Back in 2003, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh ignited a firestorm of criticism from the left-dominated sports media for daring to point out the obvious fact that many people in the NFL and the media hype up black quarterbacks in the hopes of seeing them succeed.
Limbaugh revisited the topic yesterday on his program by highlighting a column by black sports writer Jason Whitlock, a man known for a number of years for his commendable ability to cut through political correctness in sports:
Here's Whitlock's lede:
The “information bubble” is the No. 1 obstacle/hindrance for black NFL quarterbacks.
This bubble creates delusion, erodes self-awareness and unwittingly undermines a black QB’s chance of sustaining success.
Cam Newton is a victim of the information bubble. Robert Griffin III is the bubble’s next target.
Let me explain. We’re in our political season. Democrats and Republicans both have their respective information bubbles, MSNBC and FOX News, respectively. They can lock their televisions on a single channel and avoid hearing their perspectives challenged in a credible way and hear their critics’ lambasted. It’s comforting. It’s polarizing. It’s unhealthy for intellectual growth and our democracy.
Black sports fans and black pop-culture media (not sports media) have created a loosely-formed-but-influential social-media and talk-radio information bubble for black QBs. This network of groupthink roars on sports-talk radio, black-owned radio stations, Facebook and Twitter, pumping out the message that Newton, Griffin and others can do no wrong and any criticism of them is rooted in racism. Fear of backlash from this network of well-intentioned enablers causes many mainstream sports analysts (media and fans of all colors) to avoid being totally honest about black QBs.
That’s how a career-killing, information bubble is formed.
The rest of the column is worth reading so please click through to it. I won't comment on the other subjects Whitlock mentions lest I start a war among the NewsBusters sports fans.
Whitlock is wrong, though about the sports media. They are very much dominated by the left. ESPN, Sports Illustrated, HBO, and most newspaper sports writers are liberal. Sure there are a few more conservatives in sports media than there are in political media but the overwhelming majority are liberal Democrats.
This was something that veteran reporter and author Buzz Bissinger recently experienced and stated when he received a horrible backlash among his media colleagues for recently stating that he will vote for Republican Mitt Romney instead of casting his ballot for President Obama. Limbaugh also experienced it when the sports media hounded him from a spot on ESPN while welcoming lunatic leftist Keith Olbermann to NBC.
While the promotion of black quarterbacks may be more prominent among black media outlets, it would not be nearly so effective if the sports press corps wasn't so overwhelmingly dominated by liberals.
