In a year-long "season" of print and electronic media sports coverage, American writers and broadcasters have gone way, way, way out of bounds in sensationalistic and unsportsmanlike reporting. Biased progressives shamelessly heaved the ball downfield for leftist causes, frequently "targeting" and "roughing" conservatives along the way. Here's our list of 10 "all-pros"—media whose biting, bigoted, biased quotes rank among the most egregious of 2018. Let the boos begin!
Josh Tucker, Deadspin: "If a public lifetime as a racist, misogynist, litigious grifter buffoon matters less to you than the answer to the question, 'is that real marble?' then Trump is the perfect candidate."
Kyle Koster, The Big Lead: "(Tony) Dungy (appearing in above photo) expressing his (Christian) beliefs (during NBC's Super Bowl broadcast) on his personal time and platform is one thing. And even if I disagree with him sometimes, I appreciate his candor and willingness to open himself up for criticism. But when his beliefs seep into his analyst role — either unintentionally or otherwise — they should be checked, both by NBC and the public."
William Astore, Huffington Post: “The dire prospect that opens, therefore, is that America is going to become a mega-banana republic where the Army will have more and more importance in Americans’ lives... [D]emocracy is the special condition ― a condition we will be called upon to defend in the coming years. That will be enormously difficult because the combination of the corporation, the military, and the complete investiture of the flag with mass spectator sports has set up a pre-fascistic atmosphere in America already.”
Michael Bennett on Democracy Now! interview: "(White people have) been so comfortable with seeing immigrants taken. They’ve been so comfortable with seeing, you know, people being killed by the police. They’ve been so comfortable with victimizing and raping when it comes to the #MeToo movement."
Harry Edwards, USA Today: “You scratch your head and wonder: ‘Are they really this racist? This stupid? What’s driving this?’ I think that at a very fundamental level, we are still battling the residuals of 400 years of slavery. A lot of the (NFL) owners think they own the players. They own the franchise.”
Dave Birkett, USA Today: "The league’s ambiguous declaration that players have to 'show respect' for the flag and anthem smells of a military state ordering its citizens to stand and salute its flag and leaders or risk being shipped off to some far-off corner of the land."
Colin Kaepernick, Acceptance Speech for Receiving Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award, reported by media far and wide: "Racialized oppression and dehumanization is woven into the very fabric of our nation. The effects of which can be seen in the lawful lynching of black and brown people by the police, and the mass incarceration of black and brown lives in the prison industrial complex. In truth, this is an award that I share with all of the countless people throughout the world combating the human rights violations of police officers, and their uses of oppressive and excessive force."
Stephen Crockett Jr., The Root: "Because Kaepernick is the walking spirit of all those slaves who said 'Fuck this boat' and jumped to their deaths, my nigga showed up to (the late Houston Texans' owner) Bob McNair’s deposition (as part of Kaepernick's collusion suit against the NFL)... wearing a KUNTA KINTE T-shirt!"
Eric Reid in The Undefeated Story by Jason Reid: “I’ll put it this way: Next year will be 2019. It will mark 400 years since the first slave touched the soil in this country. That’s 400 years of systemic [oppression], that’s slavery, Jim Crow, new Jim Crow, mass incarceration, you name it. ... You can’t live in your own house in America without getting killed. It’s powerful. I will keep speaking for my people.’’
Dave Zirin, The Nation: "There are real dangers for working people, immigrants, and people of color that come with hosting the Super Bowl. It’s the danger that arrives with a massive expansion of closed-circuit television surveillance, hyper-militarized policing and the free entrance of ICE into a space that normally is a 'sanctuary city.'”
