Regarding the Lyons termination...do Americans realise how ridiculous this looks? Sure it was a silly remark and he should be reprimanded, but in these times a sense of humour is the one thing everyone really needs. The U.S. is the waaay to sensitive about these things. Over hear you can take the mickey out of anyone about anything and as long as it's not nasty and the intent is good humoured, then its all accepted and soon forgotten.

I didn't even know Piniella was Hispanic, the name always looked more Italian to me and I always thought he was a New Yorker. Besides, I don't think "habla-ing Espanol" is offensive, so much as self-deprecating (Lyons was complimenting Piniella on speaking a language besides English and making fun of himself for not being able to speak Spansih at all except as some mixed Spanglish). The wallet comment seemed specifically aimed at Piniella's own "finding a wallet" comments and was specifically directed to him. Whether or not Lyons deserved to be on the broadcasting team in the first place is an entirely separate issue (and he certainly isn't as bad as many announcers in the NFL, MLB, and NBA).

But, this brings up another point: what are announcers allowed to make fun of? Apparently, nothing about a minority heritage. Of course, it is almost a certainty that the players make fun of each other all the time about this stuff.

I can't believe he said something that stupid on the air. Hunter Cashdollar

I think that a not insignificant part of it was that this was not the first time Lyons has done something stupid on air. I seem to recall he said some 'innapropriate' things about Shawn Green missing time for Yom Kippur or some such.

I do not like people being fired for what they say. I was appalled that Campanis was fired, and did not think Jimmy the Greek should have been either-at least not for the ostensible reason. I do not even like the forced apologies.

That said, the notion of political correctness as an explanation, while legitimate, is a misleading one. It is used to suggest that oversensitive liberals are stifling free speech. As a matter of fact, the efforts at sensitizing people to the uses of pejoratives is simply intended to create a sense of what is appropriate in public discourse. Do we want TV commentators routinely referring to "kikes" or "niggers" or "wops" or "spics"? Probably not; the issue then becomes where is the line, not whether the line exists. Essentially, the mocking of "political correctness" is a right wing hijacking of a liberal view in order to support bigotry. It is particularly noxious as a cover for anti-gay public sentiment, but applies to other types of bigotry as well.

To test my point, imagine a commentator mocking religion on the air. Imagine him mocking a player for his religious demonstrations at bat. Wouldn't you love to see some interviewer really cross examine some athlete who thanks god or attributes his success to god's will? Or how marvelous should one denegrate patriotic Americans for maudlin references to 9/11. Talk about political correctness! S/he would be skewered.

In these politically correct times, we have simply become overly sensitive about such comments, especially when the subject matters are on the American Civil Liberty Union's protected list.

What on Earth does that stupid comment mean?

" It is used to suggest that oversensitive liberals are stifling free speech. As a matter of fact, the efforts at sensitizing people to the uses of pejoratives is simply intended to create a sense of what is appropriate in public discourse."

THAT SOUNDS LIKE COMMIE LIBRAL TALK TO ME.

Seriously though, well said. Another thing, if you look it up, Lyons had said something pretty off-color in the past, if you dig around you can find it, something he got suspended for. Two strikes, you're out.

A comment from Josh:

"I didn't even know Piniella was Hispanic, the name always looked more Italian to me and I always thought he was a New Yorker."

Wow. What you are implying is that someone cannot be both a New Yorker and Hispanic.

I actually laughed myself off of my chair. Wow.

Keith Olberman pretty much threw Lyons under the bus yesterday on the Dan Patrick Show, noting that Psycho had managed to hit the stupid on-air comment trifecta of race (Piniella), religion (Green) and gender preference ("Steve Lavin's wearing enough hair gel to straighten out Richard Simmons"). Olberman also noted that Fox higher-ups apparently never explained to Lyons that saying stupid things on-air wasn't necessarily a good idea. One gets the feeling that Lyons was not fired for this particular, unfunny comments as for a long pattern of behavior, of which this was the tipping point. It's not a "politically correct" decision, it's a business one - OK, does this guy turn off more viewers than he attracts. The answer on Lyons finally flipped over, with this latest round, to "No".

"Essentially, the mocking of 'political correctness' is a right wing hijacking of a liberal view in order to support bigotry."

To the contrary, the argument is simply about where 'the line' falls and what groups are protected. You'll find a far greater outcry from far-left liberals about perceived bigotry IF the target is not caucasian, Christian or a United States citizen. In truth, you'll find no outcry if the target falls into any one of these groups. The latter category, interestingly enough, includes all religions and races, a fact the political correctness censors dismiss in any dispute involving the United States and any other nation in the world.

Lyons is no better or worse than the great majority of broadcasters on the air today. In fact, he annoys me less than most...football being populated with the worst of the bunch.

As others have pointed out, the firing of Steve Lyons cannot be undestood solely by referencing this latest incident. His offenses were cumulative. They stretch back at least 7 years (as recently as last week, Lyons and Brennaman mocked some poor fan who was wearing a strange-looking device on his head -- turns out he was legally blind).

The way I see it, this is a win-win for Fox (if I may put it cynically). They get to make a statement defending higher discourse on the air, while canning a guy who had the brass walking on eggshells, and was never particularly beloved by the public anyway. He's easily replaceable. It was a good call.

And for the record, I don't think this issue is as simple as PC vs. anti-PC. There's a way to handle so-called racial humor that's funny and thought-provoking -- witness, say, Chris Rock or an episode of The Office. Neither are politically correct in the least, but they're also not lunkheaded, which is more than I can say for Lyons. Perhaps Steve Lyons isn't a racist -- I don't know b/c I don't know the man. But at the very least he's clumsy, and shouldn't Fox demand more than that?

Wow, I have heard the excerpt from the actual show, and have now read the article in the LAT twice. What are we talking about here??? I had to call my father and ask him about the "meaning" of "finding a wallet". Give me a break. I don't know Steve Lyons, nor am I familiar with his past. Based on what I have read and heard, this was nothing more than meaningless banter that you usually hear during all sporting events between announcers trying to fill the countless minutes of dead air time. I say babagoi! (Do not ask me about the pronunciation of babagoi, as I have not decided if its origin should be Spanish, Yiddish, Danish, or Swahili...hopefully I can decide on something that can offend the greatest amount of people.) It is my acronym for... build a bridge and get over it!