Wynalda's California comment

If you watched Thursday's night ESPN2 broadcast of Chicago vs. DC United there is a very good chance you heard ESPN color analyst Eric Wynalda deliver an unfortunate comment that had to leave some viewers stunned.

As ESPN2 cameras panned to the Chicago Fire supporter's group Section 8 with about 15 minutes left in the match, fans in the section set off flares that gave off a red, fire-like glare. Wynalda responded to this image by saying, "Looks like California," a flippant reference to the wildfires currently plaguing California. The haunting silence that followed after the comment leads me to believe Wynalda realized the mistake he just made.

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Will ESPN toss Wynalda? There have been strong rumors for a while now that Wynalda was already on the way out after 2007, with recently retired Galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones and Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas (if he is fired or 'resigns') among the candidates to replace him. There are just three more MLS games for Wynalda to do (DC-Chicago Game two, the Eastern Conference Final and MLS Cup on ABC) so you wonder if ESPN will sit Wynalda the rest of the way and fill the spots with Tommy Smythe or Julie Foudy.

You may recall that ESPN suspended Wynalda for the season opening MLS match between DC and Colorado on ABC for comments he made on a blog regarding notorious soccer hater Jim Rome, host of the ESPN show "Rome is Burning". Wynalda apologized for the comments soon after.

While his crude remarks aimed at Rome didn't spark much in the way of a public outcry, I think it will be much tougher for people to ignore his comment during Thursday's match, particularly given the severity of the situation in California. It should be noted that Wynalda is from Southern California and played his college soccer at San Diego State, so he does have ties to the area being affected by the wildfires. Whether that will matter in the court of public opinion remains to be seen.

What do you think of Wynalda's comment. Do you think it wasn't that big a deal? Do you think he should be fired? Do you think ESPN should keep him on? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[Ube]

I don't know. I'm a big believer that if someone's actions weren't designed to intentionally cause harm to someone else, than the reaction shouldn't be to hurt them back. Were Wynalda's comments incredibly insensitive? Absolutely. Were they meant to hurt those of us living in California? I don't think so.

What does firing him accomplish? It doesn't help the people in California. It doesn't help Wynalda. It really doesn't help anyone, it's just vindictive.

What about if instead, ESPN tells him that (in addition to a sincere, on-air apology) he has to spend 100 hours doing community service in southern california, so he can see firsthand how tramatic this was for so many people, and how much his comments might have hurt? The people down there would get some real assistance towards rebuilding and moving on. And maybe, hopefully, Wynalda would realize how damaging his casual comments can be, and grow as a person.

Isn't that better for everyone?

[Pete]

Oh please, let's not start another round of faux outrage over this. It was a lame attempt at being clever and topical. Whatever. Less offensive than 99% of the verbal diahrrea that comes out of Dave O'Brian's mouth during a typical telecast.

I live in Southern California, and I suspect the tone is more reverential nationally than locally, but out here one radio station was claiming 'Los Angeles is Burning' by Bad Religion is their most requested song.

The only reason the fires are getting as much national coverage as they are was because the shi shi area of Malibu was under threat.

But yeah, if ESPN wants to get rid of Wynalda, let them do it. Just don't use this as a lame excuse.

And Ives, I'm hoping the Cobi and Lalas suggestions were purely speculative. Did you ever see an episode of MTV's Megadose back in the day? Brutal. And Alexi, he was good on the old MLS Extratime show, but after seeing him on the World Cup telecasts, I think he's so firmly ingrained into MLS/USSF shill mode that he'd be utterly unlistenable.

[Ed Ho]

Ives,

I'm from San Diego, was evacuated this week because of the fires, and was in no way offended by his remark. I think he said it beacuse he was thinking about what is going on out here. Plus, Wynalda went to San Diego State, so I'm sure he knows people affected. I definitely didn't perceive any malice in his comments.

[Ives]

Pete, I know some people will overreact to the statement and some, like yourself, will consider the comment harmless. The question is how many people will be truly offended by it. You never can tell in this politically correct world what comment will spark a big outcry and what comment might go ignored.

I posted about it because I heard it and some readers pointed it out to me so I felt it was worth discussing. We'll find out soon enough whether Wynalda's comment turns into a big deal.

[Michael]

Yeah, I do not think Wynalda should really get fired for that as much as the fact the he is just a incompetent professional. I respect that he was a great striker once, but must he remind us all the time. Plus, his actual color commentary is not so much commentary as it is just a half-baked guy making random comments that come into his head as he tried to relate it to soccer. It's weird, I heard him filling in on Mike and Mike in the morning once and showed more sports perspective in those few hours than I have heard in years of soccer telecasts.

Also, while I believe Ryan and Arena were subject to criticism over the jobs they did at their respective World Cups, but I think Wynalda's job as a color commentator or studio host should sort of prohibit him from making such scathing calls on TV. That's what blogs and the internet is for. Bottom line, he is not very professional. I cannot wait till somebody from the Reyna/McBride/Pope era hopefully takes his place.

I will say that I enjoyed what he said to Rome though, he did speak for a lot of soccer fans that day as Jim Rome is just an absolute moron with a microphone.

[Matt Y]

Wynalda made a dumb comment...he makes lots of them so what's the big deal.

He's from SoCal so why the hell would he talk crap abou this home area.

Now...Rob Stone needs to get his facts straight. He make several errors..the most funny was claiming that DC was unbeaten in their last 7 league games. Uh they just lost and their streak was more than seven games.

Also..the tie in to baseball and October was really weak and insulting and looked real amatuer. When will ESPN just let soccer stand on it's own merits?

[Steve W]

I don't see what the big deal is. If he apologizes for offending anyone then we should all just move along.

Wynalda is a head case, to be sure, but he shouldn't be fired for this.

[AlexS]

The comment was stupid, not malicious. ESPNs reaction will be based upon how many people heard it and reacted.

Of course, I wouldn't mind Glen Davis (was that Glen Davis in the booth with him?) taking up more air time, you know, talking about the game being watched instead of the normal MLS commentary.

[Matt]

I didn't notice what he said really. I was watching the game.

I like Wynalda. Good lord please protect us from Alexi Lalas getting in the booth!!!!!

[papa bear]

As someone who, ya know, actually lives in LA near the Malibu area I didn't find it offensive. I didn't even think it was meant to be much of a joke more of a pithy quip.
Methinks people who don't live in LA a.k.a the land of 50 wildfires a year are the only ones getting as worked up over it. We kind of accept that a buttload of people are gonna have their houses burn every year because they refuse to trim back the growth and water their lawns properly in preparation for the bi monthly whack jobs who start fires in the hills.

[Harmless]

I seriously doubt anyone was offended by the comment - unless someone TOLD them they SHOULD be offended. At least, that's they way i feel until someone can clearly explain how the statement was offensive. Faux outrage is indeed what we're dealing with here. Let's not pretend he said "California people should die".

[John]

Most of the bloggers have it right.

Wynalda did not mean to be stupid and insensitive; that is just how he is on camera. He definitely has that "I know more about soccer than anyone else because I was a great striker and no one ever gives me my props" feel to his on-air work. It's like asking Nixon to comment on his presidency. The on-air Wynalda is like listening to some drunken former player in a bar yell at a telecast of a match. Alexi Lalas is about the only person who might be worse on air. Surely there must be better ex players around (John Obrien?).

He should lose his job but not for this comment.

[Andrew Murray]

Chill out - it's a joke!!!

end of story

[Felix]

What he said about Jim Rome was crude, but as a American soccer fan, I can understand. His comments about the flare and the California fires were stupid, but I'll cut him some slack because he is a SoCal guy. But this is what you get when you have a guy like Wynalda on the 'mike live, sometimes he'll cross the line.

[Tom B.]

Far more offensive was EPSN calling October "Soctober"... no one is outraged by this?? It was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Whoever came up with it should be shot.

[Joamiq]

Not a big deal. I think the bigger story from last night's broadcast is what a great job Glenn Davis did with the PBP.

[MattM]

Ives, please chill out. Not everything is controversial, a crisis or an outrage.

Wynalda made a tasteless comment. I'm certainly no fan of his, but if he gets fired for that, then we're in deeper PC trouble than I thought.

Instead, can the ESPN directors who insist on jumping from bizarre camera angle to unhelpful camera angle and totally ruining the flow of play. There were times I didn't know what I was watching. Amateur hour.

I love HD, but I like soccer more.

[Brad]

OK, first off, Wynalda should not be on the telecasts, period. I love the way he talked about how Barrett and Blanco needed to hit the far corner as if he hit the far corner each and everytime he played. I'm no fan of Blanco, but the first thing you say before the game should not be, "It's hard not to absolutely hate Blanco". Then someone called him a hunchback halfway through the game. I mean, that's not stuff you say on the air. And hate is a pretty strong word.

But I will say this, Glenn Davis was incredible last night. He should be in the booth from here on out. The problem with most of the Thursday night games is that you had Rob Stone AND Wynalda who NEVER talk about the actual game. They sound like a couple of burnouts talking about the game and generally don't even comment on what's actually going on. They're too busy looking for guys in Nacho Libre masks and talking about what Cobi Jones eats for dinner.

THIS is why Wynalda needs to go and Rob Stone should go too. People don't want to tune in when it's a continuous 45 minutes of cheese. That's the difference with football and all these other sports that have cheeseball announcers, they at least have commercial breaks. I don't have to listen to them BSing about their personal lives for 90 minutes straight. As boring as baseball is, look at it's announcers. Professional? Check. Talks about the game? Check. Does not include personal anecdotes about how good they once were? Check.

Wynalda needs to go. Rob Stone needs to go. And I have to say that Julie Foudy is awful. If she gets in the booth, I dont' know if any of us will be able to watch without it being on mute.

[Brad]

MattM, speaking of HD... how incredible was it that in the HD broadcast, you could actually watch Rolfe's contact float down. THAT is picture clarity.

[matt]

wynalda makes dim-witted comments all the time. this is no surprise. so does the rest of the mls-primetime cast minus allen hopkins. i would be pleased to see eric, dave obrien and rob stone be let go and just have 1 person to call the game and give analysis. if wynalda's comments lead to the eventual overhaul of epsn's mls crew, then excellent.
but his statement alone shouldn't be the reason he gets fired. it should be because he isn't good at what he does.

[matt]

matt M don't get me started on the camera angles. things like that make it tough to watch

[Brad]

Ives. I think you should fan the flames at ESPN and see if we can't get Wynalda the boot. I don't really care why he's off of there, whether it's his comments or the terrible job he does night in and night out.

[Lawrence]

One of those things where he just says the first thing that pops into his head. Doubt it was a "ha ha, california's burning". I don't it's that he didn't want to be sensitive (pause after he said it knowing he said something that came out bad), he just didn't think about the comment before he said it.

I don't think Wynalda is a great commentator. But if he goes and it's just Thommy Smith and Rob Stone, I will watch on mute. Those two offend me. Two people who have no right commentating pro soccer, and say more stupid things than Wynalda. Smith's a guy who thinks he knows soccer because he's got the accent, and Rob Stone probably never even played soccer in his life. Those are the most offensive to me.

[Lawrence]

It's not my place to deem whether it's offensive, I'm not from CA. I just wanted to comment on the situation.

[lawrenceterp]

It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. This is actually the first time I realized he even said that, and I was watching the game last night. I think I remember it now, but at the time it just slipped right past me. Maybe I was too focused on the game. Either way, this is much ado about nothing.