LIBERALS: We need to see marginalized groups represented in movies, TV shows and sports. It’s necessary to keep those groups — and us — watching.
BOB COSTAS: [notes Asian fans at game might be fans of Asian player]
LIBERALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA: How dare you?! Retire!
Yep, that’s apparently how it works. “Representation” is great because it gets everybody involved. Just don’t point out that it’s representation, or else you’re a racist. Also, if you argue that representation is a bad thing or shouldn’t exist, you’re also a racist. Just so we’re clear on the rules and all.
By way of explanation — on Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres on the road to improve to 7-4. It wasn’t a particularly close game, with Chicago scoring five runs in the fifth inning, four of them off a grand slam by catcher Christopher Morel.
In slow baseball games, you’ll probably have noticed that announcers look for something — anything — to talk about. As a Yankees fan who grew up during the leanest of the Steinbrenner years, I remember Phil Rizzuto giving color commentary on WPIX-TV and seeming to give out more recommendations for good Italian eateries than descriptions of the on-field action.
On Tuesday, veteran sportscaster Bob Costas decided to make an aside about Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, unarguably the one of the most talented Japanese players in the majors. (And without a scandal involving an interpreter, to boot.)
Suzuki signed with Chicago in 2022 as part of the club’s slow rebuild and, as The Athletic noted in a Sunday article, has improved to the point where he’s “approaching the galaxy of the game’s best hitters.”
“That trial-and-error process is at the stage where the Cubs expect Suzuki to have a monster season. The Cubs invested roughly $100 million in Suzuki’s future, including the posting fee to his Japanese club, an amount that signaled he should be playing in All-Star Games and getting MVP votes,” the outlet noted. “It’s not too early to see Suzuki’s hot start as part of a learning curve he’s begun to master.”
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“There’s not a physical flaw,” said Cubs outfielder Ian Happ. “He has all the ability in the world. It’s just being mentally confident in how the at-bats play out.”
In other words, this guy probably has some fans — especially those who have followed the Japanese game. Bob Costas got flayed alive for noticing this during a crowd shot during Tuesday’s blowout, however.
“Cub fans… maybe Suzuki fans.” – Bob Costas pic.twitter.com/ghPt38Lvcb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 10, 2024
“Cub fans. Maybe Suzuki fans!” Costas noted after the camera panned to two Asian youngsters in the crowd during the bottom of the ninth during the TNT broadcast. There was no one on base and no excitement to speak of.
No harm was meant. To be frank, it was pretty funny.
But the post on the social media account Awful Announcing had drawn more than 100k views as of Wednesday morning, and some users were not happy.
bob costas just said this, followed by 9 seconds of silence 😭 pic.twitter.com/V9e6Peljet
— Aidan Fean (@aidan1fean) April 10, 2024
Camera shows two Asian kids with cubs gear on.
Bob Costas “cub fans, maybe (Seiya) Suzuki fans”.
No way 💀💀
— Hot Corner Sorare (@HotCornerSR) April 10, 2024
That man needs to retire lol
— StrosHtx (@Stroshtx713) April 10, 2024
Yikes
— 🍞 (@loaf0hbread) April 10, 2024
the tnt board of directors waking up to this pic.twitter.com/B3jlb3hQTy
— Jimbo (@james_sweener) April 10, 2024
Now, Bob Costas is probably going to be protected because he’s a hardcore liberal who’s so afraid of a second Donald Trump presidency he’s called for Joe Biden to step aside so that his obvious enfeeblement doesn’t cost Democrats the 2024 election.
However, the keyword here is “probably.” The left eats its own with great regularity and Costas, at 72, is perfectly disposable. He’s the old, white gerontocracy! Replace him with Jemele Hill on play-by-play. Surely you’ll concede she deserves it — but not for reasons of representation. Don’t notice that part, like Bob did!
Look, there’s nothing wrong with representationism — so long as it’s earned on merit. As one of the only motorsports fans I knew growing up in New Jersey, I never dreamt our state would have a NASCAR champion. So, the fact that Garden State native Martin Truex Jr. won the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series was an amazing moment for me. It’s only natural.
Nor is there a problem with noticing it. These kids may indeed be more likely to be Suzuki fans than the average Cubs fan for obvious reasons. Pointing this out in the bottom of the ninth in a 5-1 blowout is hardly “yikes”-worthy racism.
But there’s no controversy like a ginned-up controversy involving a cultural flashpoint, particularly if we’ve run out of people to cancel early in the weeki. Bob Costas is as good as any, I suppose.
If this is an object lesson in anything, it’s not cultural insensitivity but the double standard of representationalism. At the same time that every TV show and movie is expected to cram every racial, ethnic and sexual minority into its cast so that it resembles no real slice of life anywhere in America, we’re also supposed to pretend that this totally isn’t happening and that this is what America looks like.
In Suzuki’s case, being a prominent Asian athlete happened on merit — and that’s something Asian fans should feel good about, even if they’ve been lifelong Cubs fans! But Bob Costas makes an offhand remark about it, and for liberals it’s suddenly: “Retire, fogey!”
Either we make representation of those deemed “marginalized” in all walks of entertainment — including sports — grossly overproportional at the expense of the quality of entertainment itself and the cohesiveness of American society, or we don’t notice representation period. I’d argue neither is good.
But of all the options open to us as Americans, having it both ways isn’t a viable choice.
