Thursday, July 16, 2015

Honoring Courage..... Or Redefining The Term...



The Arthur Ashe Courage Award was created to recognize those athletes, who contributions, "transcend" sports. So I am guessing that Caitlyn Jenner was this years recipient, because the definition of the award has the word trans in it.

There is no other explanation of qualifier for the award that I can determine to recognize Jenner, other than the fact that ESPN wanted to lead the parade of political correctness this year and not allow their award to become merely an anachronism of a bygone era of sports hero worship.

However, when I look back at the previous Arthur Ashe Courage Award winners, I find that Caitlyn Jenner is not all that special after all and Jenner certainly is not the first recipient that ESPN has disregarded the original intent of the award to "honor." There have been others.  Quite a few in fact.  Looking at the list of just those whose names stand out I found the following. 

Howard Cosell, Billy Jean King, Nelson Mandela and just last year?  Michael Sam....

So I looked a little closer and I came across the present definition of qualifiers for the award on Wiki Links.  There it says the award is given as:  "Although it is a sport-oriented award, it is not limited to sports-related people or actions." So I guess that explains it and resolves all conflicts and questions of conflicting understanding as to why Jenner would be selected to receive the award last night. There are no unanswered questions now,  as to why a sports network, would choose to honor an athlete whose glory days were forty years ago and whose latest claim to fame is that he is a newly minted transgendered celebrity.  

Therefore, the ESPN Arthur Ashe Award For Courage?  Is really just another example of another award given as part of a socially propagated meme. Its an example of no more than what the egalitarian sensibilities of political correctness call for at a given moment.  In other words, much like the Nobel Peace Price, the Arthur Ashe Courage award is nothing more than a means of recognizing and rewarding socially acceptable aberrant behaviors, by the leftist liberals of the world.

So maybe by this time next year, ESPN can create a new and separate award category for their awards program. Maybe there needs to be a Caitlyn Jenner award for courage, as Arther Ashe's courage is a bit dated.  I mean after all,  all Arthur Ashe ever did of significance or notoriety to contribute to his sport, was to become the first black man to win three Grand Slams in tennis, the US Open, the Australian Open and Wimbelton.

And his contribution that transcended his sport?  He became a spokesman for AIDS "awareness" after he himself was infected during a blood transfusion, during an open heart operation.  Maybe Jenner's award could be bravery related also.  Or maybe they could just call it the Bruce & Caitlyn Jenner Award. An award given to those who simply figure out new ways to remain relevant and popular in the media's world of rose colored morals and redefined social values. 

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