We Hate You Fans. Now Come Back Home.
The sure of signs that baseball is back. The crack of the bat, the umpires “Play Ball” and #BLM emblazoned on the pitchers’ mound.
Huh?
Yes. In pro sports’ obsequious surrender to an organization that believes in the overthrow of society, putting political slogans on the diamond is the new normal in the grand old game. The NBA, too, has “Black Lives Matter” written on its courts. The NFL is choreographing a national anthem process that will put the Rockettes to shame.
(Although nothing beats the L.A. Dodgers mannequins filling the seats behind home plate.)
Even hockey, your granddad’s sport, is down with the vibe that white society is illegitimate and a product of privilege. As we wrote on June 15, they are entitled to whatever political positions they wish to take. But what guarantee is there that they will be welcomed back by a public whom the stars of the game have labelled as racist, privileged and sexist the past few months?
Like the old joke says, fandom is about passion. If you can fake that everything’s fine.
“Hockey players have also joined the chorus claiming systemic racism, with over 100 players led by Sidney Crosby decrying what they describe as their white privilege in a league that is 95 percent white.
In the NBA, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving thinks that resuming the NBA season at Disney World doesn’t work for him in the wake of the George Floyd episode. He told over 80 NBA reps on a conference call, ”I don't support going into Orlando. I'm not with the systematic racism and the (expletive). Something smells a little fishy. I'm willing to give up everything I have (for social reform).”
In Irving’s case, everything is US $32,742,000 a year. If he’s been smart with his money he’s probably got more than enough to become a social justice warrior full-time. Otherwise that’s a lot of money to leave on the court.
In the NFL, which seems likely to play its 2020 season in its entirety come September, white players are lining up with their black teammates to decry the #BLM theory of “systemic racism” of the league. New York Giants QB Daniel Jones says he proudly stands “beside my brothers and the entire black community in support of the Black Lives Matter movement to end systemic racism.”
When a Houston Texans fan tweeted, "Pretty sure you won't see @JJWatt taking a knee”, the former NFL MVP replied “don’t speak for me” and ""If you still think it's about disrespecting the flag or our military, you clearly haven't been listening.”
The question is not whether these athletes are entitled to their opinions on this inflammatory situation— especially in leagues like the NBA and NFL where players are over 70 percent black. If anything, the chaos of the past month since Floyd’s death has been about that fundamental right.
(Although the sincerity of the NBA’s SJWs on freedom and rights is flexible, as we saw when LeBron James and the league cravenly capitulated to China over a few inflammatory comments about Hong Kong threatened their running-shoe Golden Goose.
The question is how do you return to play when, however sincere you are on the issue, you’ve insinuated that a large percentage of your consumers are stone-cold racist? The people who pay the bills? Hello? What will be the inevitable blowback?
When the Colin Kaepernick kneeling episode occurred in the Obama era, TV viewership of the NFL dropped 20 percent. How will those same viewers, ticket buyers and merchandise purchasers respond after a steady dose of portraying them as villains out of Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
So far, players in the NBA think they can have their opinions and their millions at the same time. As one unnamed player told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, "Once we start playing basketball again, the news will turn from systemic racism to who did what in the game last night. It's a crucial time for us to be able to play and blend that and impact what's happening in our communities.”
Glad you think so, Anonymous Guy.
Funny thing about what’s happening in those aforementioned communities. So far the upset over police killing unarmed blacks hasn’t transcended to the issue of blacks killing other blacks in their communities. In 2019 the FBI reported 7,240 blacks murdered, hundreds of them unarmed or bystanders. Over 90 percent were murdered by other blacks.
In all the commotion from players marching and producing videos there hasn’t been a peep about this real systemic blight on black families. The sole concern has been police killings. And the white population of America and Canada.
Has Pandora’s Box been opened in all these sports over racism and Covid? Will the public forgive and forget being vilified? Can sports get back to its profitable ways? We’re about to find out.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). The best-selling author of Cap In Hand is also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, his next book Personal Account with Tony Comper will be available on BruceDowbigginBooks.ca this fall.