The Intersection of Sports and Politics

I just got back from vacation, so this one is a little overdue.

Unless you've been living under a rock or only get your news from US Weekly, you know about the Russian invasion of Georgia last week. I'm not going to talk about the timing of the invasion with the opening of the Beijing Olympics, although I have been rooting vociferously against the Russians. And it would be really cool if an American raised a Georgian flag while on the podium and proclaimed "We are all Georgians!". And perhaps "traitors" Becky Hammon, an WNBA standout, and JR Holden (Bucknell '98), who are playing for the respective Russian women's and men's basketball teams, should have withdrawn from the Olympics at the last minute in protest (I'm sure there would have been a line of rich Republicans -- is that redundant? -- who would have taken care of any economic harm that would have followed). But none of those things are going to happen.

I want to talk about pro-sports here. Pro athletes, especially the highest profile athletes like Michael, Tiger and Kobe have gone out of their way to stay out of any political or social controversies for fear of harming their global brands. Despots and terrorists buy sneakers too, I guess.

This position is in stark contrast to earlier stars like Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and perhaps most famously, 1968 Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos' "black power salute", who used their celebrity to stand up for important issues of their day.

But what seems worse is that even in light of the invasion of Georgia, athletes are still going to the highest bidder, regardless of recent events. Just days after Russia began the invation, Jannero Pargo, who despite the foreign sounding name is really from Arkansas, signed a 1-year deal to play for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian League. Frankly, I think it's despicable. Players should understand that their brand can be ruined just as easily by the actions they take, not the just stands they refuse to take. I'm going to be the first one boo Pargo should he ever return to the NBA. And if Kobe or LeBron goes to play for a Russian club for $50M of corrupt oil and gas money, they should be unanimously reviled as well.

Now I don't want to limit this rant to the NBA. There are a heck of a lot more players leaving the NHL to cash in with the dollars being doled out by the Russian Continental Hockey League (KHL). Just this past year perennial All-Star Jaromir Jagr and goalie Ray Emery joined the Russian league. I hope you choke on your borscht.

Celts Win in Incredible Comeback

Wow. That was a great game...if you're not a Laker fan. There will be a lot of great stories written about the game, but I'm shocked. I really thought the game was over mid-way through the first quarter and pretty sure it was after they were down 18 at the half. But another great third quarter, and really a dominating second half (57-33) turned what was once a 24-point deficit into a 6 point win.

But the really amazing part was listening to the post-game commentary. It's amazing to hear Michael Wilbon second-guess Phil Jackson's rotations and hear Jeff Van Gundy call Doc Rivers coaching "masterful". I wonder what "The Sports Guy" is thinking about Doc tonight. I'm sure he'll say that Doc Rivers was lucky that Perkins sprained his shoulder and he had no choice but to go to the small lineup. And in retrospect to hear people praise the Boston bench, the very same people who at the beginning ofthe season talked about how the Celtics may have the "Big 3", but had maybe the worst 4-12 roster in the league -- yes, I'm talking to you Mr. Wilbon.

Most interesting was to listen to the players and coaches in the post-game intervie Doc looked like he's won multiple championships talking about how it's not about winning 4 games in a series, but having to win 4 individual games. Paul Pierce sounded supremely confident, talking about how the plan is to close out the series in LA on Father's Day, while acknowledging that the closeout game is always the hardest game to win.

On the other hand, the Lakers sounded defeated. Phil Jackson started out his post-game interview stating that the series is not over, but his voice and his demeanor didn't make it look like he believed it at all.

Kobe had the funniest comments though:

• When asked how the team will respond to such a debilitating loss after having such a large lead: "A lot of wine, a lot of beer. A couple of shots, maybe 20."


• When asked 'what happened' to blow such a big lead: "We just wet the bed,. "A nice big one, too. One of the ones you can't put a towel over. It was terrible.."

Pure comedy.