Jim O'Donnell: Brennaman up against business and brand maintenance
THE CUBS AND THE REDS are two of the oldest franchises in Major League Baseball.
Either could have had President Ulysses S. Grant or the inimitable Horace Greeley throw out the first pitch at their home openers.
So, it's not excessive to presume that some spirit of competitive rivalry still exists between the two antiques.
But for Cincinnati to trump Mark Grace's "dingbat" with Thom Brennaman's extraordinarily reprehensible gay slur stretches all foul lines of common indecency.
Brennaman has been walking a career gang plank of his very own construction since his hot mic gaffe.
He began apologizing on-air moments after making the brutish remark.
One day later, he expanded his sphere of "sorry" to an op-ed piece in The Cincinnati Enquirer.
The weekend generated a second wave of apologia.
Still, he was poleaxed by Fox Sports from its No. 3 NFL broadcast team.
The Reds and MLB were letting him twist in the wind.
Strident voices called for his banishment to somewhere not near the rainbow.
Even some self-perceived as reasonably empathetic raced back to read excerpts of Oscar Wilde and the James Baldwin essay "Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood" to double-check their social bearings.
Two points to consider rose from the din:
First, all entities that had been employing Brennaman - the Reds, Fox, indirectly MLB and the NFL - base final decisions much more on business economics and brand maintenance than any overt new embrace of humanistic LGBTQ+ concerns.
That's just life in the current #MeFirst America.
Two, in terms of response to the universalities of the human condition, the words of Adlai Stevenson come to mind.
On a bizarre 1963 night in Dallas - 29 days before President John F. Kennedy was murdered - U.N. Ambassador Stevenson was attempting to deliver a "United Nations Day" address.
Some in the auditorium were mercilessly jeering him. (Later, while exiting, he was spat on and hit in the head with a placard.)
Supporters tried to outshout the lunatic fringe.
Stevenson, eloquent and unflappable, held up his hands in an attempt to calm and continue and said:
"Now, now my friends ... please. For my part, I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance."
Thom Brennaman now needs to be so lucky.
WITH MARCO ANDRETTI starting on the pole, the Indianapolis 500 is likely to feature yet another touch of "Agita, My Goombah" Sunday (NBC-5; Mike Tirico, Danica Patrick and all; coverage begins at noon; green flag at 1:30 p.m.)
No Andretti has won the race since grandfather Mario captured his sole checkered flag under the colors of River Forest-based Andy Granatelli and the STP Corp. in 1969.
That's a drought of 51 years and 69 starts by Grandpa, sons Michael and Jeff, nephew John and the 33-year-old Marco - Michael's son.
As for Mario, the insouciant's closest exposure came when the company behind the megaselling "Rare Air" (1993) followed with a coffee-table book titled "Andretti."
Principal interviewing was done at his Nazareth, Penn., homestead. In tone and demeanor, the dynamo came across as a crisply intelligent, blue-collar astronaut.
One of Andretti's most memorable answers came when asked about sensory priorities while in the middle of a moving mob of mad men trying to pass each other at 200 mph:
"As long as ya' got track," Andretti replied, "Ya' got hope."
STREET-BEATIN': NBA whiz David Griffin and the New Orleans Pelicans are doing intriguing allowable diligence on Wes Unseld Jr. (Meaning even if Arturas Karnisovas and the Bulls want the pedigreed prize as their next head coach, they're in tough.) ...
It's far too early to fairly critique ESPN AM (1000)'s rejiggered lineup. But Jonathan Hood should be reminded that he didn't automatically concede alpha rank just because he has the singular privilege of working alongside gassy David Kaplan. ...
Dave Tuley of vsin.com - a Northern Illinois alum - reports that MLB home teams are 183-179 against the spread through month one of the spectator-free season. (That's called "pandemic parity.") ...
Speaking of the Indy 500, Blackhawks anthem singer Jim Cornelison will bari-boom "Back Home Again in Indiana" as the Brickyard overtures crescendo. ...
Add memorable Mike Leiderman to the flock seconding salutes to the long running virtuosity of NBCSCH tech chief Mark Harper. (Son Eric Leiderman remains the showrunner on "Late Night with Seth Meyers.") ...
Amid the manic confusion that is America 2020, it is comforting to see those Snoop Dogg/Corona beer commercials airing on NBA telecasts. (The "molasses drawler" always suggests frothy Rasta chill.) ...
And while Jimmy Garoppolo was very happy over George Kittle's tight-end record five-year, $75 million contract extension, 49ers teammate Jerick McKinnon tweeted it all on home with: "Kittle currency! Congrats my dawg."
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.