Traina Thoughts: In This Day And Age of Phony Apologies, Jemele Hill Is a Breath of Fresh Air
1. Putting aside whether you agree or disagree with Jemele Hill's stance that Donald Trump "is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists," you can't deny that Hill has guts.
After already getting in trouble with ESPN, Hill doesn't seem to shy away from speaking out about Trump and she won't offer any phony apologies. Appearing on Wednesday's episode of The View, Hill said she stands by what she said about Trump. Hill could take a lot of heat off her back if she issued an apology, but she wouldn't mean it, so she's not doing it and it's downright refreshing. What's the point of an apology if it's forced and not real? Kudos to Hill for not playing that silly game.
Where Hill did offer some regret was in her tweet saying that people who had a problem with Jerry Jones's comments about players kneeling during the national anthem should boycott the Cowboys' sponsors.
“No, I probably wouldn’t do that again," she said on The View. "And this is the problem with Twitter, as we all know, Twitter’s not a great place for nuance. I wasn’t specifically calling for a boycott of the NFL or of Jerry Jones, but I understand how it could be interpreted that way. And let’s keep it 100, my employer is in business with the NFL, and some of those same advertisers that Jerry Jones has, they’re also advertisers of ESPN. So I very much understood why I was suspended. It was not related to the Trump tweets, it was more or less related to that and to putting the company in a tough position."
2. Yesterday's Traina Thoughts caused quite a ruckus in my Twitter mentions. Most of my readers were very angry with my stance that I'd support an MLB rule that stated a manager could send up any three batters he wanted in the 9th inning. Many followers responded with heavily sarcastic comments, such as the following:
The crazy thing is that some of these ideas don't sound so bad.
3. I guarantee, if you watch the midseason version of Shaqtin A Fool, you will laugh.
4. The White Sox had a Photo Day fail yesterday.
5. More Photo Day fun. This photographer had no clue Troy Tulowitzki is a shortstop.
6. This young KFC fan has been affected by the chicken shortage over in the UK and the result is this wonderful interview.
7. RANDOM WRESTLING VIDEO OF THE DAY: Can you imagine the WWE trying to get away with doing this angle today?
The best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts. And check Jimmy Traina's weekly podcast, "Off The Board," on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher.
IN CLOSING: No Traina Thoughts tomorrow. I will see you Monday.
