Jemele and Mike

The truth is many white men don't take kindly to a black women pointing out their flaws. It is what it is.

 

um, pretty sure I already said it. can you not read? now take a breath and go back and spell check, tough guy.

 

Case in point, here's Mike Bianchi, a former colleague of Hill's at the OS, writing about it:

ESPN's Jemele Hill — former Sentinel writer — was wrong to call Donald Trump a white supremacist

Personally, I would like to hear Jemele herself address her actions. After all, she’s the one who essentially compared the President of the United States to the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

I think it's possible - of course I don't know - that Hill was just borrowing ideology and language becoming popular on the Web. In the Coates' piece, there's this:

"Certainly not every Trump voter is a white supremacist, just as not every white person in the Jim Crow South was a white supremacist. But every Trump voter felt it acceptable to hand the fate of the country over to one."

 

Yeah, see. I don't see what she said that was controversial. Tens of millions think she's dead on. It's the going leftist opinion right now.

 

Reading is fundamental:

She was enabled from a young age. By Lynn hoppes in Orlando and on to espn. The cart was put before the horse bc of her race and gender. Sorry, true story. No one has ever said, "oh, you have to read this Jemele Hill piece." Ever. She checks off boxes. That's fine. Everyone has to cater to their perceived demographics. Doesn't mean I gotta read or watch.​

 

I couldn't tell you a single thing Jemele has said or did that compelled me to read or watch. But that's the same with most journalists or TV personalities. Michael W. Smith, I do remember reading some things from him and being impressed, but couldn't tell you any details. I just remember that I read his stuff.

Mostly I turn into any SportsCenter show for highlights or news. I like Scott Van Pelt and might turn into his show just because I want to hear what he has to say. That's rare, though. I never tune into the 6 p.m. show because I want to hear what Jemele or Mike have to say. I can say that I have been introduced to people and ideas through the show I wouldn't have otherwise due to the guests they have. One example was a guy from The Wire who I knew from watching the show but that's it. He was interesting. Learned more about him as a person than I would have otherwise because he probably wouldn't have received the time he did on other shows I watch.

Still, Jemele and Mike aren't interesting or compelling enough to me to get me to tune in for them.

 

FWIW, I have a friend who texts me with some regularity bitching about the Scott Van Pelt "SportsCenter," as well.

"I just want to catch up on sports news!"

 

She has a certain reckless charisma. That's good TV.

Eventually it will do her in but not before she makes millions.

As for Pearlman, I don't mind his rants. Why? I think his books are awesome. His products are good. I don't care about his online opinions.

 

I think Curtis probably had it ready to roll.

Having read enough of these kinds of stories, the piece is in part designed to, well, present a human element to Hill, whose Twitter persona does...not help her.

And it does explain the source of the cynicism/anger/etc. I can get with empathy. Everybody's got a story, and my sense is, Hill, for as many acolytes and supporters she may have at ESPN, feels relatively alone. When your co-host is "accommodating" (and thus tacitly complicit in...something...) it gives you a sense of the overriding isolation she apparently feels.

 

Yeah, I suppose I like his digressions because a lot of times they are about gambling or bad beats or fantasy sports implications. He has interviews with prominent athletes. To me, the digressions don't seem much out of line with any random SportsCenter broadcast. The other day Neil Everett was pandering to Jared Leto because Leto's band had done a new SC song.

Addendum: I do follow Jemele and Mike on Twitter. So I see what they say on there. Usually just skim by. Jemele seems to regularly respond to racists and bigots. I think over the course of time that has riled her up and caused her to tweet things like she did about Trump. Which isn't controversial because it's a pretty mundane opinion that many people share. The controversial part is that she's a sports journalists saying these things.

 

She didn't get the job because of her demographic. She clearly gets a pass from managers all thru her career because of her demographic.

Joe Buck didn't get the job because he's a white male. He got it because of nepotism. However, he took the opportunity and maximized it.

Just as Jemele is.

 

Tell us what you think, you coward! Use your own words!