An Asian-American sports announcer named Robert Lee has been booted by ESPN from announcing the University of Virginia’s home opener.
Why? because his name too closely resembles that of a Confederate general.
KFOR is one of very few media outlets covering the push back.
… The website Outkick the Coverage broke the story — with a headline invoking a popular conservative nickname for ESPN, “MSESPN,” which derides the network as the sports equivalent of the liberal talk shows on MSNBC.
The headline said, “MSESPN Pulls Asian Announcer Named Robert Lee Off UVa Game To Avoid Offending Idiots.” The story was so popular that the site’s servers were overloaded on Tuesday evening.
ESPN subsequently said in a statement that its executives “collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding.”
“In that moment it felt right to all parties,” the network said. “It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue.”
From ESPN’s perspective, the executives were trying to guard against Lee becoming a punchline, given that he shares a name with a Confederate general.
But many commenters on social media said ESPN overreacted. The story lit up Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday. Two of the prime time shows on Fox News mocked ESPN for the decision. A banner on screen called it “pathetic.”
Mike Huckabee couldn’t resists adding some pretty funny commentary on Twitter.
ESPN turns itself into total joke-deserves to be ridiculed. https://t.co/AO8Z0qdmzK
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 23, 2017
ESPN will not use Dolly Parton songs as bumpers–might remind people of Dolly Madison, wife of slave-owner President James Madison.
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 23, 2017
ESPN will not broadcast games of any kind from Jackson, MS for fear it might honor Stonewall or Andrew Jackson and trigger someone.
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 23, 2017
ESPN will not bdcst Cotton Bowl for fear it will make people think about song "Dixie" as opening line "I wish I was in the land of cotton."
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 23, 2017
ESPN will no longer air football games on TV as referees are dressed in black and white and that could be viewed as binary racism.
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 23, 2017
ESPN now known as "Embarrassing Society of Politically-Correct Nutjobs."
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 23, 2017
It may just be the beginning of the new one liners about ESPN.
Image: Source
