Someplace Rush Limbaugh is smiling.
On the Fourth of July, Outkick’s Clay Travis took to the Fox Information web page to eviscerate ESPN for its wokeness. Clay, after all, is the co-host with Buck Saxton of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton present, one of many applications that took over the legendary Rush’s time slot when Rush had sadly handed.
The headline on Clay’s piece at FoxNews.com was this:
ESPN hates America on July 4th, loves woke columnist arrested for choking his spouse
For the sports activities outlet the 4th of July represents a time to roll out woke arguments claiming America is evil
Amongst different issues, Clay wrote this:
“It’s July 4th, a day when People from all completely different backgrounds take a day to rejoice our luck to all stay within the biggest nation within the historical past of the world.
Except, that’s, you’re employed at ESPN, when July 4th represents a chance so that you can trot out a woke albatross of a column on the entrance web page of your website arguing that America is terrible.”
Ouch.
Fox Information reported on Clay’s missive this manner:
“The founding father of the sports activities web site OutKick blasted ESPN and considered one of its senior writers over a column revealed Monday decrying the state of the nation on Independence Day amid mass shootings, allegations of police misconduct and backlash in opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court docket over rulings that tens of millions of People assist in a ‘woke albatross of a column on the entrance web page of your website arguing that America is terrible.’
Clay Travis, who co-founded the web site, took author Howard Bryant to job over his July 4th piece titled “Baseball, barbecue and shedding freedom this Fourth of July,” whereas repeatedly mentioning his 2011 arrest for assaulting his spouse and a police officer for which he obtained probation.
‘As you learn this systemic destruction of this woke rubbish ESPN revealed on July 4th, I need you to ask your self: how does this piece serve sports activities followers in any method?’ Travis wrote in his personal column titled: “ESPN Hates America on July 4th, Loves Woke Columnist Arrested For Choking His Spouse.”
The Fox report ended this manner:
“From this level ahead, the article is all left wing political grievance and sufferer tradition. That’s tremendous, his self-defeating woke arguments are his personal, however what’s necessary right here is they’re additionally ESPN’s personal opinions,” he (Travis) continued. “Even in case you really feel Bryant’s rambling screed serves ESPN’s said objective of ‘Serving sports activities followers. Any time. Anyplace,’ what’s necessary to acknowledge is an opinion arguing the precise reverse of this column would by no means be permitted or revealed wherever at ESPN.”
It’s nothing lower than becoming that this take down of ESPN for its woke obsessions is penned by the co-host of Rush Limbaugh’s successor present. Why?
As shall be recalled by these round within the day, Rush was a fanatic soccer fan. He completely cherished the sport. With that in thoughts ESPN requested him to offer some commentary on this or that recreation because the season went alongside.
It wasn’t lengthy earlier than Rush was unceremoniously booted out the ESPN door for violating its bible of lefty political correctness. Leap within the time capsule and journey again to this story from 2003 and see what occurred.
Right here’s a pattern headline from CNSNews: “Rush Limbaugh ‘Disillusioned’ by Former ESPN Colleagues.”
The story says this:
“Speak present host Rush Limbaugh Monday stated he was “disenchanted” that his former colleagues on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown had chosen to distance themselves from him within the wake of the controversy involving Limbaugh’s feedback about black quarterbacks within the Nationwide Soccer League.
“Yeah, I used to be considerably disenchanted by it after I heard about it as a result of I believed we have been all buddies. We did all get alongside in manufacturing conferences, on the set of the present itself,” Limbaugh stated throughout his radio speak present Monday.
Limbaugh final week resigned his job as an analyst on the ESPN program after feedback he made about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb touched off accusations that Limbaugh was racist.
The controversial feedback got here as Limbaugh defined why he thought McNabb was overrated as a soccer participant. ‘I feel what we have had here’s a little social concern within the NFL. The media has been very desirous {that a} black quarterback do nicely,’ Limbaugh stated on the Sept. 28 ESPN broadcast.”
And with that resignation due to a politically incorrect viewpoint, all hell broke free round Rush — and it has been steadily downhill for ESPN and its lefty woke politics ever since.
Nearly 20 years later and the obsessive left-wing wokeism of ESPN that was blossoming within the Rush Limbaugh episode has now metastasized, spreading everywhere in the community that’s, in reality, speculated to be about sports activities, not politics. Decide a subject: the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Florida parental rights legislation, a baseball group declining to put on LGBTQ+ patches on their uniform and extra. Time and again ESPN and its anchors speak lefty woke politics as a substitute of sports activities.
Over there at Authorized Rebellion in 2017, a full 14 years after Rush’s conflict with ESPN, right here was the headline. “ESPN Decided to Kill its Model With Left Wing Politics.”
That story reported this:
“The management at ESPN appears to assume it might change the way in which individuals assume by injecting left wing politics into its protection {of professional} sports activities. As a substitute, they’re alienating sports activities followers, a lot of whom are conservatives, and destroying their model on the identical time.”
The story famous that when ESPN’s Jemele Hill referred to as President Trump a “white supremacist” she was reprimanded — however stayed on. However in case you have been a conservative at ESPN? Right here is The Each day Caller on the story of ESPN’s Curt Schilling, the champion pitcher of the Boston Crimson Sox: “ESPN Fires Curt Schilling For Conservative Views.”
This jewel of a narrative stories this:
“MLB legend and baseball analyst Curt Schilling was fired by ESPN Wednesday evening for his conservative views.
Schilling shared a meme on Fb that clearly confirmed he was in opposition to transgender people utilizing bogs in opposition to their organic intercourse. The legendary pitcher was fired over the submit with ESPN saying, ‘Curt Schilling has been suggested that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated,’ based on The New York Instances.“
(And full disclosure, sure I’m a lifelong Crimson Sox fan and know nicely that Curt Schilling is in reality a god. You don’t hearth a god.)
Authorized Rebellion additionally famous of Travis saying this in 2017:
“Travis identified that when former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka criticized President Obama in a way more minimal method, and introduced his assist for President Trump, he was fired from ESPN.”
Then there’s the matter of ESPN’s rankings for its “ESPY Awards”. Right here they’re from 2015 by means of to 2021 as its wokeness gained velocity:
2015: 7.7 million
2016: 5.6 million
2017: 5.3 million
2018: 3.9 million
2019: 3.8 million
2021: 1.1 million
Which is to say, the extra woke the community acquired, the extra tens of millions stopped watching.
Clay Travis is strictly the best particular person to take public — once more — the exhausting reality of simply how a lot the most cancers of woeness has contaminated ESPN.
And as I stated, someplace Rush Limbaugh is smiling. His time slot is in good fingers.
