you seem to be missing that jumping to "its cause shes black" is the problem regardless of any of the rest (or the huge benefit of the doubt given to the person venting)
Taylor is 13 years younger. She's the young up and coming host. Nichols doesn't have a permanent seat in that spot. I'm sure she'll be paid out for per her contract but it doesn't mean ESPN can't make a change. It's like the Angels cutting Pujols. Companies are allowed to pay out a contract and make a change.
This is the only article I can find on Nichols’ contract that isn’t about the immediate dispute https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.mi...mns-blogs/barry-jackson/article235796932.html
Right, and Pujols was signed to play 1b for the Angels. And again, none of that even matters. She's allowed to be upset about being replaced. She's allowed to think they are wrong. She's allowed to think she's better. That's all normal. But going with "Well it's only bc she's black." is not ok.
Somewhere, Bill Burr is laughing his ass off at a white woman believing she's not a part of white privilege culture.
Pujols’ contract doesn’t say he is entitled to 600 plate appearances a year, or entitle him to hit in the 3 hole when the Angels play the Astros. Nichols is working in an industry where exposure is key to future employment opportunities, and one in which women have been routinely sidelined for getting to old. I haven’t seen any evidence that Nichols getting sidelined for Taylor was performance based. She wasn’t hitting .198. Is the best theory for Taylor getting the job other than ESPN trying to be a little less racist in the wake of the Floyd murder that Taylor is 13 years younger?
Nichols contract says she going to be paid to be the host. It doesn't say they can't make a change. You don't know what she was hitting. Maybe she lost her contacts. Maybe agents and players like dealing with Taylor more. Maybe the co-hosts like Taylor more. Maybe the producer likes Taylor more. Maybe sponsors like Taylor more. We don't know. And it doesn't matter. The fact that you can't think of any reason other than race is mind blowing to me. You're normally pretty good with this stuff but wow you're way off on this one. Fwiw I brought up age bc it's unlikely Taylor was in a position to get that job when Nichols got it bc of her age. It wasn't to suggest Nichols is getting old, but that Taylor is young and just now getting to an age where she would be looked at for that job.
The ratings and airtime increases for The Jump in moving from Beadle to Nichols The measures ESPN has taken this year to keep Nichols on air even though Taylor - presumably, the better talent, who is on an expiring contract - won’t work with her
If Nichols had been replaced my a white woman, we wouldn't be having this conversation. The assumption would be the new girl was better or more well liked or something. She'd be deserving for some reason. But it was a black woman, so it must be a handout to the black woman bc no way is she deserving. Shit is gross.
Idk what Nichols reaction would be, but it wouldn't be about race. She'd be upset, but that's life. My comment was about the public reaction though. Nobody itt would be Stanning for Nichols if she'd been replaced by a white woman. That's bc it would about the merits of the replacement, not her skin tone.
Initially I read it as the old guard being unhappy at being stepped over by the young coworker with less experience while Nichols acknowledging ESPN has sucked diversifying its workforce. I saw my error after RSK’s post. If she hadn’t invoked diversity there’d be no issue, but sadly she did.
Deep down who cares who the host is. They don’t drive ratings. Nichols acting like she’s the reason people tune in is ridiculous. I can’t believe people watch any of those shows to begin with. Sam Ponder getting paid like $5 million to do nothing is astounding.
It came across different from what I intended so I dumped it. My point wasn't to make light of the comments or what was said about Taylor or anything like that. What she said was absolutely wrong. Was basically just trying to say that it's pretty easy to talk about diversity from the overhead view and say it's important (like Nichols has). It's different when a black woman suddenly gets your job (or a job you want, depending on the whole contract thing) and you feel slighted and try to rationalize it. The way I worded it was really dumb.
That's fair. You're right, it is tough when it's you on the other end. I get her looking for any excuse other the execs preferring Taylor for whatever reason. Doesn't make it right, but I get it. My main issue is the people backing her. They aren't personally affected and shoukd be able to see it for what it is.
Maria is awesome, Rachel is a dime a dozen Not sure Maria is worth near $7 mil but whatever. Thanks for listening to my thoughts
The contract part of this is kind of crazy to think about. ESPN made this mess, and now the timing of this story makes them fucked in that negotiation. Especially because there's no possible way they can give that job to Nichols now if Taylor walks.
espn's NBA pregame and halftime shows are the worst things on TV, but that has mostly been because of Paul Pierce
i get that you reconsidered this post but the likes on it are very funny just an insane reactionary framing of the situation that cobbled together some friendly folks! RSK post I think says what you were going for without being reactionary fwiw
I don’t care for Stephen a smith but he is absolutely a reason why people watch things and he works a ton. has anyone ever tuned in to anything because of either Rachel Nichols or Maria Taylor?
Nope. I’m sure most people wouldn’t miss them if they were no longer on the air unless their replacements were trash.
I dunno man I’m pretty upset that I won’t be able to hear Rachel Nichols and/or Maria Taylor ask Jalen Rose what he thinks about Suns vs Bucks.
Maria Taylor used to play college basketball (and volleyball) at UGA. She’s not ignorant to the sport. She’s no Doris Burke but Maria definitely knows the game better than Nichols. Also, Maria fucking grinded on ESPN, she covered college football, college basketball, the NFL and NBA. She’s infinitely more diverse in her skill set than Nichols who I’ve only ever seen cover the nba.
To be fair, Nichols has done a lot with the NFL too. She was a sideline reporter and part of their Sunday and Monday pre-game shows. She only started with the NBA since she went back to ESPN about 5 years ago.
No clue which is more knowledgeable but for a host it doesn’t matter as they rarely offer their opinion I won’t watch either way as I don’t care about the NBA. Sounds like Taylor got offered a $5m/yr contract a year ago that she turned down. Oops
I vaguely remember her covering the NFL. I mostly remember her from the E:60 show and her CNN show. Always thought she was a solid journalist. Seems ESPN has been going away from that.
She'll probably get a big raise now, because if she doesn't, espn knows they will be considered racist.
Her contract is up in two weeks. They’ve offered her a bunch of money and she hasn’t taken it probably going to go to fox and chill with skip bayless
the grossest part of this was nichols trying to compare this video being leaked because she was being dumb af on a hot mic to the erin andrews video a really shitty person
this whole thing is really a perfect example of how people can be so much in favor of diversity and equal rights until the moment it threatens to cut into their piece of the pie and then everything changes.
I agree with what he said, there needs to be equality and the solution is not and should not be to pay men less it has to be to pay women more.