Sports and politics blend like a Tutti-Frutti Smoothie
Sports and politics - Celebrities in sports as well as sportswriters are expected to play in their own ballyard and not venture into the arena of political pundancy. That line of demarcation gets blurred when it comes to commercial endorsements or ownership of golf courses, where a politician like Donald Trump wontanly insults Mexican-Americans. ESPN and NBC have backed away and now the PGA is feeling pressure to not have tournaments on Trump courses or else risk being identified with the racist rants of the bigoted blowhard who political scientists think has the best chance of putting the Democrats back in the White House. The 2015 Grand Slam of Golf at Trump National Golf Club in October will be moved because the PGA doesn’t want their sport to appear elitist or snobbish or played by people of privilege. Now who would think that?
Smiling Phil - Golf fans like Phil Mickelson, and so do commercial sponsors. The lefty reported earnings of $40 million per year in endorsements before even counting the chump change he earns on the tour. It's no secret that Phil is a gambler, but because the sport is golf, who really cares? Mickelson has been linked to a $2.75 million transfer of funds through an intermediary for an illegal gambling operation that places bets on sporting events. Lefty has not been charged and the rest of us know so little about laundering, detergent makers went to nuggets so dumb old jocks would stop frizzing up septic systems across America. Seriously, deflated footballs versus a $3 million money transfer, Brady versus Mickelson, football versus golf, one we can’t get enough of and the other we can because we just don’t care.
He went to Jared - America’s got jokes; it’s part of the culture, but obviously there is nothing funny about Subway’s Jared Fogle being busted for allegedly possessing child pornography on his hard drive. Subway is the largest submarine sandwich chain in the world with 34,000 locations in 98 countries. Just a few celebrity athlete endorsers include Blake Griffin, Michael Phelps, Apolo Ohno, Ryan Howard, CC Sabathia, Michael Strahan, Robert Griffin III and Mark Ingram. This is a case where the athlete might think it wise to drop the product and easy paycheck for doing nothing, but sometimes there is a greater price for doing nothing.
Tiger and Buick - Tiger Woods had a five-year contract with General Motors for $40 million to be the face of Buick. It was cancelled back in 2008, a year before his wife attacked him in his Cadillac SUV with a golf club, basically hooking Tiger’s career into the rough where it's stayed for the last six years. The website TMZ called it ”a Lionel Richie moment,” referring to an incident when Richie’s wife, Brenda, attacked him and his mistress with a frying pan. Tiger plays with Nike Clubs; an entire division was created just for his endorsement, but “Just Do It” on the side of the bag? Ask Elin Nordegren.
Serena versus Maria - Serena Williams played Maria Sharapova in the semifinals at Wimbledon. Serena has 20 Grand Slam championships while Maria can claim just five. But the Russian-American doubles down the Afro-American in endorsement money per year, earning $22 million to Serana’s $11 million. Why is that? The website atlantablackonline.com wrote, "The disparity points to the racial profiling and warped definition of beauty that pushes companies to their decisions on representatives.” I don’t even weigh in at the doctor’s office, so I’m not weighing in on this, I just know no one has ever paid for my endorsement of any product or, for that matter, asked to hire me as a consultant even though I know more about nothing than any person I know who is not incarcerated.
Snippets - The Tour de France is a television spectacle, an absolute masterpiece of media coverage. And those bike racers are flat out, fearlessly insane, with little regard for life and limb and next of kin. They are all so angular, with no body fat, and all those colorful suits and teams and coveted yellow, green and polka dot jerseys. The announcers are so knowledgeable and I have no idea what they are saying at any given time. The Tour runs from July 4 to July 26 and is made up of 21 stages covering 3,360 kilometers, which in America elicits the question, “Is that a lot?” It is roughly 2,200 miles on a rigid, vibrating bicycle seat with a shock absorber. The sport is totally dope - know what I’m saying? Go on now, git!
