inflation, you need to approximately double the amount gross for a movie from 1989. So in an apples-to-apples comparison, they grossed about the same.
2) To say that more people have seen Radio vs. Do The Right Thing is just foolish. Do The Right Thing has been out for over 20 years vs. 7 years.
3) Do The Right Thing is much more critically acclaimed than Radio.
4) It is probably much more likely that Wingo knows Do The Right Thing more than Radio.
5) BUT, you’re right in that ESPN’s target demographic would definitely know Radio over Do The Right Thing.
6) If ESPN had done their research they probably should have caught that this would be misrepresented. I just don’t think they did it.
Truthfully, I think it was a minor, innocent mistake. And one of the things I dislike about this site most: making a comment about a very little thing in hopes that it garners interest and, thus, traffic.
November 4th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Joe, for what it worth i’m with you on this. I think its silly not to understand why people would draw conclusions in assuming wingo was referencing the FOOTBALL movie. Perception is reality, Wingo should knonw that.
November 4th, 2010 at 8:13 am
What a bunch of hypocrites! I haven’t watched that “Do the right thing” movie (garbage), the first thing that came to my mind was the movie “Radio”. How can a person with a straight face say that they don’t see a connection with that movie and our HC? Are you guys serious or are smoking some good s**t?
I’m not going to say that Wingo said it using the movie “Radio” to mock our HC, but I find it mind troubling that he never thought “man if I say this people is going to take it the wrong way” and if he didn’t, well then Wingo, Jones and anybody that believes that are just morons.
November 4th, 2010 at 8:15 am
I don’t know for certain, but with some of the horrible “alternate lifestyle ” stories surrounding some of the local sports media, it’s hard to say why Jones would feel so passionate about defending Trey Wingo. It could be some bizarre affection. To the whiners defending Wingo, if you remember some character from some irrelevant 20 year old movie, you need to seriously get a life. Radio was a football movie, 4 years old. That is the relevant reference, and the one used disparagingly by people towards Raheem. Grow up and adress accountable
November 4th, 2010 at 8:41 am
@Christopher- like or not we are judged on perception not intention, that will
never change! Your argument is therefore void. And if i were you I’d be careful what wording you decide to use. I’m not African American and I can def tell you the “some black people” comment above is testy.
November 4th, 2010 at 8:45 am
I hate when this site becomes about Joe instead of the Bucs.
Does anyone really care about Joe’s spats with other sport journalist?
No articles when we sign new “scrubs” because that is unimportant and boring, but we can get a short novel when Joe has an argument with another writer. Ugh.
November 4th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Matt- are you from California?? You are going to such extreme lengths to try sn apologize for this guy, that it’s kinda gay! Really, a 23 year old P.O.S movie is yer defense ? I think if I mugged you, I could talk you into admitting you assaulted me when you tossed me your wallet! Lol
November 4th, 2010 at 9:08 am
FIGHT THE POWER JOE, YOU HAVE MY SUPPORT….
November 4th, 2010 at 9:29 am
(excuse the typos and mispelled words…)
November 4th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Tom Jones is just trying to gain notoriety by backing Wingo. I’m pretty sure it was widely known that some assholes referred to Raheem as Radio. True it was probably brought about because of his color, but I’m not sure it’s racist. I do, however, think it’s very disrespectful.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Joe here,
@Pete Dutcher — Really think you’re making some big leaps saying what is or isn’t a racial remark. Never wrote anything here or in the initial post that offered an opinion on Wingo’s state of mind. …Again, that’s not relevant. The nickname “Radio Raheem” has a track record of a hateful insult for more than a year. Whether Wingo knew that or not is not relevant. …He said it.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Joe here,
@Jdouble — Understand that Joe gave a 7 paragraph opinion on this posted on Tuesday night, outside of the peak traffic time here. …Joe didn’t ask for the St. Pete Times to devote quite a bit of space to blasting him with some inaccuracies. Surely, you understand that Joe had to respond.
This post is just like any other. It goes up and it scrolls down. This site is not about Joe, it’s about the Bucs.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Wingo referenced Radio Raheem not because Coach Morris is black but because his first name is Raheem. Pretty simple. I’m pretty sure Wingo didn’t know that anyone referred to Coach Morris as “Radio” because that is something you’d only know if you follow the Bucs. But if Coach Morris was white I’m 99.9% positive Wingo still calls him Radio Raheem in that scenario — although truth be told there probably aren’t too many white guys in the world named Raheem, but you get my drift. Everyone needs to stop being so damn sensitive. This probably had more to do with the mindless reporter trying to create a story out of nothing just to get people talking. Seems like it accomlished that goal
November 4th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Ok question what does “do the right thing” have to do with football? Oh nothing ok so is it connected to the bucs? No well is it some how simular to coach morris other than the name? No well why did trey refer to it? He must be going senile
November 4th, 2010 at 9:59 am
grossing 27mil in 87 and 52 mil in 2003 maybe pretty similar numbers as far as turnstyle counts go. Never paid more than $5 for a ticket then never pay less than $8 now.
If he would’ve said it last year I would have thought about the Cuba Gooding movie, this year at 5 dash 2. I will take his word on it. When you listen to it in context, there was no maliciousness, or even jest in his voice. More matter of fact. Unfortunately, I fear JBF has given the national media a moniker if things go bad.
Someone said they doubted DTRT was on his radar because of his age, give me a break, in ’87 at the age of 24 DTRT was definitely on his radar.
Leave it alone
November 4th, 2010 at 10:02 am
Trey is an old white dude from CT…Has he even seen a Spike Lee movie…Just kidding. Let’s get backk to the “best team in the NFC” like the first poster stated.
Joe, I love the site, this Tom Jones cat need to back off. He did not get raheem’s view, nor did he get your view before writing his crap.
November 4th, 2010 at 10:19 am
Would it have been any better if Trey had said “Sideshow Raheem” instead? Sure, it’s a little more obscure, being a Simpsons reference from the early 90’s, but that guy was my top Sideshow, ahead of Bob and Mel.
November 4th, 2010 at 10:23 am
If you google “Radio Raheem” Do The Right Thing is the first thing that comes up and I didn’t see any references to “Radio”.
Just saying……
November 4th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Didn’t there used to be commentor on here that used the name RadioMushmouth?
No one ever said aything about that.
Also i hate ESPN so i’m with Joe on this.
Whatever movie the refernce was from it was in poor taste. For some reason everyone at ESPN thinks that every line out of their mouth has to be a joke. Half the time they are just lame references that no one even gets.
November 4th, 2010 at 10:49 am
I agree with Christopher. I think this is a massive over-reaction to Wingo comment. I don’t care if he’s a football commentator, he’s not responsible for knowing every misguided slur a local group comes up with. I hadn’t heard of the “Radio” reference until Joe’s post either.
I agree with Joe in saying that it is beside the point who saw which movie more. I think it’s obvious the “Do the Right Thing” moniker is a more salient cultural reference, but it’s a fruitless argument. The point is Wingo is not responsible for every potential misinterpretation of his words. He IS expected to be a culturally aware commentator, but I think he easily falls within that boundary.
And Joe, you can be sure I’ll be calling you out on any more of your insinuatingly homophobic comments regarding the LOGO network from here on out.
November 4th, 2010 at 10:56 am
I see no harm in defending our Head Coach to the national media or any other outsiders that are not Buc Fans. This is more about unity and solidarity. I do see this as a black and white issue with very little room for gray area. I don’t think there was hate or true racism involved, but more sarcasm and the typical arrogant sports media taking cheap shots at the Bucs. All I can say is keep taking the cheap shots, keep dogging them out, and Raheem will keep channeling their negative comments into synergistic opportunity and busting opponents squarely in the mouth.
I think “Raheem the Dream” would have been a much more endearing term with little room for misinterpretation. It has a nice ring to it and Akeem(before Hakeem)Olajuwon was one of the hardest working players to ever set foot on an NBA floor.
November 4th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Big question, how did Raheem Morris take it? He didn’t think it was a reference to some old movie on ” turner classic movies” . He thought it was a reference to the Football movie. That is the only opinion that mattered. Trey Wingo owes him an apology. Tom Jones owes Raheem and Joe an apology. And all you strange Lil apologist owe it to yourself to go get yer testosterone levels checked, cause, wow, you guys are really scared of confronting someone for doing something inappropriate. I’m glad you Lil sissies weren’t around to negotiate with the Soviets are the Nazis, lol.
November 4th, 2010 at 10:58 am
@Jamie,
“The point is Wingo is not responsible for every potential misinterpretation of his words.”
Ummm actually he is.
November 4th, 2010 at 11:01 am
“Frankly, I wasn’t calling Wingo a racist at all; just keeping it real. I firmly believe Wingo doesn’t drop the one-liner if Morris isn’t a black man, hence the reason the comment was “born from the color of Morris’ skin.”
Well if Morris isn’t a black man, then his name probably isn’t Raheem, and Wingo definitely doesn’t drop the one-liner.
November 4th, 2010 at 11:14 am
@d-money
“Ummm actually he is [responsible for every potential misinterpretation of his words].”
Really? Why? Doesn’t that seem unfair, if not impossible?
November 4th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Joe ussually doesn’t make “Logo” Blast. That ussually would be me.cry all ya want. The Good Capt. Ain’t scared!
November 4th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
COOL! Knock yourself out: Here’s the first pitch:
Joe has the man-loving channel blocked on his DirecTV, along with NBA-TV and BSPN.
Fire away!
(Please remember and never forget: Joe also has the power of God on his blog. Joe just loves being challenged by people with fake names on his own blog telling Joe what to and what not to write. )
November 4th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Joe…You mean you know that “McBuc” is not my real name? LOL, Just kidding.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Joe is like the Bucs today. Some support him out of loyalty. Some support him because he’s right. Some attack him because the think he’s wrong. A lot attack him , just because they are jerks, and see an opportunity! Kinda like a typical Buccaneer post. The haters just hate everything. Don’t they?
November 4th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Are we advocating that a reference to pop culture cannot be made because others don’t understand that reference? That hardly seems like a sensible rule. Shouldn’t the standard of “innocent until proven guilty” apply here? Is Wingo required to play to the lowest common denominator, or should people actually do a little research before making baseless assumptions? I for one am 26, have never seen Radio and believe that Do The Right Thing is the movie that best picture winner “Crash” wishes it could be. I heard the nickname Radio Raheem and immediately assumed Wingo was referring to Coach Morris as a bad ass and nothing more.
What was truthfully a benign statement was blown up because one of the writers of this site thinks that Wingo should stick to cultural references that can be understood by the target demo of 16 year old boys. Am I missing something in my interpretation, because I think you are advocating a stick your head in the sand defense when you probably should be chastised for not doing your research first.
All of that being said, I had no idea there was a controversy sorrounding Coach Morris being called Cuba Gooding’s Radio. I think the strogest that you should come down on Wingo then is that is intentions could have, and have been, misinterpreted so he should be concious of such things, though not necessarily a slave to the cultural references of the lowest common denominator.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Joe-
I’m not telling you you can’t write homophobic things on your blog. It’s your blog and that’s up to you. But it’s offensive to a lot of Bucs fans, myself included.
I’m also not gonna tell you what you can or can’t watch on your TV. It’s your TV, you can block whatever you want. I don’t watch the LOGO channel either, but I don’t feel the need to block it, nor do I feel the need to publicize the fact that I have blocked it in order to snidely insinuate my feelings about homosexuality.
I don’t watch Two and a Half Men, but I don’t publicize the fact that I block it in order to indirectly convey a half-hearted message about my opinion of Charlie Sheen. Charlie Sheen sucks.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Good analogy!
November 4th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
“Shouldn’t the standard of “innocent until proven guilty” apply here? Is Wingo required to play to the lowest common denominator, or should people actually do a little research before making baseless assumptions?”
Well said Michael.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Joe gave reference to both Radio and Radio Raheem, all he said was that some people may mistake trey’s words. I think my Friend Capt Tim hit the nail on the head.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
@jdouble- I feel you man. This is news but the replacement for Brian Price is irrelevant?
Exactly whats going on with this is Joe making a grab for attention for his website. He probably knows exactly what Wingo meant. Of course people want publicity for their site but getting it by throwing out the infamous race card? Well….. Lets just say Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be proud.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
gitarlvr:
Please. Joe’s been doing these types of stories since the day he launched this site over two years ago. You really think Joe writes posts just based on what some suits in Bristol — not Joe’s target audience — may or may not like? Joe’s not Kreskin either. Joe has no idea what ticks in Wingo’s mind.
Joe writes what’s interesting to Joe. Based on Joe’s traffic, many Bucs fans — and that group grows by the month — seem to enjoy it.
Feel free to document all the minutes local sports radio shows devote to nondescript guys signed from other teams’ practice squads in November. Feel free to count the number of paragraphs written about the same player in the local newspapers.
Not much is there? In fact, there’s virtually none. Why do you think that is? Because few care.
With apologies for being repetitive, Joe writes about topics, not transactions.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
I thought Jamie was a girl’s name. Maybe it’s a Girly Man.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
I agree with Joe, I have been coming to this site for a long time, this kind of stuff is always there…and by the number of posts, it seems to be a hot topic. Now, maybe Trey meant the guy from Do the Right Thing and maybe he did not. He must be a huge Spike Lee fan or a movie buff. I saw the movie many years ago, and until I read the article I forgot the characters name. It is a movie worth watching, and so is the movie Radio, so if nothing else you guys all have a couple of movies to add to NetFlix.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
I would also like to add…As a gay black woman trtapped in a white man’s body…Noe of this has offended me in the slightest bit.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Uh…that should have read a streight white man’s body…Screwed that one up.
November 4th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I’m 40. I’ve never seen either movie. After reading several posts here, I asked around my town about both movies (and specifically both characters). I found two people who had heard of Radio Raheem from Do the Right Thing. I found over 50 who made the same leap I did to Radio from Radio.
@Michael wrote: Are we advocating that a reference to pop culture cannot be made because others don’t understand that reference? That hardly seems like a sensible rule.
No, we are not advocating the banning of pop culture references. What we are advocating is realizing when your reference is ambiguous. Most people on this board and most people I’ve asked (at work, at the gas station, at Wal-Mart) moved to the WRONG reference (taking Wingo at his word). A reference that can be taken wrong, and that in fact is taken wrong by a large number of people (probably a majority in this case) is a bad reference.
Also, @Peter Dutcher asked, This states intent to make the statement because of race…this is the meaning of racism, isn’t it?
I don’t think so, at least not entirely. I think racism implies an intent to harm or offend. Maybe I’m wrong, but making a statement based on race does not seem to imply racism. For example, to say, “Many African-Americans have ancestors who were slaves,” is not racist, but is based on race.
What this, to me, means is that Sabby would more likely have been compared to Ronnie Lott if he’d been black, as he was a safety known for his strong hitting and good defense. I think many people made the Lynch leap because of skin color (and team colors). No evidence, and I admit I may be misreading, but I’ve seen other defenders compared to Lynch or Lott based on style and skin-color. I don’t think that means they were racist, just racially tied.
All that said, I think @Moses is right, “truth be told there probably aren’t too many white guys in the world named Raheem.”
November 4th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
F#$K the St.-Pete-Lies, after Gary’s stupid calling out of Raheem in the press conference last week, it would seem that the Editor would tell them to pipe down. I am born and raised in St. Pete and that paper is an abarrassement to the natives. They are mostly too far to the right or the left with anything that comes out of their mouth. For him to even go after you Joe is extremley immature. If he wants a job at BSPN, then he should kiss a$$ somewhere else to get it done! Don’t try and use Joe for a stepping stone.. SMH
November 4th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Horice:
Joe really appreciates your support. Thanks.
There are people at the Times you can single out for bad work. Gary Shelton and Tom Jones and Stephen Holder and Joe Smith are not among those.
(Since Shelton’s name was invoked, Joe has to confess that Shelton has been kind and gracious to Joe in every encounter, both personally and professionally.)
November 4th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Doesn’t that just figure. The one time we actually need bucyouRahDomtheklansman, to define racism for us, and the bastards a no-show! He could of given us quotes right outta the Klan handbook on what is racially insensitive! He’s a friggin expert on the stuff! Instead all we get is a buncha whinny gay guys that I haven’t seen post here before, and the regular good guys, and a couple usual haters ripping into Poor Joe! The one time having a Klansman here woulda been helpful, and he’s not around. Figures! Well, while you’re all here, can one of you gay guys tell me why my beloved ” Buffy the Vampire Slayer” ended up on damn logo! That show was nothing but hot chicks!! Why is it on yer channel?
November 4th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Hot chicks fighting noe the less.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Some people just don’t get it. Look, you could say at least half of the posters on this board find the comments either offensive or in bad taste. If that statistic is evenly remotely close to how people outside of this site feel, it is way too high. Most importantly, how does Raheem Morris feel about it? Is anybody even considering his take on it? I know he probably wouldn’t answer the question, but it’s pretty safe to say that he certainly doesn’t love it. Nobody is painting Wingo as a racist, so stop with the “he’s pulling out the race card” sob story. And again, just because you don’t see it as racially motivated, doesn’t mean it isn’t. Who died and made you the judge? Wingo just used bad judgment and Joe called him on it. I don’t understand what’s the big deal with him just coming out and apologizing for offending people.
And as for Joe using this as a publicity stunt, that’s BS. He has a right to report what he feels (not to mention that he checked to see if it offended others as well). That doesn’t make him wrong or a publicity seeker. This is not buccaneers.com! It’s his site, and it’s an opinionated one. That’s why we are all here. If you don’t like it, nobody is forcing you to be here.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Capt Tim-Not sure you are being serious about the Buffy question. I’ll answer it anyway. You seem to forget that Willow (Buffy’s best friend) was gay for the last 3 seasons or so. Thus the inclusion on the Logo network.
November 4th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Thank you, Eric S. And believe me, I will always remember that the delicious Willow turned into an even more delicious smoking hot lesbian during the final seasons. This actually proved to increase the Capt.’s devout viewership, as if the Godess Charisma Carpenter were not enough!! But, again, incredibly smoking hot chicks- Gay guy channel= confusion ?!?
November 4th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
I was a big fan of the rebel vampire slayer Faith. She was feisty.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Yeah, and Anya! Ahhhh
November 4th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
So, uh, how bout that Freeman?
November 5th, 2010 at 12:27 am
It is racist to think that a white person would not/should not like Spike Lee or his movies. It is also racist to think a a white person cannot make a reference to a character from a Spike Lee movie.
November 5th, 2010 at 12:53 am
Feel free to document where Joe wrote white people “would not/should not” like Spike Lee flicks.
Hint: You won’t find it.
Nice try tough Pat.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Dude, stop being idiotic keeping a non-issue going because you are one of the few people in this world who haven’t seen Do the Right Thing or haven’t heard of it because you live in a sheltered world in someone’s basement. Radio Raheem was a beloved character in that movie and when he was killed by the NYPD, it sparked a riot that nearly tore the neighborhood apart. So NO Trey Wingo was not insulting your head coach and YES, you need to get off your PC high horse, take a chill pill and relax.
And NO I am not an ESPN apologist because most of the people who work there are vapid unaware jackasses who are one one-liner away from getting suspended.
November 12th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Feel free to document where Joe wrote white people “would not/should not” like Spike Lee flicks.
Hint: You won’t find it.
Nice try tough Pat.
Too bad Joe: I did find it.
Call me crazy, but it seems pretty clear that nicknaming the Bucs head coach for either the profanity-spewing Radio Raheem character in the 1989 film “Do The Right Thing,” or for the mentally challenged, football-loving Radio in the 2003 movie Radio is insulting.
Not giving a fair description of the character Radio Raheem in “Do The Right Right” obviously shows that you are prejudice against Spike Lee. I certainly would not describe the Radio Raheem character as profanity-spewing. Overall, the Radio Raheem character was actually a positive character in the movie. It is obvious you do not approve of Spike Lee’s movies and therefore not approve of any reference to any of his movies. Again, it all goes back to you being the one who is racist which explains why you would be so upset about a white person being positive about an individual but referencing a Spike Lee movie to do it.
The thing about “Do The Right Thing” that makes the Raheem Radio reference perfect for Raheem Morris is that the song coming from Radio Raheem’s boom box was “Fight The Power.” That is exactly what Coach Morris is doing. He is proving that the media was wrong about him not being qualified for the head coaching job or that he was way over his head. Seems to me that you are forgetting that is was racism that was the root of many of the negative comments about Coach Morris in the first place.
That is why it is odd that you knocked Trey Wingo for saying something positive about Raheem Morris when Tampa Day airwaves have been full with negative comments about Morris before the season started.
Last thing-I believe the word is “though” not “tough”. Maybe you should watch Spike Lee movies so you can be properly educated.
November 16th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I just don’t see it. He was clearly referring to Do the Right Thing.
I think the issue is that hardcore Bucs fans are too close to the issue– too familiar with the “Radio” nickname. Think about it this way — imagine that you’re in Indy and you’ve never heard about “Radio” used as a pejorative nickname in Tampa. And then you hear Wingo refer to your head coach as “Radio Jim”. Would you ever, ever think he’s referring to the Gooding character? I sure as hell wouldn’t. I would be confused, but I woudn’t ever make that link.
So why assume that Wingo is making that connection? Do you really think that he’s dug down into the interwebs to find the stinking, racist posts by certain Tampan assholes? And that he liked those rants so much that he took the nickname, and twisted it from “Radio” into “Radio Raheem”? No.
There’s a much simpler explanation. Wingo’s taken an uncommon name, and linked it to the most famous usage of that name. Raheem -> “Radio Raheem”. If our head coach’s name was “Steve Austin”, I’m pretty sure what the nickname would have been. And while one could interpret that nickname to mean that Wingo’s saying the coach is a conscienceless murderer, that would be a really, really strained inference.
Also, you really ought to watch Do the Right Thing sometime. If something good can come out of this whole brouhaha, it should be that more people become aware of and then get to see this very good, and impactful, film.
November 17th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
@ Joe C — You wrote: If our head coach’s name was “Steve Austin”, I’m pretty sure what the nickname would have been. And while one could interpret that nickname to mean that Wingo’s saying the coach is a conscienceless murderer, that would be a really, really strained inference.
Why would “The Bionic Man” or “The 6-Million Dollar Man” make me think about conscienceless murder? Where are you getting that?
November 18th, 2010 at 1:40 am
Raheem -> Radio Raheem
Steve Austin -> Stone Cold Steve Austin
November 18th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Steve Austin is a character from a 70s Sci-Fi show.