No. 2 Ohio State upset No. 1 Syracuse in the Elite Eight in 2012. Greg Gottfried was at that game.
From what he remembers, he enjoyed the contest: the popcorn, the nosebleed seats and the many inebriated ‘Cuse fans screeching expletives at the opposing team’s players. As the game ended and he walked out of the Boston TD Garden, his phone exploded with texts and calls from friends from home.
“You were on TV.” “Just saw you.” “Can’t believe you were at the game,” read the messages. Letting the newfound fame go to his head, Greg started to boast and brag.
Little did he know this was all a set-up from high school friends. Greg was never on television; they had planned to text him simultaneously just to see his reaction. Weeks later, he discovered the ruse. He was crestfallen and just a bit more cynical.
This past week Greg read a story, one he couldn’t believe as his cynicism overtook him. It said Alabama Coach Nick Saban was unaware of the presidential election.
“It was so important to me that I didn’t even know it was happening,” Saban said at a press conference in Tuscaloosa. “We’re focused on other things here.”
There seems to be a cultural divide between sports, particularly basketball and football, right now. The more buttoned-up sport of football has coaches either speaking in banal platitudes or just outright stating they don’t know anything about politics.
It’s not just skepticism that leads me to doubt these takes. It’s just an understanding of the philosophy around football.
A study from Scarborough Research, which was then picked up by Business Insider, shows a conservative skew in the politics of football, college and pro, that is unheard of in basketball.
The NBA leans to the left more than any league other than the WNBA, and the coaches in the league are evidence of that statement’s veracity.
Coaches Stan Van Gundy, Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich have all spoken openly about their anguish with president-elect Donald Trump.
“I can’t imagine being a Muslim right now, or a woman, or an African American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person,” San Antonio Spurs Coach Popovich said. “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.”
Along with the coaches, there has been a tremendous divide between athletes on the court versus on the field.
The backlash to Colin Kaepernick’s protest has been exponentially larger simply due to the fact he’s a quarterback and not a point guard.
Carmelo Anthony, for example, has been outspoken in his want for change to protect black lives. His statements have been largely accepted by the basketball community in a way that is shocking when compared to the gridiron.
In just the past few months, according to Bleacher Report, many steps have been taken by the NBA.
“David Fizdale, the new head coach in Memphis, announced the revival of the city’s Police Athletic League, which tutors law enforcement officers to become coaches of youth teams,” wrote Howard Beck of BR. “His efforts were boosted by a $1 million pledge by his point guard Conley to the Memphis Grizzlies Foundation — a donation matched by Grizzlies owner Robert Pera and his local partners.”
This year, the concept of sticking to sports has been discussed time and time again, yet it has never been as essential as it is right now. Athletes and coaches need to have the ability to speak their mind, especially in a landscape this separated.
Due to the masculinity and machismo that comes with the game of football, people in that sport have had less of an opportunity to talk or are purposely muting themselves to avoid alienating fans.
It’s not about liberalism versus conservativism; it’s about the freedom to speak what you truly think, which is more established in the sport of basketball.
These two sports allow for their stars to be on a national stage. It’s vital that they are allowed to have a say, no matter the take.
gigottfr@indiana.edu
