ESPN has slowly enhanced the soccer coverage on its network, over the past year. What was once an occasional appearance in the Top 10 plays, is now semi-regular highlights from the big three European leagues and the Champions League on ESPNews and Sportscenter. However, rather than assimilating soccer into the mainstream mindset, these forays have still maintained the distinction between soccer (foreign) and sport (American). Here are a three simple steps that ESPN could take to rectify this.
1. Provide Greater Cohesion With Soccernet and ESPN.com
Searching for soccer news on ESPN.com, an American immediately gets asked where he is form (because what kind of freak would be looking for soccer highlights) and then is thrust into the British site which is a whole separate entity. Providing great cohesion would allow for material (blogs, highlights, etc.) to be more easily accessed from the main site. Having soccer split from other sports unintentionally promotes the distinction of soccer as “foreign” and distinct from “real” sports.
2. Place Soccer Highlights Within a Regular Sportscenter Segment
Soccer highlights, regardless of the country of origin, are almost always thrust into the special ESPNdeportes segment and read by a special ESPNdeportes presenter. Having the Sportscenter presenters do the soccer highlights, like those with any other sport, would once again alleviate the Chinese Wall between Soccer and the rest of American sports.
3. Spell Names Phonetically On the Teleprompter
I was shocked to learn that some club called FenerBOTCH had beaten Inter Milan 1-0. That Fubbrigus fellow is quite a talent as well. This doesn’t really fit in with the other points. It is just annoying.
19 year old Brazilian Kerlon Moura Souza is the favorite to inherit the famed #10 shirt for Brazil one day. The Cruzeiro midfielder has been linked with the usual suspects (Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United). Here is his signature move, the seal dribble which, because it is hard to defend legally, extremely annoys everyone involved. Here is the dribble as well as the youngster getting laid out by a defender.
During an interview with James Brown for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” Donovan McNabb stressed that African-American quarterbacks faced more criticism than white quarterbacks. McNabb stated, “There’s not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra.” When asked if Carson Palmer and Peyton Manning did not also face the same criticism, he responded, “I love those guys. But they don’t get criticized as much as we do. They don’t.”
McNabb made headlines again yesterday when he refused to back down from his comments.
His comments, unsurprisingly, have sparked an enormous negative backlash, mostly from white columnists. Here is a Jay Mariotti gem, for example. The basic line of argument is discrediting McNabb’s comments because Rex Grossman receives far more criticism than anybody.
Racism is not just employing derogatory terms for someone or stringing someone up on a lamppost. It merely involves treating people differently because of the color of their skin. The Civil Rights movement dealt with these overt forms of racism (for the most part), but a subtle and often more insidious form of it still plagues our society.
Race is still widely acknowledged to be a factor in nearly every facet of life in America. The race of the victim and the perpetrator has been deemed such a crucial bias that states like Illinois have suspended Capital Punishment. It has been demonstrated to be statistically significant in hiring practices, housing, and loan approvals. Why is sports considered a magical oasis that is somehow immune?
The attitude of Mariotti and other white columnists is, quite frankly, astounding. Dismissing a comment on a general trend, by citing a specific example that doesn’t coincide fails to contradict the statement. White people tend to have a higher income than African-Americans. The fact that Michael Jordan is a multi-millionaire does not disprove that statement. Similarly, the fact that Rex Grossman is criticized and called a “retarded vagina” does not disprove that black quarterbacks face an inordinate amount of criticism.
An article often tells one more about the author than it does about the subject. The flippant dismissals, the faulty logic, and the shock that McNabb would refuse to apologize speak volumes. The irrationality, the anger, and the vitriol are signs of insecurity. Those who so often point their critical lens at others, should perhaps take a more discerning look at themselves.
