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ESPN Slave Auction Controversy

liveanddiedeac said:
Seriously, who would've ever known, much less cared that the dude scheduled to call the UVa game got reassigned if ESPN never said anything about it. Any backlash, criticism, etc. the four letter brought on themselves.
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No. This is incorrect. Read the original article.

https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/...bert-lee-off-uva-game-avoid-offending-idiots/

In a story that seems made for The Onion, but is actually true, according to multiple Outkick fans inside ESPN MSESPN decided to pull an Asian college football announcer named Robert Lee off the William and Mary at University of Virginia college football game because they were concerned that having an ASIAN FOOTBALL ANNOUNCER NAMED ROBERT LEE would be offensive to some viewers.

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In other words, some ESPN employees leaked the change to what looks like a conservative sports blog.

The press release from ESPN was a response to the story that some of their employees linked.

ESPN did exactly what you said they should have done, liveanddie. Unfortunately some fans of this conservative site weren't happy with it.
 
PhDeac said:
No. This is incorrect. Read the original article.

https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/...bert-lee-off-uva-game-avoid-offending-idiots/

In a story that seems made for The Onion, but is actually true, according to multiple Outkick fans inside ESPN MSESPN decided to pull an Asian college football announcer named Robert Lee off the William and Mary at University of Virginia college football game because they were concerned that having an ASIAN FOOTBALL ANNOUNCER NAMED ROBERT LEE would be offensive to some viewers.

------

In other words, some ESPN employees leaked the change to what looks like a conservative sports blog.

The press release from ESPN was a response to the story that some of their employees linked.

ESPN did exactly what you said they should have done, liveanddie. Unfortunately some fans of this conservative site weren't happy with it.
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Well if it was a leak then that does changes things. Don't you think that's getting just a little crazy pulling a guy from a game because of his name though? The poor guy is Asian for crying out loud, not even a good old Southern Redneck with the confederate flag tatoo'd on his ass.
 
liveanddiedeac said:
Well if it was a leak then that does changes things. Don't you think that's getting just a little crazy pulling a guy from a game because of his name though? The poor guy is Asian for crying out loud, not even a good old Southern Redneck with the confederate flag tatoo'd on his ass.
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I think in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, ESPN didn't want to do anything inflame the situation. It probably made sense that could do something simple and mundane like changing an announcer's assignment to avoid any embarrassment to their employee and to the network.

They didn't count on a leak to a conservative blog and conservatives blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
 
PhDeac said:
I think in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, ESPN didn't want to do anything inflame the situation. It probably made sense that could do something simple and mundane like changing an announcer's assignment to avoid any embarrassment to their employee and to the network.

They didn't count on a leak to a conservative blog and conservatives blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
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I guess, but if an Asian dude named Robert Lee doing a freaking football game inflames anything, then you're dealing with some really bat shit crazy people. On second thought the world seems full of those people now a days, so yeah maybe it was a good move.
 
liveanddiedeac said:
I guess, but if an Asian dude named Robert Lee doing a freaking football game inflames anything, then you're dealing with some really bat shit crazy people. On second thought the world seems full of those people now a days, so yeah maybe it was a good move.
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Exactly. It only takes a few people to create a shit storm. Not hard to see how this could have led to Robert Lee getting harassed by Neo-Nazis and the like.
 
PhDeac said:
I think in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, ESPN didn't want to do anything inflame the situation. It probably made sense that could do something simple and mundane like changing an announcer's assignment to avoid any embarrassment to their employee and to the network.

They didn't count on a leak to a conservative blog and conservatives blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
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I don't read it, but isn't Outkick the Coverage a sports and entertainment website and not a conservative blog? Kinda like a Barstool Sports or Deadspin. Seem to remember some articles they've done before where they hate on ESPN in general. Seems like they'd be a prime outlet to embarrass ESPN no matter the reason.
 
PhDeac said:
Exactly. It only takes a few people to create a shit storm. Not hard to see how this could have led to Robert Lee getting harassed by Neo-Nazis and the like.
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Hey maybe that's the real reason Thomas "Tom" Jackson left ESPN, since he shared his name with a certain Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.......:thumbsup:
 
PhDeac said:
Exactly. It only takes a few people to create a shit storm. Not hard to see how this could have led to Robert Lee getting harassed by Neo-Nazis and the like.
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Why would Neo-Nazis harass Robert Lee?

I suspect the feared (or actual) harassment was from a different source.
 
SCDeac13 said:
I don't read it, but isn't Outkick the Coverage a sports and entertainment website and not a conservative blog? Kinda like a Barstool Sports or Deadspin. Seem to remember some articles they've done before where they hate on ESPN in general. Seems like they'd be a prime outlet to embarrass ESPN no matter the reason.
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I don't read it either, but a quick perusal of the content suggests it is a conservative or at least right-leaning sports blog. The signs I picked up on where the "MSESPN" moniker and column showing support for Confederate memorials. Curious to see you have the same take.
 
mebanedeac said:
Why would Neo-Nazis harass Robert Lee?

I suspect the feared (or actual) harassment was from a different source.
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Why are Neo-Nazis Neo-Nazis to begin with?
 
I love how the ESPN executive called Lee 'anonymous'. Thanks, Boss!

ESPN is catching shit on this from everybody. I think folks at CNN and other media sites are loving that ESPN stepped on their dick here.
 
it's amazing that ESPN still has such a hold on the sports broadcasting world
 
PhDeac said:
I don't read it either, but a quick perusal of the content suggests it is a conservative or at least right-leaning sports blog. The signs I picked up on where the "MSESPN" moniker and column showing support for Confederate memorials. Curious to see you have the same take.
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I skimmed the articles over the last month or so. Only 3 seemed political at first glance.

- The ESPN one we are talking about. That website apparently has a history of hating ESPN so it is more anti-ESPN than anything. And you don't really need to be conservative to have the view that what ESPN did was stupid.

- There was one mailbag article where he was asked for his opinion on the confederate statues. He gave a long, detailed, and fairly rational take. He said that he's a radical moderate and despises the far left and far right, and his stance was that there are more important things to focus energy on.

- Finally, there was an article about people protesting Trump being in the WWE hall of fame. The author mentioned how he despises Trump and how stupid a WWE hall of fame is. And how protesting someone's inclusion in something so stupid was a massive waste of time.

After that, it does not seem like a conservative or conservative-leaning website to me at all. Basically came across as a sports and entertainment site that occasionally provides a moderate's take on popular political issues.
 
mebanedeac said:
Why would Neo-Nazis harass Robert Lee?

I suspect the feared (or actual) harassment was from a different source.
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I don't quite get it either (or the "conservative blog comment when it's a sarcastic sports commentary site), but don't distort the message dude. We're in the middle of the Great Nazi Panic of 2017! Just let it ride.
 
I think that tweet shows exactly what happened. And I think it was probably smart to make a change to prevent people making it into a meme or to drive home various other points. This is a complete fucking non-story. People are so quick to jump on anything and make a big deal about it. When we're talking about Neo-nazis and racism in America and the White House, the assignment of a sports commentator, or change thereof, is completely inconsequential. Let it die.
 
qcdeac said:
I love how the ESPN executive called Lee 'anonymous'. Thanks, Boss!

ESPN is catching shit on this from everybody. I think folks at CNN and other media sites are loving that ESPN stepped on their dick here.
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And now we can say bye bye to Ryan Russillo. Unless intoxicated breaking and entering is now cool with ESPN.
 
Complacent Deac said:
And now we can say bye bye to Ryan Russillo. Unless intoxicated breaking and entering is now cool with ESPN.
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Going into the wrong condo while drunk. Seems to happen a lot. Happened to a friend of mine at a bachelor party who went to the wrong beach house in the middle of the night.
 
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