ESPN Apologizes for "racist" player auction

Question

ESPN launched a 28-hour programming marathon to promote fantasy football Monday, and it wasn’t long before a related segment caught some people’s attention.

A Twitter user uploaded a clip of Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. being “sold” at the auction, and given the racial dynamics, with the auctioneer, the winning bidder and almost everyone else in the scene being white, many responded online with reactions ranging from eye rolls to outrage. Even Beckham declared himself “speechless” at the scene.

Some claimed that the clip, and others like it showing black players being auctioned off, were taken out of context and that white players were put up for auction as well. Others noted that the auction format dramatized by ESPN is widely used in fantasy leagues and is a way to create a fairer, more competitive process of allocating players to a league’s teams, as opposed to the more standard “snake” drafts, in which participants take turns selecting players in a preset order

lovethedough · Answer

ESPN launched a 28-hour programming marathon to promote fantasy football Monday, and it wasn’t long before a related segment caught some people’s attention.

A Twitter user uploaded a clip of Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. being “sold” at the auction, and given the racial dynamics, with the auctioneer, the winning bidder and almost everyone else in the scene being white, many responded online with reactions ranging from eye rolls to outrage. Even Beckham declared himself “speechless” at the scene.

Some claimed that the clip, and others like it showing black players being auctioned off, were taken out of context and that white players were put up for auction as well. Others noted that the auction format dramatized by ESPN is widely used in fantasy leagues and is a way to create a fairer, more competitive process of allocating players to a league’s teams, as opposed to the more standard “snake” drafts, in which participants take turns selecting players in a preset order

lovethedough · Answer

This is what we have become. We are that sensitive, even though white players were included in the draft.

I am offended that ESPN actually apologized for having a fantasy draft.

What actually doesn't offend people?

lovethedough · Answer

This is why I should stop playing fantasy football. It is far too racist. You are basically a slave owner when you play fantasy football and are a racist.

No wonder everyone see thru the over dramatic crying on CNN about Trump every day.

StumpTownStu · Answer

You&#x27;re a racist white male so you don&#x27;t get to be the moral authority on what&#x27;s offensive. The country is overly sensitive and too easily offended. We can agree on that. As far as the auction, at very least i&#x27;ll say it was poorly executed. It looked bad. Any number of things could have completely changed the conplexion of it. Start by having it, I don&#x27;t know, in a bar like many fantasy drafts/auctions rather than outside, on a real auction block, which is reminiscent of an actual slave auction. Have a hot chick as an auctioneer as opposed to some old white man. Have any chick, or any person other than all white males involved. It just looked bad. It doesn&#x27;t need to turn into a big outrage. It was just a faux pas.*Look up faux pas if you need to, dough. You don&#x27;t strike me as one with an extensive lexicon. Look up lexicon as well, if need be.

bk1374 · Answer

I totally agree with this.  It was a little cringeworthy and a faux pas, as you put it.  It has NOTHING to do with fantasy football or the auction draft format itself.  Honestly, ESPN and Fantasy Football in general have become more than a little cringeworthy themselves.

djbrow · Answer

You are stealing my lines.

lovethedough · Answer

If you watch a fantasy football draft and think it resembles a slave auction, YOU&#x27;RE the racist, you&#x27;re consumed by the color of peoples skin.

lovethedough · Answer

Anyone know if Jesse Jackson has begun shaking ESPN down for reparations?

lovethedough · Answer

The irony of the story is ESPN is entirely a sports network,  with no balls.

bk1374 · Answer

Not "A" fantasy football draft, but THIS fantasy football draft.  The article/criticisms weren&#x27;t about fantasy drafts in general, they were about the specific set up of THIS SPECIFIC DRAFT.  Did you even watch the video?  Or just read the article headline and ran to the keyboard to get your anti-snowflake rant going?  LOL.Also no one here has said it resembled a slave auction or has shown any outrage about it so put down your tiki-torch and relax.

StumpTownStu · Answer

I said it resembled a Slave auction because it resembled a slave auction. That&#x27;s why people were upset. The image. And like I said, any number of things would have made it look a lot less like a slave auction. You film that same segment in a bar setting, without even changing anything else, it&#x27;s less offensive. It&#x27;s no big deal though. It was a faus pas and nothing more. Black America isn&#x27;t outraged, and dough is only bringing it up because that&#x27;s who he is. Dough some has nerve. It makes me wonder what his background is. Did his people come over on the mayflower? Or did they come over in the 1920&#x27;s.

HockeyTeeth · Answer

Odd fact about actual slave auctions, the blacks were being sold into slavery by, you guessed it, other blacks. The practice still exists today but doent get too much airtime. What is happening in the sudan right now is an atrocity.

Take the congo, children, black children, are worked to death to provide minerals for use in electronic devices, cell phones and the like. North american social justice warriors never mention this stuff, just bury your head in the sand and line up at midnight for the next gen smart phone.

Everyone has to get real about this stuff or the usa will have an actual race war.

djbrow · Answer

Umm no. It is unsurprising that you stated this though.Warring African tribes were sold and traded to whites who then sold the Africans into slavery. Guess who was at the top of the pyramid. Tell me more about the Congo. When did you go? Where else have you been? For how long? What else did you do?

StumpTownStu · Answer

The "blacks selling other blacks" into slavery is an over-exagerated notion that white people like to throw around to try and minimize slavery. Just like the "there have been white slaves" notion or the "slaves built the pyramids" notion. All are exagerated if not completely false. Slave auctions weren&#x27;t black people selling other black people. That&#x27;s a completely asinine statement.

StumpTownStu · Answer

And again, this doesn&#x27;t have to turn into a huge debate. It wasn&#x27;t a big deal. We, as black people aren&#x27;t making it a big deal. The media, who loves to fan racism, isn&#x27;t making it a big deal. No one is accusing ESPN of being racist. It was just an awkward moment.

StumpTownStu · Answer

And to another of your points, teeth, who owns the mines that those mineral are coming from in the Congo? Or in Sierra Leone? Who owns the electronic companies that you speak of? Yes, Africans exploit other Africans but in the grand scheme of things they are all being exploited. Look at the natural resources that come out of Africa only to put money in the pockets of Europeans. There&#x27;s no other continent on the planet whose natives have less control over it&#x27;s natural resources. These are facts. What has been stolen out of Africa, both in natural resources and people, is an atrocity. And try as you might, that can&#x27;t be minimized.

HockeyTeeth · Answer

Just enjoy your device, maybe start a trendy hashtag thingy.

HockeyTeeth · Answer

Stu not trying to minimize slavery at any level. It is a fact that blacks were involved in the atlantic slave trade.

StumpTownStu · Answer

They were but the degree of which is often greatly exagerated. There&#x27;s no secret that slavery has existed across all cultures in all periods of history. And in pre-colonial Africa, as brow alluded to, warring tribes did take slaves. So some white guys show up in boats and say, "Hey, you want to trade for some of your slaves?" Chiefs are gonna say "Sure!" Rival tribes had no concept of the "slavery" that was in store for said captives. The scope and severity seen in the Atlantic slave trade had never been seen anywhere in the world thus far and has never been seen since. So while i&#x27;m not negating Africans&#x27; involvement in the slave trade, to say "Blacks were auctioning of Blacks" is s little much.p.s. Make no mistake about it, those rival chiefs found there way into shackles as well.

GimmeMoneyNow · Answer

Nope....Can&#x27;t do that.....That&#x27;s clearly objectifying women as "sex objects".Replace the "auctioneer" with a bag of feathers, the athletes on the "auction block" with fluffy kittens, the "bidders" with balls of cotton and then after all of that, still offer a "safe space" for those who can&#x27;t handle the objectifying of fluffy kittens "up for sale".....Jesus Effin&#x27; Christ.....

ESPN Apologizes for "racist" player auction

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