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ESPN Suspended Kornheiser for Being Kornheiser - UPDATED

Feb 23, 2010, 6:30 PM UTC

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Tony Kornheiser led his radio show Tuesday by reiterating that his remarks about Hannah Storm were “intemperate and stupid remarks” before addressing the news of his suspension from PTI:â†µâ†µâ‡¥“As a result of this, I have been sent to sidelines from PTI for a while and when I’m allowed back on PTI, I will happily go back because I love the PTI show and love all the people on the PTI show.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“I’ve said about 1,000 times, while doing radio in my life, the following sentence: if you put a live microphone in front of somebody, eventually, that person will say something wrong. This was one of the times I said something wrong. Beyond that, you can call me and ask me for comment. I’m not going to do it. It seems to me that, without any question, I broke the rules and this is the punishment that’s come.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µHonestly, I love Tony and have been on record about 1,000 times myself that the reason I do a show every day is because Kornheiser showed me a better way to do talk radio. His show, over the length and breadth of his time on radio, has been the best show around. That’s it. That’s the list.â†µâ†µHaving said that, it doesn’t mean anyone should care what he says. Kornheiser has made a living trashing other people for any myriad of reasons – for everything from his own amusement to professional sabotage of others in the business (and for those regular Mr. Tony listeners, by the business, I mean the industry.).â†µ

â†µâ†µHeck, we even designed Death Star Radio charity t-shirts with the saying “Help Friends. Hurt Enemies. Have a good time.”â†µ

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â†µExcept this time, it seems Kornheiser didn't hurt his enemies, he took an uncontested shot at a fellow ESPN employee. So slap on the wrist he gets. As I said on Monday, while this may have been the most pointed attack at Storm's attire on SportsCenter, it was by no means the first for Kornheiser. I wasn't surprised when Kornheiser apologized, but frankly, I’m surprised that the apology wasn't enough.â†µ

â†µâ†µReports indicate that Kornheiser will be off PTI for “a few days” which is like giving a kid an out-of-school suspension for pantsing a girl in the lunch line. Will there be more to this? Will Kornheiser have to make a formal apology on ESPN’s air upon his return to PTI or will his radio apology – on a local ESPN affiliate in Washington, D.C. – be enough to satiate the PC police in Bristol?â†µ

â†µâ†µI guess we’ll have to stay tuned…which is obviously what ESPN wants anyway.â†µ

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UPDATE - ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz sent over this quote from John Skipper:

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â†µ"Tony Kornheiser's comments about Hannah Storm were entirely inappropriate. Hurtful and personal comments such as these are not acceptable and have significant consequences. Tony has been suspended from PTI for two weeks. Hannah is a respected colleague who has been an integral part of the success of our morning SportsCenter."
â†µ John Skipper, ESPN Executive Vice President, Content
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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