Read Blog for Arizona | Politics from a Liberal Viewpoint for more about Sports

Will coronavirus lead to sporting events being played without fans in the stands?

March 8, 2020 by AZ BlueMeanie

With the countries most affected by coronavirus, i.e., China, South Korea, Japan, and now Italy shutting down entire regions of their countries to try to control the community spread of the virus, resulting in major economic disruption of their economy, I wondered about the more mundane: how is this affecting sporting events where mass numbers … Read more

Respect! United States Women’s Soccer Team repeats as world champions

July 7, 2019 by AZ BlueMeanie

The United States remained supreme in women’s soccer on Sunday, defending its title as World Cup champions and winning their fourth FIFA World Cup title by defeating the Netherlands, 2-0. U.S. wins Women’s World Cup title with 2-0 defeat of Netherlands: In the Americans’ most difficult test of the month-long competition, Megan Rapinoe converted a … Read more

For Love of The Game: Opening Day 2018

March 29, 2018 by AZ BlueMeanie

The long winter of our discontent has finally come to an end with the start of the 2018 Major League Baseball season.

Today is Opening Day, otherwise known as the most beautiful phrase in the English language, with a full slate of games scheduled.

For the first time in decades, Major League Baseball is returning to tradition. All 30 teams will open the season on the same Opening Day: That’s right, a true Opening Day — i.e., no night-before game or an overseas contest to start things off — and that hasn’t happened since 1968. If you’re an Opening Day traditionalist, then this should be welcome news. Also, this is the earliest the MLB season has ever opened.

There has been something of a trend developing over the past couple of seasons. The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years in 2016. The Houston Astros won their first World Series in their 52 year franchise history in 2017 (even longer if you count the predecessor Colt .45’s).

The Cleveland Indians have the current longest World Series Championship drought, 69 years (1948), and there are five expansion teams that have never won a World Series: Texas Rangers (57 years), Milwaukee Brewers (49 years), San Diego Padres (49 years), Washington Nationals (formerly Montreal Expos) (49 years), and Seattle Mariners (41 years). If the trend continues, one of these teams may break their World Series drought this season.

Steve Kerr: ‘Vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives’

February 18, 2018 by AZ BlueMeanie

University of Arizona basketball legend and current coach of the NBA world champion Golden State Warriors, Steve Kerr, had some words of advice on a subject near and dear to him — gun violence — following the mass shooting in a Florida high school this week. VIDEO.

Steve Kerr on Florida shooting: ‘Vote people in who actually have the courage to protect’:

Steve Kerr is not sticking to sports.

The Golden State Warriors head coach who is seldom hesitant to speak his mind on non-basketball issues was asked Wednesday his thoughts on the shooting at a Florida high school earlier in the day that has left at least 17 dead, the latest in a plague of U.S. mass killings perpetrated by citizens with access to military-style assault rifles.

Kerr was blunt in his criticism of federal lawmakers, the National Rifle Association and a White House whose national security priorities focus on building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Well, nothing has been done. It doesn’t seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day, in schools. It doesn’t matter that people are being shot at a concert, at a movie theater. It’s not enough apparently to move our leadership, our government, the people who are running this country to actually do anything. That’s demoralizing.”

“But we can do something about it. We can vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives, and not just bow down to the NRA because they have financed their campaign for them. Hopefully we’ll find enough people, first of all, to vote good people in, but hopefully we can find enough people with courage to help our citizens remain safe and focus on the real safety issues. Not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars that has nothing to do with our safety, but actually protecting us from what truly is dangerous, which is maniacs with semiautomatic weapons just slaughtering our children. It’s disgusting.”

Kerr’s statement will rile up the stick-to-sports crowd. But Kerr doesn’t care.

Kerr has previously said gun control should be considered a public health issue.

The NFL takes a knee against our white-supremacist-in-chief Donald Trump

September 25, 2017 by AZ BlueMeanie

No individual has disgraced and diminished the office of the presidency with his puerile conduct more than Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin could not be more pleased with his handiwork and the damage that Trump is inflicting on the status and moral leadership of the presidency. Trump is systematically attempting to dismantle the foundational principles, values and mores of American democracy.

Putin pal Donald Trump is no position to question the patriotism of any American.

Over the weekend, Donald Trump turned his plan to divide Americans on America’s professional sports teams and athletes — in particular, African-American athletes who protest police violence against minorities — something Donald Trump has encouraged, Trump’s speech encouraging police to be ‘rough’, and more recently, to protest Trump’s failure to adequately condemn white supremacist hate speech after Charlottesville.

In this regard, the U.S. Congress unanimously agrees that Trump has failed to adequately condemn white supremacist hate speech. Congress takes Trump to task over his Charlottesville comments.

President Trump is trying to silence athletes who protest police violence in his “law and order,” i.e. , institutional racism world, and more directly, silence critics of his white supremacy by attempting to reframe their protests as unpatriotic and disrespect for the flag. “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel” – Samuel Johnson, 1775.

We have seen this right-wing play before when the Bush-Cheney regime tried to silence the Dixie Chicks for their public criticism of their unnecessary and illegal war in Iraq. Like the Dixie Chicks, NFL players, coaches and owners were Not Ready to Make Nice on Sunday.