America, arguably the entertainment and media capitol of the Western Hemisphere, if not the whole world, is expected to crank out all manner of entertaining and thought provoking programming, and if you think that I'm referring to Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo, then you're wrong, and also, shame on you.
The issue we face in this country is not an inability to produce content, but our penchant for ruining anything decently poignant or controversial through exhaustive social pressure to conform to standards of accepted political correctness. Which, put in simpler terms means we like to get offended anytime someone says something that makes us uncomfortable, and we as a society see increasingly limited viewpoints and positions as a result.
An ongoing and relevant example provides the basis for my post today. Colin Cowherd, a radio host and occasional TV persona for ESPN, has come under fire in the past week for comments he made on his on air talk show. If you're interested in an unbiased perspective, then I'd invite you to go search it out and form your own opinions. My summary is as follows; Cowherd was making a point about the education level required to master various aspects of professional baseball, and chose to point out that 1/3 of the league are players from the Dominican Republic. Now, I believe I know Cowherd was meaning to point out the glaring lack of importance and funding allotted to education in the D.R, rather than meaning to imply that everyone from the country is of low intelligence. Now, I don't necessarily agree with the point in it's entirety but I understand where Cowherd was meaning to go with it, and that is to say that baseball is not a very complex sport to learn, such as football or baseball. Baseball is a simple sport, you are either a very gifted athlete and can pitch or hit the ball well, or you are one of the people who throw out horrible first pitches before the games and dishonor your family (cough, 50 Cent, cough).
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| No, the cameraman doesn't have a white crotch in his pants.... |
The backlash from the comments was swift. Cowherd, who was already planning to leave ESPN for Fox Sports 1 (a competing network) in a week, got canned early and was removed from the airwaves as ESPN issued a sweeping statement/apology and condemned his remarks as "not in line with the views of ESPN". Really? A guy, who by the way is known to be more of an "out there" radio host, a "live on the edge" kind of guy makes a blanket statement that (arguably) gets taken out of context and suddenly he's untouchable? Damaged goods? A Racist?
We're quick to use that label, man oh man are we quick to use it. The sports world clamors for original and thought provoking content but when we get it it's "get out your pitchforks, some host is losing their job". I just don't understand why everything has to be so corrected and monitored so closely that we're (speaking as someone in the sports industry) walking on metaphorical eggshells to avoid losing our jobs. You can only hear the same sports news so many times before it gets insanely boring, and radio shows with stirring content help to shake that all up. People clamor about how the same sports topics get brought up time and time again (LeBron on ESPN, for example) but the minute someone says something outside the box we're quick to bury him in it. It's also ridiculous that people from outside the sports world, who choose to create distance and limit knowledge of the sports world in their own lives, will suddenly rush to join the witch hunt whenever it seems convenient. How can anyone possibly consider themselves versed enough on any issue to form an opinion after reading a single internet article?
Because that's what we are now people. That's who we've become. Yes, I'm wearing the tinfoil hat, I'm questioning the hivemind because I don't agree with what it seeks to do, because I'm choosing not to drink the Kool-Aid.
I think the world benefits from diverse viewpoints, even those that are deemed violent or hateful, because every speech, every dialogue, every word typed out and woven into a point can become a learning experience and can help further our education. Furthermore, it's worth pointing out that the timing of Cowherd's imminent departure to a competitor likely played a role in his premature termination, and it would be remiss of us to praise ESPN for "taking a stand for society", their convoluted sense of right and wrong has been shown in their petty "slaps on the wrist" punishments of Britt McHenry, Stephen A Smith and Tony Kornheiser, all ESPN mainstays.
So if you want to disagree with Colin Cowherd, go right ahead, get in line, it's a LONG one. If it stops you from following him on Twitter, listening to his show or voicing your support for him around the water cooler, then so be it, he'll survive. However if you want to sling mud with the best of them, and really hang him out as a racist, then you'd be smart to get the facts on what he actually said, take a long look at your own character and things you may have said and wished you could take back, and then decide if the man really needs to be battered anymore for saying something you didn't like.
And please, for the love of whatever god, diety or flying spaghetti monster you may worship, don't despise the man because someone on Tumblr or Facebook told you to.
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