Sports and politics should have nothing to do with each other, correct? Then why are they becoming the same? Sports and politics should be two completely separate from one another, yet they have started to become a part of each other more and more in recent years.

Sports and politics should remain separate from one another because sports are meant for entertainment, not a political controversy. In the article “Should Athletes Stick to Sports?” from the New York Times, The author says, Reporters ask questions before and after every game, and when the only thing anyone wants to talk about is Trump, some of those questions will be about the president.” The questions reporters ask at the beginning and end of games should be about the game or season, not their opinions on whether or not they like the president. An athlete’s opinion on anything political is nobody else's business but theirs. Also, the media can manipulate what is said to give people the wrong idea and hurt that athlete's career. A reporter should not bring up politics to an athlete during a press conference, because those kinds of questions have nothing to do with what the press conference was initially intended for.

Sports media organizations should avoid bringing up politics just to boost their political agendas. In the article “Sports and Politics Do Not Mix” from the Washington Times, the author states “This is nothing new from Sports Illustrated. Nearly every issue since November 2016 takes gratuitous shots at Donald Trump. Reading this “sports magazine” is about as entertaining and informative as watching Rachel Maddow for a half an hour. The articles read as if they were written by The New York Times editorial board. Donald Trump is a racist, immigrant basher, xenophobe, and you know the tiresome trope.” All sports magazines, like Sports Illustrated, talk primarily about politics instead of what is going on in the sports world. All they care about now is whether or not Trump is a good president or if he’s racist or anything else that people say. They should care more about who's playing next week and who's not. Sports media needs to keep their priorities about sports and not what political figures are doing.

However, people will say that it’s a good thing that politics are in sports because of the influence sports have on people. I on the other hand feel that if athletes or sports organizations want to share their political views they can do so on their own social media or going to a rally on their own time, not before, during, or after a game or match.

Sports and politics are things that need to remain separate. There are too much bad blood and controversy that comes from politics being a part of sports. If a sports page or magazine comes out with an article that is only about sports and it’s entertaining, it will make a huge difference in how people view sports. After reading this paper I would hope you would feel the same and want to try and change the norm and take politics out of sports.