Sports & Politics Intersect: Minor leaguers dealt major blow

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Protests over police shooting rock Kings-Hawks - Demonstrators’ anger over the police shooting of an innocent, unarmed black man in his family’s backyard in Sacramento spilled over from City Hall to Golden 1 Center, as protesters formed human chains to shut down entrances to the arena before Thursday’s Kings-Hawks game. The tactics worked as security locked the doors to the arena and delayed the game, and roughly only 2,000 ticket holders out of 17,000 were on hand by tip-off. 

Before the game, Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé was pulled out of a dinner with Hawks owner Tony Ressler to survey the crowd, later telling USA Today Sports, “I saw the crowd outside. I saw the police standing there. And I had different, complex emotions, because I have boys. I have a boy right now, actually, in the military. And I have young boys, and the thought that your boy could be out in the yard and somebody shoots him, how horrific is that?” 

After the game, Ranadivé took to the court himself, surrounded by team officials and players, to address the fans about their shared concerns for the community, expressing sorrow for the family and showing respect for the peaceful protest, noting “this isn’t just business as usual.”

Sadness, but business as usual for the Pelicans and Saints after owner Tom Benson’s passing - When Pelicans and Saints owner Tom Benson passed last week, you could already hear the whispers of what it meant for both teams, especially after a contentious 2015 court battle saw members of the Benson family suing over the patriarch’s mental fitness as he changed established plans of handing off team duties from his daughter and granddaughters to his third wife, Gayle. Both clubs, however, promise the transition will be “seamless,” and Mrs. Benson is already confirmed she will attend the NFL owners meetings in Orlando next week. Despite these assurances, there is still skepticism of how long the Pelicans will last in New Orleans. 

U.K.’s anger with Russia spills over to the World Cup - Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson drew comparisons between Russian president Vladimir Putin hosting the upcoming World Cup to Hitler hosting the 1936 Olympics in order to improve the authoritarian leader’s image around the world. Buckingham Palace announced last week that "no plans have been made" for anyone from the royal family to attend the global event, and the U.K. Foreign Office issued travel advisories for footie fans to be "aware of the possibility of anti-British sentiment or harassment" as the two countries continue to fight over the public poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter on British soil. 

Michigan State president goes on the attack - Still stinging over the continuing criticism of Michigan State University’s handling of convicted pedophile Larry Nassar (just this week, it was revealed that Nassar’s longtime boss at MSU did not believe the allegations against the doctor), former Michigan governor and now-university interim president John Engler blasted an ESPN reporter at a men’s college basketball game, saying, “Look at the sexual assaults you guys are dealing with as a company. It’s pretty serious. In many ways, their company is one of the worst offenders in the nation.”

Mavs continue to face criticism of misogynistic front office - Stating “I’m using my name because I’m still not sure the Mavericks get it,” former Dallas Mavericks employee Melissa Weishaupt penned a first-person piece for Sports Illustrated calling out owner Mark Cuban for what she saw in her time with the club, while reports have surfaced elsewhere about an employee regularly watching porn at his desk and a general toxic, abusive work environment. 

Panthers’ price pushes out previous bidders - A group including Fanatics owner Michael Rubin, Stephen Curry and Sean Combs has dropped out of the race for the Carolina Panthers as bidding could pass the $2.5 billion threshold. 

XFL has a new rival - While the motives behind Charlie Ebersol forming a second alternative football league with Vince McMahon’s XFL already announced aren’t clear, the newly formed Alliance of American Football already seems to be beating McMahon at his own game, with both an earlier launch date set for 2019 and broadcast deal with CBS inked.

States play the odds waiting for SCOTUS ruling - Bettors still await the Supreme Court’s ruling on legalized sports gambling outside of the current narrow parameters. West Virginia Lottery General Counsel Danielle Boyd says the state’s casinos could be ready to take bets 90 days after the ruling if the current law is overturned. 

Basketball apologies in the Bay Area go to the ballot box - In June, San Franciscans will vote on Proposition I, which calls for an apology to their neighbors across the bay in Oakland over the relocation of the Warriors. The group behind the measure, the Good Neighbor Coalition, hopes passage of the proposition will force NBA commissioner Adam Silver to reconsider his approval and send the message that only the team’s owners and San Francisco politicians want the club to leave Oakland. 

Madison Square Garden could lose tax breaks over Liberty move - Furious over the proposed move of the New York Liberty to Westchester, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer told owner James Dolan the arena could lose its $50 million tax abatement. As one of the WNBA’s original teams, the Liberty drew more than 10,000 fans to half of their home games last season while the proposed new home at the Westchester County Center only has seating capacity for 5,000. 

Uneven pay, on and off the court - It wasn’t until 2007 that Wimbledon offered the same prize money for men’s and women’s champions, but in an interview with Panorama over unequal pay in the U.K., tennis legend Martina Navratilova accused the BBC of paying fellow pundit John McEnroe 10 times the amount of her compensation package. 

Uniquely Canadian unit of measurement for small-scale marijuana farms - As Canada finalizes its regulations over legal marijuana farming, a curious unit of measurement can be found in the proposal: a plot the size “of a 200 square meter plant canopy area relative to a standard North American sized hockey rink,” or around from the blue line to blue line on half the rink, giving a whole new meaning to the neutral zone trap. 

Hockey says goodbye to a barrier-breaker - The first professional player of color, Larry Kwong, passed away this week at age 94. Kwong, a Chinese-Canadian, found his way to the pros after playing for the Canadian Army team during World War II, and was only given one shift by the New York Rangers when they finally called him up at the end of the 1948 season. 

College esports conferences over before they begin? - Much was made of the Pac-12’s announcement to form its own esports league to compete alongside other sports offerings in 2016, but two years later worries over administration and enforcing amateurism rules have spelled “GAME OVER” for the push. 

This week in sports and politics history: Mays and Mantle forgiven 

''Like Willie, I know we never did anything wrong. Mr. Kuhn felt he did the right thing. He warned me that he would ban me, so I took the job with my eyes wide open. I know it was hard for Mr. Ueberroth to do this, but he felt it had to be done. I'm very happy today.'' - Mickey Mantle on Peter Ueberroth lifting his ban on baseball

Thirty-three years ago, baseball legends Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle saw their bans from Major League Baseball lifted by then-new commissioner Peter Ueberroth. 

Both Mays and Mantle were banned from the game by Ueberroth’s predecessor, Bowie Kuhn, for appearing in ads and promotional events for casinos. Mays was working on a 10-year, $100,000 per year contract with Bally’s while Mantle had a similar contract with Claridge, also making $100,000 per year. Mays was suspended in 1979 while Mantle was suspended four years later in 1983.

Uberroth’s decisions on gambling didn’t come to an end with Mays and Mantle. Just four years and two days after reinstating the Hall of Fame sluggers, he announced that the MLB was beginning an investigation into the allegations about Pete Rose’s gambling habits that would end with Rose being placed on baseball's permanently ineligible list in August 1989. 

Gambling issues are still a part of the pro baseball conversation today. The SCOTUS still has not ruled on New Jersey’s fight to legalize gambling in the state. Monmouth Park largely wants the Supreme Court to rule in its favor to help turn around the horse racing industry, but the ruling impacts gambling on NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL and, yes, MLB games.