Original Blog Entry: Paul Shirley Fired Over Haiti Comments

NBey6 — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:53:41 GMT

Paul Shirley Fired Over Haiti Comments

By Sam Brand Posted Jan 27th 2010 01:46PM

Paul Shirley was a much better blogger than he ever was a basketball player. His ESPN column on music, sports and culture was read by thousands. But that gig is kaput after the journeyman forward dropped some controversial words on Haiti relief. In a nutshell, he doesn't believe in helping the earthquake victims. ESPN no longer believes in helping him. In other news, today is Apple's iPad day, and Barack Obama is set to give his first official State of the Union Address. This is What You're Searching for Today...

Paul Shirley Haiti The 6'10 blogger published a scathing denunciation of Haitian earthquake relief efforts on FlipCollective.com. His stance did not gel with employer ESPN. I haven't donated a cent to the Haitian relief effort, Shirley wrote on Tuesday. And I probably will not. Shirley went on, Shouldn't much of the responsibility for the disaster lie with the victims of the disaster? Sounds a lot like the views of an old televangelist we know. How could humans do this to themselves, Shirley continues. Sports blog The Big Lead points out Shirley's words were inexplicably ignorant. Haitians weren't given a choice. On Wednesday, ESPN released a brief statement announcing Shirley's views do not at all reflect our company's views on the Haiti relief efforts. He will no longer contribute to ESPN.

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