The use of profanity in TV broadcasts has loosened since childhood. What is aired now on TV would have never aired when I was younger. The subject matter has changed too. Maybe this is the networks catching up with modern times? I felt during the Pandemic, as most rules changed in most places, it could have been a good time for networks like ESPN and FOX to air uncensored versions of game broadcasts. Almost like a late-night version, where the hosts could talk freely in a matter that best resembles the loose conversation styles of Americans. It would be interesting to take away the formality of the traditional broadcast. Just a thought; it reminds me of a situation I had last week.
I ate dinner with my parents Sunday night at a local sports bar. We were seated in the bar area with the TVs; this side of the restaurant didn’t allow smoking or the jukebox to bleed over. We were sitting at a table just adjacent to the bar, and two guys were sitting at the bar. These two guys were enjoying beers and conversing with each other. It wasn’t hard to overhear their conversation as maybe the alcohol was starting to take effect. The Chiefs and Bills NFL game was wrapping up, and their conversation started on the name of the Chiefs and Native Americans taking offense to the title. My father and I are Kiowa. We couldn’t care less what these two had to say about it. One of the guys had a boisterous take; it sounded as if he objected to anyone, including Native Americans, objecting to the use of the name.
I recall this story, not because of the subject of their conversation but the F-bombs thrown around. As my mother sat and ate her meal, every other word from their mouths was a four-letter word. This doesn’t bother me. My mother’s distaste each time they dropped the expletive was tough to watch. Did these guys have the right in a bar to talk as loudly as they were in the bar? Possibly, many years back, I was the guy at the bar I was the guy displaying my lack of vocabulary. So, it didn’t bother me as it did my Mom. Were they exercising their free speech right? According to my mother, maybe they weren’t. But, by definition, they were. They were lacking in style and vocabulary.