Do athletes get a pass when expressing their political views?

[Metropolis]

Expressing your views is fine. Most people don't mind listening to someone who has something to say. Athletes(musicians and other celebs) more often than not don't have something to say. They usually drop a soundbite and run. No follow up, no explination, no reason for us to even try to understand where they are coming from. When Kanye says that George Bush doesn't care about black people, or that AIDS is a man made disease placed in Africa, people think you're a ****ing idiot without some form of reasoning behind it. Admittedly though, people think you're an idiot these days even with reason and data to back you up so..........

 

The Kaepernick situation is a tangled mess of things that will never be straightened out. In part because Kaepernick himself doesn't talk anymore.

 

1) sitting during the anthem was something people just couldn't buy as an excuse for "bringing attention to injustices". Most people don't pay attention to the sidelines during the anthem. I know I didn't. Before this the anthem was something that almost never got aired during a regular season game. No one even knew he was doing it until after the THIRD preseason game when person on the sideline asked him about it. So you're trying to bring attention to something by waiting for someone to notice you? Sounds flimsy. What didn't sound flimsy was that assumption he was sulking because he was second string being Blaine Gabbert even though he should have been the perfect fit for Chip Kelly's offense.

 

2) wearing socks with pigs in police hats is a bad look when you're claiming to respect the men and women that serve our country. Serve in the military i'm guessing is what he meant. Because we all cops even those of color are pigs.

 

3) people on his side talk about the fact that he's donated money to social programs and that he has donated his time. Sure. AFTER people asked what he was doing to try to change things. Is it truly altruism if you have a gun pointed to your head?

 

4) he's stopped talking to the media in general. And he hasn't talked to people that are trying to help him. Fox Sports reported that the NFLPA is pissed at Kaepernick because they've tried to get in touch with him and he isn't return their calls. So is he not even serious about playing when the players association tried to help him with Ravens? He been busy with his activism which is fine, but without a job he's going to find out how little he can do when his bank account keeps getting smaller.

 

5) his cause is a shaky one at best. I'm a black man who has been stopped by the cops because I am black. So I cannot sit here and tell you that cops don't look at blacks differently. Police brutality because of color is a tough one to fight because more often than not these situations lack the proof necessary to call for more action. Statistics don't prove people of color are targeted more. Hell more whites are shot by cops than blacks. The events used as examples of police violence are poor examples. That BLM still use Ferguson as a calling card is the reason most people discredit the movement.

 

What Kaepernick should have done was talk about his feelings and beliefs in an open forum in San Francisco on his own time. Invite the press and local leaders to be a part of it. Talk about how he wanted awareness so that they could start working on changing things or makin them better. That would have at least gotten him respect for his views. I would have stayed away from the anthem sitting/kneeling because that's on company time.

 

Kaepernick as I said before is a example of what happens when an athlete IS called out for his views. I have respect for him commiting to what he says he believed in. I just don't buy that that was the reason he was sitting on the bench. I think he was caught pouting and you can't tell the press you're sulking about being benched. It's guys like LeBron, Durant, and the like I have a problem with because they are basically throwing out the race card as a reason without NY thing to back it up.

[monkeygirl]

well, see, I don't think any of what you just said is about athletes being allowed to express political views. This all just looks like you have

issues with a couple athletes and how they act in public. Big difference.

[Metropolis]

I never said anything about being allowed to express their views. I said that there are some that aren't taken to task when they give their view without the slightest bit of context. I don't mind when an athlete gets political. I just want know why they think the way they do.

[Poe Dameron]

ESPN and sports in general have become ridiculous echo chambers of the left. Latest example, they moved an announcer that happens to be named Robert Lee (an Asian to boot) off of the Virginia game because he shares a name with the Civil War general.

 

“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue.”

 

That there was no adult available to just say "this is stupid" speaks volumes.

[Metropolis]

When I saw that I was floored. Like you said, where were the adults to say who at the game even knows who the tv announcer for the game even is. They made this a thing. No one would have even noticed this. Or cared.

[Tex]

He should just change his name to Martin King. ESPN will give him a promotion.

[Metropolis]

This could hit the fan when people start realizing the entomology of names of universities and cities.

[pavonis]

Entomology is the study of insects. What does that have to do with anything?

 

This could hit the fan when people start realizing the entomology of names of universities and cities.

[Guest]

When people start realizing that words are made out of insects, you're going to see some real silent protests.

[Metropolis]

Etymology.

 

To this I say. fuck yeah college football starts next week!

[Lord Darth Hunter]

ESPN and sports in general have become ridiculous echo chambers of the left.

I think this is what riles people up more than anything. Everyone has a right to express their views. Kaepernick is free to do his protest and Lebron and Durant can support it all they want. But it's the way those views are covered that is the problem. There's no balance. It irks me to no end when someone like Jemel Hill says sports have always been political by giving examples of Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson and then piles it on by claiming people who say ESPN is too liberal are saying it because they see more women and minorities in anchor and reporter positions. Right, so basically if you don't agree with Hill you're a racist. Meanwhile, this is the same network that got rid of Rush Limbaugh and Curt Schilling because they injected their political views into their sports coverage. This is the fundamental problem with liberal media types like Hill. They assume being political and being too liberal are the same thing.