That was one of the topics on ESPN’s First Take, and they really
had discourse on it. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears as to
what I was watching and hearing.

Stephen A was screaming that Ohtani needs to learn English,
and that it is a disservice to baseball and its fans that he can’t
speak the language.

It was a downright hideous and bias assessment. Baseball is the first
sport to have Asians and Latin Americans play in its league, and some
of the greatest players to play the game were Asians and Latin Americans,
and lot of them didn’t speak English....It didn’t matter then and it shouldn’t
fucking matter now. Ichiro Suzuki learned English and Spanish, but still
used a translator so that fans in Japan could understand and follow his
interviews. Plus baseball is a multinational sport, and the only words that need
to be spoken and understood is BASEBALL

The type of sports journalism that is being broadcasted in this day and age
is down right disgusting. There was a time when sports journalists specialized
in a certain sport, and knew that sport inside and out, so the coverage of that sport
was spot on. There weren’t ridiculous takes to garner viewers, and people didn’t
have to worry about inaccurate or bias information being given.

ALL HAIL THE KING of LOSING: LEBRON
Bulls | Bears | White Sox | Yankees | Notre Dame | Illinois | Chelsea | Real Madrid

that journalism ship has sailed

its all about entertaining the viewers.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

They brainstormed topics ahead of time, had graphics made up, decided who would take what stance on this point. And still went to air with this stupid ass shit

<--- Big Baller World Order

My American Indian homie who is a huge baseball and huge Ohtani fan brought it up to me and was legit mad as fuck.

Baseball is an international sport just as much as it is America's Pastime, and with the young flashy, charistmatic Latin players coming under scrutiny from baseball's old (white) guard, this comment is so tone deaf and nasty it begs a real explanation on his part.

Don't even get me started on this guy covering MMA.

Fuck Stephen A, period.

It's why these ghastly, appalling things keep making it to air. Until people just stop watching, or until enough people protest enough to affect their advertising dollars, the desire for sports media members to keep cranking out product that people hate-read or hate-watch will continue. It really fucking sucks.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

I tuned these idiots out a long time ago. Always amazed that espn talking head personalities get run on this board.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But its part of the assumption folks have in general about Asian people -- they are foreign.


I think what he's doing for the game is good. Its overall good attention and he has more people following baseball. It's a great gateway to the # of young exciting stars in the MLb --many of whom are non-white.

Vladito
Tatis
Acuna (even though he's injured now_
deGrom (even though he isnt young)
Cedric Mullins
Tim Anderson

etc
---

And yea...how many people who are real sports fans like us watch these shows? I never really have.


>That was one of the topics on ESPN’s First Take, and they
>really
>had discourse on it. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears as
>to
>what I was watching and hearing.
>
>Stephen A was screaming that Ohtani needs to learn English,
>and that it is a disservice to baseball and its fans that he
>can’t
>speak the language.
>
>It was a downright hideous and bias assessment. Baseball is
>the first
>sport to have Asians and Latin Americans play in its league,
>and some
>of the greatest players to play the game were Asians and Latin
>Americans,
>and lot of them didn’t speak English....It didn’t matter
>then and it shouldn’t
>fucking matter now. Ichiro Suzuki learned English and Spanish,
>but still
>used a translator so that fans in Japan could understand and
>follow his
>interviews. Plus baseball is a multinational sport, and the
>only words that need
>to be spoken and understood is BASEBALL
>
>The type of sports journalism that is being broadcasted in
>this day and age
>is down right disgusting. There was a time when sports
>journalists specialized
>in a certain sport, and knew that sport inside and out, so the
>coverage of that sport
>was spot on. There weren’t ridiculous takes to garner
>viewers, and people didn’t
>have to worry about inaccurate or bias information being
>given.
>

---
"though time has passed, im still the future" (c) black thought

He wants them to be able to hear him speaking his native language, and it also lets him say exactly what he wants to say and let his translator massage it out. It also lets him think about the question and his answer a little bit longer.


The kid's been in the media spotlight since he was 17, originally wanted to come to MLB right away and played with several American players in NPB that he made friends with and made a point to chat with after they'd gone on to other teams.

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2021/7/12/22573272/shohei-ohtani-first-two-way-season-nippon-ham-fighters

"Hoffpauir, who calls Ohtani “very, very serious about perfecting his craft,” says he sometimes asked for help picking up English."

"In later years, when Wolfe pitched for the rival Hawks and Lions, Ohtani always made his way over to the visitors’ side of the field to greet his old teammate, which Wolfe says many Japanese players don’t do with foreign players."

He's had the same translator for eight years now, he's not just gonna put that guy out of a job. He's like his golf caddy.

Insane take from Stephen A., and for once no entertainment value to draw out of it.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

ESPN is beyond a joke, now.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

MAGA/trump sports fans? Caste football fans? Fans of Hannity and Cucker Tarlson?

All these shows are terrible. I don’t even watch Sports Center or ESPN anymore so I would never watch one of these shows.

that was it.

now, I dont even watch Sportscenter

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

I leave that shit up all day while I work (unless I throw on a podcast) because I don’t have to pay attention to it and it’s better background noise than regular news

About once a week some shit like this will make me crane my neck over in total disbelief that they aired it

<--- Big Baller World Order

As big a sports fan as I was. I guess for me I knew where to curate my own takes on the stuff I liked watching. This board in it’s prime was one of those places. It was far from an echo chamber; but I could really on passionate people, who largely knew (with depth) the topics they would debate about.

-I enjoyed that more than any other sports message board- that still had wild sports guys takes
-public boards that were wild racist.
-Team specific boards that were diverse in some ways but only focused on one team.

I never watched sports center regularly cause I was already ahead on scores and highlights.
I think I watched some PTI in Yao’s early days

If there’s sports coverage I like— it’s stuff that’s knowledgeable but doesn’t take itself too seriously

JVG and Jax come to mind
bill walton comes to mind
What else?

---
"though time has passed, im still the future" (c) black thought

this was a few years back.

anyways people would stop in the locker room and stand transfixed at the screen while these two buffoons were yelling at each other. it was like some hypnotic shit, it would just suck in anyone who was passing by that tv.

it's like the tv equivalent of fast food where they know exactly what ingredients to use to make it addictive.

and this was nyc and these people were most definitely not trump supporters. I always thought MAGA people were anti espn.

He is ESPN at this point and what their brand is about, reactions.

Did he have a mask and gun?
https://thespun.com/more/top-stories/stephen-a-smith-salary-espn-reaction-news/amp

---
"though time has passed, im still the future" (c) black thought

---
"though time has passed, im still the future" (c) black thought

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1414730136688148483?s=21

https://twitter.com/bleacherreport/status/1414732243902164993?s=21

https://twitter.com/jefffletcherocr/status/1414727936544890885?s=21

---
"though time has passed, im still the future" (c) black thought

I’m also wondering if the comments by Stephen were scripted to bring attention
to Ohtani and tonight’s HR derby?

It seem too coincidental.

ALL HAIL THE KING of LOSING: LEBRON
Bulls | Bears | White Sox | Yankees | Notre Dame | Illinois | Chelsea | Real Madrid

________________________________________
"Take the surprise out your voice Shaq."-The REAL CP3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H5K-BUMS0

person i would have any interest in paying to see.

i generally find the typical "baseball guy" to be just as uninteresting (and in effect unmarketable) as the typical "hockey guy." i'm also loving this situation because you have an asian player dominating a sport filled with excessive M*GA. it's a wonderful storyline all around.

about all sports like ESPN does with Smith and Kellerman. Like everything else it comes down to money and ESPN was already going cheap cutting folks and the pandemic expedited that.

Half the posters here probably know more about baseball than Stephen A but that's what they pay him to do.

He was really tip-toeing around a bigger issue in baseball and accidently stepped in some shit. Black Americans are almost non-existent in baseball for a few reasons.

________________________________________
"Take the surprise out your voice Shaq."-The REAL CP3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H5K-BUMS0

------------------
One Hundred.

https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/1414711083252789248?s=21

---
"though time has passed, im still the future" (c) black thought

"I never intended to offend..." is still essentially putting the onus on the people who were offended rather than yourself for saying them. There's very little acknowledgment that what he said was offensive, only that he said something that unintentionally offended others.

It shouldn't be hard to say, "I'm sorry for what I said. It was offensive. It won't happen again." The statement he gave is essentially a softened version of him doubling and tripling down a few hours earlier, without the yelling and other Stephen A. schtick.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

with smart people on their teams consistently get tripped up on this point. Just fucking apologize!! “That was dumb. I shouldn’t have said it”. All the gymnastics and different versions of “if I have offended anyone” make me sick. You know damn well you offended someone. It has to be hubris, man. That has to be it. Can’t be that dumb. Also, fuck your intentions. This is the rare time you get to play the result.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

As far as apologies go this one is pretty good, but that's not saying much because 95% of people don't know how to apologize for shit. Any version of "I'm sorry IF you were offended" or "That's not what I intended" is not just unnecessary but, as you said, puts the onus on the people who were offended. It's a way of copping to what you did wrong without copping to what you did wrong. Literally all you have to do is find a way to say "You're right. I fucked up and I'll try to be better going forward." People respect it 1000x more.

If "good for the sport" means "drawing in more fans, rebuilding the sport's status as the national pastime, appealing more to flyover America," then it's probably a valid question.

I don't have ESPN, but if that's what SAS said, then yeah, ugh. It's a shitty position to take. But then I recall about 4-5 years ago when Takuma Sato won the Indy 500, and some horrible GOP politician complained about a Japanese guy winning an "American" race.

That was an uninformed comment on many levels, obviously. First, racist. Second, the 500 is and has always been a truly international race, meant to draw the best from all over the world. And third, hating on Sato? Really? Dude lives in Tampa, I think.

But the comment also was probably a fair reflection of what many Americans think, no?

So if you accept the premise that some proportion of Americans are provincial xenophobes, which shouldn't be a controversial proposition, then surely those people may be turned off by Ohtani and be less inclined to watch/follow/spend money on baseball as a consequence.

To what degree is that happening? Not much, I expect. But not a question worth asking?

>If "good for the sport" means "drawing in more fans,
>rebuilding the sport's status as the national pastime,
>appealing more to flyover America," then it's probably a valid
>question.

Sure, but he's also a really good pitcher who is one of the best hitters in the game right now, and that MAY be enough for people to ignore some biases, or potentially attract people who don't have those biases. We haven't seen something like this in a century and it's truly fascinating.

On the other side, his market will hurt, like it has hurt popularity when Trout was clearly the best in the league, unless the Angels become a real contender. But, if he stays healthy and produces at this level, I think he could draw in many a casual fan for the sheer spectacle of what he's able to do in both phases of the game.

Also, don't want to jinx it, but can baseball even get more unpopular at this point? It can't go lower than the NHL, right??? Lol

Though then I'm reminded of Turturro's Pino in Do the Right Thing, who names Magic as his favorite player...

It's still got that iron grip on regional fandom and more importantly regional sports networks, so even as growth stalls you still see it very popular in MOST of its markets. Living in the home of the College World Series I can say it was back to being as popular as ever, or at least felt that way (looking up attendance, it was highest per game average since 2013 and highest total attendance since 2017) and I don't personally know anyone that cares about college baseball at all.


I wouldn't be surprised if you see an uptick in young fans thanks to The Show, too. It outsold Call of Duty a couple times this year which was the first time ANY game has outsold CoD in the spring, and if you keep track of social media a lot of players from other sports games are giving The Show a shot and finding its Ultimate Team mode way friendlier than any other. I got back into baseball in a real way through the mode and I'd bet the same is happening for a lot of other younger people as well.


It's also in a similar spot as the NBA in the early 2010s with almost all of the great players being 20-27 years old so they're going to be around for a long time. And a lot of them aren't just pretty good like the last round of stars, they're potentially generationally talented. There's not just A Bryce Harper or A Gerritt Cole, there's like a dozen potential Hall of Famers just entering or about to enter the league

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

has been international for a while, longer than basketball, players having interpreters are just a thing for people who don't normally follow the sport

________________________________________
"Take the surprise out your voice Shaq."-The REAL CP3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H5K-BUMS0