By Lewis Flanagan III
STATEMENT GAMES
Nothing is more frustrating to a loyal sports fan than a team unable to regroup, or make the managerial, mid-game, or strategic adjustments required to win. All too often, the fine line between the field and those in the winner’s circle can be attributed to just that.
The last year, and all of its drama therein have afforded the Black athlete an opportunity to have a hand in determining just what the “Normal” in “The New Normal” will really be and mean to the future of American athletics.
The NCAA and each of the nation’s largest professional sports leagues have very long and documented histories of discrimination against African Americans, and in so-doing have sentenced themselves to torture by the very identity-politics that they now claim has no place in sports.
It is for that very reason that those who would like to question the need for discussions of identity politics (or politics at all, for that matter) in sports.
It was almost exactly a year ago, when the COVID-19 strain of the Coronavirus laid siege on the American consciousness; sports first. Despite the negative impact of such a unique interruption to what we then considered regularly scheduled programing, it was also the sports industry that became the catalyst and symbol of our national resolve to fight this horrible pandemic and return to some sort of normalcy.
NBA TAKES A STAND, THEN STANDS DOWN
The unforgettable reaction of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to the immediate suspension of all NBA games (including the very one he was watching from his courtside seat) became synonymous with that of the country at large. Cuban also quickly became the face of the league’s stand against racial injustice in policing after the murder of George Floyd.
The Milwaukee Bucks did what no team had ever done before; electing to sit out of a game in solidarity with those protesting the murder of Jacob Blake, a 29-year old Black man, in Wisconsin.
Eventually the entire NBA universe, which had been suppressed to the confines of what would come to be known as “The Bubble” would rally around the cause championed by so many of the league’s most prominent Black players.
Phrases like “Black Lives Matter,” and other calls for interracial harmony were littered across the NBA canvass, but the sentiment well seemed to run dry over the off-season, giving way to a more “traditional” feeling product.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver who once stood as an outlier among professional league executives, has fallen eerily silent; even in the wake of criticism of very rigid and, frankly sensitive officiating this season. Technical fouls have been issued with reckless abandon this season, and most of those whose participation and effect on game outcomes have been Black players.
Is this a compensatory effort to push the pendulum the other way? And how will a move back toward the middle of the political road help, or hurt the NBA?
STEALING HOME
While few were paying attention, Major League Baseball elected to absorb Negro League Baseball’s history and achievements after decades of turning a blind eye. While many may see the move as one of progress, it is yet another example of a created identity framework, destroyed by its creator; only when it was convenient.
So many of the figures that will benefit the MLB going forward, lived and died without enjoying a moment of respect, or simple consideration during their careers.
That is criminal.
Though I would absolutely, under no terms, argue against the worthiness of those who paved
the way for all diasporic players that would follow in their footsteps, I cannot help but acknowledge the disappointment felt in knowing just how many would not receive their roses while they were here.
NOT FAIR LEAGUE
No league has had more damage control to do in light of the current landscape than the National Football League. “The Shield” made a concerted effort to lean on the flag and performative false patriotism, in the face of an outcry for basic civil rights. In the after math of Floyd’s murder, and the actions of Trump-supporting Capital rioters on January 6 , 2021, the stench of the league’s original hard stance reeks so badly, that they have simply offered their half-hearted mea-culpa and chosen to ignore the gravity of the decisions made when privilege was certain to trump justice just a few weeks ago.
Had NFL owners only understood what a glasshouse carnival they had turned the shield into.
Proving that the league has little sincere interest in righting the shipwreck that has become their image in the eyes of African–Americans at large, two of the NFL’s biggest offseason headlines have been that both of Texas’ Black starting quarterbacks needed to “know their places,” or face future uncertainty.
Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott has out-earned his salary from the first second he took to the field. It was Prescott’s youth and value per dollar that made his rise to stardom, and an NFL Rookie of the Year award, what it was.
The Cowboys got the benefit of a young player looking to prove himself worthy of the role that he was thrust into. Five seasons after being selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, Prescott the second he went down with a season-ending ankle injury in week five of the 2020 season.
Though many top quarterbacks’ names were thrown around in the free agency discussion, Cowboys Owner and General Manager Jerry Jones chose to acquiesce to Prescott, giving them some chance of making good on the potential playoff window ahead of the team.
Just down Interstate 45 things have been more than tenuous between the Houston Texans and their starting play-caller, DeShaun Watson. After pinning one arm behind the ball slinger by trading away Houston’s most talented player in wideout DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona, the Texans front office allowed a series of terrible administrative and personnel decisions to turn into the hall-marks of a franchise in premature decline.
Chief among the laundry list of unforgivable sins committed by the Texans, was the broken promises of involvement in hiring decisions that were reportedly offered to Watson, but never made good. Feeling abandoned by the only NFL team he has ever known, DeShaun Watson has threatened to sit out the 2021-22 season if he is not granted a trade to another team. The Texans have publicly stated that Watson will be their quarterback in the coming season, but all indications point to a stand-off between the two, the likes of which we have never seen before.
Adding insult to injury, a Houston-area attorney has recently come forward with accusations of sexual impropriety against Watson. Watson has publicly denied the allegations, vowing that the attorney responsible for the filing will regret his involvement in what the 25-year-old characterizes as character assassination.
Neither of these situations, nor the issues they bring up can be adequately discussed and entered into greater discussion on future architecture, unless we all vow to take our heads out of the sand, and become as enveloped as fan and support bases, as those who have come to be the faces of most pro sports leagues.
This is the fourth quarter of what could be Black America’s best opportunity to assert itself as the consumer (thus political) force that it is, but sadly could still be. The difference between the promise of a prosperous tomorrow depends on what is done with every second until the final buzzer. Can we (all) get our heads back in the game? How many times will we allow them to lecture us on the fact that it’s all business before we get down to it, rather than bouncing around the surface issues, and take our place at the tables that we hold up? Failure to pick up the ball and run will almost certainly result in the continuance of cruelty against our people in, and on every field. Every game, negotiation, and season has become a statement game.
There are a great many things to discuss, and I intend to do just that; right here with you.
Will you Play Your Position?
I promise you, ‘I’ll play mine.
Lewis Flanagan III is an avid sports enthusiast and writer.
