Posted on 05/21/2019 7:53:40 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Does it seem you hear a little bit less about political controversies in the sports world than you did a year or two ago? Do you find yourself grumbling at your television, “I just want to enjoy watching the game” less frequently?
Today’s Los Angeles Times profiles ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who took over running the network in March 2018. Deep in the article:
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.
11 “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.”
This does not mean that political controversies are gone completely, or will never return to the sports world. Some members of championship teams choose to not attend ceremonies at the White House. The political comments or Tweets of collegiate or pro athletes will continue to generate controversy for content-hungry sports media. But some of the most politically-active sports commentators have moved on to other things.
Jemele Hill has moved from anchoring the 6 p.m. SportsCenter to writing for The Atlantic. Bob Costas departed NBC Sports after 40 years. And Keith Olbermann is not the media force he once was; he’s now grumbling that MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Steve Kornacki haven’t shown enough gratitude towards him.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
So why do you lay your political opinions on the rest of us?
Uh oh. Soros stopped sending checks.
Duh.
How much does this stroke get paid?
Wouldn’t it be nice for every MSM organization to adopt the same philosophy?
Duh..
That’s because every time they open their mouth, it’s some America hating commi drivel.
Took them long enough to figure it out.
If he is serious about that he has not fired nearly enough people. Not nearly enough.
Yeah, NSSherlock
Why don’t you use your “commentators” to investigate and talk about corruption in sports and the dysfunctional lifestyles of professional athletes?
And leave our beloved President who’s working hizzazzov for you and the American people
PS...and concentrate on why cords are being cut and your subscriber base has been greatly diminished
PSS....wash your hands completely of that POS Keithie “Impotent” Olbermann
Congrats ESPN! You’re only about 10 years late in recognizing this and many former viewers won’t watch you any more and many will only watch live games on your network but nothing else. Millions and millions have cut the cord because they didn’t want to pay for your network anymore once you infected sports with your disgusting politics.
But hey, good job in finally getting it now. I’m sure the horses will appreciate you firmly shutting that barn door now that they’ve all bolted.
Ya think? The new CEO musta gone to a real fancy skool to figure that out.
Way too late to the party. ESPN is for sporting events only, you can’t avoid that, but none of their talk shows for me.
ESPN is Disney.
Disney is no friend to conservatives.
“DUH!........Hello, McFly!”
If they broadcast sports and kept content to sports, I might actually watch.
But I doubt ESPN could execute that play - it would require something of them they cannot do They would have to run counter to Disney’s influence, stop demonstrating political correctness in all forms, refrain from proselytizing the leftist agenda, and most difficult for them - deliver content that targets an audience of normal people.
The odd thing was that ESPN forgot that it was Entertainment AND Sports network.
They used to show odd sports like lawn-tractor pulling, whitewater jet boat races, motorcycle hill climbing, and Lumber Jack contests. They were fun to watch.
It devolved into the NFL and leftist politics and I tuned out.
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