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It’s Time For the Media in the Tri-Cities To Stop Being Cowards!
Why no sports columnists or broadcast media willing to comment on local issues?
On March 30, 2021, Jason Shay resigned as head men’s basketball coach at East Tennessee State.
The story was more than just a basketball coach quitting his job. The resignation stemmed from when the ETSU men’s basketball team decided to kneel for the national anthem during the season.
In an era when sports commentators are increasingly taking on the role of cultural commentators, for sports is a leading barometer of the culture, the local sports media stayed disturbingly quiet.
Oh, they reported the story. But that was all, despite the fact Shay’s resignation had so many juicy tentacles to it that dealt not just with basketball, but the Tri-Cities community as a whole.
The prominent booster taking away loaner cars over the incident. The responses from both coach and players after they knelt. The future of the basketball program, or their collapse after the story came out.
What did it say about the community and the university the eventual fallout would mean the coach losing his job?
But outside of myself, few in the media commented on it, or took a stand.
