Rush Limbaugh can be seen smiling somewhere.
On the Fourth of July, Outkick’s Clay Travis took to the Fox News web site to eviscerate ESPN for its wokeness. Clay, of course, is the co-host with Buck Saxton of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show, one of the programs that took over the legendary Rush’s time slot when Rush had sadly passed.
The headline on Clay’s piece at FoxNews.com was this:
ESPN hates America, arrests woke columnist for choking his wife
The 4th of July is a day for sports outlets to make wacky arguments about America’s evilness
Clay, among other things wrote:
“It’s July 4th, a day when Americans from all different backgrounds take a day to celebrate our good fortune to all live in the greatest country in the history of the world.
Unless, that is, you work at ESPN, when July 4th represents an opportunity for you to trot out a woke albatross of a column on the front page of your site arguing that America is awful.”
Ouch.
Fox News reported on Clay’s missive this way:
“The founder of the sports website OutKick blasted ESPN and one of its senior writers over a column published Monday decrying the state of the nation on Independence Day amid mass shootings, allegations of police misconduct and backlash against the U.S. Supreme Court over rulings that millions of Americans support in a ‘woke albatross of a column on the front page of your site arguing that America is awful.’
Clay Travis, who co-founded the website, took writer Howard Bryant to task over his July 4th piece titled “Baseball, barbecue and losing freedom this Fourth of July,” while repeatedly bringing up his 2011 arrest for assaulting his wife and a police officer for which he received probation.
‘As you read this systemic destruction of this woke garbage ESPN published on July 4th, I want you to ask yourself: how does this piece serve sports fans in any way?’ Travis wrote in his own column titled: “ESPN Hates America on July 4th, Loves Woke Columnist Arrested For Choking His Wife.”
So ended the Fox report:
The article is a left-wing victim culture and political grievance. That’s fine, his self-defeating woke arguments are his own, but what’s important here is they are also ESPN’s own opinions,” he (Travis) continued. “Even if you feel Bryant’s rambling screed serves ESPN’s stated goal of ‘Serving sports fans. You can. Anywhere,’ what’s important to recognize is an opinion arguing the exact opposite of this column would never be permitted or published anywhere at ESPN.”
It is nothing less than fitting that this take down of ESPN for its woke obsessions is penned by the co-host of Rush Limbaugh’s successor show. Why?
Rush, like many others of his era, was a passionate football fan. Rush loved football. ESPN asked him for commentary as the season progressed.
It wasn’t long before Rush was unceremoniously booted out the ESPN door for violating its bible of lefty political correctness. Take a trip back in time to 2003, and you’ll see the events.
Here’s a sample headline from CNSNews: “Rush Limbaugh is ‘Disappointed” by former ESPN colleagues
This is the story:
“Talk show host Rush Limbaugh Monday said he was “disappointed” that his former colleagues on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown had chosen to distance themselves from him in the wake of the controversy involving Limbaugh’s comments about black quarterbacks in the National Football League.
“Yeah. It disappointed me a bit when it was announced because we thought we were best friends. Limbaugh stated Monday that they all got along on set and in production meetings.
Limbaugh quit his position as analyst at ESPN last week after his comments about Donovan McNabb of Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia Eagles, raised suspicions that Limbaugh is racist.
Limbaugh spoke out about why McNabb was deemed overrated. ‘I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well,’ Limbaugh said on the Sept. 28 ESPN broadcast.”
And with that resignation because of a politically incorrect point of view, all hell broke loose around Rush — and it has been steadily downhill for ESPN and its lefty woke politics ever since.
Nearly 20 years on, the left-wing obsession with ESPN, which was evident in Rush Limbaugh’s Rush Limbaugh interview, has spread to other parts of the network, which is supposed not be concerned about politics but sports. Select a topic. Roe V. WadeFlorida’s parental rights law prohibits baseball teams from having LGBTQ+-related patches on their uniforms. ESPN, its anchors and other media outlets talk a lot about politics and lefty woke politics over sports.
You can find it over there Legal Insurrection in 2017, a full 14 years after Rush’s clash with ESPN, here was the headline. “ESPN Will Kill Its Brand with Left Wing Politics
The following story was reported:
“The leadership at ESPN seems to think it can change the way people think by injecting left wing politics into its coverage of professional sports. Instead, they are alienating sports fans, many of whom are conservatives, and destroying their brand at the same time.”
The story noted that when ESPN’s Jemele Hill called President Trump a “white supremacist” she was reprimanded — but stayed on. However, if your conservative status at ESPN was not mentioned? Let me tell you. The Daily Caller on the tale of ESPN’s Curt Schilling, the champion pitcher of the Boston Red Sox: “ESPN Curts Schilling for Conservative Views
This is what this story tells:
“MLB legend and baseball analyst Curt Schilling was fired by ESPN Wednesday night for his conservative views.
Schilling posted a Facebook meme that showed his opposition to transgender people using their bathrooms for biological sex. The legendary pitcher was fired over the post with ESPN saying, ‘Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated,’ according to The New York Times.“
(Full disclosure: Yes, I am a Red Sox fan who knows well Curt Schilling to be a god. You don’t fire a god.)
Legal Insurrection also noted of Travis saying this in 2017:
“Travis pointed out that when former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka criticized President Obama in a much more minimal way, and announced his support for President Trump, he was fired from ESPN.”
Then there’s the matter of ESPN’s ratings for its “ESPY Awards”. They are here from 2015 up to 2021 when its wakefulness gained speed.
2015. 7.7 Million
2016. 5.6 Million
2017. 5.3 Million
2018: 3.9 millions
2019: 3.8 Million
2021: 1,000,000
This means that the more people stopped paying attention to the network, the more they were woken up.
Clay Travis is exactly the right person to take public — again — the hard fact of just how much the cancer of woeness has infected ESPN.
As I mentioned, Rush Limbaugh smiles somewhere. He is well taken care of.
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