Darren Rovell Clearly Roots For Sports Disruption, But Won’t Admit It
Darren Rovell clearly roots for sports disruption, but won’t admit it. What makes matters worse is that the Action Network personality refuses to directly acknowledge how much he basks in news of COVID-19 messing with various leagues, but somehow indirectly exposes himself with every tweet.
The most glaring example of this came last week, when Rovell referenced the story of Indiana freshman Brady Feeney.
Feeney, an offensive lineman, published a message on social media stating that he would not live his life in fear. A short time later, he came down with COVID-19. His mother subsequently posted on social media, expressing her fears that her son may end up dealing with long-term damage.
Rovell paired screenshots of Feeney’s message and his mother’s message, and published a tweet showcasing them.
An Indiana offensive lineman whose last tweet is that he wouldn’t live in fear of Covid-19 and his mother who now prays he doesn’t have permanent heart damage… pic.twitter.com/OwpvVurKpd
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 3, 2020
A short while later, he played ignorant when people asked him why he was reveling in this story.
This is why, despite my love for the platform, that I would never invest in Twitter. A post like this with no slant whatsoever turns into a dumpster fire because of people making up what your take is. It’s directly related to why we, as a nation, can no longer talk to one another https://t.co/2em9F572NZ
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 3, 2020
It would be understandable if a regular person published a tweet like that without fully understanding the subtext of the idea they were putting forth. But for a writer and media personality, someone who clearly understands context and messaging to do it, is disingenuous.
This is not the first time Rovell has actively peddled the idea that players, teams and leagues returning from COVID-19 would be difficult, only to then gleefully point to how right he was in follow-up tweets.
It’s very possible that only sports in bubbles will make it in 2020.
*Disclaimer: I am not rooting for this to happen. https://t.co/Lbirg9HYUY
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 31, 2020
As Dr. Anthony Fauci said in March: “You don’t make the timeline. The virus makes the timeline’”
As long as positive tests are the barometer for how we react, the number of positive tests within the ecosystem defines the timeline.
And no, I’m not rooting for no football. https://t.co/1laX1LFVvb
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 31, 2020
When SEC football realizes they are part of the universe instead of the universe itself, we have reached the point that everyone finally has realized we are all in this together. https://t.co/QUEqFEQIO8
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 30, 2020
The first real college football domino has fallen.
And no, for the 8,000,000th time my tweeting this doesn’t mean I was rooting for it. #DontTellClay https://t.co/IWeeSZDdNS
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 5, 2020
For some reason, Rovell cannot seem to grasp that two things can be true at the same time: he could not want COVID-19 to hurt sports in a broader sense because COVID-19 is bad and sports are good, all the while still be rooting for more cases of it disrupting sports to be revealed so that he can be correct in his initial prediction of how disruptive it will ultimately end up being.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with taking COVID-19 seriously. Caution as it pertains to anything is always wise. We know very little about this pandemic at this point. It could be a glorified flu or it may be far more serious. An answer likely won’t come until we are far past this thing and can look back on it with clear eyes.
Rovell taking COVID-19 seriously is not the issue. The issue is him having a clear slant in his messaging, and then crying foul when people like Clay Travis (who admittedly has his own slant) call him out on the objective truths of his tone.
Regardless of what happens here, Rovell would be wise to reflect on why he is getting so much pushback as it pertains to his COVID-19 posts. It might go some ways in clarifying for him why so many people dislike him despite all the fascinating content he regularly provides on Twitter.
Related: Colin Cowherd Raises Alarming Anthony Davis, Lakers Concerns
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
