Sports & Politics Intersect: Survivors shine spotlight on sexual abuse in athletics

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• World Cup win beacon of light for France - In capturing its second men’s World Cup, the French national team is once more being heralded as a unifier across the racial divide, but also as a source of relief for a nation still reeling from terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice in recent years. Built with non-white immigrants from the rough suburbs (‘les banlieues’), the ethnic diversity of the team is a reminder of what French president Emmanuel Macron needs to do to improve the well-being of those communities. The team’s win also became a surprising source of a "feud" where French ambassador to the United States Gérard Araud was upset that “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah (who is from South Africa) joked that “Africa won the World Cup!” because of the team’s ethnic makeup.

• Trump’s toss of World Cup ball goes as you’d expect - In a press conference during their summit in Finland, President Donald Trump received an official World Cup ball from Russian president Vladimir Putin, and immediately tossed it to his wife and First Lady Melania to give to their youngest son Barron as a keepsake. If you can put aside the ongoing investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, gifting the ball to his son may still be a problem according to U.S. law. No worries, though. According to a new report, Barron’s brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, was the driving force behind the winning North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup. Maybe he’ll get a game ball when he’s in college. 

• U.S. government paid Trump’s Turnberry course for visit - State documents showed that the American government paid nearly $70,000 to the operators of the president’s Turnberry (Scotland) golf course during his two-day stay. The payments are part of a growing tab on Trump’s real estate holdings that are used for official state business.

• Larry Fedora says football is “under attack” - During ACC media day, North Carolina coach Larry Fedora said that he believed the game of football is not only tied to the success of the country, but that it is "under attack," in part due to the focus on the relationship between the sport and CTE. His comments predictably inspired backlash from some observers, with a call for his dismissal if he doesn’t see the connection between football and CTE. Yet, Fedora was defended by not only the school’s athletic director, but the dean of the arts and science school, who is one of its leading concussion researchers.

• Increase in claims could grow NFL concussion settlement - Estimates presented by lawyers representing NFL players say that the $1 billion concussion settlement could end up growing by an additional $400 million as more and more players file claims. And though U.S. District Judge Anita Brody found that there is sufficient evidence of possible fraudulent claims, she declined to assign a special investigator to look into them for the time being.

• Controversial NFL policy on national anthem on hold - Tennessee Titans defensive end Jurrell Casey said that not only would he continue to protest during the national anthem, but is willing to pay the fines for doing so. This caused the team’s management to respond to Casey, saying that it would like to talk to him about a perceived “misunderstanding” of the league’s new policy around the national anthem. Separately, the Miami Dolphins said they would be open to disciplining players who choose to protest during the anthem, which compelled the league and the NFLPA to temporarily freeze the policy just hours after the Fins’ statement. Because of the neverending debate around the protests, New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch criticized President Trump for his role in fanning the flames around them.

• Packers’ financials show NFL distributed at least $8 billion - The publicly-owned Green Bay Packers revealed its share of the NFL’s revenues  as each franchise received $255 million in 2017, totaling nearly $8.2 billion. Team president Mark Murphy says any impact from the national anthem controversy did not reflect itself in the books, though that’s also because the monies come from broadcast rights agreements put in place long before the protests began.

• Breakout Brewers’ pitcher in trouble over bad tweets  - In the latest case of “delete your tweets,” Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers was forced to answer questions about homophobic, misogynistic and racist tweets he sent back in 2011 that surfaced during his relief appearance at the MLB All-Star Game. While Major League Baseball ordered that he undergo sensitivity training, there’s a question of why America is willing to quickly forgive another white professional athlete for discriminatory expression.

• Astros star’s family connection to Washington baseball history - Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman took home MVP honors at the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., fifty years after his grandfather recruited a former Democratic Party senator to buy the second incarnation of the Washington Senators . Just like the earlier Senators, who became the Minnesota Twins, this team left D.C. to become the Texas Rangers.

• MLB expansion talks heating up again - Commissioner Rob Manfred has never been shy about potential expansion in the league as he listed several potential cities and regions for new franchises: Charlotte, Las Vegas, Nashville, Portland, Vancouver, a return to Montreal and several areas in Mexico.

• Marc Gasol, lifesaver  - During a rescue trip, Memphis Grizzlies star center Marc Gasol actually saved the life of a migrant from Cameroon who was left to die as she was drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.

• Congressman used donations for Celtics tix - Republican congressman Devin Nunes, whose gained notoriety for his relationship with President Trump, is believed to have used political donations to fund trips to Las Vegas, go on winery tours and purchase about $15,000 worth of Boston Celtics tickets, according to the Federal Election Commission and watchdog groups. And yes, he is a Celtics fan from California’s Central Valley.

• Former NHL owner in the marijuana business - Peter Pocklington, the former Edmonton Oilers owner who has been in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud, is looking raise $12.5 million for a growing cannabis company in California. (Of course, he still has to go through the SEC to do so.)

• Ex-Marine says Mets fired him for questioning military-themed apparel - Nick Francona, a former Marine and the son of Cleveland Indians manager Terry, alleged that he was fired by the New York Mets because he questioned if the proceeds for MLB’s Memorial Day-themed apparel go to charities connected to military families.

• Dodgers fans in market: No stream for you! - The longstanding TV blackout in Los Angeles between Charter-owned SportsNet LA and cable and satellite providers won’t get easier for Dodgers fans because while MLB is exploring ways to stream games within the market, the combatants in the dispute seem unwilling to talk.

• USWNT recall player who previously refused to play override shirts - Last year, Jaelene Hinkle was called up to play for the national women’s soccer team last year, but refused on the count of her religious beliefs preventing her from wearing the team’s LGBT pride shirts. Despite her views, she accepted a recall from the program, as she’ll once more play alongside openly gay teammates.

• Monorail funding gaps may halt opening of Raiders’ stadium stop - Plans to expand the Las Vegas Monorail to the Mandalay Bay by 2020 may be put on hold due to a lack of funding, which may put a huge obstacle to the opening of the Raiders’ new stadium. In the meantime, Raiders fans in Sin City can enjoy the famous song from “The Simpsons.”

This week in sports and politics history: Boston Bruin David Forbes stands trial for violence on the ice 

"I don't prosecute for political purposes. An assault is an assault whether it occurs in a parking lot, at a country club or on a hunk of ice rented by the NHL. Any county attorney worth his salt would prosecute in this case." - Hennepin County Attorney Gary Flakne on the David Forbes assault trial 

When the nature of a sport is violence, and fighting isn’t only allowed, but encouraged from the earliest levels of the game, how can a league and a justice system draw a line that separates allowable brutality and criminal assault?

This is exactly what the Minnesota courts and the NHL tried to figure out in July of ‘75 after Boston Bruins’ David Forbes struck Minnesota North Star’s Henry Boucha with the butt end of his hockey stick, severely injuring his eye. Because of Forbes’ actions, he became the first professional athlete to face criminal charges in the United States for actions that happened during the contest. 

The state charged Forbes with aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, and after 10 days, the trial ended with a hung jury and left the sports world with more questions than answers. Forbes served a 10 game suspension while Boucha was hospitalized and complained of double vision. 

Following the trial led to a debate about who should levy punishment about incidents that happen during the time in which the games are played. Former Philly Flyers coach Fred Shero believed that sports would be eliminated if these kinds of incidents were legislated in the courts instead of in the leagues. Clarence Campbell, the NHL’s president at the time, echoed Shero’s sentiment, saying “courts are not the answer. Discipline must remain with the sport.” 

Gary Flakne, the county attorney who took on the case, felt it was very much in the interest of the government to take on cases in which actual assault is in question. The history of the sport suggests that we still don’t have the answers. Thirty years after the Forbes trial, ESPN published a story about Todd Bertuzzi, who fractured three of Steve Moore’s vertebrae during a game. 

Bertuzzi pled guilty to assault causing bodily harm as a part of a plea deal that only forced him into 80 hours of community service and one year of probation. Between the two cases, there were several incidents where players received court dates for alleged crimes they committed on the ice. 

The line still has not been defined more than 40 years since Forbes intentionally took out Boucha, and the war between the league and the justice system over who controls discipline rages on.