Superb Adam. I completely agree with you. Reminds me of something someone said several years ago about musicians engaging in political virtue signaling: "Shut up and sing." I liked that back then and I still like it. To paraphrase it about sports, "Shut up and dribble."
This was full of the usual Adam Coleman gems, but these stood out:
Michael Jordan...“Republicans buy shoes too." I've quoted or paraphrased Michael Jordan dozens of times with this line but didn't know if he really said it. It's brilliant and I'm glad you mentioned it. I watched Michael and his cohorts in the NBA b/c I admired their skills, talents and ability as players. While I'm sure they all have opinions about everything, I saw no reason why some of them felt compelled to continually share those opinions with me and the rest of the world. Its terrible business and it drove fans away, myself included. And that is true even if their opinion agreed with mine. Its just not why I watched them.
Another one: "Because most of these issues don’t affect them, they are also not part of the solution, and they end up becoming politically divisive for no long-term benefit unto themselves." Not only was there no benefit to themselves, but their insistence on sharing their politically divisive views with the public actually hurt them. Ever since kneeling during the national anthem became de rigueur I and a lot of other people simply stopped watching the NFL. I miss watching my NY Giants...(well, maybe not after last season 😏😂)...but I'm not sure I'll ever go back. Its a betrayal to fans who don't agree and makes me want to shake them and shout "Hey, I'm a fan too! What about me?"
And yet another "...appears as empty virtuous nonsense that we can all see through." I'm sick of virtue signaling and I suspect there are a lot of other regular people out there who agree. Keep your opinions to yourself and your close associates and family and take the stupid bumper stickers off your car. 🙄🤦♂️
And with this you seem to be writing about me: "As an avid sports fan, the hyper-racial and political rhetoric coming from sports leagues and entertainment networks in 2020 forced me to abandon a past time that I spent decades enjoying."
And finally, this also was unforgivable: "Sports leagues like the NBA and NFL spread narratives that I and many others did not agree with, and THEY TURNED ATHLETIC GIANTS INTO WHINY ACTIVISTS who performed useless gestures while wearing leftist swag." I like my star athletes and entertainers to be larger than life. This reduced them to pint sized, particularly those who made statements or supported causes with which I disagree. I resent them for bursting the bubble. I don't watch sports as reality TV, I get enough reality through daily life, thank you. Sports and entertainment are a pleasant escape, a diversion from daily life...please leave it that way.
Again, well done Adam. A great commentary on our culture and our time.
Amen to this whole article!!
Thank you
Superb Adam. I completely agree with you. Reminds me of something someone said several years ago about musicians engaging in political virtue signaling: "Shut up and sing." I liked that back then and I still like it. To paraphrase it about sports, "Shut up and dribble."
This was full of the usual Adam Coleman gems, but these stood out:
Michael Jordan...“Republicans buy shoes too." I've quoted or paraphrased Michael Jordan dozens of times with this line but didn't know if he really said it. It's brilliant and I'm glad you mentioned it. I watched Michael and his cohorts in the NBA b/c I admired their skills, talents and ability as players. While I'm sure they all have opinions about everything, I saw no reason why some of them felt compelled to continually share those opinions with me and the rest of the world. Its terrible business and it drove fans away, myself included. And that is true even if their opinion agreed with mine. Its just not why I watched them.
Another one: "Because most of these issues don’t affect them, they are also not part of the solution, and they end up becoming politically divisive for no long-term benefit unto themselves." Not only was there no benefit to themselves, but their insistence on sharing their politically divisive views with the public actually hurt them. Ever since kneeling during the national anthem became de rigueur I and a lot of other people simply stopped watching the NFL. I miss watching my NY Giants...(well, maybe not after last season 😏😂)...but I'm not sure I'll ever go back. Its a betrayal to fans who don't agree and makes me want to shake them and shout "Hey, I'm a fan too! What about me?"
And yet another "...appears as empty virtuous nonsense that we can all see through." I'm sick of virtue signaling and I suspect there are a lot of other regular people out there who agree. Keep your opinions to yourself and your close associates and family and take the stupid bumper stickers off your car. 🙄🤦♂️
And with this you seem to be writing about me: "As an avid sports fan, the hyper-racial and political rhetoric coming from sports leagues and entertainment networks in 2020 forced me to abandon a past time that I spent decades enjoying."
And finally, this also was unforgivable: "Sports leagues like the NBA and NFL spread narratives that I and many others did not agree with, and THEY TURNED ATHLETIC GIANTS INTO WHINY ACTIVISTS who performed useless gestures while wearing leftist swag." I like my star athletes and entertainers to be larger than life. This reduced them to pint sized, particularly those who made statements or supported causes with which I disagree. I resent them for bursting the bubble. I don't watch sports as reality TV, I get enough reality through daily life, thank you. Sports and entertainment are a pleasant escape, a diversion from daily life...please leave it that way.
Again, well done Adam. A great commentary on our culture and our time.
We have a lot in common!
Thank you again