Noah Galloway, Lauren Hill snubbed as Bruce Jenner wins Courage Award
ESPY Awards on Wednesday proved to be more about political correctness and ratings than a true triumph over diversity as Bruce Jenner, now identified as Caitlyn Jenner, was honoed with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.
Recognized as one of the most prestigious awards in sports, the alleged “public struggle to come out as transgender” earned Jenner the Espy over Lauren Hill, a college basketball player who raised money for research while battling cancer herself and passed away in April or crossfit guru Noah Galloway, a soldier who had his arm and leg amputated after a war injury.
“It is an honor to have the word ‘courage’ associated with my life,” Jenner said. “But tonight another word comes to mind — and that is ‘fortunate.’ I owe a lot to sports. It has shown me the world; it has given me an identity. If someone wanted to bully me — well, you know what? I was the MVP of the football team. That wasn’t going to be a problem. And the same thing goes tonight. If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is I can take it.”
“I wish Caitlyn all the happiness in the world and all the peace of mind in the world,” Costas said last month on “The Dan Patrick Show.” “However, it strikes me that awarding the Arthur Ashe Award to Caitlyn Jenner is just a crass exploitation play — it’s a tabloid play.”
public domain pic from May 4 1916
“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 said.
“I can understand and sympathize with the torment Bruce Jenner has endured all these years, but I don’t think it rises to the level of courage,” NPR’s Deford told the Los Angeles Times. “Arthur Ashe had a great sense of humor, and he would probably be laughing at all of this, chuckling that Caitlyn Jenner would be getting this award, and that ESPN was trying to pass it off this way.”
“Courage is usually involved with overcoming something,” he said. “Caitlyn Jenner is being forthright and honest, but this is something that she wanted, and she has a good fallback position — a reality show, fame and lots of money. There’s not a great deal of risk involved in the same way that someone who worked down at the body shop would experience. Bruce Jenner had a good idea that he wasn’t going to lose by doing this; his family is in support of him.”
