This column (below) describes how some announcers and commentators sermonized about politics during the broadcast of a minor, early-season college football game on ESPN. Of course, all the broadcasters parroted all the "woke," left-wing, BLM-approved viewpoints (they knew they would be fired if they didn't).
Leftist politics have been injected into sports broadcasts and sports news shows more and more since the start of the nationwide left-wing riots in May. The worst cases of this kind of intrusion of politics into sports are the NBA, the NFL, and MLB to some extent. As this column points out, the trend has spread to college football. No sport seems immune--even F1 broadcasters have to pay lip service to the BLM cause. Not surprisingly, it seems like the more black athletes participating in a sport, the more that broadcasters feel obliged to prattle on about "systemic racism," and diversity, equity and ”inclusion.”
I can tolerate some of this nonsense but at a certain point, I tune out completely. I haven't watched any NBA games and I won't be watching NFL games. I still watch some MLB but not much.
In contrast, watching the Tour de France has provided much welcomed relief from the constant drumbeat of BLM propaganda in other broadcast sports. Maybe the NBCSports announcers have said something about politics during the broadcasts but not much-bravo to them!
I had already learned to live without sports during the suspension of all sports events this spring. Now that sports are back in some form, I'm finding that I can still get by just fine without the ones that have become overly politicized. In fact, if ESPN were not the broadcaster of F1, I would cancel my YouTube TV subscription and subscribe to some other service that doesn't include ESPN.
In sum I don't give a damn what the athletes or the announcers think about politics. Most of them ( athletes and announcers) are poorly educated, ignorant, uninteresting, unthinking, one-dimensional people who would be afraid to ever express an opinion that goes against the prevailing "woke," leftist ideology or to criticize BLM and Antifa rioters. If they want to post their opinions on Twitter, fine. But I wish they would all just shut up about politics most of the time.
WILL ESPN SPOIL COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR CONSERVATIVES?
POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 BY PAUL MIRENGOFF
powerlineblog.com
...College football players have every right to speak out about race and politics. ESPN announcers do too. But they shouldn’t do it during sports broadcasts, and certainly not while they are supposed to be calling a game.
I have zero interest in the non-football views of an ex-quarterback and a journeyman sportscaster. I should be able to watch a college football game without being subjected to their political and sociological musings.
Was the imposition of these views a Wischusen-Orlovsky thing or an ESPN thing? The latter, I think. ESPN has adopted something of a “no politics” policy. I don’t think these announcers would have riffed on politics without prior encouragement by the network to depart from policy.
I read that Kirk Herbstreit, one of ESPN’s lead college football commentators, broke down in tears during ESPN’s “College Game Day” show talking about how “the Black community is hurting” and the need for change. This is additional evidence that ESPN has ditched its “no politics” policy in the face of protests and rioting in our cities.
There’s plenty to cry about when it comes to the state of portions of the Black community, but the crying shame isn’t what Herbstreit thinks it is. That’s not surprising. Herbstreit has no expertise in this area. He is no more qualified to opine about race in America than the average man on the street.
Herbstreit is entitled, nonetheless, to say whatever he wants to about this matter, but he shouldn’t do so during broadcasts that are supposed to be about football. When he does, there’s every reason to tune him out.
If this weekend is any guide, I’ll be tuning out ESPN’s broadcasts of college football this season. And I’ll be tuning out college football entirely if, as seems very possible, the rot spreads to other networks.
Leftist politics have been injected into sports broadcasts and sports news shows more and more since the start of the nationwide left-wing riots in May. The worst cases of this kind of intrusion of politics into sports are the NBA, the NFL, and MLB to some extent. As this column points out, the trend has spread to college football. No sport seems immune--even F1 broadcasters have to pay lip service to the BLM cause. Not surprisingly, it seems like the more black athletes participating in a sport, the more that broadcasters feel obliged to prattle on about "systemic racism," and diversity, equity and ”inclusion.”
I can tolerate some of this nonsense but at a certain point, I tune out completely. I haven't watched any NBA games and I won't be watching NFL games. I still watch some MLB but not much.
In contrast, watching the Tour de France has provided much welcomed relief from the constant drumbeat of BLM propaganda in other broadcast sports. Maybe the NBCSports announcers have said something about politics during the broadcasts but not much-bravo to them!
I had already learned to live without sports during the suspension of all sports events this spring. Now that sports are back in some form, I'm finding that I can still get by just fine without the ones that have become overly politicized. In fact, if ESPN were not the broadcaster of F1, I would cancel my YouTube TV subscription and subscribe to some other service that doesn't include ESPN.
In sum I don't give a damn what the athletes or the announcers think about politics. Most of them ( athletes and announcers) are poorly educated, ignorant, uninteresting, unthinking, one-dimensional people who would be afraid to ever express an opinion that goes against the prevailing "woke," leftist ideology or to criticize BLM and Antifa rioters. If they want to post their opinions on Twitter, fine. But I wish they would all just shut up about politics most of the time.
WILL ESPN SPOIL COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR CONSERVATIVES?
POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 BY PAUL MIRENGOFF
powerlineblog.com
...College football players have every right to speak out about race and politics. ESPN announcers do too. But they shouldn’t do it during sports broadcasts, and certainly not while they are supposed to be calling a game.
I have zero interest in the non-football views of an ex-quarterback and a journeyman sportscaster. I should be able to watch a college football game without being subjected to their political and sociological musings.
Was the imposition of these views a Wischusen-Orlovsky thing or an ESPN thing? The latter, I think. ESPN has adopted something of a “no politics” policy. I don’t think these announcers would have riffed on politics without prior encouragement by the network to depart from policy.
I read that Kirk Herbstreit, one of ESPN’s lead college football commentators, broke down in tears during ESPN’s “College Game Day” show talking about how “the Black community is hurting” and the need for change. This is additional evidence that ESPN has ditched its “no politics” policy in the face of protests and rioting in our cities.
There’s plenty to cry about when it comes to the state of portions of the Black community, but the crying shame isn’t what Herbstreit thinks it is. That’s not surprising. Herbstreit has no expertise in this area. He is no more qualified to opine about race in America than the average man on the street.
Herbstreit is entitled, nonetheless, to say whatever he wants to about this matter, but he shouldn’t do so during broadcasts that are supposed to be about football. When he does, there’s every reason to tune him out.
If this weekend is any guide, I’ll be tuning out ESPN’s broadcasts of college football this season. And I’ll be tuning out college football entirely if, as seems very possible, the rot spreads to other networks.
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JASON WHITLOCK
