> > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Hold the Booyah: SportsCenter Out of the Middle East! > By Dave Zirin > > Has it come to this? Did SportsCenter really > broadcasting this week from Kuwait? Are we inhaling > our nightly dose of baseball, banter and "booyah" from > a set designed by the US Armed Forces? Is the > SportsCenter stage really designed to look like a > bunker, replete with camouflage netting, anchors' > desks made out of sandbags and a Bradley tank? > > Oh yes it has. Ideally Sports Center should be safe > space from the drumbeat of war like "home base" in a > game of tag. It should be the one spot on the cable > dial where we are not having this immoral, and, now > according to Kofi Annan, "illegal" occupation pushed > down our throats like a new line of Happy Meals. > > But no. > > As one newspaper in Virginia chortled with glee, > "Booyah! ESPN joins the battle!" > (Yes Virginia, there is a military industrial > complex.) > > Baseball Tonight commentator Rob Dibble accepted the > perils of their battle mission to Camp Arfijan in > Kuwait saying with the solemnity of Patton, "I know > [ESPN talking heads] are risking our lives but it was > the least we could do." > > Who could possibly be behind this shameless synergy of > sports and scuds? Sing it with me: 'M-I-C-K-E-Y > M-O-U-S-E.� > > Leave it to ESPN�s parent company Disney and their > rodent in chief Michael Eisner to spice up our sports > with right wing rat poison. > > The same Disney that hired that elfin epitome of > athletic grace Rush Limbaugh to comment on the NFL; > the same Disney that refused to distribute Fahrenheit > 9/11 because it was "too political"; the same Disney > that never met a union it wouldn�t bust, took the > flagship show on its "Worldwide Leader in Sports" and > before you could say 'Pat Tillman' turned it into an > ad for the Army of One. > > But even that wasn't enough for Eisner and company. > With the subtlety of Zell Miller clubbing a seal, they > kicked off their "Salute to Our Troops Week" on > Saturday September 11th. > > Leave it to this platoon of Pinocchios to accomplish > what Bush, Cheney, Powell, and Rice could not: create > a connection between 9/11 and the Iraq Occupation. > > SportsCenter Kuwaiti Style has also, with the > journalistic integrity of a Frank Capra World War II > film, done features this week on armed forces flag > football, former athletes or relatives of famous > athletes in the service, and how quickly an ice cream > cone [symbol of Americana] melts in the savage > 120-degree desert heat. It's Heart of Darkness > SportsCenter style: Boo Yah! > > But the toy soldier sets and gauzy features are an > Orwellian Epcot considering the reality on the ground. > > > Recent weeks have seen a shocking rise in civilian > casualties as the US military hammer has rained death > on unarmed civilians at a staggering rate. U.S. troops > have also been subject to 87 attacks a day in August, > more than double the average in the first half of > 2004. > > The recent surge of resistance forced the Bush > administration to finally admit that whole cities in > Iraq--including Samarra, Ramadi, Baquba and > Falluja--are "no-go" zones for both U.S. troops and > the new Iraqi police forces. > > Disney can spin more spells than the wicked queen in > Cinderella's castle. > But it would take a feat beyond the powers of their > animation department to make a pretty picture out of > this sick war. > > We should be bringing the troops home. Instead we > bring them Stuart Scott. Tragedy has become farce. > Hold the booyah. > > Dave Zirin has a book coming out, What's My Name, > Fool: sports and resistance in the United States > (Haymarket Books) comes out in spring 2005. To have > his column sent to you every week, just e-mail > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Contact the author at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >
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