First Take reacts to L.A. Times' controversial article on Kim Mulkey & LSU

welcome back on Saturday the long

anticipated Washington Post profile on

LSU head coach Kim mki was published the

piece was a retrospective of M's career

and included no New Revelations though

Moi described it as a hitpiece in a

statement she made last week

anticipating its publication meanwhile

the Los Angeles Times released a column

which came out on Friday that portrayed

LSU's matchup against UCLA as a

reckoning between good versus evil with

Moi calling it sexist awful and wrong

the times apologize and Revis the

article here's Moi addressing the LA

Times piece you can criticize coaches

all you want that's our business you can

come at us and say you're the worst

coach in America I hate you I hate

everything about you we expect

that comes with the

territory but the one thing I'm not

going to let you

do I'm not going to let you attack young

people it was so sexist

and they don't even know

it it was good versus evil in that game

today

evil called us dirty debutants take your

phone out right now and Google dirty

debutant and tell me what it

says dirty

debutants are you kidding

me I'm not going to let you talk about

18 to 21 year old kids

in that

tone all right Shannon I'm going to

start with you what is your reaction to

all of this I agree I I've been on

record I'm not the biggest fan of Kim

Moi but she's absolutely right in this

situation it's sad because as she

mentioned these are 18 to 21 year old

these are college young ladies and you

think of them as dirty debutants Google

it I wish they had done what she had

asked them to do and see what it takes

you to now I understand I'm from the

south so I understand what a debutant

ball is uh there were what it is Stephen

as a young lady supposed to be a going

into adulthood and so they get all

dressed up and they they put on their

nice fancy gowns and off to they go and

you say dirty debutants and then you say

the others are milk and cookies really

for entrance formal entrance into

society that's the way lab yeah really

really I mean come on now is that is

that where we are now if you're going to

say the one program is but to to B take

it to this point because we we see what

it is sex is there's a a I am not going

to even say a tinge because when you say

one team is dirty and the other team is

milk and cookies really villains when

did it's almost like Stephen I know you

remember when they had Miami played

Notre Dame and it was the Catholics

versus the convicts yep and we we we see

where this is headed what what did you

hope to get out of that and Stephen A it

was so bad they had to do some

retractions but it had already it

already been printed so you can't pull

back what somebody has already read it's

kind of like when I'm in a courtroom

Stephen that we're in a courtroom and I

said something and you object I object

your honor and honor says objection

substain how do I make the jury unhear

what I heard what they heard right how

do you make people unread what they've

already read you've already called them

the dirty debutant you've already said

these inflammatory sexist things about

them and for that Stephen you can you

know more about this you were in the

journalism you were in the newspaper

business I'm assuming that when you

write a column it has to go to the

editor yes so the editor had to have

signed off on this and now goad an

editor's desk it's copy editor an

editor's desk it goes through like two

or three layers before it goes to print

that is true so and or now and you gonna

come out and say it didn't meet the

standard when after the fact Stephen

they just told me it goes to two or

three levels so it met the standard

enough to get out one time and then you

get the back glass and you hear what

comes from what you wrote or what you

allowed to now you said it didn't meet

the editorial standards and we're going

to you're going to have a retraction to

some of it it's too late Kim Moi is

exactly correct this thing should have

never been written I don't really know

what you hope to gain by saying talking

about 18 to 21 year old young ladies in

this capacity I don't get what they got

out of this but it was totally wrong and

she's absolutely right Kim Moi was

absolutely right

and she was right to point it out she

was right to point out what it was in

terms of the sexism that uh was was

displayed uh and she was also right to

challenge the media in attendant to pull

out their phones and look up deputes and

and what that means and what was trying

to be implied here here's what I would

tell you Shannon when it comes to the

newspaper industry and what the Los

Angeles Times should have done there is

always a boss there is always a leader

in everything that we do put Shannon up

on the screen so I can see him please

there's always that what happens is

whoever had the power to say quote it

did not meet the times editorial

standards should have went a step

further and apologized and said on

behalf of this paper that is not our

standard that was never supposed to be

in print it is something that we will

address we apologize

and we will make sure it does not happen

again very very simple they didn't go

that far they just stopped there and

that's where the mistake was what

happens is is that as damaging and as

bad as this as this was it would have

been significantly worse if it came from

a neutral publication or a national

publication if the USA Today or somebody

like that did it it would it would

resonate even further here's the reason

why the Los Angeles times you know who

they rooting for yeah the home paper of

course so you you Roo for the home paper

you see what I'm saying and so if you

get an opportunity to paint somebody as

the villain while you're you know you're

pristine and you're like the dove flying

in the sky you know nothing blemishes

you you can understand what their intent

was but they went too damn far and they

made that mistake had it been a national

publication all right or somebody that

was neutral if this was some paper in

New York or wherever that decided to

that it would have been far far more

damaging because where's the homerism

there there's no excuse for you to be

favoring one over the other in any kind

of fashion right but in the Los Angeles

Times that's the only thing that they

have to lean on with this mistake

getting to Moi let's understand

something about Moi here because she's

made news over the last week and a half

two weeks for several reasons okay

calling out the Washington Post before

the article came out and all of this

other stuff and it turned out to just be

you know a regurgitation of some of the

things we already knew her relation

Britney Brer and all of this other stuff

it ain't the greatest look in the world

but it was no surprise in the end Kim

Moi has been coaching in college

basketball for 24 years she's a

four-time champion she's a three-time

coach of the year do you know that she's

never had a season where she's loost

she's she's won less than 20 games every

single year of her career she's won more

than 20 games so there's no questioning

her about her coaching acent

only has been she's Elite so what do you

get to you get to the personal and

here's where the personal lies the

personal lies and her relationship with

players how it's perceived she has

treated some of her players particularly

her off-putting personality or approach

or whatever word you want to use to

their quote unquote sexuality this is

according to a book Britney grer wrote

according to excerpts according to

things that have been discussed in the

end

her turning around and being defensive

for on behalf of her players people will

look at her and say well at least you're

doing that these days because clearly

there were times in the past where we

wish you would have and you didn't right

you love she love she loved the players

but not the players lifestyle right and

so that's what that's what seemingly

annoyed her or what she tried to shy

away from or ask Britney to suppress

don't be so outwardly or so open about

it when she was around campus but that's

who Britney grinder chose to live her

life as and so I agree with you Stephen

A at least she did come to the defense

of her players in this situation and it

was rightfully so it's not quite to the

level of what Don IM said Stephen I know

you remember what he said it's not that

but there were the implications are

there when you refer to them because the

majority of LSU players are

African-Americans black and UCLA is is

seen as Lily White pris

the milk and cookies the wholesome while

these are dirty debutant but like I said

people at home if you didn't get an

opportunity Google and see what comes up

on your Google when you Google that word

yeah and now we we got to look at it for

what it is and again but also Kim Moi

needs to be there's a Learning lesson in

all of this as well as she continues to

excoriate what the Los Angeles Times did

what the Washington Post did it does

call upon her to look in the mirror

because we still got questions as to how

she treated Angel Reese at the beginning

of this season right and what was that

all about we know about the whole

Britney gr thing because Britney gr told

us there's a there's a few incidences

where in Shannon has pointed to weeks

ago when you went off about Kim Moi

where she gives you cause to pause

because of her dismissiveness when

Britney grer was stuck in Russia right

and we didn't know whether she was going

to be able to get you know you get get

out of there okay and you you were you

had hope for an elevated level of ensity

from Kimi that she did not give you and

then to come out and say well you know

what they got this article that's coming

out about me and they only gave us a

couple of days to respond when you know

they had been chasing you for two years

to interview you that doesn't make much

sense but in the end the Los Angeles

times has helped her this week because

they were clearly wrong in what they did

and the focus being on that sort of

limits the level of attention you're

throwing in Kim Mo's direction for a

pleth of other reasons so we can't

ignore that either I do want to say

Stephen the point about it being in La

the LA time specifically is a really

good point but I do think that this

article specifically highlights a lot of

the issues that women have dealt with in

the sporting space and Athletics in

general so um definitely a lot to learn

there with the situation um we'll see

what happens moving forward and not

absolving the Los Angeles Times and end

W I'm just saying all of us would

receive it a even more fiercely had it

come from a neutral exactly publication

yeah

La ain't neutral when it comes to UCLA

USC etc for sure that makes a lot of

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sense