Note to ESPN’s Jemele Hill: Tim Tebow is not Muhammad Ali
First let me put my cards on the table. I consider Jemele Hill, sports columnist for ESPN.com, to be as incisive and interesting as they come. She has been a frequent and fearless guest on my radio show and is always aces on the air. That's why I'm so gobsmacked by Jemele's latest column, subtly titled, Laud the Courage in Tim Tebow's Stand.
Jemele makes the case that Tim Tebow's presence in an anti-abortion Super Bowl Ad, funded by Focus on the Family, "should be praised rather than condemned." This by itself shouldn't be too surprising. All week, every sports writer on earth from the Washington Post's great Sally Jenkins to Tebow's personal foot masseur, Sports Illustrated's Peter King, have raised this "defend the courage of Tim Tebow" line to a deafening din. [Tragically in our culture, I would argue that taking a stance against women's reproductive rights, is anything but "courageous." It's become as mainstream as the Super Bowl itself.]
But Jemele Hill chose to take it to an entirely higher level: a level that deeply miseducates her readers and demands a response. She chose to write, "Tebow's decision to appear in this ad should be considered just as courageous as Muhammad Ali's decision to not enter the draft, or Tommie Smith's and John Carlos' black power salute at the 1968 summer Olympics."
Dear Lord, Jemele. Where do we possibly begin to unpack this? Tim Tebow is starring in a 2.8 million dollar ad while being praised by sports writers, pundits, and politicians from coast to coast. In contrast, Muhammad Ali's decision to refuse the draft and say "I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong" resulted in getting stripped of his title, being abandoned by almost every significant person in his life, pushed to bankruptcy, and hit with a five year Leavenworth prison sentence, which included revoking his passport. The very same day of his conviction in federal court, the US Congress voted 337-29 to extend the draft four more years. They knew how important Ali was and the full weight of the federal government was hell-bent on breaking his will. As Jack Olson wrote years later in Sports Illustrated, "The noise became a din, the drumbeats of a holy war. TV and radio commentators, little old ladies...bookmakers, and parish priests, armchair strategists at the Pentagon and politicians all over the place joined in a crescendo of get Cassius get Cassius get Cassius."
As for Tommie Smith and John Carlos, after their black-gloved salute, they were kicked out of Olympic Village, with a firestorm waiting for them at home. They were pariahs, unable to find work and support their families. The Chicago Tribune called their act "an embarrassment visited upon the country… contemptuous of the United States," and "an insult to their countrymen" who would come home to be "greeted as heroes by fellow extremists." Brent Musberger called them "a pair of dark-skinned storm troopers." As John Carlos said to me years later, "Today, I don't feel embraced, I feel like a survivor, like I survived cancer. It's like if you are sick and no one wants to be around you, and when you're well everyone who thought you would go down for good doesn't even want to make eye contact. It was almost like we were on a deserted island. That's where Tommy Smith and John Carlos were. But we survived."
But perhaps the most glaringly obvious difference is that Ali, Smith and Carlos had to face the ugliest most vile edge of racism, and not just in the press. Klansmen, Nazis, and all manner of "lone nuts" threatened their lives. Tim Tebow, in sharp contrast, has only burnished his credentials as a hero of both the sports media and the right wing, as well as cementing his relationship with Focus on the Family, an organization with access to the highest echelons of political power. The ensuing public appearance with Sarah Palin, I guarantee, will be coming to a city near you. Comparing the protracted struggle of Ali, Smith and Carlos, to Tim Tebow's Super Bowl ad, is more than simply wrong. It's hyperbole on steroids and it's beneath Ms. Hill. As Ali might have said, "Jemele Hill-a. This piece is more broken than Frazier in Manila."
[Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.]
26 Reader Comments | Add a comment
You've been right on with all the coverage of the Tim Tebow ad. First, if CBS is taking a stand about other ads that might be seen as taking a political stance, they should apply the same standard everywhere. Second, Tebow should have the right to express his opinions, whatever they are, but having the support that he has seen certainly makes him different from Ali or John Carlos.
I'd say Scott Fujita's support for gay rights deserves the praise instead...
Maybe in a watered-down perspective would a person like Tebow be placed in that same area as Ali and Smith/Carlos. Sort of like a watered-down perspective on history (Columbus discovered America blah, blah, blah). Now, I'm not saying Tebow hasn't been "clowned" by the likes of some in the public, but if he were to be, say, stripped of his Heisman, then I'd say that's pretty close. Otherwise, it's some more "SMH" material.
Is she for real? Comparing Tim Tebow to Muhammad Ali and John Carlos & Tommy Smith? She needs a reality check and quick.
"Tragically in our culture, I would argue that taking a stance against women's reproductive rights, is anything but "courageous." " --- and tragically in our culture the ending of a baby's life is considered 'reproductive rights'.
Absolutely. There's nothing better than slaughtering innocent babies, right Dave? It makes you compassionate liberals feel like big, powerful men. And by the way, Ali was a filthy, cowardly draft dodger who would have weasled his way out of any war, not just Vietnam. Every time I see that piece of garbage shaking like a leaf, I laugh my *ss off.
Wouldn't it be great if Zirin's mommy had aborted him? I'm surprised she didn't, considering he has no daddy. Well actually, Dave does have a daddy, it's just that his mommy has no idea who he is. Probably why Zirin grew up to be a candy*ss liberal who likes to suck Olbermann's d*ck.
Don't mess with Muhammad Ali or Dave will have your a$$!
Isn't it funny (sad?) how black people (including Barack Obama and athletes that just want to boast and talk trash) get the meaning and significance of Ali all wrong.
ESPN had to put her up to that article. She can't possibly believe all of that ... hyperbole.
In the same paragraph that Cgray condemns abortion, he then goes on to endorse the killing of women (some pregnant), and children in Vietnam. I would not be surprised to discover that Tebow is in favor of the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan as well.
95/100, dude...you forgot to call her uppity.
The issue isn't that Tim Tebow is saying his peace. This issue is who is paying for the ad. Focus on the Family is one of the most evil political organizations in the USA. They promote discredited science (intelligent design), discredited medicine (converting gays to heterosexual) and corporal punishment (beating your children) all in the name of religion. This columnist is amazingly uniformed.
I'm a huge football fan a was looking forward to what seems like a great match up in the Super Bowl. But because of CBS's short sightedness (speaking of the all mighty buck) I will not be watching the Super Bowl.
W - So Dave can't challenge what espn's Jemele Hill writes without being called racist?!?! He defends the tradition of Ali and he's the racist?!?! What planet do you live on? To not argue with Jemele: that's racist.
Look above at some of the ignorant swill posted here and it's not hard to see the corrupt heart of this crumbling Empire.
Let me first say that I am pro choice. However I respect Tebow's position when one considers his story. I have never read anyone speaking negatively of Tebow as a person, and I do not question his sincerity. I also do not question Tebow's right to speak his mind.
However I do not find Tebow's comments particularly courageous. What endorsements will he lose coming out against abortion rights. If his talent is such that he is capable of playing in the NFL, he will not be shunned for his position. So comparing Tebow with Ali is like mixing apples and oranges.
She's really so far off base with that comparison and you spellled out why she is perfectly.
Concern here is not so much the comparison of Tebow to Ali, courage, etc. Tebow will be fine but the cavalier attitude towards abortion this author seemed (and I apologize if I'm misinterpreting) to display. For all the debate the end result is the ending of a life, a living being that had brain waves, heart beat, et al.
“Wouldn't it be great if Zirin's mommy had aborted him?”
And I must have missed it in Sunday School but where exactly does Jesus endorse
“Every time I see that piece of garbage shaking like a leaf, I laugh my *ss off.”
Come on Conservatives, stay classy now…and keeping paying your taxes…that will pay of stem-cell research…that will cure Ali…at which point I will “laugh my *ss off.”
Until that day comes let’s all sit down with friends and family enjoy good food, good company and hopefully a good game. And as an added bonus we get to see the Tebows make a compelling case for choice…a choice they would happily deny everyone else.
"And as an added bonus we get to see the Tebows make a compelling case for choice?a choice they would happily deny everyone else."
-- A choice that if decided one way does what?...Ends an innocent child's life.
I can't speak for Dave, but I'm glad to know that my mother had the right and the opportunity to have a safe, legal abortion. I, for one, know that I'm alive because I was wanted, rather than being in any way forced upon my mother.
Dave is probably a bit older than I am, so his mother may well have been from the generation where abortions were carried out in covert and unsanitary conditions and frequently resulted in the woman's unnecessary death. Conditions, as always, were far superior for the well to do who could fly abroad or use family connections to have the operation performed in a safe environment. Let's try to think through what we say, rather than letting emotion and bile dictate the dialog.
He's certainly free to challenge her in the realm of ideas, if he's able to. On the other hand, coming in as the patronizing white male putting an ignorant woman of color in her place (after all, what could she possibly know about race, or women's rights?) suggests that he can't. Seriously, he couldn't have made this article more condescending if he'd tried.
It's not condescending. It's polemical. Jemele and Dave are actually friends and colleagues who argue about things like adults. Listen to the radio interviews they've done together. You are talking out of your ass..... unless you also believe that Tebow is the new Ali. And if you believe that, good luck.
A stance like Ms. Hill has taken makes me want to get medicated, sedated and marinated but it's just leaving me frustrated. As usual, this Zirin fellow is right on. I like what he has to say. His wife is a fantastic cook.
This was a great article.
For those who say that he was being condescendant to Hill..well, nice try, but this Black woman sees right through your nonsense.
To me, what Hill said sounded very much like House Negro talk, so I'm glad there was a Field Negro around to speak truth to power.
Everytime I read Dave Zirin I think of John Brown. Keep up the good excellent work!
Judging by some of the comments here, this article was very effective.
The haters only come out of the closet when they are threatened.
DAVE YOU ROCK!!!!!
This is my favorite discussion on the site. Thanks to everyone.
Proof that the mainstream press has a way of making otherwise good journalists dumber.
26 Reader Comments | Add a comment
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