William Rhoden

N.Y. Times Sports Columnist: America ‘Can’t Continue To Be Addicted’ To Football
By Jeffrey Meyer | September 10, 2014 | 10:53 AM EDT

In the wake of new video surfacing showing former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice hitting and knocking his wife out, many in the media have been quick to indict the NFL as fostering a culture of violence.

During a Wednesday morning appearance on CBS This Morning, "New York Times" sports columnist William Rhoden blasted the NFL and argued that any player, even those who have not been convicted of domestic abuse, should be banned from the NFL. The Times columnist added that America “can't continue to be addicted to this game.”

MSNBC’s Capehart: Tolerance ‘Should Not Be a Two-Way Street’
By Paul Bremmer | May 13, 2014 | 5:19 PM EDT

Liberals often say they’re big on tolerance, but apparently tolerance must flow only one way – toward liberals and their favored identity groups. So says MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capehart.

Appearing as a guest on Monday’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Capehart rebuffed the idea that supporters of Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL, should have to tolerate the views of those who don’t agree with Sam’s lifestyle. Capehart argued:

Esquire’s Pierce Asks: Why Doesn’t NBA Punish Owners Who Oppose Gay Marriage?
By Paul Bremmer | April 30, 2014 | 1:33 PM EDT

Donald Sterling, the beleaguered owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has been banned from the NBA for life. But for some in the media, the league's disciplinary action is something that should be pursued against socially conservative owners by virtue of their political beliefs.

Take Esquire political blogger Charlie Pierce, for example. Appearing as a guest on Tuesday’s PBS NewsHour, Pierce suggested that NBA commissioner Adam Silver should now consider taking action against the DeVos family, which owns the Orlando Magic, for the family’s opposition to gay marriage. Pierce pondered (emphasis mine):

NY Times Columnist: Every Newsroom or Stadium Press Box Without a Black Shows Donald Sterling-Level Racism
By Tim Graham | April 30, 2014 | 7:49 AM EDT

On NPR’s race-matters talk show “Tell Me More” on Monday, host Michel Martin discussed the Donald Sterling scandal with New York Times sports columnist William Rhoden, announcing he had written the book "Forty Million Dollar Slave: The Rise, Fall, And Redemption Of The Black Athlete."

Rhoden used the Sterling scandal to thump a tub for racial quotas in journalism. He claimed that every time there’s not a black journalist in a newsroom or a stadium press box, that news outlet or media elite  is Donald Sterling-level racist: [MP3 audio here.]

NYT Sports Columnist: Redskins Name Change ‘Has To Start With Us In The Media’
By Paul Bremmer | October 28, 2013 | 5:26 PM EDT

Like the steady beat of a drum, the liberal media’s war on the Washington Redskins’ name continues. On Saturday’s CBS This Morning, co-anchor Vanita Nair broached the topic during a discussion with The New York Times sports columnist Bill Rhoden. Nair asked if the Redskins might really change their name, and Rhoden replied with certitude, “Oh, they’re going to change it. And I think it has to start with us in the media.”

So it’s the media’s job to pressure professional sports teams into changing their names? Rhoden repeated his brash call to liberal activist journalism: [See video below the break.]
 

NYT Sports Columnist William Rhoden Wishes NFL Would Ban Gun Ownership by Players
By Clay Waters | December 5, 2012 | 11:10 AM EST

On MSNBC's The Ed Show Monday night, New York Times sports columnist William Rhoden defended NBC sportscaster Bob Costas's controversial comments, made during halftime of an NFL game Sunday night, on the murder-suicide committed by Kansas City Chief player Jovan Belcher, even agreeing to the idea that the NFL commissioner try to ban players from owning guns.

Costas had quoted an anti-gun screed by sports columnist Jason Whitlock, in part: "Our current gun culture ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience-store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead. Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it." (Video below.)

CBS Blames Jovan Belcher Murder-Suicide on 'Gun Culture' in NFL and U.S.
By Matthew Balan | December 4, 2012 | 2:20 PM EST

Jim Axelrod filed a completely one-sided report on Tuesday's CBS This Morning linking the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide to a lack of gun control inside the NFL  – and in the country in general. Axelrod turned to only pro-gun control advocates as talking heads – Brady Center flack Marcellus Wiley, NBC's Bob Costas, and New York Times sportswriter William Rhoden.

Rhoden blamed the widespread availability of guns in the U.S. for sportsmen getting involved in violent incidents: "Why do athletes love guns? Well, the reality is that this is a gun culture. Lots of people - and lots of people with money - own guns." The correspondent also outlined that liberal newspaper journalist "says the issue of guns and athletes is about youth, money, and perceived power." [audio clips available here; video below the jump]

N.Y. Times Opposes Fines for F-Bombs -- Unless the Gay F-Bomb Is Involved
By Tim Graham | April 15, 2011 | 7:20 PM EDT

Back in 2007, The New York Times was delighted when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the TV networks and against FCC fines for fleeting profanities on broadcast TV. "If Bush Can Blurt Curse, So Can Network TV," the Times wrote in its Page One headline.

But in 2011, when gays are outraged that NBA star Kobe Bryant was caught on television during a game mouthing the "gay F-bomb" at a referee, and the NBA assesses an amazing $100,000 fine for this one word, Times sports columnist William Rhoden argued the fine was puny and that Bryant should be forced to sit out the first game of the playoffs. The Times also approvingly published gay activist John Amaechi on its Off the Dribble blog begging Bryant not to challenge the fine. Apparently, some "curse words" have a much deadlier ring:

'Today': NY Times Goes to Bat for Bonds
By Mark Finkelstein | August 8, 2007 | 8:04 AM EDT

When New-York based "Today" went looking for a local sports reporter to defend Barry Bonds the morning after he set the career home run record, it didn't turn to the New York Post, whose headline this morning reads JUNK BONDS: ‘SULTAN OF SYRINGE'. Nor was it likely that the designated hitter would be someone from the Daily News, whose back page screams "King of Shame." Instead, "Today" looked to the New York Times, and in particular to sports writer William Rhoden [pictured here with Matt Lauer], to embrace Bonds.

'TODAY' CO-ANCHOR MATT LAUER: You've been very critical of baseball actually leading up to this milestone for the way they've been wringing their hands trying to figure out what to do with this record. Barry Bonds you wrote, quote, "he will be baseball's king, it's emperor, it's czar." How are you feeling this morning?

NYT SPORTS REPORTER WILLIAM RHODEN: I think it's a great moment, Matt. It really is. It's an historic moment. The number's there, no matter. There's going to continue to be hand-wringing, but there's no hand-wringing in the Bonds household [proving what?] . . . It's just a tremendous accomplishment . . . I don't think anyone doubts that.

View video here.