Sports & Politics Intersect: Mr. Jones goes to Washington

“I am pledging $1,000,000 to black women in Alabama to start IT startups. [...] Black women really came out and supported Doug Jones.” - Charles Barkley on "Inside The NBA" 

On Dec. 12, a Senate race that had received a healthy amount of national attention came to a close when Democratic candidate Doug Jones won an extremely tight race over Roy Moore, the controversial former judge turned GOP Senate candidate.  

Moore’s past was placed under the microscope when allegations that he had improper sexual contact with underaged girls in the '70s surfaced. The look into his past revealed troubling politics that included his belief that any homosexual behavior should be illegal and that Muslim men and women should not be allowed to run for public office.  

Even with Moore’s shakey past, Jones was only able to win by the skin of his teeth — but the win prompted celebrations from around the nation and in the sports community.  

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who has been very vocal about his feelings for President Donald Trump, tweeted “Roll Tide!” and “War Eagle” after Jones’ victory was announced. Bo Jackson also took to Twitter after the win congratulating Jones on his win and wishing Jones and his wife a happy 25th anniversary.  

Charles Barkley, who was very vocal in his support of Jones throughout the campaign, announced that he would pledge $1,000,000 to black women in Alabama who need funding for IT startups. Barkley is from Leeds, Alabama and was so supportive of Jones that he gave a speech at a Jones rally the day before the election urging his home state to do the right thing. While Barkley’s plan to donate is admirable, his own political past has been put under the microscope for questionable comments about racial issues in the country.

Despite the vote and calls from both President Trump and Steve Bannon, Roy Moore still has not conceded the win to Jones.

- Phillip Barnett

“Sexual harassment for women in sports journalism is a huge problem, but it’s one we have been taught from day one comes with the territory.” - Jen Sterger, former sports reporter.  

On Tuesday, Jami Cantor, a former NFL Network wardrobe stylist, revealed in an amended complaint the names of individuals who she alleges sexually harassed her while employed by the company. Among the accused are Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor, Warren Sapp, Heath Evans, Eric Davis, Donovan McNabb—all former NFL players—and Eric Weinberger, a then-executive producer at the network who is now president of the Bill Simmons Media Group. By outing these individuals, Cantor has effectively brought the #MeToo movement to the world of sports.  

While it's worth noting that being accused is not the same thing as being guilty, some of her accusations have already been substantiated. On Wednesday, Warren Sapp confirmed that he did give Cantor a sex toy as a Christmas gift, but claims he did it without ill intent and because he thought "they was cute." Regardless of the validity of Cantor's claims, at the very least, the story is yet another public embarrassment for the NFL. The league is aware of this as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement saying that they're looking into the matter.  

"We want to make sure that all of our employees, whether at the NFL Network or at the league office or at clubs, are working in a safe and comfortable environment.," Goodell told reporters on Wednesday. "Those are issues that are important to us. Any time that doesn’t exist, we are going to make sure that we deal with that very quickly and very seriously."
The issue of toxic masculinity in the workplace isn't limited to the NFL Network. On Thursday, The Boston Globe published a damning expose that revealed the same type of work culture at ESPN. A spokesperson for the worldwide leader in sports defended the company without making a denial.

“We work hard to maintain a respectful and inclusive culture at ESPN,” Katina Arnold, an ESPN spokeswoman, told the Boston Globe. “It is always a work in progress, but we’re proud of the significant progress we’ve made in developing and placing women in key roles at the company in the boardroom, in leadership positions throughout ESPN, and on air.”

- Fidel Martinez

“The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!” - President Donald Trump in a tweet describing the divide between the two sides of the NFL player protests  

In a digital world where literally every company and person on the planet is competing for attention from everyone else, measuring influence has become an industry of its own. As we take a look back at the year, there are certain themes and discussions that continued to reoccur that make it a little easier to discern which figures had the most influence in the sports world. One of those figures was undoubtedly President Donald Trump, who just topped Sports Business Journal’s 50 Most Influential list.  

President Trump’s name was a part of the biggest sports story of the year — Colin Kaepernick’s inability to find a job for the 2017 NFL season due in large part for his protests in the previous season. But that wasn’t the only way POTUS found himself in sports stories. He spent an insane amount of time on golf courses and played with the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and Dustin Johnson.  

Trump’s headlines also included public spats with the NBA. Mark Cuban, Steph Curry, and LaVar Ball were all subjects on Trump’s Twitter account, while many, many others mentioned the president in response to a number of his comments.  

President Trump’s battle with the NFL didn’t stop with Kaepernick, as he also made several comments about this season’s NFL player protests and what he’d like to see done about it. At the center of it all, is, and will continue to be, Kaepernick, who, as a juxtaposition, was given Sports Illustrated’s Ali Legacy Award.  

Both President Trump and Colin Kaepernick were incredibly influential in driving a lot of the discourse about how and why we talk about social issues in this country. Both men, coming from completely different standpoints fought, for better or for worse, for what they believed in and saw their stories intersect several times over in the last 365 days.  

Trump’s boisterous approach saw him jump in and out of the conversation when he saw best fit and riled up those who agreed and disagreed alike. Kaepernick quietly continued to donate the money he promised to pledge while supporting those in his community who needed fighting for while quietly fighting for himself against the NFL.

Heading into 2018 with neither of their asks from this year coming anywhere near a resolution, we can expect both men to continue to dominate headlines for the next 12 months.

- Phillip Barnett

"We need to find a way to put aside our differences and find common ground in communicating. Is it wrong to hope for a better world?" - Lindsey Vonn, American Olympic skier

Olympic athlete Lindsey Vonn has learned the hard way that we truly live in divisive times. On Wednesday, Vonn wrote a lengthy post on Instagram addressing the backlash she faced after saying that she was representing the United States, not Donald Trump, at the Olympics during a CNN interview.

"It is hurtful to read comments where people are hoping I break my neck or that God is punishing me for being 'anti-Trump,'" she revealed.

That Trump supporters are actively wishing a serious injury upon Vonn is nothing short of frightening. Even more alarming is that Fox News appears to have been partially involved in orchestrating that backlash. The conservative news outlet reported on Vonn injuring her back and suggested that her anti-Trump comments might have been a contributing factor, which is of course ridiculous. According to Newsweek, Fox News later changed the suggestive headline on the story and deleted a tweet that promoted it, but at that point, the damage had been done.

Despite the vitriol, Vonn is no less deterred to represent her country at the upcoming Winter Olympics.

"I am going to take the next two months to focus on what I can do and right now that is competing for my country," she added in her Instagram post. "In doing that, I will be hoping that we Americans can still be that 'shining city on a hill.'"

- Fidel Martinez

“You thrill us. You torture us. Together, we are Giants. And, today, once again, we are champions.” - Late San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee during the 2014 Giants championship parade  

On Tuesday, December 12, San Francisco mayor Ed Lee tragically passed away following a heart attack. Lee was 65.  

The news of Lee’s passing was met with love and reminiscing from the sports world. Lee has been affectionately called San Francisco’s No. 1 sports fan and was a man who genuinely loved the Giants, 49ers, and Warriors. Since Lee became mayor in 2011, he has seen the Giants win two World Series titles, the Warriors win two NBA Finals and the 49ers reach a Super Bowl many felt they should have won.  

Lee was also crucial in helping the Warriors break ground on the Chase Center, the team’s new arena that is set to open doors for the 2019-20 NBA season. While Lee wasn’t responsible for the 49ers deciding to leave for Santa Clara, the team did leave San Francisco’s city limits on his watch, something that will forever be tied to his legacy.
However, he will be remembered fondly by the sports community as an enthusiastic, knowledgeable sports fan who rooted passionately for The City.

- Phillip Barnett

Of Note:

• Even when not directly involving himself with sports, President Trump’s name never strays far from the world. Earlier in the week, Stacia Robitaille, wife of Hockey Hall of Famer, Luc Robitaille, said that the former real estate magnate once made aggressive moves towards her when her husband played with the New York Rangers. Her revelation came after three women came forward on NBC’s "Megyn Kelly Today" with allegations of sexual harassment by Trump.

• Former UCLA basketball player LiAngelo Ball claims that he was compelled into thanking the President in his apology statement by his former school. Ball told "The Breakfast Club" that “If they didn’t tell me to do it, it wouldn’t have been in there, to be honest.”

• Holding a conference call to talk about Patagonia’s response to the controversial measure to shrink the Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke barred Outside Magazine from joining. Why? Because the magazine, which endorsed his nomination to his current post, painted him as a ‘fly-fishing novice’ in its recent profile of him.

• The Boston Globe’s renowned Spotlight team has been publishing a series about racism in its metropolitan region, digging into uneasy truths and the perception by those outside of "The Hub." With a specific callout to its sports culture, some of the stats uncovered by the team showed that less than 2 percent of fans who attended games at Fenway Park (home of the Red Sox) and Gillette Stadium (home of the Patriots) were black.

• The lack of diversity isn’t just an issue in the stands or just in the Boston area. It has been a longstanding issue in the NFL when it comes to team ownership. With the protests during the national anthem, the Players Coalition’s advances and prodding from the White House, the league’s racial disparities have come to light with just two owners/chairpersons of minority descent and few minorities holding top executive positions.

• The protests are the reason why a New Orleans Saints season-ticket owner decided to sue the team. Lee Dragna hadn’t attended a game since the home opener on Sep. 17 where he said unruly behavior from fans arose in response to their protests. Dragna said that “the Saints created that behavior by condoning (the protests).” Whether one feels the protests have ruined the fan experience is subjective, but when it comes to the television product, that has been much more impacted by the quality of Thursday Night Football than raised fists and kneeling.

• Rolling Stone profiled the social awareness and activism of the Seattle Seahawks in recent seasons, notably regarding anthem protests, Michael Bennett’s incident with Las Vegas police and the racial tension in the city itself.

• The Democratic race for Nevada’s next governor has an interesting debate topic: the development of the new Las Vegas home for the Oakland Raiders. Where both candidates agree on most issues concerning the state, they are on opposing sides when it comes to the stadium plan. Steve Sisolak, who is the chair of the Clark County Board of Commissioners, backs the plan in hopes it would become an economic engine for the city. However, Chris Giunchigliani, who is a member of the board, was the lone dissenter in the vote that sweetened the deal for the Raiders’ move.

• With the Raiders’ impending arrival and the first season of the Vegas Golden Knights underway, pro sports continue to grow in Sin City. The relocated WNBA franchise, the San Antonio Stars, announced its new identity as the Las Vegas Aces. The team, which is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, will plays its home schedule at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

• Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center owner Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly stashed money in a bank that the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned for illegal activities. Prokhorov, who purchased the Nets in 2010, allegedly moved money around in 23 different accounts via ‘front men’ with FBME Bank Ltd., a bank that has been accused of money laundering, finding terrorism and other crimes. The Russian oligarch sold a 49 percent stake in the Nets to Joe Tsai, a e-commerce magnate who is seen as a "boon to the entire league."

• The Nets’ co-tenant, the New York Islanders, submitted its bid to build a new arena in Long Island’s Belmont Park to the Empire State Development Corporation. The long-awaited plans for a new 18,000-seat arena are competing against separate submission from MLS franchise, NYCFC, for its own 26,000-seat soccer stadium. The soccer club has been searching for a permanent home since its inception in 2015, where it has played its home games at Yankee Stadium.

• In recent years, NHL teams looking to fund new arenas had used Kansas City and Las Vegas as leverage against their home cities in order to strike deals with their local and state/provincial governments. With Pittsburgh Penguins owner and legend Mario Lemiuex admitting to said practice, it appears that the Calgary Flames can also apply the tactic, thanks to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta’s interest in bringing an NHL franchise to the 4th-largest city in the U.S.

• Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk refuted reports that he is trying to sell the team. The murmurs of a sale came from an ongoing ‘routine refinancing’ of the team’s debt, which also inspired rumors of trading Erik Karlsson out of Canada’s capital city.

• Ten years ago this week, the Mitchell Report was released, implicating 85 Major League Baseball players and every single franchise in the rampant use of performance enhancing drugs and anabolic steroids. The ramifications are still being felt in the present day as several named players who were Hall of Fame-worthy have been kept out of Cooperstown.

 - Jason Clinkscales

For the record books: This week in sports politics history

"I acknowledge that in the past I have, on occasion, made insensitive remarks which I now realize hurt others. On those few occasions, it was my mouth but not my heart speaking." - Marge Schott, former owner of the Cincinnati Reds  

This week marks the 25th anniversary of Marge Schott publicly apologizing for making racist comments that largely disparaged African-Americans during a deposition stemming from a wrongful termination lawsuit brought on by Tim Sabo, then the Reds' controller.  

"I know in my heart that I am not a racist or a bigot," Schott said in the statement, which was reprinted in its entirety by the New York Times.  

"As a minority person myself—a woman owner in the male baseball world—I have been on the receiving end of subtle and not-so-subtle discrimination," she added. "Therefore, I am sensitive about comments which can hurt others."

Schott ultimately won the lawsuit, though Sabo's assertions would eventually be proven to be true. Other disparaging comments about different minority groups by Schott surfaced soon thereafter. Facing a suspension from baseball for her derogatory comments, Schott sold the Reds in 1999 and died in 2004 at the age of 75.