Babcock McGraw: Athletes should keep the politics to themselves
Remember when your mom or your grandma would say to you, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?"
Sage advice, I'd say.
Lindsey Vonn should have considered it before she popped off on CNN earlier this month.
The Olympic skier said that she is hoping to represent the people of the United States in the upcoming Winter Olympics, but not President Donald Trump.
Ugh!
Why the snarky dig Lindsey? What purpose does it serve, other than to alienate millions of your fellow Americans?
Didn't our moms and grandmas also tell us that certain subjects should be kept to yourself? Your income, and your political leanings, among other intensely private and personal things?
Why do so many athletes, actors, artists and other celebrities feel the need to subject the rest of us to their political opinions and rhetoric? I don't care, Lindsey Vonn, LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, Gregg Popovich, Robert De Niro, Cher, Chelsea Handler, Kathy Griffin, Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, and dozens of others, that you hate President Trump.
Just because you're a "public figure," please don't assume that you have a platform for all subjects. If I'm a fan of Olympic skiing, I'd love to know your thoughts and opinions, Lindsey Vonn, on all things skiing.
Political fare? Not so much.
Normally, I tune out the political commentary of people who are not actually political commentators.
But the reason Vonn's comments are so particularly off-putting to me is that I think she's out of line as an Olympian. And I care about the Olympics.
Olympic athletes represent all of what America is, including the current sitting president. Can you imagine if a conservative or Republican athlete spoke out and made similar comments about Barack Obama four years ago?
Vonn's comments are divisive, and yet, as an Olympic athlete, one of her most basic functions is to be a uniter of all of the people she represents.
The best part of all of this is Vonn's response to some negative feedback she got from her CNN comments.
According to Vonn, she says that some people are wishing that she breaks her neck on the ski course. That, of course, should never be suggested or condoned.
But people are definitely entitled to be put off by her comments, and she seemed to be surprised and dismayed that that actually happened.
The negative feedback "opened up her eyes to how divided we are right now," Vonn wrote on her Instagram account. "It is hurtful to read comments where people are hoping I break my neck or that God is punishing me for being 'anti-Trump.' We need to find a way to put aside our differences and find common ground in communicating."
Agreed Lindsey.
But if you really believe that we should all put aside our differences and find common ground, then why make the Trump comment in the first place?
Just say that you hope to represent the United States and all Americans at the upcoming Winter Olympics, and call it a day. Keep the political commentary out of it. Especially if it's nasty, and only accentuating our differences, rather than putting them aside.
As mom and grandma would say, "better to say nothing at all."
pbabcock@dailyherald.com
Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw