From the Fort Worth Star Telegram...Boston Celtics radio analyst Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell should have been relieved of his duties after he made outrageous sexist remarks about NBA referee Violet Palmer during a broadcast.
Instead, Maxwell was allowed to apologize on the air for his comments, and then it was back to business as usual. Boys will be boys, you know.
Such is the world of the current or ex-pro athlete.
Whether it's bending or breaking laws, then walking away clean or violating social norms that embarrass themselves and the league, people in Maxwell's circle get to play by different rules.
Who knew that when you reach a certain stature in life, as Maxwell has, you're entitled to be judged differently than every other American?
What a difference twenty years makes. Then, former LA Dodgers executive Al Campanis and former NFL TV analyst Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder were both fired for making racist remarks about African-Americans during separate interviews.
Unfortunately for them, they didn't play for the famous Celtics, like Maxwell did. And they weren't the Most Valuable Player of the 1981 NBA Finals, like Maxwell.
During a game between the Celtics and Houston Rockets last week, Maxwell voiced his displeasure with a call Palmer made, which as an analyst is part of the job description. But Maxwell hollered over the airwaves that Palmer should "Go back to the kitchen."
Maxwell also directed Palmer to "Go in there and make me some bacon and eggs, would you?"
After the strides they've made professionally over the years, women across America should be outraged. That's why Maxwell should have been dealt the same hand as Campanis and Snyder.
Anyone who thinks like Maxwell shouldn't be allowed to have a public forum to voice their opinions.
Maxwell's bosses, obviously fond of him, also apparently, didn't edit his apology before it went over the airwaves.
"Violet Palmer, as a woman of color and a woman, she worked extremely hard to get in this position," Maxwell said on the air. "And if I said anything insensitive or sexist in any way, then I apologize because she has worked extremely hard to get where she is now."
Maxwell just doesn't get it. He said a lot that was insensitive and sexist, and just may need to visit a therapist to figure it all out.
A representative for Boston radio station WEEI, which broadcast the Celtics-Rockets game, said the station didn't condone what Maxwell said while adding that his comments were a poor attempt at humor. They just weren't ready to do what Campanis' and Snyder's bosses did and pull the plug on one of the most beloved players in Boston Celtics history.
What a crying shame.