during their game at the Barclays Center on December 8, 2014 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
GeneralBy Jimmy Traina on

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Let’s be clear about one thing right up front. “Stick to sports” does not mean “stick to sports.” “Stick to sports” means “shut the fuck up and don’t tweet anything even remotely political that I disagree with or don’t like.”

I’ve tweeted about Seinfeld ad nauseum since joining Twitter in 2009. No one ever told me to “stick to sports” when I did so. When I tweet about food (especially bacon), tons of people weigh in with an opinion. Never a “stick to sports” reply. When I tweet about the daily minutiae of life, the replies steadily come in and none of them ever say “stick to sports.”

But tweet anything that can be interpreted as political and prepare for the backlash. Even just saying, “I’m watching Real Time with Bill Maher,” will generate nasty responses, unfollows and rants about how liberals are the worst people on earth.

And just to be perfectly clear, I much prefer being unfollowed than being sent a stupid or nasty reply. Actually, what’s worse than a stupid or nasty reply is when someone pulls a Kellyanne Conway and sends a reply that has nothing to do with what I tweeted, but addresses something totally unrelated in politics.

I digress, but just wanted to reinforce all of that because I will never “stick to sports” on Twitter no matter how many followers I lose, and I’ve lost a ton over the past few months. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like much of the sports media will stick to sports, either.

President Donald Trump holds up one of the executive actions that he signed in the Oval Office on January 28, 2017 in Washington, DC, The orders outline a reorganization of the National Security Council, implement a five year lobbying ban on administration officials and a lifetime ban on administration officials lobbying for a foreign country and calls on military leaders to present a report to the president in 30 days that outlines a strategy for defeating ISIS. Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI
President Donald Trump holds up one of the executive actions that he signed in the Oval Office on January 28, 2017 in Washington, DC, The orders outline a reorganization of the National Security Council, implement a five year lobbying ban on administration officials and a lifetime ban on administration officials lobbying for a foreign country and calls on military leaders to present a report to the president in 30 days that outlines a strategy for defeating ISIS. Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI

Every single person in the country, no matter what their job is, has the right to voice their opinions. People in the sports media are no different from people in any other profession. No one from sports media is storming into your house to give their political thoughts. Sports media people aren’t confronting patrons in their local Starbucks to convert them from Republican to Democrat. Sports media people aren’t lecturing commuters on a train or bus to explain the various faults of the people running the United States of America right now.

They are sharing their opinions on a social media tool that is built for this exact thing. They should not and cannot let any Twitter follower stop them from expressing their view and calling out hypocrisy and injustice. They should and cannot be affected by anyone on Twitter telling them to be quiet or “stick to sports.” Not when a reality show host is President.

As for those sending the “stick to sports” zinger, a piece of advice: Instead of firing off that tired and unoriginal tweet, just unfollow and you will never have to see that person’s political opinions ever again. You need to understand that there isn’t one person in sports media who will “stick to sports” because someone they don’t know on Twitter is telling them to. The success rate that any and all “stick to sports” tweets have is 0%. And that’s not an alternative fact.

Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy sent this brutally honest tweet on Election Night.

I’m in the same boat as McCarthy, minus the whole being rich thing, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t affected by and frustrated with the dizzying madness taking place.

I have two nieces. One is a special needs child who goes to a special school. So you’ll have to excuse me if I find Betsy DeVos to be a completely frightening and downright dangerous  human being and I’d rather tweet about that than what the New York Jets should do for a quarterback.

Having restless nights like McCarthy, or being concerned about the education system does not mean you’re a “snowflake” and it does not mean you are “triggered.” It means you’re a compassionate human being and a concerned citizen.

Everyone on Twitter wants everything to be black or white. But for many people, including myself, this isn’t a Republican-Democrat or Conservative-Liberal thing. This is about one unqualified businessman who seems to have a severe personality disorder being the most important person in the free world. This is about that person giving Steve Bannon all the power to do what he wants.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 26: Upon President Donald Trump's return from Philadelphia, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway (L) and President Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon walk toward the Oval Office on the South Lawn of the White House, January 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump traveled to Philadelphia for the Joint GOP Issues Conference. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 26: Upon President Donald Trump’s return from Philadelphia, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway (L) and President Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon walk toward the Oval Office on the South Lawn of the White House, January 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump traveled to Philadelphia for the Joint GOP Issues Conference. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

There would be FAR FEWER tweets from everyone in sports media about politics if Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush or John Kasich became President.But the reality show host won and now we’re all living in the ultimate reality show. Guess what? People are going to tweet about that, including those who cover sports for a living.

Here’s the other thing about the stupidity of “stick to sports”: Athletes and sports figures, just like people in sports media, have opinions about our government and they’ve been sharing them more and more. Politics are now part of the sports world whether you like it or not.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has spoken out against the election and Trump’s travel ban.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has done the same, ripping Trump after the election and following this week’s Muslim ban.

Lakers forward Luol Deng powerfully addressed the insanity that took place this past weekend.

The best basketball player in the world even chimed in this week about “goofy votes.”

The best quarterback of all time who is playing in his seventh Super Bowl this Sunday also made himself part of the political discussion during the election season.

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Hell, even former Major League Baseball player Aubrey Huff decided to jump in the fray this weekend with tweets ripping protesters. (Those have since been deleted.)

The ironic thing about the “stick to sports” instructions from Twitter followers is that I tweeted about Donald Trump being an awful human being long before he decided to run for President.

Neither of those tweets generated a “stick to sports” response.

But I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. Being told to “stick to sports” is probably better than being told to stick to being a fictional character, even if that fictional character is one of the best in television history.

Serenity now.

About Jimmy Traina

Jimmy Traina spent 13 years at SI.com, where he created and wrote the twice-a-day Hot Clicks feature. He also worked at the Associated Press and FoxSports.com.

View all posts by Jimmy Traina