The Boomer & Gio Show is New York-centric at heart but nationally-syndicated in reality, and on Thursday morning, Boomer Esiason opened the show by touching on the most important topic on any level, in any realm: what transpired (or didn’t) as a result of the NBA’s actions on Wednesday night.
“There are certain days where you love coming into work, and we say this is the greatest job in the world…but there are days where you wonder what to talk about, because there is a lot of news,” Boomer said at the open. “I’ve said many times on this program that I spent 14 years in an NFL locker room and 20-plus years in broadcasting, and have worked with a lot of powerful black men – every single one has told me their stories and their fears, and I can’t believe that one more time, again, that we are in this situation where the NBA has to take a stand.”
Boomer referenced how surfing Twitter over the previous 12 hours or so was a bad but necessary idea, one that only made him reflect on the situation in our country and the NBA’s response.
“Sitting there as a human being, wondering how I would react if that were my family member, regardless of the circumstances…I understand completely why the NBA players did what they did,” Boomer continued. “I understand the anger, frustration, and emotion. I have listened for years, and always been sensitive to what people have said to me.”
And then, Boomer got into his thoughts on the catalyst for it all, the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake, and both sides of that story.
“I have no idea what makes somebody want to shoot someone else in the back seven times…I cannot comprehend, given the state of where we are in this country, why something like this happens. I do understand why the players are emotional; we can parse words like boycotts and postponements, but the players are the ones who decided they weren’t going to play, that’s the bottom line,” Boomer said.
“There’s another side to this as well, and that’s the police side, and what our men and women in uniform face every day: the unknown. They take their own lives into account and put them on the line every day, and we should be appreciative of that – and that’s why, this morning, do I care if the Yankees or the Mets won? That seems really inconsequential.”
Conversations about topics like this are often hard to have, but Boomer believes that we will get nowhere if we don’t have these conversations – especially if everyone involved isn’t willing to listen and learn from all sides when we do.
“Everyone talks about having hard conversations, but they can’t be one-sided; everyone has to come with an opinion and be able to talk through things,” Boomer said. “You ask for calm, but there are people who will take this and want to run with it for political reasons. We’re in the middle of a Presidential election year that is very heated, and there are a lot of people on both sides who can’t stand each other – and it’s manifesting itself in the streets, and it’s really sad.”
You can listen to Boomer’s entire open below, plus reactions from Jerry Recco and the rest of the crew, below.
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