Dem
47
GOP
53
There was a fair bit of political news out of the world of sports over the past few days. Sports is constantly political, despite many people's protests to the contrary, and that is doubly true with a president who is determined to use sporting events and athletes as a major tools in his political toolkit.
To start, many Americans are unhappy about the state of college athletics. It used to be that "student" athletes were tied down to their schools in what was basically a form of indentured servitude. Now, the script has flipped, and they can go anywhere, switching schools pretty much as often as they please, in search of money, or playing time, or both. There is so much turnover, that college sports fans—to borrow a line from Jerry Seinfeld—find themselves essentially rooting for laundry these days. Admittedly, it is often laundry that has the same name on it as their diploma does, but still...
To "address" this crisis, Donald Trump convened a blue ribbon panel at the White House this weekend, with roughly 50 pretty heavy-duty movers and shakers from the world of sports invited to participate and to deliver brief remarks. If you had asked us before this weekend, we would have said there is no greater waste of time than a "blue ribbon panel." But we were wrong about that. It turns out there is an even greater waste of time, namely a "blue ribbon panel where Donald Trump is the featured speaker."
As you might guess, Trump prattled on and on, demonstrating a pretty poor understanding of college sports in general, and of the specific issues that might plausibly be addressed. He also indulged in several of his signature digressions into subjects that have nothing to do with sports. Trump's conclusion was that everything can be solved with a lawsuit that is "rammed" through the courts, and that until then, he is going to issue an executive order to straighten everything out. Needless to say, the NCAA is not an executive department, and so is not subject to executive orders from Trump or any other president.
Moving along, there has been much hype about the bouts that UFC, the mixed martial arts promotion led by ultra-MAGA-man Dana White, will stage during their $60 million America 250 event, to take place on the grounds of the White House. As with the Turning Point USA halftime show, the lineup has been kept "secret" for many weeks, in order to ostensibly build suspense. And, as with the Turning Point USA halftime show, people are underwhelmed now that they know exactly who is participating.
White, given what his job is, will never admit that this card is anything but the greatest fight card ever. Record-breaking. Historic. People are saying that there will never again be a fight card this good. However, it is clear that there were some... challenges, most of them stemming from the politics of the thing:
There is some more reading between the lines taking place on social media, but these four suppositions appear to be the most well-founded. In any case, it's a reminder that for all the talk of liberal snowflakes, Trump's brand of politics comes with a lot of baggage, and it requires a lot of tiptoeing through the tulips to keep him from blowing a gasket.
And finally, since we're writing a sports item anyhow, we'll note that Stephen A. Smith, who might be the biggest gasbag in sports media (it's either him or Pat McAfee), and who alternately pretends to be a Democrat and an independent, has announced that he's not going to run for president in 2028.
Any reader who knows Smith at all knows he's got a head bigger than Mount Rushmore, and that he's convinced that there's one thing the world can't get enough of, namely Stephen A. Smith. (Z) knows someone who was Smith's colleague 30 years ago, and he's been like this forever, long before he was a famous ESPN personality. As a walking embodiment of Dunning-Kruger, Smith seemed to believe that the only thing keeping him from mounting a serious run, and from getting on the debate stage during the Democratic candidates' debates, was whether or not he decided to grace the blue team with his presence. Never mind that the small number of times he was polled as a candidate, he did not break 2% support.
Smith is pretty smart about his image, and so it's entirely possible that behind the bravado, he knew he was destined to fail in embarrassing fashion. However, his official reason for "dropping out," if you can even call it that, is really quite hilarious: He said he did not want to give up his $20 million annual salary. That tells you he really isn't paying much attention to politics. If he was, he'd know that it's easy to make far, far more than that as president. $SAS meme coin, anyone? (Z)