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Death Of George Floyd - Sticking To Football... (1 Viewer)

How Ok Is It For Joe To Mention Death Of George Floyd In FBG Email Update?

  • Totally OK

    Votes: 57 46.0%

  • OK

    Votes: 26 21.0%

  • Just Barely OK

    Votes: 4 3.2%

  • On The Fence

    Votes: 6 4.8%

  • Just Barely Not OK

    Votes: 3 2.4%

  • Not OK

    Votes: 16 12.9%

  • Totally Not OK

    Votes: 12 9.7%
  • Total voters
    124
Joe Bryant

Joe Bryant

Guide
Staff member
With the Daily Email Update, I stick to football about 99.9% of the time. 

Last night I did not. http://footballguys.com/updates/20update43.php

I opened with this.

Howdy Folks,

Good Sunday to you.

Please forgive me but I'm going to get a little bit personal. I "stick to football" 99.9% of the time. But I've also pledged to be your "Guide" on this Fantasy Football deal. And this feels important. And for sure, I'm talking to myself here first.

I'm sad about the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. I talk a lot about "Empathy" and "We're all in this together". Both of those apply here. This isn't about being "woke". Or some kind of "White Guilt", whatever that is. This is about being human. This is about giving a damn.

I'll never fully and completely understand what my Black friends go through and have gone through.

What I can do is show empathy. To at least try to understand. What I can do is listen to them. And listen to others who are exposing parts of our world people of my race and people who live in my neighborhood may minimize. Or even ignore.

We can't ignore this if we truly believe the second thing - "We're all in this together". Let's be clear - I don't mean "All of us that I like and that look like me and think like me and won't challenge me are all in this together." I mean all of us. In the South, we say "Y'all means all". That has to be the case here too.

So if we're going to practice empathy, we'll see the news of a man killed in Minneapolis hits some of us "all" in a different and more profound way. And that matters a lot. Ram Dass said, "We're all just walking each other home at night". I believe that to be true.

To my Black friends and People Of Color, in whatever this may look like, I'm with you. We're with you.

Most of my friends are white like me. I'm guessing most of the folks reading this are too. To you my friends, and I hope you'll allow me to call you a friend as that's how I see it, I'm begging us, especially me, to be empathetic. And to act like we're truly all in this together. Like we're truly walking each other at home at night. I'm praying for peace and grace and strength and courage and wisdom to move forward here and make a change. Much love for y'all. Thank you for allowing me to be honest with you and share my heart.

Now, let's please switch gears and get to the content you've signed up for. We've got some great new content for you plus the News and Notes.

Let's go.
Click to expand...
And then the other 95% of the email was all on Football.

To be clear, I FULLY understand people read my content because of Football. Fully understand. It's why I stick to football 99.9% of the time. This question is about this .1% of the time.

Obviously, I received a lot of feedback by email. I always interested in getting a read on the audience. Even after the fact. I don't have any plans to change anything going forward. But I also was wondering what you folks thought here? Thanks.

Edit to add - For sure I think it's OK to send. I wouldn't have sent otherwise. I'm interested in what you think. 

 
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I don't want social or political commentary from ESPN and I don't want it from FGB.  When I want social or political commentary I  will go specifically looking for it at the resources of my choosing.  This is my biggest frustration with social media and why I don't use it, I don't want people cramming their ideologies down my throat.  When I'm ready to have a discussion or get information on a certain topic I know where I can go to do those things, I don't need it unsolicited in my email when I am having my morning coffee expecting to read about golf, football, my faith, or any other specific topic I'm after.  Newspapers figured this separation out decades ago (and TV news to a lesser extent) with the different sections so people could consume which parts they want when they want them and this is something today's (social) media have lost all awareness of. 

 
Hankmoody said:
I don't want social or political commentary from ESPN and I don't want it from FGB.  When I want social or political commentary I  will go specifically looking for it at the resources of my choosing.  This is my biggest frustration with social media and why I don't use it, I don't want people cramming their ideologies down my throat.  When I'm ready to have a discussion or get information on a certain topic I know where I can go to do those things, I don't need it unsolicited in my email when I am having my morning coffee expecting to read about golf, football, my faith, or any other specific topic I'm after.  Newspapers figured this separation out decades ago (and TV news to a lesser extent) with the different sections so people could consume which parts they want when they want them and this is something today's (social) media have lost all awareness of. 
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Thanks for the feedback. I totally understand and can appreciate that perspective too. 

 
I am not into politics when I read NFL or FF stuff, but when the NFL comments on it and it is a huge part of life I am ok with it in a small mention type email.  As long as the opinions arent too for or against to create divisions.  

 
I don’t see this as an Ok vs Not Ok thing. It’s more of a should I or shouldn’t I thing

Its Ok to say whatever you want. It's your email update, but know your audience and what they’re looking for

If you want to give readers the chance to hear your thoughts about life and the happenings of the world maybe you should have a separate “Morning Walk With Joe” email and leave the Daily FBG updates to football stuff. 
 

You have a platform, but people sign up for it for a specific purpose. Most people don’t want social or political commentary everywhere they look. Especially nowadays where there are no sports going on.

I think it was okay, but I imagine many people didn’t open that email hoping to hear your thoughts on a horrible event that has turned parts of the nation upside down

 
I think it is fine in your news of the day to touch on news that compels you to say something even if not explicitly about football. It is probably good to say something like, 'The next 5 paragraphs are not about footbal per se and you can skip them if not of interest.' But you did some of that. I think it is also pretty calous for subscribers to say you shouldn't talk about things that strike you deeply. I think Hankmoody is entitled to not read anything he doesn't want to, but I think he can find his way around it with little effort. To me, a white guy with mostly white friends, it is difficult to imagine how people can ignore this incident and the larger circumstance it emphasizes. I realize too that people's reactions and feelings are all over the board. I hope you won't make your column a daily critique of life in America, but I appreciate a personal touch in this kind of column, and that includes comments beyond football when they compel you to do so.

 
Joe Bryant said:
With the Daily Email Update, I stick to football about 99.9% of the time. 

Last night I did not. http://footballguys.com/updates/20update43.php

I opened with this.

And then the other 95% of the email was all on Football.

To be clear, I FULLY understand people read my content because of Football. Fully understand. It's why I stick to football 99.9% of the time. This question is about this .1% of the time.

Obviously, I received a lot of feedback by email. I always interested in getting a read on the audience. Even after the fact. I don't have any plans to change anything going forward. But I also was wondering what you folks thought here? Thanks.

Edit to add - For sure I think it's OK to send. I wouldn't have sent otherwise. I'm interested in what you think. 
Click to expand...
Thank you @Joe 8ryant. As a man of color, I really appreciated you addressing the issue in such an eloquent and professional manner. It’s nice to know we’re on the same side of humanity. Thanks again, brother! 

 
I-ROK said:
I don’t see this as an Ok vs Not Ok thing. It’s more of a should I or shouldn’t I thing

Its Ok to say whatever you want. It's your email update, but know your audience and what they’re looking for

If you want to give readers the chance to hear your thoughts about life and the happenings of the world maybe you should have a separate “Morning Walk With Joe” email and leave the Daily FBG updates to football stuff. 
 

You have a platform, but people sign up for it for a specific purpose. Most people don’t want social or political commentary everywhere they look. Especially nowadays where there are no sports going on.

I think it was okay, but I imagine many people didn’t open that email hoping to hear your thoughts on a horrible event that has turned parts of the nation upside down
Click to expand...
Yes, for sure I thought it was ok. I'm interested in what you folks think. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
Yes, for sure I thought it was ok. I'm interested in what you folks think. 
Click to expand...
It’s an important issue and I can see the other side of it. In the end I can skip over it if I don’t want to read it. As you said, you’re sports 99% of the time. Overall not a big deal to me. This is a pretty horrible thing that happened and we are all thinking about it. 

 
I suppose I choose to read what interest me at that moment and if something about Floyd is there I may or may not choose to read it.  It depends on my mood on the day.  But for the most part I go to FBGs to get away from the national news outside of football.  It's bad enough that I've been cooped up in this house for months and any outlet I can get to make that easier is what's right for me.  I personally believe it is unhealthy to focus too much on bad stuff.  I know whenever I relay this kind of information to my wife and she can hear the anxiety in my voice, she says, "quit reading that stuff and you will feel better".  One of the advantages people had way-back-when was they got their news twice a day at 6:00 p.m ET and 11:00 p.m. ET.  

 
Im pretty much in agreement with hank but im ok with the .1 exceptions as long as they stay at .1. When I pay for FF content it is the same as paying for any other goods or services and the business of FF has no right to force their political opinions on me anymore than a restaurant has a right to force me to eat something I don't want to eat. There are infinite numbers of ways to express political beliefs and precious few (any?) things that bring us all together. If FF podcasters want to do culture, political podcasts they should go do them, maybe show some actual courage and have an honest debate with someone who as an opposing viewpoint. That would make the world a better place, instead they do drive by demonizations of people they disagree with thinking they are fighting the good fight against the problem and never realizing that demonizing people is the problem.  

Im old enough to remember when sports was something special that could bring people (players, fans) from all walks of life together. Now thats mostly gone, you must pick a side, you are either with us or against us, there is no middle ground. People are certain they are right, certain they have the moral high ground so there is no honest debate or free exchange of ideas only the denigration and demonization of humans with opposing viewpoints. People are being taught this and I think it is terrible; certainty is the enemy of truth. Thats my .1%.

 
I look at this like any great tragedy - if you were writing an email after 9/11 and just went into it like nothing had happened the tone would be wrong.  "Hey guys how about football" doesn't work when everyone, including the people who play football are effected.  We've finally got a white quarterback (Carson Wentz) tweeting about this murder, so it has bled into that world as well.

Next time, if it really is something that bothers many people, you can put a warning along the lines of "the next bit isn't about football so skip ahead to get to the football stuff" like e @Catbird

suggested

 
NE_REVIVAL said:
Im pretty much in agreement with hank but im ok with the .1 exceptions as long as they stay at .1. When I pay for FF content it is the same as paying for any other goods or services and the business of FF has no right to force their political opinions on me anymore than a restaurant has a right to force me to eat something I don't want to eat. There are infinite numbers of ways to express political beliefs and precious few (any?) things that bring us all together. If FF podcasters want to do culture, political podcasts they should go do them, maybe show some actual courage and have an honest debate with someone who as an opposing viewpoint. That would make the world a better place, instead they do drive by demonizations of people they disagree with thinking they are fighting the good fight against the problem and never realizing that demonizing people is the problem.  

Im old enough to remember when sports was something special that could bring people (players, fans) from all walks of life together. Now thats mostly gone, you must pick a side, you are either with us or against us, there is no middle ground. People are certain they are right, certain they have the moral high ground so there is no honest debate or free exchange of ideas only the denigration and demonization of humans with opposing viewpoints. People are being taught this and I think it is terrible; certainty is the enemy of truth. Thats my .1%.
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I'm just curious - what's political about one man kneeling on another's neck until he sufficates to death?  Or expressing grief over it?

 
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Catbird said:
I think it is fine in your news of the day to touch on news that compels you to say something even if not explicitly about football. It is probably good to say something like, 'The next 5 paragraphs are not about footbal per se and you can skip them if not of interest.' But you did some of that. I think it is also pretty calous for subscribers to say you shouldn't talk about things that strike you deeply. I think Hankmoody is entitled to not read anything he doesn't want to, but I think he can find his way around it with little effort. To me, a white guy with mostly white friends, it is difficult to imagine how people can ignore this incident and the larger circumstance it emphasizes. I realize too that people's reactions and feelings are all over the board. I hope you won't make your column a daily critique of life in America, but I appreciate a personal touch in this kind of column, and that includes comments beyond football when they compel you to do so.
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No one has done any such thing, least of all me.  I attended a (peaceful) gathering yesterday and have very strong opinions on this topic which are nearly in lock-step with the vast majority of people.  I just don't want it from my FF source was my point and I shouldn't have to dig through or selectively consume such.  If an author feels compelled to shovel their thoughts at us he should do so in a separate communication explicitly intended for such purpose that readers have prior opted in for.  If only such a platform existed.

 
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wgoldsph said:
I'm just curious - what's political about one man kneeling on another's neck until he sufficates to death?  Or expressing grief over it?
Click to expand...
What happened to the man was terrible, so we agree on that. Reasonable minds might disagree but I think it is safe to say that the death and destruction resulting from that death and the way some are expressing grief over it is now pretty political. However you are right, probably would have been better to replace the word politics with "personal or not ff related".

 
Joe Bryant said:
And thanks for the feedback on this. Much appreciated.
Click to expand...
End of the day it’s your entity, you own it. Why then pander or care for the opinions of those who are too incentive to read a very well articulated opinion, that takes 15 seconds out of their all so important fantasy football time. 

I’m glad you expressed how you felt, and trust that it meant more to a lot of us, than just a hinderance to a few.

Hope to see you express the same empathy and care moving forward, as it can never be repeated or reiterated enough - obviously.  

 
Tejas said:
End of the day it’s your entity, you own it. Why then pander or care for the opinions of those who are too incentive to read a very well articulated opinion, that takes 15 seconds out of their all so important fantasy football time. 

I’m glad you expressed how you felt, and trust that it meant more to a lot of us, than just a hinderance to a few.

Hope to see you express the same empathy and care moving forward, as it can never be repeated or reiterated enough - obviously.  
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Thanks. I don't feel like it's pandering at all. I am interested in how it was received after I sent it. 

 
Joe, I'm in the camp of "What you sent was perfectly fine."  Yeah, I understand that this is a football site, but once in a blue moon, other stuff in life transcends football and the escape it provides.  You're the owner of this site...but you're also human.  It's ok to vent about an event like this.  And for those that don't care to read it, it takes almost zero effort to scroll past those five paragraphs.

 
As  I read your  statement it was not political, ideological, did not take sides or assess blame. It asked for empathy for a murdered man and understanding over a race with a history of of not being treated equally.

Joe, you said you got a lot of feedback. I'm sure some of it positive but for you to ask the question in this forum I imagine most of it was negative. I have a few questions for you.

Did the negative reactions surprise you?

Can you recall the last time you put out a non-football type statement in your post and the feedback? Did you do it after 911? If  so was was the negative stick to football feedback almost or totally nothing?

 
menobrown said:
As  I read your  statement it was not political, ideological, did not take sides or assess blame. It asked for empathy for a murdered man and understanding over a race with a history of of not being treated equally.

Joe, you said you got a lot of feedback. I'm sure some of it positive but for you to ask the question in this forum I imagine most of it was negative. I have a few questions for you.

Did the negative reactions surprise you?

Can you recall the last time you put out a non-football type statement in your post and the feedback? Did you do it after 911? If  so was was the negative stick to football feedback almost or totally nothing?
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Thanks @menobrown   Most of the feedback I received by email was positive. Some of it very positive. And the negative stuff wasn't bad. Mostly "I watch football to get away from real world stuff so stick to football" type. I get those too.

Feedback to email though is sort of a binary all or nothing type thing. I thought I'd ask here and get more of a range. And again, it's more me being curious than anything. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
 Mostly "I watch football to get away from real world stuff so stick to football" type. 
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I voted not ok simply because if I’m reading about fantasy football....I want to read about fantasy football. 

When I want to read about/watch on tv real world issues I’ll change to that channel 

🤷🏻‍♂️

 
I think it's fine. I may or may not be in the mood to read it, but 100% of the time I am capable of scrolling on all by myself if I'm not into it. I suppose if what you wrote really ticked me off I might say something, but I don't know what that would be. Certainly not this example or anything else I've ever seen from you. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
Does that make you want to unsubscribe now?
Click to expand...
no but morning me isn't quite the same. First thing in the morning, I check out Facebook which inevitably includes a couple of new deaths from my pancreatic cancer group. I then pop over to email and read a few nice distracting emails which usually includes FBG. It is something I need to bring me back up. So, for my sanity I won't include emails/sites that include things like what was in this mornings email and if I don't read it the morning then really it doesn't serve a purpose. but you should do you. There are plenty of other things to read if this is the type of content you want to include regularly.

 
As a topic all over the news and with sports figures largely voicing opinions, it didn’t surprise me. When news elevates to the level that everyone is talking about it, I feel conditioned to expect it from all angles. 

If I wouldn’t care to read it, I can scroll down just as I would any specific football update for a player/team that disinterested me. Didn’t offend or annoy me one bit. 

 
This is your platform and you have the right post what you want on it. Inevitably some will like it, some will not, and some will be neutral. We are all human and with that comes emotion, feeling, and opinion. Sometimes events or situations are so impactful that they inspire us to express those feelings outside of the “boundaries” in which they are normally held. There will never be universal acceptance of anything so I encourage you to do what you inspire to do.

 
Joe Bryant said:
With the Daily Email Update, I stick to football about 99.9% of the time. 

Last night I did not. http://footballguys.com/updates/20update43.php

I opened with this.

And then the other 95% of the email was all on Football.

To be clear, I FULLY understand people read my content because of Football. Fully understand. It's why I stick to football 99.9% of the time. This question is about this .1% of the time.

Obviously, I received a lot of feedback by email. I always interested in getting a read on the audience. Even after the fact. I don't have any plans to change anything going forward. But I also was wondering what you folks thought here? Thanks.

Edit to add - For sure I think it's OK to send. I wouldn't have sent otherwise. I'm interested in what you think. 
Click to expand...
The murder of George Floyd and the resulting riots have shaken the entire country.  

It's hard to ignore it.  It's more news than politics.  

I think 0.1% of the time is pretty reasonable.  

 
by_the_sea_wannabe said:
no but morning me isn't quite the same. First thing in the morning, I check out Facebook which inevitably includes a couple of new deaths from my pancreatic cancer group. I then pop over to email and read a few nice distracting emails which usually includes FBG. It is something I need to bring me back up. So, for my sanity I won't include emails/sites that include things like what was in this mornings email and if I don't read it the morning then really it doesn't serve a purpose. but you should do you. There are plenty of other things to read if this is the type of content you want to include regularly.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I totally get that. 

Side note - I don't want to pry but rock on with the cancer group. Pancreatic cancer is uncomfortably very close to my family. Hang in there GB. 

 
Hankmoody said:
I don't want social or political commentary from ESPN and I don't want it from FBG.  
Click to expand...
This, or if I do want politics from FBG, I'll go to the PSF.

:2cents:  if something wouldn't belong in the shark pool, it shouldn't be in the email updates.  That includes holiday stuff, except maybe a quick "happy 4th of July" line in the email.

 
I 100% support whatever kind of message - political or otherwise - that you want to put in your daily updates. You aren't some nameless owner/CEO in the background interjecting and pontificating here and there; you are the heart and sole and owner of FBG and are active in the community and converse with your customers/users all the time. You've more than earned the right to voice an opinion regarding a cultural moment.

If you feel it's important for you to connect with this base and spread a message you want to spread, more power to you.

For the stick to football crowd, just skip and get to the update if you don't want to read. It's pretty easy . In fact, the irony of my take is that I read this email update and didn't even see Joe's message, so glad you posted this here, Joe!

 
Voted Totally OK with it.  If the social commentary took away "column space" from the main course then maybe I could see the problem, but as you present it "in addition to" the football news is fine with me

 
I voted “totally ok” but I do understand why someone wouldn’t want it. 

One thing it did for me was gave me a view into You. And it also made me feel less guilty about hiding in fantasy football. I need to be woke but also need escape. 

if you took the stand of anti all cops or anti all blacks I’d jump to unsubscribe. So it’s a slippery slope. If you are pro-vaccine and deliver a statement that is against anti-vaxxers and lose some customers from it, well you’d have to be the judge if that’s worth it. 

-Rob

 
For myself personally, I agree with those who said this is your service and your forum, Joe, I don't have any problems with your social and political commentary on any of the services from FBG. If I don't agree, I know to skip over it and move on.

Buuuuuuut....

I don't think this thread is the best way to gauge how your audience feels about this. Are all FBG subscribers regular posters on the board? Probably not and I'd imagine the actual % of people here that we're all familiar with is the minority in that number. Over the years I've actually gotten to know a lot of people here, most of whom I have never interacted with directly on messages or otherwise. So I can get past their, and your, opinions that I don't agree with, with a grain of salt. But if I didn't have that history, then I'd say such a statement in the email goes too far. I gave you my email address to send me football information. Anything socially or politically motivated like this should at least be separated to its own email, which I think I would accept more than having it tied to the normal emails.

In this mad times, I actually appreciate everyone's perspectives and welcome it. But I'd like to separate the social and political from the football element like you've done in the FFA forums, which was a great move to keep things from just burning down.

 
Nothing offensive or off-putting in your email. Our country is on fire right now; if you felt using the platform that you built to acknowledge current events, so be it. Those who are unhappy can either unsubscribe to your email list or choose not to read what you wrote.

 
I've been a freeloader on your email list for years. The format is always clear, and the qualifier of "Please forgive me but I'm going to get a little bit personal. I "stick to football" 99.9% of the time" is always enough for me to know I can skip down if I choose. FWIW, I did not read this in the email, I scrolled past. I read it now, feel like I made the right choice at the time the email was sent, as I read those for the FF content only. Like others, I will get my info and opinions on all news where I choose, but I have no issue with you including your opinion in those emails. 

 
I have received your e-mails for years (last year as a Pro Subscriber). You are always clear and concise in that you clearly say when you're going to go non-NFL football and I have no problems with that. I know many people choose to read and some choose to ignore it. You give the readers a choice and I'm glad for it.

 
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