Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken have assured me they are hard at work keeping up on all the thrilling World Cup action …
Okay, so they’re not soccer fans.
Anyway, the ESPYs were this evening. For the uninitiated, the ESPYs are ESPN’s annual sports awards handed out to whosoever they choose, albeit with fan voting having at least some small part in the proceedings. Whether anyone involved genuinely cares about the soirée is suspect at best, but since there isn’t a whole lot else usually going on in the sports world during MLB’s All-Star week, it fills some air time.
As one can imagine, given that this is an ESPN production, political correctness takes center stage. For example, there is a Best Fighter award. Not a Best Boxer and Best MMA award, just Best Fighter. With men and women lumped together. Apparently ESPN couldn’t afford to make more than one trophy.
Naturally, the WNBA takes its turn in the spotlight, with an award handed out to Best Player. I’ll save you the trouble of looking; Caitlin Clark is not one of the nominees. So much for inclusion.
The illusion of Inclusion is perpetuated by not dividing obvious categories, instead throwing everyone together so ESPN can prove how with-it and now it is — or whatever the current expressions for with-it and now may be — by selecting the preferred demographic occupant over the most deserving. Best Tennis Player? Doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman, and since no one can define what a woman is anymore, perhaps it is best to lump everyone together. Same with best golfer. We’ve already mentioned how best fighter is a one-size-fits-all. I’m amazed the Best NFL Player award didn’t include a cheerleader or two.
Unsurprisingly, anything involving the New York Knicks individually or collectively snagged an award, deserved or not. Best Championship Performance. Best Play. Best NBA Player. Best Athlete — Men’s Sports. (So ESPN does know the difference between a man and a woman. Coulda fooled me.) Best Team. To which the USA men’s Olympic hockey team would like a word.
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award went to the late former NBA player Jason Collins, who bravely came out as gay in 2013 and spent the rest of his life being lionized for doing so. Obviously this was a much more courageous act than the two, originally five or more, Iranian women’s soccer team players who took asylum in Australia despite clear threats to their families from the terrorist regime.
MORE: (Updated) Five Iranian Women's Soccer Players Flee Team Hotel in Fear After Defying Brutal Regime
Ultimately, the ESPYS are the same as most, if not all, awards shows. They are a tuxedo-clad self-administered tongue bath, a desperate attempt to be edgy and relevant to pop culture, even as devotees of said culture are far more likely to satiate what little interest they have in sports via streaming services. ESPN is a bloated dinosaur, still containing a few good writers on its website focused on sport itself whose voices are routinely drowned out by yelling heads arguing endlessly over that about which they know precious little. It may be hard for recent entries on this planet to believe, but there was a time sports fans turned on ESPN to watch … you know … sporting events. What a quaint notion.
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