Just Plain Stupid
Peter, what the hell are you doing? Oh, sorry. I was just looking through some old history textbooks that I kept from college. I know I’ll regret asking…but, why? I think I missed something while sitting through all those history courses. I mean, I loved history. In fact, it was one of my majors. And I had a couple of great professors who took the time to really teach us and allow us the freedom to discuss all of the great topics and ideas; from the ancients right down to the 20th century. And…? Well, a couple of weeks ago, Michael Wilbon, not for the first time, compared the relationship between the NFL owners and the players, to plantation slavery. And since professional football players make boatloads of money, and decide for themselves whether or not to become football players, not to mention get to retire whenever they damn well please…I figured I had to have missed something in one of those lectures or in these books. I’ll shut up. You’re on a roll.
Are you kidding me? Where do we grow these people?! Look, I understand Wilbon’s just a talking-head for ESPN and in the grand scheme of things he’s not worth my time. But he’s the cohost (along with Tony Kornheiser) of one of the most popular yak-fests on that network – “Pardon The Interruption”. And for reasons known only to the gods, there are a lot of people (especially young people) who take him and his opinions seriously.
It all began with former NFL player Colin Kapernick and his taking a knee during the national anthem before football games to protest what he felt was unlawful/abusive treatment of young black men by policemen. Long story short, some players started emulating Mr. Kapernick (who is no longer in the NFL…which is a whole other story), and the owners got annoyed as they felt it would hurt their product with a certain segment of their fan base. Anyway, as time went on a couple of owners (like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys) said they would demand that their players stand…or else. Enter, Mr. Wilbon.
Wilbon went nuts. "The word that comes to my mind, and I don’t care who doesn’t like me using it, is ‘plantation,'” Michael Wilbon said on ESPN’s popular show “Pardon The Interruption.” “The players are here to serve me, they will do what I want no matter how much I pay them. They are not equal to me. That’s what this says to me and to mine.” Well, now. Wilbon, not unlike the Rev. Jesse Jackson, tends to frame many too many arguments in the context of race. The joke about Jackson used to be that if he saw a black dog and a white dog fighting, he’d yell, “Racism!” Unfortunately, Wilbon is not far behind. But c’mon, Mike. Really? There’s not a company in this country that allows its employees to publicly say whatever they please while on company time, let alone on such a sensitive political topic like this one. Even ESPN has whacked a couple of popular employees (Bill Simmons, Jemele Hill) for the sin of crossing whatever line the network had drawn that particular month. Actually, come to think of it, one might ask how Wilbon still has a job? But I digress. It’s not plantation mentality for an owner to say, “I’m shelling out millions in salaries. You’re standing during the national anthem!” I mean, Hello!
But let’s get back to the more important point, which is historical amnesia. Again, this isn’t Wilbon’s first trip down “slavery” lane. So let’s recap. Unlike the American slaves to which Wilbon refers, professional football players are paid handsomely; they get to retire when they want; they willingly enter their chosen profession; their children are not forced to become professional football players; they are not considered three-fifths human; they get to vote; did I mention they get paid very handsomely? There are a number of other cool things professional football players are able to do that slaves could not, but I’m gonna stop because I’m getting a little pissed off.
Look, can an owner cut a player whenever he or she pleases? Sure. Are the contracts guaranteed like they are in baseball or basketball? No. But neither of these things are out of the ordinary or even quasi-illegal. To paraphrase Godfather II, “This is the life they’ve chosen.” To somehow create a moral equivalency between slavery or life on a slave plantation in 1818, and the relationship between an NFL owner and a professional football player in 2018 is sheer stupidity that borders on immoral. Not only does it cheapen and diminish the evil that American (or any) slavery was/is, it calls into question the intelligence and/or motives of the speaker.
We sometimes throw around descriptive words in an effort to make a bigger point, hopefully in a humorous way. In the past I’ve been guilty of saying stupid things like “What are you, a Nazi?” Of course the person wasn’t a Nazi or even close to being a Nazi, and now that I’m a little older I realize it was a stupid thing to say no matter what point I was trying to make, albeit in a humorous way. For like the “slavery” description, it cheapens and denigrates the historical victims of such evil. One can only hope that all of us, including Mr. Wilbon, make it a point to think before we speak. And if he was thinking before he spoke, then shame on him.
Are you kidding me? Where do we grow these people?! Look, I understand Wilbon’s just a talking-head for ESPN and in the grand scheme of things he’s not worth my time. But he’s the cohost (along with Tony Kornheiser) of one of the most popular yak-fests on that network – “Pardon The Interruption”. And for reasons known only to the gods, there are a lot of people (especially young people) who take him and his opinions seriously.
It all began with former NFL player Colin Kapernick and his taking a knee during the national anthem before football games to protest what he felt was unlawful/abusive treatment of young black men by policemen. Long story short, some players started emulating Mr. Kapernick (who is no longer in the NFL…which is a whole other story), and the owners got annoyed as they felt it would hurt their product with a certain segment of their fan base. Anyway, as time went on a couple of owners (like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys) said they would demand that their players stand…or else. Enter, Mr. Wilbon.
Wilbon went nuts. "The word that comes to my mind, and I don’t care who doesn’t like me using it, is ‘plantation,'” Michael Wilbon said on ESPN’s popular show “Pardon The Interruption.” “The players are here to serve me, they will do what I want no matter how much I pay them. They are not equal to me. That’s what this says to me and to mine.” Well, now. Wilbon, not unlike the Rev. Jesse Jackson, tends to frame many too many arguments in the context of race. The joke about Jackson used to be that if he saw a black dog and a white dog fighting, he’d yell, “Racism!” Unfortunately, Wilbon is not far behind. But c’mon, Mike. Really? There’s not a company in this country that allows its employees to publicly say whatever they please while on company time, let alone on such a sensitive political topic like this one. Even ESPN has whacked a couple of popular employees (Bill Simmons, Jemele Hill) for the sin of crossing whatever line the network had drawn that particular month. Actually, come to think of it, one might ask how Wilbon still has a job? But I digress. It’s not plantation mentality for an owner to say, “I’m shelling out millions in salaries. You’re standing during the national anthem!” I mean, Hello!
But let’s get back to the more important point, which is historical amnesia. Again, this isn’t Wilbon’s first trip down “slavery” lane. So let’s recap. Unlike the American slaves to which Wilbon refers, professional football players are paid handsomely; they get to retire when they want; they willingly enter their chosen profession; their children are not forced to become professional football players; they are not considered three-fifths human; they get to vote; did I mention they get paid very handsomely? There are a number of other cool things professional football players are able to do that slaves could not, but I’m gonna stop because I’m getting a little pissed off.
Look, can an owner cut a player whenever he or she pleases? Sure. Are the contracts guaranteed like they are in baseball or basketball? No. But neither of these things are out of the ordinary or even quasi-illegal. To paraphrase Godfather II, “This is the life they’ve chosen.” To somehow create a moral equivalency between slavery or life on a slave plantation in 1818, and the relationship between an NFL owner and a professional football player in 2018 is sheer stupidity that borders on immoral. Not only does it cheapen and diminish the evil that American (or any) slavery was/is, it calls into question the intelligence and/or motives of the speaker.
We sometimes throw around descriptive words in an effort to make a bigger point, hopefully in a humorous way. In the past I’ve been guilty of saying stupid things like “What are you, a Nazi?” Of course the person wasn’t a Nazi or even close to being a Nazi, and now that I’m a little older I realize it was a stupid thing to say no matter what point I was trying to make, albeit in a humorous way. For like the “slavery” description, it cheapens and denigrates the historical victims of such evil. One can only hope that all of us, including Mr. Wilbon, make it a point to think before we speak. And if he was thinking before he spoke, then shame on him.
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