The beating Alabama took from Auburn in college football this fall pales in comparison to the thrashing Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban took today from the New York Daily News. On-again/off-again sports writer Chuck Modiano excoriated Saban for not speaking out against Roy Moore, the Republican loser in Tuesday's special U.S. Senate election.
Modiano's headline bellows: "Nick Saban is a clueless, gutless, selfish coward for his silence on Roy Moore". The words in this angry headline "are written precisely as intended when America’s highest paid public employee of great mass influence can’t render public opinion on Roy Moore.
"Nick Saban is not just any coach or employee. At over $11 million a year, he makes more money than all U.S. workers employed by a local or state government. He is a public servant who works at a public university as an alleged leader of college 'students.'”
This distinction comes with great responsibility, Modiano insists. Evidently that means Saban should have lit up social media with the same kind of angry announcements we're used to hearing about Republicans from LeBron James and Jemele Hill. So, Nick, get down on your knees and apologize for not getting involved with this recent election! Don't just stick to sports, like sports media used to do.
By taking the side of Democrat candidate Doug Jones and trashing Moore, it's implied by the writer, you could have demonstrated a "shining career moment to show true leadership and humanity."
Modiano alleges Saban's silence is complicit with Moore's "pedophile" past and his rubber stamping of slavery.
Moore's statement about slavery was stupid, but do we depend on football coaches to explain political science to us? Was it not enough for CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and the blogosphere to lecture us on that point, without a football coach demanding the political podium?
Modiano thinks not. "By remaining silent on Moore’s romanticization of slavery, Saban showed he does not care about the plight or opinions of so many young black men who produce his unearned salary."
What really set off Modiano was that Saban said he was unaware that Nov. 8, 2016 was Election Day. For that and not encouraging his football team to engage in civic responsibility, he's "clueless." Even though he has previously done a PSA urging people to vote.
Saban is also "gutless" for saying he doesn't like to make political endorsements and getting people mad at him for not supporting their preferred candidate.
Why not? Modiano asks. Why didn't Saban be a good little SJW and warn the public prior to last year's election:
Because in 2016 Donald Trump was a pathologically-lying, p---y-grabbing, white-supremacy-spewing buffoon.
And in 2017 Roy Moore is an accused child molester who yearns for the good ole tight-knit family days of slavery.
Here else is why: Because it is not only about you.
Modiano cynically writes that Saban "will be just fine. You make $11 million a year off unpaid labor. ..." He agrees with Taylor Branch, the author of “The Shame of College Sports” and “The New Plantation” by Billy Hawkins that the NCAA won’t allow coaches to share the millions they've stolen with their athletes. The NCAA doesn't limit Saban's voice, so he should have used it to shill for Democrats. After all, NBA coaches Greg Popovich, Stan Van Gundy and Steve Kerr are coaches who are woke, he points out.
"If not clear before," Modiano writes, "Saban’s players now know that he doesn’t care one single iota about black lives beyond their athletic capacity to make him successful and very wealthy."
Modiano was far from finished. Saban also showed he doesn't care about improving the moral lives of Alabama's white voters either. He could have influenced people who buy Alabama football tickets. He's also a "selfish coward."
Saban is lambasted for saying: “I want what’s best for our country. I’m not sure I can figure that out. I want what’s best for people who want to improve the quality of their life… And I don’t think I’m qualified to determine who that should be.” Modiano's response?
No. You don’t want what’s best for the country. You want what’s best for yourself.
No. You don’t care about the quality of life of your players. If you did, you would speak up.
No. You are not unqualified to render judgment on Trump or Moore. You are simply a selfish coward.
Judging older men accused by multiple women of preying on teenage girls does not require a Political Science Professor post at Alabama.
In fact, you are deemed so qualified by Alabama voters, many even gave you write-in votes for Senator.
Modiano finished his melt-down with this ridiculous quote:
Tuesday was the biggest Alabama Championship Game of your entire life. And you never even took the field.
This is not a rare excursion into the SJW morass for Modiano. He's written frequently in defense of Colin Kaepernick and other NFL protesters in his deviations from sticking to sports.
