ESPN, long the MSNBC of sports, made a bizarre executive decision to remove Asian-American football announcer Robert Lee from the William & Mary vs. Virginia game. It looked like an Onion headline. But no, ESPN continues to make a left-wing joke of itself. Northern liberal elites’ hatred of the South has finally spilled over to South Korea.
ESPN’s premise: Racists would make fun of poor Robert Lee and perhaps riot. No one cared. ESPN’s move mirrors the goal of fellow Traveler(s) on the left, which is to paint the right and the South as racist.
Since drifting to the left, the struggling sports quasi-monopoly has lost 10 million viewers. Yet its owner, Disney, continues to let it make stupid PC decisions. ESPN spun this decision as a courageous move and said it was protecting poor Robert Lee. I smell the bestowing of an Arthur Ashe Award of Courage on itself at the ESPYs.
In an olive branch to the right, ESPN is willing to let Washington and Lee University keep its name if it will agree to change the Washington to Denzel and the Lee to Spike. For ESPN, those are generous terms, just like your cable bill: Take it or leave it. ESPN demands unconditional surrender and wants to film the surrender ceremony at Appomattox for a yet-titled 30 for 30 special.
Ron HartView other columns by Ron Hart
And ESPN covering William and Mary? It’s our oldest college, so you know either William or Mary was up to no good.