Sports

GLOBE’S RYAN ‘VINDICATED’ OVER JOUMANA

Boston Globe columnist and ESPN contributor Bob Ryan, who was suspended by the paper for one month in 2003 for comments he made about Joumana Kidd, said yesterday he felt “vindicated” over Jason and Joumana Kidd filing for divorce.

“There is a certain element of vindication,” Ryan said on WFAN yesterday.

Speaking with Chris Russo and Mike Francesa, Ryan was at first very reluctant to comment about the Kidds’ situation, because of how much trouble it brought him four years ago.

In May of 2003, Ryan said on a Boston TV show that someone needed to “smack” Joumana for taking her then four-year-old son, T.J., to playoff games as a “prop” to get more TV time.

In part because there had been domestic violence in the Kidds’ relationship, the comments made national news and the Globe ended up suspending Ryan for a month.

Yesterday, with Russo and Francesa prodding him, Ryan first tried to avoid the subject.

“I’m the last person in the world who should be commenting on it at all,” Ryan said.

Ryan, who did not return a call last night, went on to discuss it briefly, saying he was “sympathetic” to Jason’s plight. In the divorce filings, there have been charges made about how Joumana has behaved, including using T.J. to spy on Jason.