Sports fans complain constantly when listening to national TV broadcasters because of perceived bias. Usually, these are outlandish claims made by biased rooters of particular teams. Yours truly even feels there are some announcers who hate his teams. For this writer, the teams are the NFL's Washington Redskins and the NHL's Washington Capitals. In part one of this series, we examine TV coverage of the Washington Redskins.
With the Redskins, the perceived announcer bias varies depending upon the individual not one group. This stems from that particular person's use of the team's controversial nickname, "Redskins". By definition, it's a racial slur insulting Native Americans. The problem is the nickname was created in 1936 and just recently there's been a huge negative outcry.
On CBS-TV, lead game analyst Phil Simms went as far as proclaiming in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he wouldn't say "Redskins" during the network's Sept. 25th Washington-New York Giants telecast. That was enough to raise some eyebrows but throw in Simms is a former Super Bowl MVP quarterback with...the New York Giants. It was infuriating to listen to on a national broadcast. In addition, CBS' rules expert, former head referee Mike Carey previously asked the NFL not to assign him to Washington Redskins games as an official but worked this game as part of CBS and NFL Network's Thursday night series schedule. Play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz did use the "Redskins" nickname in a normal manner as with other NFL teams.
Meanwhile, CBS has televised two other Redskins contests this season with different broadcast crews in each case. Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots called the Week 2 game versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. There was nothing out of the ordinary with regard to the announcers favoring or opposing the name. It was used freely within the context of the game. The same holds true for the broadcast of last Sunday's game versus the Tennessee Titans featuring the team of Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon.
Harlan, the play-by-play announcer, is an interesting case. Through his assignments on CBS-TV and Westwood One Radio for Monday Night Football, Harlan has called 2 Redskins games already this regular season. In fact, he has also called a preseason game on local TV as a substitute for regular announcer Kenny Albert in each of the last two seasons for the Redskins Broadcast Network. Whether locally on NBC4 and Comcast Sportsnet during preseason or nationally on CBS during the regular season, Harlan calls the Redskins games with no change in philosophy as far as stating the team's nickname. Washington, led by owner Daniel Snyder, has fiercely defended the name against opposition from national voices. Harlan, along with his CBS partner Rich Gannon, Spero Dedes, Solomon Wilcots, and Jim Nantz do not choose to give an opinion or hint at one through their commentary.
On FOX-TV, there were mixed viewpoints displayed. During the week 1 Washington-Houston game, play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman frequently referred to the team as "Washington" while limiting "Redskins" mentions. For the broadcast of week 3's contest against the Philadelphia Eagles, FOX's top broadcast crew was assigned to the matchup. Main color analyst Troy Aikman was also asked before the season about the situation and said he would use "Redskins" as long as it remains the official team's nickname. Aikman is a Hall-of-Fame quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, the Redskins arch rival. In this case, Aikman is in a difficult position as a national voice of the NFL but a former player of an Redskins divisional opponent. He elects to provide a neutral, unbiased statement.
On ESPN, Lead analyst Jon Gruden has said publicly he would still say "Redskins" as long as that was the team's name. Washington has appeared almost regularly at least once a year for the last decade. Play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico has called all of ESPN's Redskin games since 2006. Starting this year, Tirico has referred to the team more as "Washington" than "Redskins". Tirico can sympathize with the plight of Redskins fans. Tirico's college alma mater Syracuse University changed its mascot from a warrior to an orange and the school nickname from Orangemen and Orangewomen to Orange.
According to the Syracuse University Archives website, the warrior mascot was created through a fake story in the student newspaper during the 1930s. Apparently, false remains of an Indian chief named Big Chief Bill Orange were found during an on-campus excavation. The story was untrue but the Saltine Warrior was a celebrated figure in Syracuse lore until Native Americans protested. The mascot was abolished in 1978. In 2004, the school modified its nicknames for male and female sports to create one uniform color, Orange.
Here are a couple of links with detailed explanations:
(Syracuse University Mascots)
http://archives.syr.edu/history/mascots.html
(The Daily Orange: Syracuse changes nickname, logo)
http://dailyorange.com/2004/06/syracuse-changes-nickname-logo/
In summary with the Redskins, the perceived negativity is more toward a racist slur which is, unfortunately, part of the official name of the team. The anti-Redskins coverage towards Washington's team and fans is out of a mission for equality in a journalistic community where unequal representation leads to accusations of bias.
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