4 ms·

> Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. Yeah, you’re just factually wrong. Figures like Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Magic Johnson, Kare

by dangus 3y ago

> Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. Yeah, you’re just factually wrong. Figures like Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, all the way up to Kolin Kaepernick and Brittney Griner[1] are wrapped up in human rights and social issues. There isn’t some kind of magical barrier between sports and real life. It’s a social activity that takes place within wider society. To millions of fans, players are influential voices. You can be as sports-macho and anti-woke as you want but that won’t bring you closer to truth and understanding. [1] who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state.

boeingUH60 3y ago
> Who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state. She was jailed for being a high-profile American, perfect bait to trade for a notorious weapons smuggler imprisoned in the US...she had played in Russia since 2014, so if anti-LGBT was the motivation, they could have grabbed her since.
- tivert 3y ago
  >> Who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state. > She was jailed for being a high-profile American, perfect bait to trade for a notorious weapons smuggler imprisoned in the US...she had played in Russia since 2014, so if anti-LGBT was the motivation, they could have grabbed her since. Yeah, the theory that she was arrested because "an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state," doesn't even pass the smell test. The theory says a lot more about the person who proposed it than any kind of external reality.
  - dangus 3y ago
    Well, you can argue about that detail all you want but the situation still shows you that sports players are important national figures that relate to politics, social issues, and global events. They don’t live in a vacuum where we only talk X’s and O’s because they are real human beings.
LargeTomato 3y ago
I think the majority of sports watchers don't care about politics. >> Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. > Yeah, you’re just factually wrong. Well, that's a very strong statement but I think you're correct. I'd rephrase the original comment as *Most* Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues.
- stcroixx 3y ago
  Agreed, and also I think most people interested in reading about sports have not been going to the NYT for that particularly because they only use it as a backdrop for their stories, which are primarily about some other topic.
  - tivert 3y ago
    > Agreed, and also I think most people interested in reading about sports have not been going to the NYT for that particularly because they only use it as a backdrop for their stories, which are primarily about some other topic. Are there better outlets for New York sports fans to read? I'm not from there, but I've gotten the impression that the New York Post might be better than the New York Times.
- dangus 3y ago
  > I think the majority of sports watchers don't care about politics. 75% of Americans are sports fans and 48% of Americans say they follow government and public affairs most of the time. Only 10% of Americans are politically disengaged. Over 60% of Americans voted in the 2020 election, a record high. It's not out of the realm of possibility that over 50% of all Americans both watch sports and care at least somewhat about politics. https://www.statista.com/statistics/300148/interest-nfl-football-age-canada/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/300148/interest-nfl-foot... https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/07/07/1-in-10-americans-dont-give-a-hoot-about-politics/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/07/07/1-in-10-a... https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-turnout-in-2020-general-election.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-t...

by dangus 3y ago

boeingUH60 3y ago

> Who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state. She was jailed for being a high-profile American, perfect bait to trade for a notorious weapons smuggler imprisoned in the US...she had played in Russia since 2014, so if anti-LGBT was the motivation, they could have grabbed her since.

tivert 3y ago
>> Who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state. > She was jailed for being a high-profile American, perfect bait to trade for a notorious weapons smuggler imprisoned in the US...she had played in Russia since 2014, so if anti-LGBT was the motivation, they could have grabbed her since. Yeah, the theory that she was arrested because "an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state," doesn't even pass the smell test. The theory says a lot more about the person who proposed it than any kind of external reality.
- dangus 3y ago
  Well, you can argue about that detail all you want but the situation still shows you that sports players are important national figures that relate to politics, social issues, and global events. They don’t live in a vacuum where we only talk X’s and O’s because they are real human beings.

LargeTomato 3y ago

I think the majority of sports watchers don't care about politics. >> Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. > Yeah, you’re just factually wrong. Well, that's a very strong statement but I think you're correct. I'd rephrase the original comment as *Most* Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues.

stcroixx 3y ago
Agreed, and also I think most people interested in reading about sports have not been going to the NYT for that particularly because they only use it as a backdrop for their stories, which are primarily about some other topic.
- tivert 3y ago
  > Agreed, and also I think most people interested in reading about sports have not been going to the NYT for that particularly because they only use it as a backdrop for their stories, which are primarily about some other topic. Are there better outlets for New York sports fans to read? I'm not from there, but I've gotten the impression that the New York Post might be better than the New York Times.
dangus 3y ago
> I think the majority of sports watchers don't care about politics. 75% of Americans are sports fans and 48% of Americans say they follow government and public affairs most of the time. Only 10% of Americans are politically disengaged. Over 60% of Americans voted in the 2020 election, a record high. It's not out of the realm of possibility that over 50% of all Americans both watch sports and care at least somewhat about politics. https://www.statista.com/statistics/300148/interest-nfl-football-age-canada/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/300148/interest-nfl-foot... https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/07/07/1-in-10-americans-dont-give-a-hoot-about-politics/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/07/07/1-in-10-a... https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-turnout-in-2020-general-election.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-t...