One of the worst vendettas in sports media is Colin Cowherd’s multiple years of riding John Wall into the ground. Cowherd’s rants on Wall ever since he debuted in the NBA is the worst of sports talk radio and enough words have been typed about the subject. It’s been nothing short of racially charged character assassination. Over the years Cowherd has called Wall’s pregame Dougie from his rookie season the dumbest thing he’s ever seen,* took shots at his deceased father, and compared him to Michael Vick.
* I’d argue that almost anything Cowherd has spewed on radio, including his thesis on unemployment in the midwest and his desecration of the late Sean Taylor is dumber.
Wall showed his true character this week, the one Cowherd has spent years trying to sully, when he broke down in a postgame interview after the death of a young girl from cancer he had befriended. It was one of the most touching scenes this year in sports.
After seeing that scene, one couldn’t help but think of what was going through Cowherd’s mind. On Highly Questionable, Bomani Jones took this dig at his fellow ESPN colleague.
Pay close attention to Pablo Torre’s facial reaction that says “I hope he doesn’t get suspended for this!”
Cowherd finally showed a shred of human emotion on his radio show regarding Wall’s character on Tuesday in walking it back just a touch. Naturally, he didn’t get all the way to an apology, because he’s still Colin Cowherd.
If you want to read what is hopefully the final chapter in this story, check out Dan Steinberg’s excellent piece and Tom Ziller at SB Nation, who rightly says “Cowherd’s half-hearted walkback is four years too late.”
I just hope for John Wall’s sake that he never has to have Colin Cowherd’s name attached to him ever again.
H/T Sporting News
