1 of 1- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Registered: 1/29/2015
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Send in the Clowns
Don't bother, they're here.
ESPN Pulls Asian Announcer Named Robert Lee Off UVa Game To Avoid Offending Idiots.
Robert Lee: ESPN under fire for taking announcer off UVA game
By trying to avoid an embarrassing ordeal, ESPN has embarrassed itself.
On Tuesday night, the network confirmed that its management moved an Asian-American announcer, Robert Lee, off the University of Virginia's home opener football game "simply because of the coincidence of his name."
Earlier Tuesday, a source had told CNN that Lee was abruptly switched to the Youngstown versus Pitt game. He had recently been promoted by ESPN, so the switch was a sensitive matter.
News of the decision follows the violence that broke out earlier this month at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, protesting plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The night before the deadly violence, white nationalists marched across the UVA campus, carrying torches and chanting racist slogans.
Now, UVA is preparing for the start of a new school year. The opening home game -- against William and Mary -- is on September 2, the same day as Youngstown versus Pitt.
Both games are slated to be live-streamed on ESPN's digital networks, not on television. But if ESPN thought this was a minor change, it was quickly proven wrong when word leaked out on Tuesday.
The website Outkick the Coverage broke the story -- with a headline invoking a popular conservative nickname for ESPN, "MSESPN," which derides the network as the sports equivalent of the liberal talk shows on MSNBC.
The headline said, "MSESPN Pulls Asian Announcer Named Robert Lee Off UVa Game To Avoid Offending Idiots." The story was so popular that the site's servers were overloaded on Tuesday evening.
ESPN subsequently said in a statement that its executives "collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding."
"In that moment it felt right to all parties," the network said. "It's a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue."
From ESPN's perspective, the executives were trying to guard against Lee becoming a punchline, given that he shares a name with a Confederate general.
They foresaw memes and headlines "Robert Lee marches into Charlottesville." Moving Lee to a different game was seen as a way to support him.
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- tennyson
- Exchanger
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Re: Send in the Clowns
Maybe ESPN was just looking for a little free PR. They kind of made themselves look rather foolish IF that was the intent.
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
Re: Send in the Clowns
Did someone ask for more clowns?
Because, right on cue Fox's Tucker Carlson arrives to make a fool out of himself.
Tucker: ESPN's Robert Lee Move Shows How 'Hysterical, Reactionary & Stupid' the Left Has Become
Tucker Carlson almost didn't report on the ESPN-Robert Lee story on Tuesday night because he found it hard to believe that the left had become so "hysterical and reactionary and stupid."
Hold on a second there, Tucker.
This ESPN thing says absolutely nothing about The Left.
No one, Left, Right, or Center called for Mr. Lee to be removed from calling this game.
A handful of ESPN executives made the decision.
And, who calls the UVA-William & Mary game is a fly speck in terms of importance.
The only one looking hysterical and stupid is,,,,,, Tucker Carlson.
Last edited by Goose (8/24/2017 7:44 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
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