The Athletic keeps growing .......

It’s not Deadspin. It’s not. Day to day beat writing/individual teams, there’s nothing there.

On national topics, with national journalists it’s generally like most operations, and that’s a little progressive/socially libertarian.*That’s the default setting of national sports journalists, and, unless you’re interested in being a troll like Clay Travis, it’s about the only setting you’re allowed to the right of left without some element of shaming and/or flogging from Deadspin.

*And Deitsch is himself.

 

So there's Deitsch, as you acknowledge. And as a distant Cubs follower, I notice how often when there's a ballpark or franchise issue, it's framed as conservative Pa Ricketts on one side, LGBTQ Sis Ricketts on the other and team czar Tom Ricketts having to answer for why he's not more with the latter and less with the former. Meanwhile, you read stories framed in a way that a Nick Bosa has to answer for being simpatico with Trump but you never see stories on athletes having to answer for views to the left. At the least, in such cases the folks at the Athletic are letting social media mobs dictate their agenda. Or they hold it themselves.

 

For which leftist views would you like athletes to answer?

 

I believe Joe would rather sports become apolitical. Which is just not the way athletes or sports media is today.

ESPN set the agenda in this way, but I’d guess a large majority of national/Internet sports journalists are healthily to the left. And since, somewhere in the last decade, the interesection of sports and politics became a thing, it was fairly inevitable the coverage would slant leftward. Various people have their own “turning point” moments, but what happened at Missouri, and the coverage of that situation right up to the point Melissa Click tried to play campus dictator (it was that moment where at least some in the media appreciated the type of thinking behind the whole protest) was a turning point for me.

 

Jack Johnson wants a word.

 

Yeah and Ali, too, and John Carlos, etc. I get it.

I meant from the media’s perspective. The media has desired to connect them. Hell, Gary Smith wrote an entire profile lamenting the absence of athletes speaking out on politics. That was 2012. I doubt he’d write that now.

 

So did I.

Racist ultraconservatism is "politics," too.

 

And a switch ... someone leaves The Athletic for traditional media.

 

Not a good look for The Athletic...

 

The guy is going from covering the A’s to covering the defending champions. More people will read his work. And from what I just read, he’s from out east. I don’t think it’s bad for the Athletic. At least the Globe hired someone after Cafardo’s death (RIP) and didn’t eliminate the position.

 

Seriously. Covering the Sox for the Globe is a higher profile gig than covering the A's for The Athletic.