But it's the players that are protesting. Is the suggestion that ESPN should be ignoring it, or refusing to broadcast it? Because that seems counterproductive for everyone involved.
They link out to it aggressively from the homepage of espn.com.
It is a very strong SJW site that I often find cringeworthy.
Here is a story from today: http://theundefeated.com/allday/daily-dose-102816/
"Did you know that not all black people live in the inner city? Did you know that not all inner cities are ghettos? Did you know that conflating all three of these things contributes to a harmful mindset that causes many Americans and others across the globe to believe that people of color aren’t even aware enough of their own condition to be given agency of themselves in larger society? Oh, you didn’t? Well, now you do. On Thursday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump proved that all of what I just said, is news to him."
I find this type of messaging across all of ESPNs platforms these days, and I can see how it turns off many subscribers.
I think his numerous, recurring, overtly and thinly veiled racist remarks may play a role.
Showing that Kaepernick is a dumbass and a hypocrite. [1] And that's what parent meant. It's a play to get extra 15 minutes of fame that modern media provides, because it has an extra narrative for this kind of content.
So black people are not oppressed in America because some are allowed to play football? Not convincing.
This is the flip-side of your logic coin. See how that works? Is this the kind of discourse we want on hacker news?
Imagine if that were white Trump supporters, media would be trembling from justice calls.
40% is a polling number of likely Trump voters which means about 16% of the U.S. population will vote for him and some of them maybe think Trump is a racist.
Nothing at all is wrong with that. If ESPN, NFL, et al. feel the need to implode their white guy safe space and destroy their own finances in the process, well, it's a free country. I'm good with it. It will also serve to pull some of these people out of the la-la land they live in and face the reality of the hate filled grievance mongers they're surrounded by and have been studiously ignoring all their lives. I see that as a big win. So yes, please continue; fill every game and all the space in between with lectures and --- most importantly --- continue pretending the collapse of NFL revenue has nothing to do with it.
Some have argued that this is really about cord cutting and nothing to do with the intrusion of political controversy. That is badly naive. Watch a Trump rally some time. Call it cultural interest or whatever. Note the thousands of people yelling "CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!" No, it's not really about the Cable News Network specifically; they have the entire MSM in mind, including Hollywood, all cable news and --- now --- professional sports, the only remaining reason they had to justify their $100+/month cable bill. It's exactly the same demographic; some are just a bit ahead of the curve.
The rest will follow.
There was a really interesting dynamic between ESPN's highly rated "barber-shop" sports talkshow, "First Take" between Stephen A. Smith (SAS) and Skip Bayless (Skip aka. Master Troll) where they talk about NFL/NBA/MLB etc and a lot of sports-fandom controversies were made from this (e.g., the chosen one became the frozen one, Tebowmania).
My very blunt take and very racial take is that SAS kind of represented the Black urban side of sports if you will, the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton figure, the black preacher who calls out social injustices as embodied in the sports arena (e.g., Kobe should get his money despite crimping his team as the white owners get their money) or also calls out the hypocrisies in his own community (black athletes getting suspended due to drug testing). SAS usually touts players who are proven super-stars, shoots too much in games, score big or miss big, who are ultra-athletic.
Skip if you will represented the white man from Oklahoma City prefers more team-oriented play (San Antonio Spurs) and players who aren't necessarily the most athletic but have the "it character," modesty, God-fearing and Skip's clutch-gene (Tim Tebow) and revels in the downfall of players who are touted for their athleticism but whom he thinks lacks so-called "character" (LeBron James lacks the clutch gene).
The two battled it out, in my opinion, the identity politics of the Left Coast (SAS) vs. the sensibilities of the Flyover Country/South (Skip) as embodied in the sports arena. It made for a really compelling TV show for entertainment.
Recently however, Skip left the show to join Fox Sports Network. His white replacement, Max Kellerman is no longer an antagonist against the other side but more supports the identity politics of SAS (e.g., basically just nodding along in the whole Kaepernick not standing during anthem). This made the show extremely boring IMO and no longer compelling TV.
My take might sound extremely contrived and racist if you haven't watched the show. But IMHO, the elements are all there and the producers/hosts are very careful to coast up to the edge of right sensibility of PC while still boosting the controversies and ratings. I'd love for other watchers of the old First Take to comment if they disagree or have other takes.
And finally why you'd care about the dynamics of a popular sports talk-show if you're not a sports fan - like art imitating life and life imitating art back, politics as represented in the current US election cycle is IMHO a spectacle imitating popular sports culture, and the opposing party nominee of your party is the rival team of your division, the heel, the against team of your sports bet staked with your political identity. Perhaps for the League, the owners of the teams sitting in the owners box ultimately isn't who wins on the field but the constant tout in the media so that the fans in the stand are fanned to keep buying in.
http://www.espn.com/espys/2015/story/_/id/13264599/caitlyn-j...
are going to be poorly received by a number of ESPN's (previously) core demographics.
Putting Jenner on the front page of your anything is going to be wildly controversial and upsetting / offensive to a good chunk of people. This just a fact not a moral statement.
I'd suggest this 'social' issue may possibly be at least one of the factors in the decline, it would be difficult to prove, nevertheless, it's a perfectly reasonable speculation. Americans do protest with their wallets.
It'd be nice to see some time-based data for their decline - overlaid with cable cutting trends.
ISTM people who don't watch much sports think that NBC's Olympic coverage is typical sports coverage. Jenner would fit right into that execrable human-interest pablum, but actual sports fans who watch lots of sports can't stand it.
This is an example of telling half-truths. Jesus spoke truth. He condemned sin. He specifically confirmed the Creation order of male and female. If Jesus were here today, he would have compassion for those who do not understand their gender, but he would not endorse enabling their confusion. In fact, his greatest criticism on the issue would be directed at those in power and authority who encourage people to deny the reality of their physical bodies and try to become something they cannot, just as he warned against causing others to stumble.