A few days back, we wrote about the riots after Liverpool won the Premier League. Now don't get
me wrong, you shouldn't burn down your city if your athletic team wins a championship in any sport, that's just common sense.
But I was surprised that the Daily Beast's angle was, in this case, against illegal gatherings because of the coronavirus. Apparently, the Daily Beast MEANT only rioting for social justice.
But as sports begin to re-open for real and not just hypothetically, I am absolutely amazed at all of the bad takes out there.
Bad Take #1
Sports are non-essential.
Malcolm Jenkins seems to think that football is non-essential. Guess what? That ship has sailed. You don't get to take to the streets for Peaceful Protests, then turn around and say you shouldn't have to work citing coronavirus. You either stay at home for both, or you go out for both.
Down the street at the local strip mall, the local Comic Book shop opened as soon as Governor DeWine allowed non-essential businesses to open. The NFL is no less essential than a Comic Book Store. The NFL does not need to have fans, any sport can be played with no fans. (Ask the Miami Marlins.) If everyone else is going back to work, athletes can go back to work also.
Bad Take #2
Baseball will recover.
Baseball is up Shit Creek. The sport may never recover from 2020. What people aren't talking about is that there is NO MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL this year. The minor league draft was reduced from a million rounds to five. All this bickering over season length has turned off the casual fan. Teams like the Indians or Royals may not be able to survive in their markets. I heard on the local talk radio station that 60-80 of baseball's 261 Minor League teams could cease to exist next year. On top of all that, MLB's contract is up next year and Strike Talk is already heating up. 2020 could be the year Baseball falls behind both Football AND Basketball.
Bad Take #3
An early start will help the NWSL.
The NWSL, unless it is heavily subsidized by MLS or corporate money, will fold or reorganize within 5 years.
Bad Take #4
No Sports led to rioting in the first place.
I heard this take from 3 different people in real life. "Maybe if people were watching sports, they wouldn't be so bored that they'd go out and riot."
I'm not writing about that at all.
Bad Take #5
The NFL and College Football will not play this Fall.
I still think that there's an outside chance that there's no college football in the Fall, especially for smaller Division I schools and schools in Divisions II & III. I would be stunned if the SEC and the BIG 10 did not play. For, at least, the fifth time on Beacon of Speech, THERE IS NO WAY THE NFL WILL NOT PLAY. You can write that in GRANITE.
Bad Take #6
The NHL will gain fans this summer.
There is the possibility that the NHL will be going head to head with the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and NASCAR in August. If that's the case, look for their ratings to be SEVENTH in televised sports in the U.S. of A.
1- NFL
2- NBA
3- MLB
4- NASCAR
5- Golf
6- MLS
7- NHL Hockey
The only way hockey will gain fans is if the NBA and MLB decide not to come back at the last minute. Could you imagine hockey getting worse ratings in Canada, head to head, than the CFL? What if the last 4 teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs are all American cities?
Bad Take #7
LeBron wants the NFL to apologize to Kaepernick
If the NFL isn't apologizing for CTE, they ain't apologizing to Kaepernick. You say the political climate has changed? I want to re-iterate this point: The NFL paid a monetary settlement to Kaepernick with a non-disclosure agreement.
You know who should get an apology? Eric Reid.
Bad Take #8
The fans should boycott (fill in your team here)
Other than the NFL, I think all leagues are in real trouble of losing revenue streams for various reasons. When the coronavirus outbreak first broke, a lot of fans sympathized with the athletes because they play in front of thousands of spectators. What I hear today is a lot of fans angry that they're all back at work with masks and risk and the leagues are having trouble splitting up their millions of dollars.
I keep hearing that fans should boycott this team or that sport. Sadly, boycotts don't work, the only way to hurt sports is to walk away.
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