The 2020 ESPN "ESPY Awards" show this summer is bound to be a politically charged event. How can it not be with Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird and Russell Wilson hosting the remote event? It's an election year, all three of these Seattle area progressives have a history of political activism and the ESPYs have provided "home field" for the likes of Michelle Obama and Caitlyn Jenner in the past.
Rapinoe, the wild woman of pro soccer, recently begged Joe Biden to make her his running mate on the Democrats' presidential ticket. Before that, she sucked up to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren for a place in her campaign. She's been on a slash-and-burn verbal campaign against President Donald Trump for a year, and she knelt during the national anthem prior to some of her pro soccer games.
Bird, a WNBA player, wrote a politically charged essay on The Players Tribune railing about how the president "f-----g hates" her live-in girlfriend, Rapinoe. She said the president went "Full Adolescent Boy" on her girlfriend.
Wilson? The Seattle quarterback famously trashed President Trump shortly after he was inaugurated and called for the return of Barack Obama. From a barber's chair, he said Trump's negativity in his first 10 days in office was "already too much." Wilson and his fiancee also moved their wedding location out of North Carolina because the state had the audacity to pass a bathroom bill to protect women and girls from sexual predators.
Wilson's bride, Ciara Princess Wilson, an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and model, is also expected to make an appearance on the ESPYs. The Wilsons showed their left-wing credentials in an embarrassing Halloween dance video in 2016, with the Seahawks quarterback wearing an Obama mask and Ciara masquerading as Hillary Clinton.
Jeff Smith, ESPN's producer of the ESPYs, told the Associated Press, "We're finding ways to make this feel really connected to the audience. They're so ready to reach out to this community." No doubt the remote webcast will be an outreach to a progressive-heavy community. Like the audiences that went all-in for Jenner in 2015 and Mrs. Obama's "stunning" return to the public in 2017.
The Associated Press and USA Today both report that it’s "a way different kind of year," and the ESPYs will be a departure from normal. The Arthur Ashe Award for Courage (that went to the gender-confused Jenner five years ago), the Pat Tillman Award for Service and Jimmy V Award for Perseverance will again be awarded, but viewers will be spared the long acceptance speeches of the past.
Tim Tebow and Tony Dungy apparently didn't make ESPN's short list, long list or any list that we know of for potential ESPY hosts. And, as ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro says, the network is not a political organization (wink, wink). No matter, the pairing of progressive power couple hosts has all the potential for political fireworks.
