The pitcher for the Boston Red Sox [Curt Schilling] cemented his place in baseball history when he won Game Six of the 2004 American League Championship Series (ALCS) over the New York Yankees. He pitched just days after ankle surgery and endured a sore and bleeding ankle to go seven innings and allow only one run. His bloody sock became a part of Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series. Schilling has three World Series rings.
ESPN, the major American sports broadcaster, hired Schilling to work as a color commentator for its telecasts. But Schilling is an outspoken man with conservative values. Last year, he was disciplined by the network when he made the comment on his personal social media outlet that people claim that only 5% to 10% of Muslims are extremists. He noted that when Hitler rose to power, only 7% of Germans were part of the Nazi party. Then he asked, “How’d that go.”
He almost lost his job.
Last month, Schilling posted a picture on his personal Facebook page of a grotesquely dressed transvestite man. The caption asked if you wanted to let this man into the restroom with your daughter. It noted that if you didn’t want that to happen, then you are considered narrow-minded, judgmental, unloving, and racist.
Every word he posted was true. Like his first post in 2015. But each one bore consequences.
This time, Schilling was summarily fired for his personal, non-work-related view. Which ESPN has every right to do.
But not only did ESPN fire him, they went back and completely removed the portion of a documentary program on that 2004 ALCS series that showcased Schilling’s performance in the critical Game Six. Coincidence?
But ESPN may suffer consequences, too. When it starts punishing people for expressing a view outside of work that is held by the vast majority of Americans, it should expect some blowback.
And maybe it’s already started. For a variety of reasons, ESPN, once a model American success story and cash machine for The Walt Disney Company, has started hemorrhaging. Its value has declined dramatically recently. So much so that it has begun to affect Walt Disney’s bottom line. Coincidence?
ESPN, Walt Disney, the NFL, the NBA, American Airlines, Wells Fargo, PayPal, Target, and others may soon learn the hard lesson that, “Your arm’s too short to box with God!”
from the Hal Lindsey Report – May 13, 2016
