Don't expect ESPN's Scoop Jackson to write any more columns about LeBron James or the Miami Dolphins. He announced today that after careful consideration he's boycotting Florida sports. He won't even watch a single game involving a Florida sports team while in the end admitting "this gesture might only make me feel better about myself."
Jackson took inspiration from Stevie Wonder's stance that he won't play any place that has enacted a "Stand Your Ground" Law, and in the month and half since George Zimmerman was found not guilty on charges he killed Trayvon Martin in a Seminole County Court he's decided to enact his own similar ban.
"No rooting for, pulling for, watching, investing any time or money or sweat equity in all sports coming out of Florida," wrote Jackson, while also noting that he won't even think about sending his son to a college in Florida.
Jackson however admits that his stance "means something but will accomplish nothing," and doesn't make much of a plea that anyone should follow his lead. But he concludes "it won't leave me feeling as if I did nothing."
Of course, there are simpler and more direct ways to feel like you've done something if you disagree with Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, like, say, donating a little bit of money to a Florida-focused gun control PAC, or finding a vulnerable incumbent Florida legislator who supports the law and ponying up $10 to his or her's strongest competitor.
Jackson's stance likely comes because he's a sports columnist who wouldn't normally get to write about issues outside of sports, so he's found a dramatic way to let his feelings be known about the Zimmerman verdict in a way that includes sports. Fair enough. We'll respect it, and agree with Jackson it won't really do much.
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