Juan Pablo Montoya having some fun on his Twitter today.

Let’s just hope Montoya steers clear of an inappropriate characterization of that new Black Taco thing.

Jim Utter of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER reports that Bob Griese has been suspended for one game for his “taco” comment about Juan Pablo Montoya.

Griese was forced to apologize at the end of his Minnesota-Ohio State telecast on Saturday and then again during halftime of ESPN’s Mississippi State-Florida.

Montoya’s response when asked by reporters was, “I don’t really care to tell you the truth.”

Based on Griese’s apologies, and Montoya’s non-response, I think ESPN went overboard in suspending the guy. I certainly don’t think there was malice in his initial comment, more a reflexive reaction based on the generation Griese grew up in.
Read more…

ESPN released this statement Saturday evening addressing Bob Griese’s “taco” comment:

(Video of original comment after the jump)

“During today’s telecast of the Ohio State-Minnesota college football game on ESPN, analyst Bob Griese made an inappropriate comment when discussing NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Bob apologized during the telecast, and plans to apologize again tonight during ESPN’s college football programming after his plane lands. ESPN has spoken to Bob and he understands that his comment was uncalled for.”

Griese then made this statement at halftime of the Florida-Mississippi State game: Read more…

UPDATE: Griese apologized about the comment just before the Minnesota-Ohio State ABC telecast wrapped. Still deserves a reprimand in my opinion.

Chris Mottram at SBNation.com has this exchange between Bob Griese and Chris Spielman today on the Minnesota-Ohio State ABC telecast:

Chris called it “subtle racism.” I’m more on the side of blatant. Griese should be reprimanded, or at the very least reminded that what he said was inappropriate.

CollegeFootballTalk.com weighs in as well. As does the Twitterati.

And Wikipedia already has this: Read more…

HAWAII HOPING BIG BCS BUCKS HELPS FOOTBALL FUNDS: With a win over Washington on Saturday, Hawaii hopes to land in a BCS bowl spot and get all the BCS money that comes with it - money the financially-strapped program could use:

The HONOLULU ADVERTISER reports that of the top 12 teams in the BCS rankings, Hawaii ranks last in football revenues. While the Warriors netted $7.5 million last year, schools like Ohio State and Georgia brought in over $60 million to help fund their gridiron programs.It doesn’t help that on game days at Aloha Stadium, the only money the Warriors make is on ticket sales. As State Rep. Mark Katai points out, “None of the beer, none of the hot dogs, none of the parking revenue. Many other schools have their own facilities and generate a lot of revenue from that.”

Lack of funds also means lack of upkeep to practice fields. During Friday’s game against Boise State, Hawaii officials were embarrassed when ESPN commentators Sean McDonough and Chris Spielman called the school’s facilities “shabby” and “shameful”.But a BCS trip can help Hawaii soothe some of their money woes. Last year, fellow WAC member Boise State earned $4.5 million for their Fiesta Bowl appearance.

With victory against the Huskies, the green on Oahu will be more than the lush tropical vegetation.