On Sunday evening, President-elect Donald J. Trump named Steve Bannon, a prominent white nationalist, Chief Strategist to the President — in other words, his right-hand man.
The following morning, while the KKK and neo-Nazi groups celebrated the appointment, the lead photo in the Washington Post — the top newspaper in the nation’s capital — was a regular-season NFL game.
In the week since Trump’s shocking electoral victory over Hillary Clinton in a lengthy, divisive, hate-fueled presidential race, emotions in the country have been raw. While a large fraction of the country is celebrating, another fraction is reeling. And pretty much everyone — even Trump and his aides, it seems — is in shock.
In times of crisis, it’s natural to look for a distraction, some symbol that things are returning to normal, that we are not as divided as it seems. For some Americans, sports appears to be the answer.
“The NFL is in the right place at the right time to help a wounded, divided nation put itself back together,” one Sports Illustrated reporter wrote late last week. “But will the league be able to answer the call to be America’s Game once again?”
On Sunday, it seems like the answer was “yes.” NFL ratings were up significantly compared to the rest of the season, and the bevy of exciting games were praised as a “near-ideal mental escape” by another Sports Illustrated writer and plenty of fans on social media.
But treating sports as if they exist outside of the rest of the world actually does more harm than good. It’s a dangerous perception that puts the impetus on those involved in sports to be completely apolitical themselves— you know, to “stick to sports,” as the clapback goes.
“I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it.”
Though the storylines can often border on fantastical, sports are not fiction. They’re played by real people and they exist in real time. Removing them from reality not only robs the games of context, it also robs the athletes and coaches and owners of their voices.
And that’s a shame, because some of the most thought-provoking discussions of the election results this past week have come from the sports world.
The day after the election, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters how tough it was to face the many of Americans that Trump has “insulted directly” — such as his wife, daughter, and players, many of whom are minorities. Detroit Pistons coach Steve Van Gundy questioned the support that Trump received from evangelical Christians: “I’m not a religious guy, but what the hell Bible are they reading?”
Inside the NBA host Ernie Johnson earnestly expressed his hope that there would be a difference between campaign Trump and President Trump, and openly talked about his deep religious beliefs. He also admitted that he was unable to vote for Trump due to his hateful rhetoric or Clinton because of trust issues, and ended up writing in John Kasich. His comments went viral.
Ernie Johnson's thoughts on the presidential election. https://t.co/mONk8ZCcBY
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 11, 2016
San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich told reporters last week that he was still struggling to “formulate thoughts” after seeing the election results.
“I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it,” he said. “I can’t imagine being a Muslim right now, or a woman, or an African American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person. How disenfranchised they might feel. And for anyone in those groups that voted for him, it’s just beyond my comprehension how they ignore all of that. My final conclusion is, my big fear is — we are Rome.”
Three NBA teams are now refusing to stay in Trump hotels while traveling. In the NFL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans — who, like Colin Kaepernick, didn’t vote at all in this presidential election — sat during the national anthem on Sunday to protest Trump’s victory.
“When [Trump] ran, I thought it was a joke. The joke continues,” Evans said. “I’m not a political person that much, but I got common sense. And I know when something’s not right.”
Naturally, due to the divisiveness in this country right now, backlash follows every political statement. That makes it tough to take a stand, and even tougher to keep it up. Just days after saying that he would sit during the anthem for every game as long as Trump was president, for example, Evans announced that he would go back to standing for the anthem. It’s no coincidence, I’m sure, that his decision came after he received tremendous criticism not only from fans on social media, but also from his own coach and from government officials in Florida.
That fear of repercussions is why so many people in the sports universe have decided to “stick to sports,” with the hopes that their silence on political issues will allow them to operate in a vacuum.
Writers at USA Today (and the sports sites it owns, For the Win and The Big Lead) have been told not to share political views of any kind, even on their personal social media accounts. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has refused to acknowledge whether or not he voted for Trump, despite the president-elect’s frequent invocation of Brady’s support during his rallies.
At one of his final campaign rallies, Trump read a letter from Patriots coach Bill Belichick congratulating him on a “tremendous campaign” and praising him for being “the ultimate competitor and fighter.”
“Hopefully tomorrow’s election results will give you the opportunity to make America great again,” the letter ended. “Best wishes for great results tomorrow.”
Belichick confirmed in a press conference that he had in fact sent the letter, but claimed that it was “not politically motivated.” Of course, that holds no weight — hoping that someone becomes president is in no way an apolitical statement.
“Hopefully tomorrow’s election results will give you the opportunity to make America great again.”
It’s tempting to use sports as a safe space, an escape from the chaos. But we have to deal with this as a nation, as red and blue. We have to pay attention to what Trump is doing, and to how politicians and their constituents alike are reacting to it. The people who voted for Trump, against Trump, or even not at all now must face the fall-out.
In the week since Trump’s victory, hate crimes have spiked, protests have erupted throughout the country, and, as mentioned atop, a supporter of white supremacy has been appointed a top position in the White House. An escape might feel good temporarily, but facing our problems as a nation and fighting against them is far more satisfying.
As a huge sports fan, I’ve found solace this week not only in the entertainment provided by sports, but also in the way those involved in the sports world have used their platform to speak out against the hate and bigotry that has been emboldened by Trump’s election. It’s not about having the perfect message or even the perfect messenger; it’s about figuring this out together.
Sports is something that captures the attention of almost everyone. So we should use it as a tool to talk, to listen, to face reality, not turn away from it. Ignoring sports is not the answer — but neither is sticking to it.