13th Man wrote:Mephariel wrote:13th Man wrote:
Because where is it going to stop? You say that nobody should be bothered by players kneeling. Then they start to bash political figures that they don't like. Then they start talking about people sharing public restrooms. Then they talk about China. See my point? Where do you draw the line? Many of these are controversial topics backed by political agenda, just because you are ok with them doesn't mean that others aren't. And because there is no line, the NBA now look like hypocrites because they backed on SJW issue but not another. What happens is when you give people an inch, they eventually want to take a mile.
It's easy, just put policies in place, corporations do this all the time. Nobody is saying that they can't have an opinion or cannot speak their minds. How about doing it on your own time and not use your employer's time and platform for it? Why is that so hard to abide by?
How often do they do that? 90%+ of the time, you turned on the football game, you see people playing football. You turned on a basketball game, you see basketball. How often do you hear about those topics in the middle of the game? Almost never. If you hear about the political issues, it is because you want to read about it online. So I don't see how this affects the product. If you don't like the politics, don't click on twitter links or read articles. But the fact that you do should tell you why politics is a part of life and you can't just get rid of it. It is human nature to be curious about what others are saying and it is human nature to say it. You keep saying where it is going to stop as if players are not playing the game anymore. They are, but they are also public figures that will voice their opinions.
As for putting policies in place, unless they ban the use of Twitter, facebook, etc, how are they going to stop it? NBA players have multiple platforms they can use outside of work hours. And why stop it? Social commentary is part of the reason the players have followers and it increase popularity of the NBA's reach.
Again, If you've been following my argument, nowhere did I suggest that they stop using OTHER platforms to voice their concerns. The Morey case is different because the Chinese took great exception to it in any case, they consider his words a representation of the Houston Rockets and the NBA.
When I go watch a game or watch an ESPN broadcast, I don't want to hear peeps try to push their political agenda onto me. I watch sports as an escape from all of this. You're ok with it because those things align with your ideologies, what if they pushed a different agenda in which you don't agree with? It starts off with race, then transforms into LGTBQ rights, then onto bashing Trump, then onto who knows what else? We're already being pushed extreme biased views by 90% of the mainstream media, sports was an outlet in which I would be free of this. Also notice that all of the SJW issues pushed are left leaning, this is a fact I'm sure you cannot be that blind not to see this.
The movie industry has already been tainted, cable news outlets, the press, the comedy industry, and now sports entertainment. There is basically nothing left that is sacred in its purest form and you're ok with that? Look what happened to Dave Chappelle not too long ago, he got 17% on Rotten tomatoes while getting a 99% rating from the real public audience.
Can we not have just one source of entertainment to leave politics alone?
There are 1230 games played each year in the NBA. How many of those games do you see athletes pushing a political agenda? How many protests are there? You are acting like players are talking politics instead of playing the game. They ARE using other platforms to voice their concerns. So what is the problem? They are not talking about politics during the game.
And you are wrong about my reasoning for supporting the players. Colby Covington is an MMA fighter that is a right wing extremist. He called Brazilians filthy animals and wears MAGA hats. He visited the white house and stood with Trump and called out the Eagles for not wanting to visit. He has had said some of the most controversial things. And you know what? I criticize him, but I don't think he should shut up. He has his platform and he is free to use it.
This isn't about left wing vs right wing. This is about the simple notion that taking politics out of sports is not realistic. People are going to talk about their viewpoints. Part of LBJ's job is to visit places and talk to fans and sometimes he will speak up about social injustice (or what he perceived to be social injustice). Where do you draw the line what is politics?
Lastly, it is not so much that I am ok with it, I just don't think it is realistic to pretend politics isn't integrated into sports in some way, shape or form because sports is a part of society. The only source of entertainment that doesn't have politics is probably porn. And even that I am not certain.
