Tag: racial injustice

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Siguenza on Sports

As the Ball Dribbles

Lost in all the news of late were announcements by the NBA and Major League Soccer to return to action later this summer at Walt Disney World in Florida, music to the ears of fans desperate to see live competition after the coronavirus suspended most leagues for three months now. But tonight, the NBA’s grand reopening has taken an unexpected turn.

Shams Charnia on Twitter

This comes on the heels of an earlier report stating that players expressed unhappiness with not being consulted before the decision to restart was made. According to Yahoo Sports, players were already hesitant about the plan to self-isolate with the pandemic still in effect. Then came the death of George Floyd. With protests calling for racial harmony intensifying, sources tell Yahoo, some players feel it’s not a good look for a mostly-black group of athletes to risk their health just so fans can be entertained and the NBA can stop its financial bleeding from not holding games.

Chris Haynes on Twitter

Legitimate concerns, to be sure. Also quite predictably, there is a lot of mixed reaction on Twitter to these reports. Just another episode of the soap opera that is 2020. Be sure to tune in next week.

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Siguenza on Sports

Landmark day for NASCAR

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death is a self-reflection on long-held beliefs and customs leading to a massive overhaul in the way Americans conduct themselves. We have discussed some of those changes in this blog–the NFL overruling its previous stance on player protests and diversity initiatives at Adidas. While these are certainly key to the larger discussion that we as a society must have, the steps taken today by NASCAR are nothing short of seismic.

It was already to be a big night for the stock car association with a race at Martinsville Speedway including a Black Lives Matter-themed car from driver Bubba Wallace.

NASCAR on Twitter

As significant as that was, it wouldn’t prepare us for the news that dropped just hours before the first lap regarding a symbol that has been associated with NASCAR.

NASCAR on Twitter

There are, of course, detractors to NASCAR’s announcement. You can click the tweet above to see the responses that users left if you think you can handle them. In all, the move from NASCAR indicates a turning point in race relations that is long overdue.

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Siguenza on Sports

The game-changer

According to Jason Reid of ESPN’s The Undefeated, the NFL’s reversal on its response to player protests may have been triggered by the involvement of a particular athlete in a video pressing league officials to acknowledge the injustices that persons of color face in everyday life. The athlete? Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

NFL on ESPN via Twitter

“(T)he importance of Mahomes’ involvement in the video can’t be overstated,” said Reid, citing league insiders. “He’s not only the game’s top black star. He’s the face of the entire NFL.”

As a Chiefs fan myself, I’ve had the luxury of watching Patrick Mahomes change things practically overnight, bringing a half-century of what honestly felt like comical ineptness in Kansas City to an end with his mystifying style of play and picking up accolades (Super Bowl MVP, regular-season MVP) and endorsements (Helzberg Diamonds, State Farm) along the way. Now here he is, as Reid suggests, changing the NFL even further through his assertion in the video that “Black Lives Matter.”

Scott Silva via YouTube
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Siguenza on Sports

A Tale of Two QBs

Assuming that the NFL will have a season in the fall, it stands to reason that the issue of player protests over racial injustice will be a primary storyline. Speaking today to Yahoo Finance, Drew Brees made his thoughts known on kneeling during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Yahoo Finance on Twitter

As you can probably imagine, there is a mixture of condemnation and support for the New Orleans Saints quarterback, though the ratio as they call it skews more toward negative reaction to Brees’ comments. Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers’ counterpart to Brees, Aaron Rodgers, created a post on social media that was better received, though people on both sides of the issue are making their opinions known on his account as well.

Aaron Rodgers on Instagram

The differences in response between Brees and Rodgers make the contest between the Saints and Packers scheduled for the third Sunday night of the season at the Superdome all the more interesting. Again, that’s assuming there is a season and that it starts before Sept. 27. Until then, we’re left with humorous Twitter takes like this one pointing out the general narrative about each team’s quarterback.

Max Meyerson on Twitter