Kidd's wife on receiving end of 'smack' talk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN.com news services Bob Ryan, a sports columnist for the Boston Globe, said on a Boston television station Sunday night that he'd "like to smack" Jason Kidd's wife, Joumana, because he believes she uses her son T.J. Kidd as a "prop." Ryan also said Joumana behaves like an "exhibitionist" because of her lust for the camera. A shocked Bob Lobel, the host of WBZ TV's Sports Final, twice asked Ryan to retract the "smack" remark and Ryan refused. Ryan told the New York Post on Monday night that he would like to take back what he said, calling it a mistake. Ryan's remarks came two years after Kidd was arrested for striking Joumana during a domestic dispute, eventually agreeing to a plea in which he received court-ordered counseling for six months, and a year after Joumana said she felt threatened by FleetCenter fans in Boston during the Eastern Conference finals, when some fans chanted "Wife-Beater" at Kidd. The Globe said it would release an official statement on the matter later Tuesday. Ryan also works for ESPN as a regular panelist on "Around the Horn" and "The Sports Reporters" and is a regular guest on ESPN Radio. Speaking about the harsh treatment Joumana received last year from Celtics fans during the playoffs, Ryan said on WBZ-TV Sunday night, "I got theories with this woman, this Joumana Kidd who wants to be a TV star. She wants face time on camera. The great way to get face time is to bring the cute, little precocious kid. Oh, great. I'd like to smack her." At that point, Lobel interrupted, saying, "You can't say that. What's happening here? You know what, I will give you a mulligan on that." Ryan retorted: "I'm not looking for that." Lobel persisted, saying, "You just don't want to smack her. You just don't mean to say that. Really, tell me you don't?" "Why should I say anything different than I said all playoffs last year?" Ryan said. Told about the remarks last night, Joumana Kidd told the Post, "I feel sorry for [Ryan] but I have nothing to say bad about him or Boston. I'm not mad at him. I'm sorry I offend him." Ryan, covering Monday night's Game 1 of the Nets-Celtics playoff rematch, repeatedly said to the Post he regretted not taking back the remark right away. At the time, Ryan said he felt he would've come off as "a hypocrite." But moments after the show, Ryan said he knew he blew it. "Driving home, I'm thinking that was bad, that was a mistake," Ryan said. "I'd like to have that back. I know the times, I know the problem. It's like saying, 'I'm going to kill you.' You don't really mean it. I regret it. It was a stupid choice of words. Stupid guy-talk. But I stand by the other points." Ryan was not available to come on-camera Tuesday. Earlier in the WBZ interview, Ryan said of Kidd's wife, "First of all, she should stay home. Joumana Kidd, who you can almost go as far as calling her an exhibitionist herself. They use that kid as a prop. I'm so down on parents using their kids as props. "She's parading around in ridiculous outfits with Jason Kidd stuff all over it," Ryan added. "She just doesn't slink in and sit in a box, which would be fine. This irritates me." http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2003/story?id=1550082
I actually really have a lot of respect for Bob Ryan but he really has foot in mouth disease on this one. Its really surprising because the guy is very knowledgeable. One day in December on Tony Kornheisor's radio show Bob Ryan said that Roy Hoffienz was one of the the main reasons for the average Joe being priced out proffesional sports. Does anyone know the significance of this statement? If you do, keep in mind that this is a Boston sports writer.
I see Bob Ryan all the time on Around the Horn, never thought he was a bad guy, pretty dumb to say something like what he said though.
The question here is- what was Bob Ryan's intent? He said he was sorry, and everybody who heard him thinks he was dumb to say what he did. Let it go.
He apologized after the fact. It was not until the public outcry that he thought twice about it. The host of the show gave him more than one chance to retract or clarify what he meant by the comment and he did not. I could give two sh!ts less about Kidd and his wife, butRyan is an ******* and there is nothing he can do to make this better. That was ignorant, and what makes it even worse is the fact that one of the individuals attempted to give him a break or a chance to clarify what he was saying but he wanted to be an ass as usual and this time he paid the price. Do I personally have a problem with what he said? Not really, but he should know that what he said was going to cause waves and it did just that. He will get a nice month vacation out of the deal, that is fine by me!
His intent was not to imply that Jason should smack his wife around some more. From what I understand he realized he probably should have taken that chance to restate what he said. He didn't literally mean someone should hit her.
Normally, I'd say just let it go. But I might think differently if it were MY wife he said it about. It would be even worse if I HAD a wife. Seriously, you can't go around saying you want to smack someone's wife around. At least not on TV. Besides, JKidd apparently doesn't need any help, he does it on his own...
According to ESPN, the Boston Globe has suspended Bob Ryan: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2003/story?id=1550082 One month without pay for a moderately severe case of foot in mouth disease.
just a guess, but he speaks so fast he doesn't usually edit, so he was probably trying to make a smart ass comment and it turned out to be dumb ass. That's my take. But I could definately see him screwing up like this without having the intention of his statements being hurtful. He gets heated up, doesn't think, and says some dumb stuff sometimes. This was another time.
