Red Zone
THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”—Declaration of Independence, the Committee of Five (Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston), 1776
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”—Gettsburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863
“Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.”—John F. Kennedy, 1961
“Votes cannot be cast after the Poles are closed.”—Tweet by Donald Trump, Nov. 3, 2020
God, no. Eleven more weeks of this mad man seem unbearable, much less four more years. An idea that seemed inconceivable four years ago—what were they thinking?—has morphed into a monster who’s killing hundreds of thousands of Americans while crushing norms, common sense and at least half of the souls in this country.
There is still a good chance that a good man, Joe Biden, will defeat a heinous one, Donald Trump. But if he doesn’t, how do the sane and decent among us walk unbowed? We’ve already lost faith in our neighbors. Taking to the streets will play into Trump’s narrative of the rabid left. Working behind the scenes will make him snicker at the goody two-shoes who play by the rules that he and his enablers don’t. The only language he listens to is Money, and the first and fourth of its letters. M and E.
If the Almighty can’t help, maybe the almighty dollar can. So far, it’s certainly helped Trump. Last week, ESPN.com, in conjunction with Five Thirty-Eight, began a fascinating albeit frightening six-part series on sports money in politics:
To a staggering degree, the owners in the four major sports leagues back Republicans—over 75% of the donations the last four years. And that means we—the fans, consumers and patrons of their teams—are helping the party’s main beneficiary, Trump. Even though Americans as a whole gave equally to Biden and Trump in this election year, here are the sports scores for 2020: MLB 80% Red, 18% Blue; NFL 77% Red, 13% Blue; NHL 78% Red, 20% Blue; NBA 79% Red, 20% Blue. That comes out to $10 million for Republicans and $1.9 million for Democrats. I wonder if some of these fat cats are thinking twice when they see the disingenuous Black Lives Matter logos in their arenas and stadiums.
Here’s what I’m thinking. We’re living in the Divided States of America, and there seem to be a lot of maskless people in MAGA hats who are fine with that. Why should I contribute to their cause and their leader? If I’m a San Francisco Giant fan who heeds CDC guidelines and my conscience, why am I watching and rooting for a team whose primary owner, Charles Johnson, gave nearly $11 million to Republican causes the last four years. If you’re that person, declare yourself a free agent. Hell, if you’re an actual baseball free agent, think again about playing for a man whose company, Franklin Resources, is named for his personal hero, slave owner Ben Franklin.
Johnson, who’s also a major benefactor of Yale University, accounts for 32% of all the Republican donations given by owners (principal, co- and controlling) and commissioners, but he has plenty of company—12 of the top 14 contributors gave primarily to the GOP. As Kirk Goldsberry wrote, “The big spenders prefer Red to Blue.”
The study also included NASCAR and the WNBA, encompassing 160 owners and commissioners, and 125 teams. Some of them gave to both parties and bipartisan causes, but by and large, the Red Zone takes on a whole meaning. Even the WNBA, which had leaned Democrat in 2016 and 2018, went over to the other side in 2020, thanks in large part to Georgia Senator and Atlanta Dream owner Kelly Loeffler. Goldsberry points out that a relatively small group of donors make up a huge chunk of the overall donation data—40 owners account for $40 million, or more than 85% of all contributions. And 77.7% of that went to Republicans.
I’m anxious to see where the ESPN/Five Thirty-Eight series goes in the weeks ahead, though not quite as anxious as I am about the Presidential election. One of the topics they’ll be examining is the power of athletes to open eyes, the way the Milwaukee Bucks did when they staged their wildcat strike in the first round of the playoffs:
But the owners who have backed Trump shouldn’t need the players to tell them how disastrous Trump’s presidency has been. All they have to do is look at the empty seats in their venues, the red ink in their books, the spiking charts of deaths and infections. They need to realize that the makeup of their overwhelmingly white male executive club bears no relation to the team of players whose lives they control.
Every team has a deal it wants to forget. This one with the devil has come back to haunt them.
-30-
