Sports & Politics Intersect: Attempt to avoid controversy has adverse effect for ESPN

"Is this even real life anymore?" - Clay Travis, conservative sports blogger who broke the Robert Lee/ESPN story.

In an effort to desperately avoid entering the political arena, ESPN inadvertently threw itself right in the middle of it after conservative blogger Clay Travis outed the company on Tuesday for pulling one of its commentators from covering an upcoming University of Virginia football game because his name is Robert Lee. 

In his post, Travis accuses the sports media giant of kowtowing to "left wing idiots," claiming that the move was done so as to avoid offending them in the wake of Charlottesville. ESPN confirmed that they had reassigned Lee to cover another game, but that their decision – mutually agreed upon by both parties – was motivated by their desire to spare Lee of any potential backlash or memes based on his name's similarity to that of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general whose statue and its removal served as the impetus for the recent violence. It was an admirable but foolish gesture. Lee, after all, was going to provide color commentary for a game that's going to be streamed online – not exactly Monday Night Football.

That Clay Travis was largely responsible for this isn't surprising. As The Daily Beast's Robert Silverman very meticulously points out, Travis is actively trying to build his sports brand in the mold of Alex Jones's Infowars. The blogger's whole schtick is that ESPN is trying to push some sort of liberal agenda and only he is brave enough to call them out on it. In true Trumpian fashion, Travis even has a nickname for them – "MSESPN," a nonsensical portmanteau of liberal leaning MSNBC and ESPN. 

This non-story and Travis's conspiracy theory has reached the mainstream; Fox News' Tucker Carlson did an entire segment on Wednesday night about it. The good news is that football season is just around the corner and this story will disappear with it. 

"Nobody watches sports television for Stephen A. Smith or Skip Bayless or Bill Simmons or Mike Tirico," Sports On Earth's Will Leitch accurately notes in an opinion piece on this controversy. "They can, maybe, augment our enjoyment of the game, but all that matters are the games."

- Fidel Martinez

“The league badly needs a smart leader, a new Lamar Hunt, an owner who doesn’t have to feel the forehead of the fans to step forward and say, ‘Ostracism is not what we do.’” - Washington Post reporter Sally Jenkins on the Colin Kaepernick situation

On August 23, the NAACP organized a rally outside of NFL headquarters to protest the league and its failure to sign quarterback Colin Kaepernick (take a gander at the shirts they handed out). An estimated 1,000 people showed up for the rally with hopes that the NFL can, “implement a policy guaranteeing the freedom of speech of players to express their concerns on social justice issues.”

Four days earlier, dozens of NYPD officers held their own independent rally for Kaepernick in Brooklyn Bridge park. The rally was organized by Sgt. Edwin Raymond, who said they gathered “because of the way he’s being railroaded for speaking the obvious truth.” 

While the NAACP still hasn’t heard back from the NFL, they’re serious about initiating an NFL boycott that is picking up steam despite many wrestling with giving up something they’ve loved for decades. African Americans make up 15 percent of the NFL’s viewership, and southern pastors are asking their congregation to skip on the NFL this year.

It’s unclear whether the NFL will respond to the NAACP (Kaepernick himself thanked the protesters for their support), but it’s become clear that this isn’t an issue that is going to go away simply by ignoring it.

- Phillip Barnett

“I, myself, will be raising children that don't look like me and I want to do my part as well to do everything I can to raise them in a better environment than we have right now.” - Cleveland Brown Seth DeValve on why he kneeled during the national anthem

In the last week, we’ve seen the number of NFL players protesting during the National Anthem continue to grow – with the biggest group of them coming in Cleveland when about a dozen members of the Browns kneeled and prayed during the National Anthem. 

The Brown’s protest came on the heels of head coach Hue Jackson said “I hope that wouldn’t happen here,” in an answer about pre-game protests. Among the Cleveland protesters was Seth DeValve, the first white player to kneel during the anthem, according to Deadspin. 

While the protests are growing, there is still quite a bit of opposition to it. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has gone on record saying that he’s happy that no one on his team has protested yet while former boxer George Foreman feels protests are unpatriotic. Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O’Neal called protesters, “draft dodging millionaire athletes” and LeSean McCoy feels that players should find a different platform for their protesting. 

Broncos Linebacker Brandon Marshall, who kneeled during eight games last season is thrilled with the rise in protests during the preseason. “I respect it. I respect it all,” said Marshall in an interview with NFL.com. “I'm glad everybody is standing up for what they believe in. I'm glad everybody is doing what they feel is right.”

- Phillip Barnett

"Ejections seem to be up, and we just feel like we need to band together and let people know that we are human beings." - Bill Miller, Major League Baseball umpire.

On Saturday, Major League umpires wore bands on their arms in protest of alleged harsh working conditions caused by verbally abusive baseball players. 

"The Office of the Commissioner's lenient treatment to abusive player behavior sends the wrong message to players and managers. It's open season on umpires, and that's bad for the game," read a statement issued by the World Umpire's Association, the union that represents baseball officiating crews. "Enough is enough. Umpires will wear the wristbands until our concerns are taken seriously." 

At the heart of the controversy are disparaging comments made by Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler about Angel Hernandez, who ejected him last week.

"He's changing the game. He needs to find another job. He really does," Kinsler said of Hernandez. "I'm not mad at him. He just needs to go away." 

Whether intentional or not the ump's protest coincides with the 39th anniversary of baseball umpires staging a one day strike (Aug. 25, 1978), which eventually led to a full on strike during the 1979 season. At the time, the umps were demanding better pay, vacation time, and a retirement plan; all things they eventually were granted.

It's worth pointing out that MLB did fine Kinsler for his comments, so it's not exactly clear what the umps want the league to do. One thing's for sure: if they're hoping to get the public on their side, they're not doing a very good job at it. 

- Fidel Martinez

"I'm very disappointed our president backed both sides. That was very disappointing but he has the freedom of speech, too." - D.J. Humphries, left tackle for the Arizona Cardinals

The idea of "sticking to sports" and keeping teams apolitical continues to be unrealistic in 2017. Case in point: President Trump's campaign rally held in Phoenix, Ariz., on Tuesday. 

The controversial event prompted the Arizona Coyotes to tweet out a statement in favor of diversity and inclusion hours before the rally happened. 

"We believe that #HockeyIsForEveryone and are glad that the Coyotes can bring people together," the statement read. "All our welcome in our den!'"

Not everyone in the Phoenix sports world was as willing to take a side. When asked about Trump's visit, several players for the Arizona Cardinals did their best to juke out of the question.

"I don't really think about that too much," safety Tyrann Mathieu told local news outlet AZCentral. 

"You speak about it here and there but at this time of the year it's kind of more about football," cornerback Tramon Williams added. "But it's hard not to see it because it's in the world. We know it's there, it just has to be dealt with." 

For better or worse, everything is now being viewed through a political lens. Nothing, not even Taylor Swift's newest single/upcoming new album is free of politicization (as evidenced by hot takes from both sides of the political spectrum). Sports are no exception. If you're liberal and you happen to dislike the New England Patriots, you'll likely see Trump getting a Super Bowl ring as proof that the Pats really are evil and your hatred justified. Professional athletes might not like it, but this whole being asked about politics thing isn't going away anytime soon.

- Fidel Martinez

Of Note: 

• In the aftermath of the Charlottesville tragedy, the Boston Globe was at Bristol Motor Speedway, asking NASCAR fans about the divide among not only the president’s supporters and detractors, but among family members and friends.

• While Major League Baseball has well-documented diversity issues among players, but the same concerns exist with team managers and general managers, with only seven – three managers and four GMs and presidents – are non-white.

• The Army-Navy football rivalry will have even greater meaning in a few years. The annual game will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on September 11, 2021, the twentieth anniversary of the attacks that destroyed the original World Trade Center across the river in New York City.

• Compared to the NFL, the WNBA fearlessly makes itself heard when it comes to combating bigotry and other in the U.S., Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel wrote after the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics linked arms during the national anthem as a display of unity.

• To further that point, prior to a game against the Minnesota Lynx, the New York Liberty hosted a panel discussion on race relations featuring the NYPD, educators, famed sportswriter William C. Rhoden, former player Sue Wicks and current player Tanisha Wright.

• Supported by Hall of Famers Harry Carson and Kellen Winslow, civil rights attorney Cyrus Mehri will run for executive director of the NFL Players Association against incumbent DeMaurice Smith. Mehri co-wrote the Rooney Rule, the policy that requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation positions.

• Local Native American groups are asking Washington to remove a memorial and rename a seating area that both honor George Preston Marshall. Under the team’s founding owner, not only had Marshall retained the controversial team name, but Washington was also the last NFL franchise to integrate.

• With the Boston Red Sox considering changing the name of Yawkey Way due to the racist history of former owner Tom Yawkey, Washington should also re-examine the role of Marshall in the team’s history, according the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg.

• MLB has designed a league-wide fan code of conduct that will go into effect next season. It was created in the aftermath of the May incident in Boston where Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones was taunted with racial slurs.

• Rob Manfred wants a decision from Tampa Bay area government leaders about whether they will move forward on plans for a new stadium for the Rays.

• Anquan Boldin said that his decision to retire from football stems from the social strife in the country, notably in the aftermath of Charlottesville. The one-time Super Bowl champion and 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year will focus his time on humanitarian efforts.

• An initial report said that WFAN won’t consider Chris Christie as the replacement for Mike Francesa when the sports talk radio host leaves at the end of the year. However, the New Jersey governor, who leaves office next year, stated that he took himself out of the running.

• Christie did however make another mark on the sports world this week, signing into law new regulations giving the state of New Jersey oversight into the daily fantasy sports industry while adding a 10.5 percent tax on revenue. 

• Billy Payne will retire as chairman of Augusta National and the Masters. The famed golf club underwent significant changes under Payne’s 11-year watch, including the admission of its first female members.

• LGBT-themed days at the ballpark are becoming much more prevalent in Major League Baseball. Deadspin spoke with leaders of several grassroots organizations that helped individual teams connect with fans of the queer community.

- Jason Clinkscales

For the record books: This week in sports politics history 

"We are ready to participate under any flag, be it the flag of the Boy Scouts or the Moscow flag. But everyone knows very well that we are Rhodesians and will always remain Rhodesians." - Rhodesian team manager, Ossie Plaskitt

Just four days before the start of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew its invitation to Rhodesia. After the IOC received pressure from African Nations – especially from Kenya and Ethiopia – that they would not participate in the games if Rhodesia was allowed to participate, the committee voted 36-31 to withdraw the invitation. 

African Nations were willing to boycott the games because of Rhodesia’s racial policies. Rhodesia’s independence was also an issue, and the main reason listed as to why they weren’t able to participate. They were asked to participate as Southern Rhodesia with the British Flag, and while they agreed to those terms, their failure to produce passports that proved that they were British subjects was the reason the IOC withdrew their invitations. 

Rhodesia has since become the African nation Zimbabwe.

- Phillip Barnett