WASHINGTON – Just after noon on Election Day, after voting where the NBA Wizards and NHL Capitals play, Mary Pittman came out through one of the glass gates of the arena. promoting the basketball team, signed on the edge in black ink.
“No rows, ” said Pittman on Tuesday’s vote. “No waiting. No confusion. No problem. “
At a time when athletes are embracing activism like never before, refusing to pay attention to the unfounded warning made two years ago through a television speaker such as “shut up and haggle,” there is a live symbolism in the widespread use of arenas and stadiums as voters. . The places of registration and voting.
If America’s playing fields were ever far from politics – Colin Kaepernick, whose 33rd birthday was Tuesday, saw his band kneel to draw attention to police brutality and systemic racism that contribute to his prestige as “former NFL quarterback” – they have a fertile floor for such statements in 2020.
“Athletes, like everyone else, have a right to have an opinion,” Pittman said, “but I don’t have to agree with that. “
And surely it’s perfect,” said Ish Smith, the Wizards baseman who signed Pittman’s cap.
“I enjoyed and had a good reputation the way we have Array . . . we were to communicate about certain things that, in the past, were uncomfortable. That says a lot. It says how far we’ve come as athletes. And we’re going to keep growing, we’re going to evolve,” Smith said.
“Sports and politics, other people stay away,” he said, “now they’re intertwining. “
In fact, this intersection has never been more pronounced than it is now, as it manifests itself in messages on the courts and jerseys of the NBA season. Or strikes organized by players in this league and followed by others, from tennis to hockey. Or the unwinding of a black ribbon that pierced the Washington Nationals and new York Yankees before kneeling in unseeded in the first game of the major league season.
“When he played, he never wondered to the players and the coaches, perhaps never; rarely, about politics and voting,” said Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “But times are different. .
Tuesday, meanwhile, that rare day in America without a board.
No competition. No internships. Nothing (except a deadline for boring NFL exchanges).
Part of that was due to the coronavirus pandemic: the 2020-2021 NBA and NHL seasons would be in full swing, but the schedule delays of their previous seasons pushed back the coming seasons, and some of this was due to Election Day. The NFL and Major League Soccer have ordered everyone to take a day off. In addition, the NCAA has banned all premier league groups from playing or training schools.
However, you feel the presence of the game.
Athletes can “encourage others to pay attention to others, to unite and unite, than to divide,” said Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores. “I think it’s vital for a lot of players. I think they need more for this world. “
There have been large-scale nonpartisan efforts to “take the vote” supported by the players, groups and leagues themselves, adding the “More Than a Vote” group of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, formed shortly after police kill George Floyd, Minneapolis and Breona Taylor in Louisville.
There were also athletes – and former athletes – who set out to let others know which candidate, match or position they had: President Donald Trump’s endorsement tweeted through golfer Jack Nicklaus and footballer Brett Favre; Meeting address by former Vice President Joe Biden through Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers; Biden’s challenging phone calls through Olympic figure skating medalist Michelle Kwan. In August, two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry gave the impression with his wife, Ayesha, and their two daughters in a video in which he approves Biden at the Democratic National Convention.
It is an environment that has led Wizards escort Bradley Beal, Tennessee Titans supporter Will Compton, NASCAR driving force Bubba Wallace and others to proudly notice that they were voting for the first time. And it led WNBA players Tamika Catchings and Chiney Ogwumike to register as voting agents. And it led Oklahoma City Thunder game creator Chris Paul to sign up for about 2,500 more people on a march to a polling place in North Carolina. And it led deep Rodney McLeod and some Eagles teammates to inspire voter turnout by driving a double-decker bus through Philadelphia.
Part of that enthusiasm, of course, is the result of the stimulation of Trump, who has strongly criticized nonviolent protests through Kaepernick and other players and caused more athletes and the afterlife to skip classic champions’ visits to the White House.
“Certainly, there are enthusiasts who take a step back: “All we have to do is watch the sport. We don’t need to worry about politics,” said Len Elmore, a former NBA player who teaches at Columbia University. course on athlete activism and social justice. “But it is the same other people who will reject the perception of racism that exists and permeation of all our lives. “
In Cleveland, Ian Crawford, who wore an Indian MLB hat while voting at the NBA Cavaliers Arena, said it all for athletes voicing their opinion on the big issues.
“I don’t necessarily know if, ‘Oh, LeBron says that, so I’m going to do what LeBron says he does,'” however, he pulls out other reviews and puts you in a situation,” Crawford said. they’re a little scrawny and (the) kind of thing ‘sticking to the sport’ is ridiculous. “
Wallace, NASCAR’s only full-time driving force that is black, was discovered on a twitter back-and-forth with Trump in July, which he called Tuesday “thrown into political fire,” and related to his voting resolution.
Wallace believes athletes will now be heard.
“You can’t do it once, ” he said. ” It’s definitely anything that’s going to go on. And I continue to inspire other athletes to continue exercising their rights, their platforms, their voices.
As warriors escort Damion Lee put it, “These are the moments when everyone is in a position for this. It’s not a moment; it’s a movement. “