Colin Cowherd set Twitter on fire on Thursday afternoon and it wasn’t because of a hot sports take. In fact, it was due to a widely agreed-upon opinion that is highly likely to be proven true come Tuesday night.
The FOX Sports TV and radio host got political, something he rarely does. With just a few days until the 2022 midterms, Cowherd tweeted out: “Red wave is coming Tuesday. Don’t mess w people’s kids. It lands differently — and they will hold a grudge. Can’t blame em. That’s my Ted Talk.”
First off, he’s right. Mostly. The only thing he got wrong is that it will be a red tsunami.
Cowherd then responded to a follower who said, “They’re gonna come for you for this one Colin.”
Cowherd replied, “Couldn’t give two Fs. I lean mostly left, but data clearly proved kids 18 and under were safe….Yet held out of schools. Test scores have plummeted. Suicides have risen. Chaos for parents. Just a sad reality of ignoring data. A price will be paid and hopefully, a lesson learned.”
Once again, he’s right.
As we’ve seen from local school board races around the country to the wave coming on Tuesday, while the economy and inflation remain the top issues, parents do not forget the many politicians who shut their kids out of the classroom for far too long.
And if you look at recent polling, Gen X’ers are the ones most likely to be voting Republican in this cycle. I don’t think that’s a coincidence given they are the ones who presumably have had kids impacted by the horrible policies of the last two years.
Now back to Cowherd. It was unusual to see anyone of his stature in 2022 cross the corporate, woke, elite line and share this kind of opinion. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m glad and appreciate him doing it. He’s been my favorite sports talker since his early days at ESPN Radio, but especially in recent years, he seems to have mostly avoided mixing sports and politics, at least compared to some of his colleagues on the national stage who have fully embraced adding politics to their sports, overwhelmingly from the Left.
And let’s be clear, Colin Cowherd is no MAGA Republican. While he did have Donald Trump on his radio show back in 2015 as his Presidential campaign was beginning, he called Trump “dangerous and toxic for America” back in July.
So this is not about a conservative vs. liberal, right vs. left, take on Cowherd. It’s simply about being comfortable enough in sports media, (and as someone who used to work in it I’ve always believed it leans further left than news media), to at least share a political opinion/analysis that isn’t straight out of the Democrat playbook.
I’m in no way suggesting that a sports talk host in a brand-new market should gush about his politics next Wednesday morning after the red wave. I also don’t really care for more politics in my sports talk in general, unless it’s unavoidable.
My only hope would be that Cowherd’s comments play a small role in others in the medium who haven’t felt comfortable sharing anything that might even be perceived to be, not even pro-Republican/Conservative, but anti-Democrat/Liberal, at the risk of being reprimanded by the boss, a little more confidence in sharing that personality.
Also, like Cowherd, it doesn’t need to be on the show. It can be on Twitter, Facebook, an Instagram story, or wherever else away from a platform and the show, to a place that is about you and your personality. It’s appropriate. It’s fair. And for too long, especially in the last 2-4 years, bucking the liberal trend in sports media has not been widely accepted.
After Tuesday’s results, as Americans have their voices heard, that should change dramatically. And the suits, as Cowherd calls them, should adjust their expectations, not be afraid of woke Twitter (which isn’t real life), and let their personalities be themselves, when appropriate, left, right, or in the middle.
Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the Vice President of News/Talk for Cumulus Media, while also hosting “Mundo in the Morning” and programming KCMO Talk Radio in Kansas City. Previously, he was a fill-in host nationally on FOX News Radio and CBS Sports Radio, while anchoring for WFAN, WCBS News Radio 880, and Bloomberg Radio. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on X @PeteMundo.
How does it feel to be WILDLY wrong about everything you said?