Jemele Hill did nothing wrong.
I’ll say that twice: Jemele Hill did nothing wrong.
Her job is to opine on sports. She opined on sports.
What this is—what this truly is—is the continued wussification of ESPN, a place with declining ratings and a panicky PR department and a desperate need to please its daddy, the National Football League. So, after Jemele rightly explained, via Twitter, how customers could fight back against Jerry Jones by no longer purchasing his product, someone from the NFL undoubtedly called ESPN to complain. Loudly. Angrily. Threateningly.
Now, Jemele is suspended for two weeks.
This is the thing: Nobody wins here, except for Donald (Five Deferments) Trump, who can say, “See! Look at the movement I’m leading!” ESPN’s ratings will continue to sag, just because there are 1,000 other channels and nobody needs SportsCenter. Jemele is sorta stuck, because Fox Sports is a steaming pile of shit, CNNSI hasn’t existed since the Eric Gagne heyday and there aren’t a dozen other networks itching for her talents (though there probably should be. She’s excellent). Jerry Jones looks like an ass-wipe, and I’m desperately hoping the top 20 African-American Cowboys call his bullshit and kneel before the next game (This critique from Damon Young is blisteringly good).
We’re all just living in this suspended animation that is America: 2017.
I hate it.
I fucking hate it.
