I Was Expecting Ten Columns By Now

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, an ESPN baseball analyst, is now a former ESPN baseball analyst.

A couple of years ago, when ESPN2’s unctuous chat show, First Take, was finding itself in hot water on a weekly basis, a high-ranking ESPN official told me it was becoming too big a headache for the company and something needed to be done. This is often the ESPN way: There comes a breaking point for the company when the headache exceeds the value. First Take, because it makes the company millions of dollars (it’s cheap to produce given they own the studio space), was spared more drastic measures beyond additional executive oversight.

Curt Schilling was not as lucky.

On Wednesday evening, ESPN announced it had terminated the MLB analyst following repeated political discourse on his feed, which some tabbed as hate speech. Said the company in a statement: “ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.”

Inclusive - except when you have an opinion that's different from the corporate suits at ESPN, apparently.

Does Shank mount his Shetland pony on this one? I'm guessing no - hot potato!