Rob Dibble's apology via his MASN blog
by Stacey on Aug 15, 2010 7:00 PM EDT
in Commentary & Analysis
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PrintThe comments made by Rob Dibble during Wednesdays' Nats game have gotten a lot of attention, and rightly so. As a group, female fans have been trivialized before and we'll be trivialized again. But maybe, thanks to the light shone on Dibble, other male sports personalities will think twice before making such hurtful comments, and the world will be better for it.
In the meantime, this is an Orioles site, and the Orioles have been playing well. Thankfully the only former pitchers I have to listen to on a regular basis are Jim Palmer, Mike Flanagan, and Dave Johnson. So consider these my final words on Rob Dibble. After today, let us never speak of him again (unless it's to mock his awful announcing, that is always welcome here).
This morning Rob Dibble posted an explanation of sorts on his MASN blog. In it he outlines all of the female baseball fans in his life and then gives the following apology:
The other night I made an off-handed comment, the meaning of which may have been misconstrued beyond what was said. If any fan of this great game took offense, then he or she should know that this was neither my intention nor my history in the game.
Look, let me be the first to say that I don't believe that Rob Dibble hates women. I don't think that he was trying to alienate the female fan base or that he really believes women shouldn't attend baseball games. But just because of that, it doesn't mean his comments weren't wrong. His comments were inappropriate, insensitive, and upsetting.
My least favorite kind of apology in the world is "if you were upset, then I'm sorry." An apology like that absolves the apologizer from any fault and instead puts it back on the person who has been wronged. It is essentially the other person saying, "If you are so sensitive and/or stupid to have thought that I could possibly have done something wrong, then I'm sorry that you are so sensitive and/or stupid."
The whole thing reminds me of when we're in a game thread and someone insults a player by saying he is gay or says that the umpire must be on his period and I (or zknower or duck or whoever) have to tell them it's not ok. Chances are that the person saying that isn't a homophobe or a sexist, and chances are that it didn't even occur to that person that his words might be offensive. But that doesn't mean those words aren't wrong and it doesn't mean it's the fault of the person who doesn't like them that they are.
In a perfect world, Rob Dibble wouldn't have said what he did. But in a perfect world that began on Thursday morning, Rob Dibble would have responded with an apology more like this:
I apologize for the comments that I made Wednesday night about the women sitting behind home plate during the Nationals game. Although I didn't mean them to be sexist, I now understand why they were construed as such. I have nothing but respect for female baseball fans and in the future I will go out of my way to ensure I don't say anything that would lead anyone to think otherwise.
An apology like that I could get behind. I would applaud Rob Dibble for an apology like that. As it stands now, Rob Dibble is just another non-apologizer who refuses to acknowledge that he actually did anything wrong.
And that's all I have to say about that.
Edit: I guess that's not all I have to say about that. Rob Dibble gave an on-air apology today, as follows:
You know, Bob, recently some things have come to my attention that, in cyberspace, some really toxic and hurtful things have been mentioned about me, something I said last week during a baseball game. To anybody that does not know me that was offended, or too[k] offense with what I said in my weak attempt to be humorous during a down time during the game, I truly apologize. That's not truly how I feel about any baseball fan -- men, women, or children. And so I wrote a blog, in my own words, not the words of other people who'd like you to think differently, on MASNSports.com. So, my humble and sincere apology if I offended anybody last week
Make of that what you want. He does sound truly sorry, and for that I'm appreciative. I'm washing my hands of Rob Dibble, though, so from now on I'll stick to mocking him for his baseball analysis.
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So here's Rob's extended remarks
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/35ednc
Dibble: “You know, Bob, recently some things have come to my attention that, in cyberspace, some really toxic and hurtful things have been mentioned about me, something I said last week during a baseball game. To anybody that does not know me that was offended, or tool offense with what I said in my weak attempt to be humorous during a down time during the game, I truly apologize. That’s not truly how I feel about any baseball fan — men, women, or children. And so I wrote a blog, in my own words, not the words of other people who’d like you to think differently, on MASNSports.com. So, my humble and sincere apology if I offended anybody last week.”
Carpenter: “We know you are not like that. Those of us who work and hang with you every day.”
Dibble: “Thank you. [few empty seconds pass] Now back to baseball.”
"I might know a couple things that you don't know. 'Cause I've been young, but you ain't never been old." - Elvin Bishop
i think dibble talking baseball is almost as offensive as him degrading women
/not really, but still
It's a fight to the finish. That's a good place to stop.
More offensive.
Look, this guy has been a douchebag from the get go. You listen to him for 10 minutes and it’s pretty obvious. As I’ve said before, he sounds as though a lazy MASN producer charged with casting their broadcasts walked into a frat house at the University of Maryland and picked the first loud douche they ran into.
If MASN wants to get serious about their broadcasting – and I’m sure they do (and I give them credit for improving some things , particularly the technical direction of the games over the past years) – they need to get better on air personalities. Rob Dibble needs to be the first thing to go. He’s not just ehhhh or boring or occasionally bad, like Palmer and Thorne. He is god awful. A serious net negative to the whole experience of watching a Nats game. Think of it this way: little kids around DC are growing up listening to this douchebag and his inane comments. Dude has to go. I cannot stress this enough.
But how do you really feel about the guy?
Clarence, It's better to have a gun and not need it, then need a gun and not have it.
Really nice post
I agree with alot of the sentiments of the post. I agree Dibble does not hate women but his comments were way out of line (especially that he brought it up more than once).
bq. Blockquoted paragraph
My least favorite kind of apology in the world is “if you were upset, then I’m sorry.” An apology like that absolves the apologizer from any fault and instead puts it back on the person who has been wronged. It is essentially the other person saying, “If you are so sensitive and/or stupid to have thought that I could possibly have done something wrong, then I’m sorry that you are so sensitive and/or stupid.”
I really like this point. Nice write up
It's all good
"I might know a couple things that you don't know. 'Cause I've been young, but you ain't never been old." - Elvin Bishop
I actually think that type of apology is acceptable in a workplace environment. People sometime are actually crazy. And when dealing with crazy people, that’s the route to go. What’s the alternative? You’re bat crazy and please get away from me as fast as possible?! On an internet community, that type of apology is less necessary because it doesn’t carry any professional consequences if people don’t get along. If you’re not sorry what about you said, there’s no need to say it.
In any case, the second apology from Dibs is fine. He’s off the hook regarding this incident.
Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns.
Rob Dibble really is the worst analyst in baseball. I didn’t hear anything about the comments talked about here. But I think that just adds to the evidence. Thus I find it hard to watch the Nats when the O’s aren’t on. Now, back to the O’s.
"If I was being paid thirty-thousand dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400." - Ted Williams
by Capsfan07 on Aug 15, 2010 7:55 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Meh, typical
I’m sure Rob Dibble is sorry. Sorry that people are upset. Nothing he’s said makes it seem like he actually understands why people got upset. And as always, he’s taking an aggressive, douchey stance toward the people who were offended. His opening remarks on MASN weren’t an apology, it was him saying that people were saying things “toxic and hurtful” about him.
And maybe that’s true, since it’s the internet and people say hurtful and toxic things about everything, but it of course immediately makes it sound like any criticism of his words was hurtful and toxic. Which is pretty bullshit. It’s a typical sort of non-apology which paints everyone but himself as the victim.
If the apology had been sincere, then I would say the matter should be resolved. But it wasn’t and hopefully people won’t forget it even if we here move on.
Luckily, I don’t have to listen to him because I hate the Nationals and avoid their broadcasts as much as possible.
totally agree
His opening remarks on MASN weren’t an apology, it was him saying that people were saying things "toxic and hurtful" about him.
It’s still placing the blame on the listener. Just fucking apologize, be a grown-up about it. If you don’t understand why what you said was offensive, go get some therapy.
Also, most of the comments about him I saw were quite well-written. Were they hurtful? Too bad, the truth hurts some times. Were they toxic? Hardly. Maybe he just doesn’t understand all the big words.
"I put a pepper rub on the scallops so you have a little contrast. You have sweetness from the coconut oil and little acidity from the splash of lemon." – Luke Scott
Amen, ZK
It’s the old politician’s trick of attacking the messenger, portraying your critics as unhinged, unwashed, crazed, etc. Palin and Beck have made a career out of this.
by Fred Sanford on Aug 16, 2010 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Isn't it bit of a double standard to condemn someone for making comments about
female baseball fans talking about shopping yet refer to the same individual as a fucking douche bag?
Actually you don’t have to answer that. It is a double standard. It is one thing to condemn Dibble’s actions. But as soon as people start making personal attacks they become worse than Dibble.
You don’t like his apology? Fine. Personally I thought Stacey’s version would have served him much better. But the way some folks are acting, Rob Dibble is some minion of the devil and needs to be ridden out of town on a rail. Guess people don’t believe that forgiveness is one of the most powerful and redeeming actions a person can take. Then again, maybe I’m wasting my time at Mass each Sunday and shouldn’t be paying so much attention to my priest.
Clarence, It's better to have a gun and not need it, then need a gun and not have it.
If a person’s actions are continually douchey, at what point can you consider them a douche? I could understand you whining about people calling him a douche if he didn’t constantly act like one, but he does. Why is a personal attack based on repeated behavior off limits? What else do have to judge a person on besides their actions? It seems perfectly appropriate to me. It’s not like anybody is calling him a douche because of things that he can’t control, like race, gender, religion, etc. They are calling him a douche because he acts like a fucking douche. It’s really as simple as that.
And I fail to see how it’s even close to a double standard. The comments he made were based on stereotypical bullshit. Calling him a douche is based on repeated public displays of douchebagery. The two instances are not even remotely comparable.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
I totally feel you Stacey.
I think Rob was way off-base and, personally, I think female baseball fans make the game in a lot of ways. Rob should have issued a more genuine apology.
Something other than "toxic" views on "cyberspace" got to him
I am guessing that someone from the team, or the league, told him, “Dibble, you better apologize or you’re going to be selling baseballs with your autograph on them at nostalgia fairs.”
This reminds me of the Mad Men episode where the comedian who insulted the owners of Utz potato chips had to squirm his way into an apology for his insulting behavior.
It was an apology…but…not…really.
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