On the TunneySide of Sports September 14, 2020 #813 Up next…”They’re Off and Running!”
After further review… “They’re off and running” was the announcer’s voice as the field of 15 thoroughbreds broke from the gate to start the 146th Kentucky Derby. There was only a sparse crowd of horse-personnel in attendance at Churchill Downs, usually packed with 150,000. Pandemic taking preference. Trainer Bob Baffert’s Authentic went wire-to-wire and outlasted the 4-5 favorite Tiz the Law with a time of 2:00:61. That’s why it’s called “the greatest 2 minutes in sports.” It was Baffert’s sixth derby win. I’ve had a long-time interest in thoroughbred racing since my father was a steward for 20 years at California’s race-tracks and my brother, Peter, in California race-track administration for over 30 years.
Which brings me to last Thursday night’s (September 10) NFL game and NBC’s Al Michaels, who said “And off we go” as Kansas City kicker Harrison Butner kicked-off for the first NFL game of this pandemic season. A sparse crowd of some 17,000 watched their World Champion Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Houston Texans. Arrowhead is usually packed (76,416) and well-known as “the loudest stadium (142.2 decibels) in the league.” The NFL season is off and running.
This 2020 season will be my 60th NFL season with more than one-half spent on the field as a referee. During that time, I worked games being played with a pending lawsuit (AFL vs NFL) and two player-strike years. But this 2020 season has a much different feeling. Not only the threat of the virus with sheltering-in-place and physical distancing being the call-of-the-day, but the protests and violence taking place in so many of America’s cities and towns.
The Black Lives Matter movement has found its message into the sports world en masse as players are joining together as one in support of social justice fairness. When some members of a T*E*A*M (Together Everyone Accomplishes More) reach out for an improved social justice system, then a T*E*A*M needs to do it as one! It’s the assumption here that all members of a given team met as one and agreed they should march/stand together.
While no one should deny the rights of anyone to fair justice, many fans have opted-out and will not watch or attend NFL games feeling that sports and political issues should occur separately.
Will you log-in your thoughts about athletes using sports to promote their causes?
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