Sporting Madness

Photo: Jemele Hill [Photo from Michael David Smith's excellent interview with her at FanHouse ] Jemele Hill deserves a fair bit of credit for her lengthy public mea culpa [ Page 2 ] after comparing cheering for the Boston Celtics to "saying Hitler was a victim". It's always difficult to own up to mistakes, especially when you're someone who's in the public eye as frequently as she is. Unlike many other internet, print, radio or TV personalities who have erred (see Pratt , David ; Imus , Don [ Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Hartford Courant ], and many others), Hill offered a detailed and seemingly-sincere apology short on rationalizations and excuses and long on promises to improve. Here's an excerpt: "The beginning is easy: I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being thoughtless and insensitive. I'm sorry for making a casual reference to something that should never be construed as casual. Real apologies don't mix with rationalizations, so I won...

Photo: ESPN columnist Jemele Hill (Photo from Women's E-news ). Let me start by saying that I generally admire ESPN's Jemele Hill as a writer. I usually enjoy her style and her willingness to discuss tough issues and take controversial stands (these columns on LeBron James' Vogue cover and Karl Malone's lack of support for his kids are excellent examples). It's also nice to see a prominent national columnist talking about Detroit sports teams, which certainly don't get too much attention from many of those based in Boston, L.A. or New York. She has more than just strong opinions: she has the talent to effectively and convincly communicate those opinions, and to do so in a way to keep me interested and reading even when I absolutely disagree, which is a rare gift. She also had a great take on the Stern-Donaghy scandal this week. With all that said, she went too far this time. As Deadspin 's Matt Sussman reports , her recent column initially compared cheer...