Note: If you’re used to the Farmer’s more humorous posts, this one might disappoint you. It’s time to get serious, kiddos. Not too serious though.
Here’s what I’m commenting on:
https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=750086345
Here’s An Aside You Can Skip: As a closet communist CINO (conservative in name only), I often listen to public radio in the car (WHYY, NPR member station). I find the content interesting, and the worst excesses of framing I detect are palatable. I assume that the detectable offenses are because there’s not a single conservative mind within fifty miles of that editorial boardroom, thus no alternative viewpoint was available. I don’t think they decide "let’s twist this story because we hate conservatives and are trying to brainwash people". I know there’s not much shared ideological ground between me and the average NPR reporter, but I don’t really mind that. Their content is mostly well-reasoned, and they tend to go a bit deeper into the subjects they’re covering than other available sources.
On Weekend Edition, Howard Bryant often comes on to talk sports. Charitably, I assume the audience is predominantly unsporting folk (they are listening to NPR after all), so I, a somewhat sporting fellow, don’t find the sports reporting too informative, as he just scratches the surface of what’s going on in sports.
Saturday morning, Bryant started his bit talking about the Yankees (gag me with a spoon, those [can’t find a fitting family-friendly noun here] are good this year). Then he covered an interesting topic: athletes finding their political, or activist, voice. He briefly mentioned the sexual abuse scandals of US sport federations like USA Gymnastics, and the equal pay movement for women’s sports, and the athletes speaking out in those situations. I won’t bore you with my opinion on these topics, since I haven’t given them much thought, honestly.
But then, subtly, he pivoted.
Well, I think that sports has never been anything but political.
He talked about the "shut up and play" position that many people take, regarding athletes taking political stances. For the record, I agree with him when he characterizes the "shut-up-and-play" view as usually meaning "I don’t like what you’re saying", because people seem to love it when an athlete agree with them politically (I recall conservatives liking Curt Schilling’s blathering, for example). But Bryant didn’t recognize that this was a turning point in the conversation. I mean, sexual abuse and how much one gets paid are not political issues, primarily (unless you want to get into economic philosophy I guess). By broadening the topic out to include "politics", I assume at this point he began lumping in things like gun control, economics, presidential politics, those types of things. Note here, I’m making an assumption: they didn’t make it clear that there was a turn in the conversation, but it seemed so to me, listening live.
So, aside from the reporting issue I took with Bryant’s brief statement, here’s my opinion on athletes talking about, well, anything but what they actually do expertly: "why would I care?" This isn’t a novel opinion, I grant you, and like the "shut-up-and-play" position, could really just be used to mean "I don’t like what you’re saying." But I’m really trying to say something slightly different: "I don’t think you know what you’re talking about, so I don’t have time to listen." I mean, Lebron James is a hard working basketball savant with once in a generation athleticism, and I’m in awe watching him play basketball the 1 or 2 times per year I actually watch a NBA game, but not at all interested in what he thinks about Donald Trump.
Now, if you’re also on team "why would I care", here’s where we probably disagree. The athletes are not to blame, at least primarily. So who is to blame for athletes having an enormous platform from which we must listen to them speak about things that we probably understand at least as well, or better, than they do? You, fair reader who is a sports fan, or just a consumer of all the media involving celebrities and athletes. At times in my life, me, too, by the way. When you pay for your cable subscription, tune in through all the advertisements, pay large sums of $$$ to go see the athletes play, buy their shoes, value their signature, buy their jerseys, of course they think we want to know what they think about the last democratic presidential primary debate. We make it seem as if they are gods to be worshipped, instead of supremely talented athletes who are fortunate enough to live in a time when they can be (over)paid for it.
So the next time an athlete , coach, or some other entertainer says something you don’t like about a topic they don’t likely know very well, and it’s all over the news, your unceasing sports consumption is partly to blame. Don’t click that article about Greg Popovich praising Collin Kaepernick’s activism, or Steve Kerr criticizing President Trump, or Curt Schilling accusing the Clinton’s of murder, or X athlete(s) not going to the Whitehouse after wining a championship. Instead, lace up your sneakers, or your squat shoes, or your cleats. Get out there, do something, play something. Not only will you be less angry at opinionated athletes (because you won’t actually know what they think, except for the headlines you’re bombarded with, which remember, you’re not clicking anymore), but you’ll be healthier and happier too.
So basically, if you’re all kerfuffled by an athlete’s opinion on something, you need to look in the mirror. They’re allowed to have an opinion just like you, but your hyper-consumption is responsible for giving them the ego to think people want to hear it, and the megaphone to blast it out to the world.