For many years, I have complained about the business side of pro sports, and cited it as the reason I oppose paying college athletes. Okay, maybe I'm a naive and hopeless dreamer, but I remember feeling excitement about the Detroit teams (Tigers, Lions, Red Wings, Pistons), having grown up in Michigan. These days, I'm pretty lukewarm (in part because all of these teams are lousy, but even when they were competitive I just didn't feel the passion anymore).
Contracts, agents, lawyers, free agency, arbitration, lockouts, salary caps, "franchise" designation, comparisons of team payrolls... I'm sick of it all. And I'll really be sick at heart if this crap engulfs college sports, too.
But in the past few years, something even worse has happened: Politics is tainting sports with its sickening smugness, loudness, stupidity and ignorance. There are way too many people who wear their politics on their sleeve, and unfortunately, this undesirable trait applies more and more to pro athletes.
It used to be many people turned to sports as a diversion -- from a boring job, nagging boss or wife, personal difficulties such as health or financial issues, and yes, from the poison of politics. Or maybe just because of an appreciation for great athletes and compelling competition.
But regardless of the reason, millions of people turned to sports -- just as they do movies, music and other diversions -- to get away from things they dislike. But these days, it's hard to read about or watch sports without idiots spouting off and shoving their political garbage down our throats.
ESPN, which I have long criticized for being full of hype and self-congratulatory behavior (does anyone pat themselves on the back more often?) has in recent years become a left-wing dumpster fire. It is chock-full of loudmouth blowhards, and most of the time, you'd have to hold a gun to my head to get me to watch it. (And I'd beg you to pull the trigger!)
But aside from ESPN, which thankfully is hemorrhaging viewers and being forced to lay people off, we also have to deal with sanctimonious leftists like Colin Kaepernick (I swear, I will NEVER buy another pair of Nikes!) and the star of the U.S. women's soccer team, Megan Rapinoe, a 24/7 Trump hater who is absolutely obsessed with Orange Julius.
With Kaepernick, it goes way beyond just kneeling for the national anthem and uttering stupid things. He actually was filmed wearing a pair of socks showing police officers as pigs. This guy is pure scum. Some of the soccer team's fans are losers, too, as they were shouting F*** Trump! after the American team's championship victory. Your team wins it all, and you're obsessing with politics? How warped is that? Get a life.
Former Detroit Tigers star Magglio Ordoñez, a native of Venezuela, is now in local politics in Caracus and supports vicious thug Nicolás Maduro. Hey Maggie, why don't you try reading the just-issued U.N. report about the Bolivarian regime's sadistic torture practices?
There are many athletes and coaches who bash Donald Trump, including NBA stars Kevin Durant and LeBron James, Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr, former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and many others. There are some conservative athletes and coaches, too, including New England quarterback Tom Brady and his coach, Bill Belichick, and retired receiver Terrell Owens. But the conservatives don't tend to broadcast it as much.
Boycotts are usually a left-wing tactic in response to people, policies and products they dislike. But two can play this game. It is my sincere hope that millions of conservatives will quit paying attention to and giving their hard-earned dollars to pro sports franchises. Hit 'em in the pocketbook. Because, like it or not, for many people, money is the only thing that talks.
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