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Oh I agree but it didn't become nearly the ordeal it turned out to be until Trump decided to stir the pot. It accomplished nothing.
Actually - it accomplished a little bit...
Instead of what normally happens, which is the kneeling occurs and the liberals dominate the public discussion and verbally beat down anyone who opposes their position... this time Trump used his bully pulpit, took some of the heat and put the pressure back on the league - and they changed their policies regarding the anthem.
Instead of what normally happens, which is the kneeling occurs and the liberals dominate the public discussion and verbally beat down anyone who opposes their position... this time Trump used his bully pulpit, took some of the heat and put the pressure back on the league - and they changed their policies regarding the anthem.
Actually the whole thing was fading away more or less. Trump stirred the pot and all it did was cause more divisiveness. In fact, he probably gave more of a platform to those protesters than if he'd just ignored it and let the NFL deal with their employees how they saw fit (you know, government staying out of business and all that). If you consider not showing the anthem or not showing the players on TV during the anthem as a major accomplishment of the presidency then ok I guess. I expect more. Like less time blathering on about that and more time on healthcare?
Last edited by maciesmom; 05-21-2019 at 04:28 PM..
I'm not an ESPN watcher but I've heard that their ratings have tanked the last few years and it's about time they steer the ship away from politics.
People watch sports to get away from all of that crap as I've heard many people say over the last few years on this subject.
I buy it from a good number of people. If you're spending time on this board, though, I'm calling BS. You're going out of your way to get into political fights - - having a little bit of politics in sports isn't going to make you drop your viewing habits.
Instead of what normally happens, which is the kneeling occurs and the liberals dominate the public discussion and verbally beat down anyone who opposes their position... this time Trump used his bully pulpit, took some of the heat and put the pressure back on the league - and they changed their policies regarding the anthem.
That is mostly true though I would say that the problem was Trump was using forced patriotism. It didn't even work during Nam and it was even worse. Yes I think Kapernick should have protested other ways (I can't say how involved he was in the cause since many athletes don't put out how much they actually do for the community either due to an image or doing the right thing is doing it when no one is there to watch you) but I have LONG seen fans not stand for the anthem that easily could as well as cat-calling and whistling during it (which IF you are not singing along you should be in a reverent silence) as well people wave flags off the back of their trucks even in the rain. I can tell you these idiots are those in the group complaining about kneelers or not saying anything except for those sports celebrities getting "political." Few like my father are common sense about it. He too hated it (I didn't like it but it is their right to do so) and even he said the forced patriotism of firing them for not standing for the anthem was wrong.
FYI, the league didn't even change the policy since the PA got involved and said suspensions, fines, firings for free speech is wrong.
It isn't just not wanting to cover politics, but also not wanting to watch SJW agenda tripe. THAT is what lost ESPN so many viewers. And many will never come back.......
It isn't just not wanting to cover politics, but also not wanting to watch SJW agenda tripe. THAT is what lost ESPN so many viewers. And many will never come back.......
They were already losing them due to cord cutting since people LONG before they went "political" complained about the cost ESPN was on cable and satellite packages due to high carriage fees for that network. And mind you, ESPN is on the basic package stations. It continued gaining steam in the past three years. But yeah, blame viewers on politics.
Pitaro has also satisfied ESPN’s more traditional fans by steering commentators away from political discussions on-air and on social media, which heightened during President Trump’s criticism of NFL player protests against social injustice during the playing of the national anthem.
“Without question our data tells us our fans do not want us to cover politics,” Pitaro said. “My job is to provide clarity. I really believe that some of our talent was confused on what was expected of them. If you fast-forward to today, I don’t believe they are confused.”
As NBA Star Giannis says in his commercials... "SMART"
Nothing like some cord cutting to electro-shock some of these companies back to reality.
And cord cutting has been happening before "ESPN went political." Cord cutting while nowhere near levels of today were starting when I joined city-data in 2013 and that was partially due to ESPN and the lack of ala carte options. "ESPN went political" in 2015 (two years later) partially due to athletes getting political again. Guess what if athletes are political, ESPN had to cover that or risk being called a whitewasher when it comes to a full story. They have to walk a hard fine line.
What I will say with ESPN is that they just don't have the talent like they use to. Jonathan Coachman, Todd Gresham, Chris Berman and Stuart Scott (RIP) have not been replaced on Sports Center with quality replacements and instead we get Stephen A. Smith types (Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd are two others in this category but they left ESPN) who are entirely grating. Plus ESPN also has competition from FS1 (Bayless and Cowherd are now on there) and NBCSN which has long-time ESPN personality Dan Patrick. Then add to the fact that if the sport you watch like namely NASCAR and hockey aren't really covered on ESPN because they belong to competitors too
It is easy to point to the politics but it isn't the full story. I doubt many of you would complain if you agreed with the politics pressed by ESPN. If ESPN anchors all of a sudden propped up Trump, I wonder how many people would complain. I mean in the past the right complains about celebrities but then puts that girl from Clueless, Hank Williams Jr., Ted Nugent, Tim Allen, and now Kanye West on a pedestal for being conservatives.
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