North Korea Loses But ESPN Out on Misconduct
By Michael Boyajian
North Korea may have lost in World Cup play to soccer powerhouse Brazil but they put up a valiant effort throughout the game and did not deserve to be belittled by a parochial ESPN announcer covering the game who turned a sporting event into a political battle.
ESPN’s conduct showed poor sportsmanship. The world knows the history of North Korea. This soccer match was not the forum to expose their behavior. The world need not be reminded of that while enjoying a sports contest that in a way reached out to North Korea and may have just altered their direction on the world stage but for a singular ESPN announcer.
ESPN made fun of North Korea’s leader, the team’s coach, their fans, the names of their players and their overall performance in a very unsporting manner. Such a diatribe would not be tolerated in American sports whether it was baseball, football, hockey or yes soccer. In fact in my entire lifetime I have never seen such reactionary conduct while watching a sporting event even during the Olympics at the height of the Cold War.
North Korea may be a political pariah but ESPN owes the sporting world an apology for its poor conduct. This is not the place for politics of any kind it is a field that showcases the excellence of athletics making it more bizarre that a network dedicated to sports coverage did not recognize that difference. So a resounding boo goes out to ESPN and congratulations to Brazil and North Korea for a game well played.
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