MSNBC can't even keep liberal politics out of sports. Nation sports editor Dave Zirin appeared on the cable network, Wednesday, to hyperventilate over the announcement that Tim Tebow has been traded
to the New York Jets.
Zirin berated, "...There are a lot of LGBT people
that live in New York City who are also football fans and they
might want to know why the new, possibly, starting quarterback for the
New York Jets wants them to move backwards 30 or 40 years."
Why does Tebow want to set gays back 40 years? Because he once did a
very mild pro-life commercial for Focus on the Family?
Completely going
off on a tangent, Zirin whined, "Now, I don't want to shock you, Tamron,
but there are a lot of women in New York who use birth control." [MP3 audio here.]
This was too much even for MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall. "Is that fair," she
asked. Hall pointed out: "...You can have drug addicts and everything
else play in this town and people beat up their spouses and play in [New
York]."
Zirin, who has repeatedly appeared on MSNBC to trash Tebow,
religious figures and conservatives, stuck by his obvious disgust for
the quarterback: "I am hoping Tim Tebow gets asked some certain things.
Because, he said he wants a career in politics after football. That, to
me, makes it all fair game."
A transcript of the News Nation segment, which aired at 2:52pm EDT, follows:
TAMRON HALL: The Jets confirmed within the last hour that Tim Tebow is
headed to New York City. It comes one day after- technically New Jersey,
isn't it quarterback Peyton Manning took his spot at the Denver
Broncos. We have also learned the NFL suspended Sean Payton and others
for their involvement in the bounty program. Our friend Dave Zirin is
writing for the Edge of Sports and he joins us live. I don't know which
to start off with. So, I will start off with Broadway Tim, Broadway
Tebow, whatever you want to call it. I read a couple tweets people are
threatening to not have the season tickets with the Jets because of this
and others are happy to see how it goes. What's your take?
DAVE
ZIRIN: It is heart to be a Saint in the city. That's my first take.
Yeah, a 35-year-old Bruce Springsteen reference, thank you. No, the
thing about Tim Tebow coming to the Jets is Woody Johnson, the owner
just upon a circus. He bought the 28th ranked quarterback in the NFL,
who for some reason has a massive fan base that will be pressuring the
team to start him every step of the way. And the Jets are doing this
right after they gave a huge extension to the incumbent quarterback Mark
Sanchez and that they signed a credible back-up, a guy named Drew
Stanton from the Detroit Lions.
HALL: Yeah.
ZIRIN: I don't begin to understand the thought process of the New York
Jets, except they maybe were looking at Rex Ryan and saying, you know
what, this guy is not quite a buffoonish entertaining clown, we need to
make this more buffoonish a situation. We need to make this more
clownish and bring in Tim Tebow and have a full pledged reality program.
HALL:
But how can you say they brought the circus into town? This is New York
City. Every day is a circus The king the New York is Donald Trump for
Pete's sake. This is New York. How can he bring the circus here?
ZIRIN: Exactly, because of who Tim Tebow is. I mean, it would be a
circus if you let Rick Santorum loose in Las Vegas for a week and just
kept a camera on him the whole time. I mean, Donald Trump in New York is
ho-hum. He's practically a chameleon in New York. But with Tim
Tebow you are talking about somebody who has a set of ideas, let's just
say, that are different from the majority of New Yorkers. Now, I don't
want to shock you, Tamron, but there are a lot of women in New York who
use birth control. And I also don't want to shock you, but there are a
lot of LGBT people that live in New York City who are also football fans
and they might want to know why the new, possibly, starting quarterback
for the New York Jets wants them to move backwards 30 or 40 years.
HALL: I want to get to the Saints, but I have to follow up on that. Is that fair, though?
ZIRIN: Oh, yeah.
HALL: I mean, I get it. He had the half time ad with his
mother and talked about his faith and beliefs, but the reality is isn't
it about what he does on the field?
ZIRIN: Of course. That's a part of it.
HALL: Because, I mean, you can have drug addicts and
everything else play in this town and people beat up their spouses and
play in this town.
ZIRIN: Yeah and they get their media scrutiny. Yet in Denver, a
typical question from a local media member would look more like a foot
massage than an actual tough question. I am hoping Tim Tebow
gets asked some certain things. Because, he said he wants a career in
politics after football. That, to me, makes it all fair game.
-- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
