ESPN is about to get less angry, and hopefully less political. Jemele Hill is reportedly leaving SportsCenter for ESPN’s The Undefeated blog on Friday, Feb. 2, after just a year hosting the show.
The Undefeated says it “explores the intersections of race, sports, culture and more,” so it should be a better fit for the painfully “woke” and race-obsessed Hill.
Hill appears to be more interested in politics and social justice issues than sports, and if ESPN is serious about stopping it’s slide toward CNN (in ratings and over-the-top left-wingery) jettisoning Hill is a good move.
Last fall, she violated ESPN social media policy by tweeting that President Trump is a “white-supremacist” and “bigot,” and other nasty things. ESPN gave her a stern talking-to. The next month, she did it again, taking on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (who for some reason wasn’t happy with players kneeling during the National Anthem.) This time, ESPN suspended her. (Curt Schilling was tossed after just two violations, but I guess it all depends on who one offends.)
Whether the move means ESPN changing course and returning to covering, ya know, sports remains to be seen. But the network is in trouble, forced into multiple rounds of layoffs by expensive rights contracts with the NFL and the growing trend of people “cutting the chord” and turning to streaming video. Liberal ESPN president John Skipper resigned last month, citing substance abuse problems. ESPN’s experiment becoming just another lefty opinion outlet has failed.
