The funny thing about that “stick to sports” stuff I was going on about the other day is that, in reality, a whole lot of the people who say “stick to sports” don’t really want to just stick to sports. They’re totally cool going on about political, social or cultural stuff as long as it fits their world view. It’s not “stick to sports.” It’s “don’t talk about the social implications of sports-related stuff in ways that upset me.” If sports and culture come together in other ways, however, they’re completely fine in grinding their axe.
For example, Beyonce is playing a concert a Citi Field this summer. The show is so popular that they added a second date. The Mets’ Twitter feed just announced that tickets will go on sale for the new show soon:
Second show added. #CitiField #Mets https://t.co/9L7nGFqrwR
— New York Mets (@Mets) February 10, 2016
A whole lotta Mets fans responded to that negatively. For political/social/cultural reasons that they are willingly bringing in to a conversation about a pop singer and a baseball stadium that will double as a concert venue:
@Mets @CitiField @Beyonce Should've canceled the first one after the garbage she pulled at the Super Bowl.
— Ed O. (@Ed_OM_) February 10, 2016
@Mets @CitiField @Beyonce awful job by the mets here. Slap in the face to police. She's just like her hair. Fake.
— Will (@WLoVerde) February 10, 2016
And they go on and on.
How much do you want to bet that a whole lotta these respondents would tell you to “stick to baseball” if you wanted to bring up how race affects the sport or how, if instead of Beyonce, this was announcing a Kid Rock/Ted Nugent-headlined festival and you mused whether that was a case of the Mets somehow endorsing their messages?
