Ranting On...Caitlyn Jenner Winning an ESPY

Sometimes saying the right thing is difficult, but true.  The guy who has had to handle some pretty touchy subjects at the Olympics and has made a career as one of the most vaunted men in sports journalism knows something about that.  This past week Bob Costas made comments questioning the ESPY Awards for honoring Caitlyn Jenner with the Arthur Ashe Award for courage in athletics.  Costas said, and I quote, "In the broad world of sports, I'm pretty sure they could've found someone-and this is not anything against Caitlyn Jenner-who was much closer to actively involved in sports, who would've been deserving of what that award represents."  He went on to say "That's not to say that it doesn't take some measure of personal courage to do what Caitlyn Jenner has done, but I think every year we look across the landscape of sports, and we find prominent people and kids in high school and amateur athletes who I think more closely fit the description of what they're looking for or should be looking for there.  And I think this is a play to pump up audiences the way lots of things are put on television, to attract eyeballs, not because of validity, but because of whatever the kind of gawker factor is."

Is he right though?  It's an interesting question, particularly since both sides of the political sphere have jumped onto Costas opinion, with the Right lauding him and the Left lambasting him, but if you take politics out of it, it's still a pretty decent question, and in my opinion breaks down into three parts: is Jenner too far removed from athletics for this honor, is she the best choice, and does this feel like a publicity stunt?  Let's break it down below:

As far as being too far removed from athletics, I think this is a bit of a stretch, personally, and perhaps was a leg for Costas to stand on so that he could get into the real question of whether or not Jenner should receive the honor based solely on the past few months.  Jenner won the Olympic medal for the Decathalon in 1976, so it's been longer than most athletes, but she would hardly be the first person to receive the award long after a career in sports.  Muhammad Ali, Robin Roberts, and Nelson Mandela were long out of the sports sphere when they picked up the trophies, and in the case of the latter two, hadn't ever competed in major athletic competition, so it's hardly something that needs to have happened for the victory.

The other points, though, I have to sort of argue in Costas' favor.  Caitlyn Jenner did something that is by most definitions courageous, but let's be honest here-it was also something that was fairly certain to go well.  It would have been staggering and shocking if her family (the pretty progressive Kardashian clan), the media, and most of the collective social media (again, pretty progressive) didn't rally behind her.  She has done a lot in terms of promoting trangender people and their rights, but she also does this while having a reality TV show that shares every aspect of her life.  It might have been more uplifting to see someone like, say Laverne Cox get this sort of attention considering she's both transgender and very talented in her current field.  As a result, I think that a more immediate example of courage (like basketball player Lauren Hill) might have been more deserving.

Speaking of Hill, she's kind of the reason that I wish the ESPY Awards had gone her direction rather than Jenner.  I am sure that from a ratings perspective, Jenner is going to be gold for attracting attention to the show, but that feeds more into Costas' claims that this is a media stunt.  The reality is that Jenner, while brave for doing this, did it with the comfort of a safe environment and millions of dollars at the end of it.  It would have been far more meaningful if the committee had chosen, say, a transgender athlete no one had heard of who had to strive for equality without the benefit of celebrity.  Or chosen Hill, who competed on her high school team despite battling brain cancer.  The reality is that while both acts took courage, Jenner's was done knowing that she'd get a pretty rousing response from family and the media.  As a result, I think the ESPY Awards (which runs off the high-octane make-you-cry moments in the evening) probably could have gotten an equally rousing moment from how they handled Hill's award.  

So yes, while I get why they chose Jenner, I think Costas is right-this doesn't fit quite right, and feels more like jumping onto a celebrity bandwagon than actually trying to trumpet for transgender athletes or the transgender movement.  But what do you think-do you agree with Costas or the ESPY Awards in this regard?