NBA, Some MLB Teams Strike on Wednesday in Response to Jacob Blake Shooting
If they resume play on Thursday or even in three days, does it even matter?
The Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play its playoff game on Wednesday to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI. Their strike caused a domino effect that spread to other leagues.
But if they all play tomorrow or even the rest of the season do their actions on Wednesday even matter?
(By the way, the athletes did not boycott. It’s called a wildcat strike since it has to do with labor, not consumers.)
Anyway, at first, it did not bother me. They can do whatever they want. I do not care.
It did bother me when I saw these statements from Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell:
Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell: “We’re likely to play tomorrow.” But he believes the Brewers decision not to play a game today is an important moment for the team and the sport.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 27, 2020
Counsell: “Life is going to go on tomorrow. We are likely to play a baseball game tomorrow. But a big decision was made today that I think really changed a lot of these guys, and hopefully put a spotlight on some things happening.”
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) August 27, 2020
The San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners decided not to play. However:
The expectation is the Padres and Mariners will play a pair of seven-inning games beginning at 1:10 p.m. tomorrow.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) August 27, 2020
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants did not play Wednesday night. It also looks like they’ll play a doubleheader on Thursday.
The plan tomorrow is for two seven-inning games between Giants and Dodgers. The first one will start at 1 p.m.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) August 27, 2020
Just one day? If this is so important then your strike should last longer than a day. I understand these men have a job to do, but to me, it does not feel like it’s as important as they claim if they choose to sit out one game:
“Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball,” the players said. “When we take the court and represent Milwaukee and Wisconsin, we are expected to play at a high level, give maximum effort and hold each other accountable. We hold ourselves to that standard, and in this moment, we are demanding the same from our lawmakers and law enforcement.”
In a separate statement, the team’s owners said they supported the move — even though they hadn’t known about it beforehand.
“The only way to bring about change is to shine a light on the racial injustices that are happening in front of us,” they said. “Our players have done that and we will continue to stand alongside them and demand accountability and change.”
I’m struggling to find the words to express my confusion. It seems like it’s grandstanding and they’re doing it to bring attention to themselves. Plus, the shooting happened on August 23. Considering the turmoil happening in the country, why did it take three days for all these teams to do this?
If they want changes or think everything is unfair then walk off the court or ball field for more than one game. Get into the community. Get heavily involved.
Great, you get people talking for a day, but once you play again that conversation goes out the window.
Like I said, I know these sports are their jobs. But the subject appears to be something so near and dear to their hearts that they felt like they couldn’t play on Wednesday. Just one game?
You cannot change people in one day. You cannot change the way people think in one day. It’s gradual. If it means so much to you to end police brutality then you have got to stay on message all the time.
Look at what Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. This is bigger than the game?
More from Dave Roberts: “We’re baseball players. We love to play baseball. These guys are great at playing baseball, but we talk a lot about the game is bigger than all of us. No bigger issue right now than what’s going on. It’s not a political issue. …
(1)
— Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) August 27, 2020
… I understand the election is coming up. This is a human being issue. We all need to be treated the same way and a black man being shot seven times in the back, we need to be better. That just can’t happen.”
(2)
— Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) August 27, 2020
Be the change you want to see. Don’t just say words and strike for one or even two games. I keep seeing people say that silence is violence. Okay, but actions speak louder than words.
I’ll believe their sincerity more if they continue their strike.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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They are protesting the killing of a known rapist, career criminal.
Unfortunately, that is the behavior many NBA players will revert to once the NBA craters.
will revert to?
what makes you think they ever gave it up?
if recent history is an example, some continue while they play.
they are the unlucky ones that get caught.
Sean Davis
@seanmdav
·
2h
Say what you will about the NBA, NHL, and MLB, but it was really thoughtful of them to clear the decks tonight so everyone could watch Trump’s speech at the RNC instead of sports.
Right now, Tucker Carleson Tonight is outdrawing the NBA and MLB Combined.
HSN may be outdrawing them.
Like I need another reason to not be interested in the NBA or any sport for that matter. Good riddens.
Players Join Fans in Boycott of NBA
Their “Strike” will have no impact.
No one cares if the NBA just disappears.
In fact, some people will be happy when the NBA is gone.
For many of us long time NBA fans the bubble experience in Orlando has been great (outside of the juvenile slogans the players are wearing on their jerseys). The play has been terrific, the neutral court has made the games more enjoyable (less interference from the refs favoring the home team and less noise/distraction from silly in-game “entertainment”) and the early start times are pure joy.
This is all being ruined by the renewed “activism” which is a shame. The more that comes out about the events in Kenosha the more apparent it is that the police officers were in a no win situation but rushing to judgement rules the day.
any game, in any sport, played without the fans, is just an extended practice. like an in season scrimmage with the practice squad.
it sends a powerful message that we don’t miss them and never really noticed the fans anyway.
like wind-up toys the players go through all the same motions. runs are scored, points are tallied, pucks go in the net. but the emotion is absent. it’s like watching robots that were programmed to play!
Best Tweet for Last Night:
Say what you will about the NBA, NHL, and MLB, but it was really thoughtful of them to clear the decks tonight so everyone could watch Trump’s speech at the RNC instead of sports. Sean@seanmdva
Who?
I would not mess NBA in the least. Washed up jocks get affirmative degrees in education. Then they become really bad teacher-coaches, eventually going into administration, spending their career mucking up both k-12 and higher education.
We had about a hundred salesmen, selling industrial equipment. Most could not keep their zippers up, and there was endless personal drama. When we had national sales meetings, young ladies would be honored by allowing some of them to attend. They were picked in large part because one of the married salesmen, or managers wanted to get them out of town for a week of R&R.
Now, I know a hand full of ex jocks who are goo, faithful spouses and fathers, but they were the exception.
Those salesmen were mostly washed up jocks.
So some, IMO overpaid and self entitled professional athletes, have decided to take one day off? Perhaps a more effective route would be to set aside day 5% of the franchise gross revenue to support educational initiatives or even a recovery fund for small business owners?
Refusing to work is not being helpful, quite the opposite. This poorly conceived action is meant to do what? Ensure network coverage? The networks and print news have been reporting this. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear these athletes have read beyond the headline.
Check out the pictures of the NBA players taking a knee before the games. Most of them are cushioning their knee with a towel – they can’t even endure the slight pain of knee against hardwood floor for a few minutes.
Why should the owners contribute money to help people when these guys don’t seem to give any.
In all this woke NBA BLM BS, Black voices of reason are being suppressed while those with temper tantrums are being vote up.
Here is one voice from the late 80’s that ought to be heard that sums up what BLM is really saying. The great Cleavon Little, who left us far too soon, addressed this in his own life.
When commenting on if it was because he was Black that he didn’t find work for three years after Blazing Saddles, Little said, “… It is the cliche thing in terms of being Black. I don’t like to rely on that as being a reason for my not working. Because once I do that I should give it up. I should get out of it. It is too defeatist of an attitude.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alsf-Il1uak&t=349)
That perfectly sums up why BLM is destined to fail and why it is so unamerican. It is a defeatist attitude. It is a voice that says, “We aren’t winning, so you can’t either.”
Call these hopeless defeatist what they are. It’s not Black Lives Matter. It is is Black Losers MeltingDown. And that includes those millionaires in sports who think they are losers because of their skin color. Giving victory to oppression makes little or no sense at all.
If I were to run a political ad right now, I would ask, “Aren’t you tired of being called a loser by the Democrats because of your skin color so they can count on your vote in November?”
I might also like to see someone do a parody political ad in which a “Democratic politician” walks up to a black and says, “You’re a loser, Republicans are racist, can I count on your vote?” And then they get the reply, “Yes sir, master sir.”
American blacks, first by their condition of servitude, and then by virtue of their subculture, have been wholly dependent upon white people for 400 years. They want it handed to them.
I am going to partially disagree with you. I worked extensively in the south (alabama, mississippi, Georgia, S Carolina) in the mid 1970’s. Most of the black families I met, were proud of what they accomplished in spite of the discrimination they faced. Many young black individuals kept the lessons learned from their elders and became very productive citizens, same as their parents.
However, there was a developing sub-culture that was blaming whitey for all their problems, behavioral problems, acceptance of the criminal activity, and/ or encouragement of the criminal behavior etc.
it is that subculture the dominates the BLM movement.
The video of Cleavon Little agrees with your point.
My question to those who are enticed by the rhetoric of the BLM movement is … “Why is it with Democratics running Hollywood, large urban cities run by Democrats, schools with overwhelmingly Democratic supporting teachers teaching the left’s propaganda, and a media totally supporting and beholding to the Democrats and advancing the left’s agenda, the option for you is to loot, riot, and destroy? Are things really that hopeless?”
I would really love a reporter to ask the people in those crowds that question.
Biden has already made the political ad you wish for when he told Charlemagne Tha God “if you have a problem choosing between Trump and me, you ain’t Black”
Thank you Joe.
Back in the day, the NBA had
Well-integrated teams playing team offense and team defense:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiWzpL_bxKM
And artistry on the court:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKwXf0EQLhU
And adult attitudes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rZiTQE5WJ0
They can protest by not playing, there are thousands out there that would gladly take their jobs at 1/10 of what they get paid. I’ll have my own protest by avoiding their games on tv or in person.
if this had happened before free agency i maybe could understand. but in 2020 it just rings hollow. i remember stories from the 60s about ball players working real jobs in the offseason. some sold cars, some sold furniture others ran small businesses. i even heard of one player that dug graves in the offseason. it was possible to think that they really connected with and understood working people. however, that’s no longer the case. they are as removed and distant as hollywood actors. if you drive a lambo and live in a multi-million dollar home (surrounded by gates and guards), you’re every bit the entertainer as cruise and pitt.
I was unable to watch the games I was planning on watching last night. I used that time to cancel my MLB TV subscription.
If the owners had any gonads, they would call off the season right now and declare the players contracts to be null and void. Yeah, that’ll happen. Those limp-wristed toss pots will allow reality to destroy their league first.
The networks should also rip up their contracts with the NBA and sue for a refund.
Let’s demand “mob justice” before the legal system has time to do it’s thing?
Let’s shill for a Marxist organization that wants to tear down American society?
Screw you, morons. Screw you.
As American as baseball (now crossed out) and apple pie. I need to get back into the meme business now that the pesky “sudden cardiac death” thingie has been taken off the table.
https://twitter.com/juliebosman/status/1298758686798688257
read the whole thread but basically this is critical
and this
https://twitter.com/DanODonnellShow/status/1298764397087723522
side not…PLEASE add bbcode toolbar to post section so we don’t have to handtype the codes
dmacleo:
Yes! I forgot that the audio from the video seems to indicate that the police officers were yelling at Blake to drop his knife.
The followin is a combination of what I wrote in two comments in another Legal Insurrection thread:
I think this is what might have happened:
1. The police officers knew Blake had a knife in his hand while they were scuffling with him.
2. The police officers knew that there were kids in the car and were concerned that Blake would do harm to the kids.
3. When Blake was diving into the car, with the knife in his hand, the police officers shot Blake to protect the kids.
4. The knife was found on the floorboard because that is where Blake dropped it as a result of being shot.
From
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/24/us/kenosha-police-shooting-jacob-blake/index.html
From
https://bluelivesmatter.blue/did-jacob-blake-have-a-weapon-we-examine-the-facts/
And ditto on your request, dmacleo: PLEASE add bbcode toolbar to post section so we don’t have to handtype the codes.
More: The Preview button does not work for me on Safari, Firefox or Chrome.
Might want to update the video of the day:
Buddy Holly – Doesn’t Matter Any More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KQRpdkYz2g
Who cares about pro basketball. Totally correct – Who Cares?
Because the death spiral for the NBA and MLB wasn’t happening fast enough.
Worth a read.
https://www.outkick.com/career-politicians-who-created-systemic-unfairness-are-playing-lebron-and-his-disciples-for-suckers/
I for one am proud of the NBA cancelling the season because of the genocidal treatment of the Uyghurs at the hands of the Chinese Communists.
What’s that? This is actually about Black lives matter? Right on! It’s about time someone took a stand against the weekly slaughter in places like Chicago of Blacks at the hand of other Blacks!
Huh? What’s that again? This is really about the shooting of a child rapist and career sex offender who was going for a weapon? Inconceivable! One would think NAMBLA is running the NBA!
Never standing the way of Dumb. You can’t win as Dumb doesn’t understand.
I would rather play with a Grizzly bear cub than get between a drug addict and their bottom. I guess the “don’t crap where you eat” advice never made its way to the black community.
Here’s an idea. Why don’t the owners move their teams to China? Lebron would LOVE that idea! Or since fans don’t matter, reincorporate in Switzerland and declare themselves to be global virtual league. They could even sneak in some CGI to spice up the instant replays. Should be a big hit in Vegas.
This is/was a completely meaningless gesture. If the players sacrifice the game and sacrifice their salary and pay a big penalty under their contract rules, then it says something. If they just take a night off and put their fists in the air, it’s a big nothing done by a bunch of coddled spoiled elitist athletes trying to regain some street cred. My guess is that they will be out nothing.
They are all expendable. There are many, many baseball, basketball or soccer players waiting to take their place and we will enjoy watching them play just as much. Leave politics out of my sports!!!
guess they caved and are gonna play. racism has been ended…..
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1299012762002231299
Let’em strike. All of them: NBA,MLB, NFL. Once their paychecks dwindle, it’ll be interesting to see what they say, and do, then.
Couldn’t care less if their paychecks dwindle to Zero, Zilch, Niente, Nada or what they will say at that time. Certainly don’t care about whatever they will do. Hockey is still with us on both sides of the Northern border.
These are overpaid sports figures making millions of dollars a year for doing something that normal people do for free to relax.
And now, they’re telling us that they suffer from discrimination?
I know a lot of people who would like to suffer from millions of dollars a year for playing games.
Boycotting your own game and denying all those that currently support you 100% (the owners, other players, the fans) from seeing you play…..yeah….you really got a lot of people to come to your side. A one day tantrum does nothing….
I and millions of others want to watch MLB, not BLM.
The longer the teams fail to recognize this dirt-simple idea, the less money they will have remaining when/if they begin to play ball again.
With all the cancellations, I guess Baseball Lives don’t Matter.
Cancel culture cancelling themselves. Magnificent.
What’s an NBA, an MLB or an NFL? Everyone should have one sporting even to enjoy and I still have hockey and the NHL, which is a good thing(TM) because I couldn’t care less about whatever the outfit is that encompasses those who play pasture pool professionally (is that the PPPA?).
Loved watching sports all my 80 plus years but no more. Why watch millionaires bitch about being victims.