The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
8 — Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Charlie Pappalardo: Sports and politics are inseparable,
especially right now
TW:
Gun
violence
In professional
wrestling, there’s
a principle known
as kayfabe that
governs
the
act
playing
out
onstage. Kayfabe
is
a
relatively
simple distortion
of reality that boils down to three
essential points:
One: Professional wrestling is fake.
Two: Everyone watching knows that
professional wrestling is fake. And
three: Nonetheless, the audience
enjoys it more if everyone pretends
it’s real. So time and time again, that’s
exactly what happens. People flock to
stadiums to watch a version of reality
that they know is inherently falsified,
because it offers something to revel
in.
Professional
team
sports
are
drastically different from professional
wrestling. But at the same time, all
sports are laden with a different kind
of distortion of reality — the erasure
of societal divisions. Yet sometimes
the cost of this distorted reality is too
steep, and now is one of those times.
It’s easy to ignore the ugliness of
politics — guns being prioritized over
public safety, women’s and voting
rights being destroyed, and Black
people being killed by police officers
— when sports gloss over these topics.
Because for three hours a night,
sporting events craft an alternative
world where only one thing matters
— what team you root for. This is
part of the reason that sports are
so enthralling. They suspend all
distinction, and replace it with
collective effervescence that can
bind millions of people around the
world together as long as they’re
wearing the right colors. And within
this version of reality, the outside
world and all the disagreement and
dissimilarity in it can be forgotten,
because in the arena, the only thing
that matters is who wins.
And the University of Michigan
is a school that knows this best. In
The Big House, in Crisler and in Yost,
thousands of fans are bound together
by an intense feeling of connection.
I think back to when the football
team beat Ohio State and I rushed
the field with thousands as the snow
fell, feeling pure ecstasy. Looking
back on that day feels almost like a
dream. Nothing else mattered except
enjoying that moment.
But that’s not reality, and everyone
in attendance knew it. They knew
that the outside world could not be
forgotten and that other issues are
inherently more pressing than the
game. But they did it anyway — but
I did it anyway — because they all
realized that they’d have a better
time if they pretended like their
unity bound by team allegiance was
absolute and genuine.
And sometimes, this beautiful
distortion needs to be shattered.
Sometimes, kayfabe must be dropped.
This week, when a gunman
walked into an elementary school
with an AR-15 and murdered children
— again — kayfabe had to be dropped.
The fallout started like it always
does. There was the wave of
condolences, moments of silence,
tweets, statements of disgust and even
outrage — but nothing inflammatory.
Then, it went a step further.
It started with Steve Kerr, the head
coach of the Golden State Warriors
and a man who knows what it’s like to
lose a loved one through gun violence.
In a press conference prior to Game
4 of the NBA Western Conference
finals he said:
“Any basketball questions don’t
matter. When are we going to do
something? I am tired. I am so
tired of getting up here and offering
condolences to the devastated families
out there. I’m tired of the moments of
silence. Enough. … So I ask you, Mitch
McConnell and all of you senators
who refuse to do anything about the
violence and the school shootings and
the supermarket shootings — I ask you,
are you going to put your own desire for
power ahead of the lives of our children
and our elderly and our church-goers?
Because that’s what it looks like. That’s
what we do every week. I’m fed up. I’ve
had enough. We can’t get numb to this.
We can’t sit here and just read about it
and say let’s have a moment of silence.”
In doing so, Kerr broke an
unwritten rule.
He acknowledged that basketball
isn’t more important than reality
and he replaced the artificial unity
of sports with politics, inviting the
vitriol that follows. And once Kerr
brought the conversation to the world
of sports, others followed.
Prior to their game against the
Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat
too took a political stance, urging
everyone in attendance to call local
representatives and push them to
change gun laws. On Thursday
night, the New York Yankees and
the Tampa Bay Rays united to take
a stand, putting aside their contest
and prioritizing a more important
message. Using their social media to
broadcast statistics on gun violence
instead of plugging scores and
highlights.
Some people were horrified by
these politically charged stances.
Because to some, the infusion of
politics into an arena designed to
be devoid of division is the ultimate
sin. Among those disgusted was
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who
referred to the actions of the Heat as,
“politicizing a horrific tragedy.”
Senator Rubio, what on earth is
a horrific tragedy if not inherently
political?
Politicians make a core promise
when running for office to keep the
Americans they serve safe. And time
and time again, they have failed. An
elementary school in Sandy Hook, a
country music festival in Las Vegas,
a nightclub in Orlando, a church in
Sutherland Springs, a high school in
Parkland, a grocery store in Buffalo
and now, another elementary school,
this time in Uvalde.
And yet nothing has fucking
changed.
There’s been no reform — and
there’s no reason to believe that this
was the last time. Nothing has been
done by those with the power to make
change. And because of it, people
continue to die.
The public is disgusted — not just
with the horror of mass murder — but
with the refusal of politicians to do
anything to stop it. And disgust isn’t
something that can be forgotten, not
even for just a few hours.
This is what forces the realms
of sports and politics to become
intertwined.
Disgust
cannot be forgotten. You
can’t walk into Crisler,
or the Big House, or any
other stadium for that
matter
and
suddenly
forget
that
children
were murdered and our
politicians haven’t — and
likely won’t ever — do a
damn thing to prevent it
from happening again.
And so at a certain point,
not acknowledging the
disgust that the public
feels is just as political as
speaking out.
By saying nothing, you
are saying that nothing is
pressing enough to force
KATE HUA/Daily
protocol to be broken. That nothing
really needs to be done. It’d be the
same as the band continuing to play
as the Titanic sinks — a charade of
normality.
But things are far from normal
in our country. It’s not normal that
our nation has seen more mass
shootings than days this year. It is not
normal that an 18-year-old can buy
thousands of rounds of ammunition
and multiple assault rifles. And it
is absolutely not normal that our
politicians refuse to take action
because of an ambiguously written
phrase in a 240-year-old document
and a $250 million lobby.
Our politicians are failing us. It’s
apparent to everyone in our nation,
and because of that, politics needs to
bleed into sporting events. Because
sports cannot serve as a suspension of
reality when reality needs to change
— and right now, it desperately does.
And as college athletes — many
of whom are still teenagers — take
advantage of their platforms and
speak out, others should follow suit.
In the past, many of the members
of the Wolverine men’s and women’s
basketball teams took to the court
wearing warm up shirts that read
messages like “say their names”,
“stand
together”
and
“unity.”
Michigan athletes’ decision to speak
up is important.
Because athletes, coaches and
teams have an incredible platform, by
making political statements they have
the power to make change. Sports
attract eyes, garner media attention
and become topics of conversation.
They
dominate
our
landscape,
something every Michigan student
knows, so when politics appear in
sports, there’s nowhere for us to avert
our eyes.
That’s a good thing.
When Tommie Smith and John
Carlos raised their fists at the 1968
Olympics, it was because reality
needed — and still needs — to
change in America. When Colin
Kaepernick took a knee during the
national anthem, it was because
reality needed — and still needs — to
change in America. And when the
NBA canceled games after the death
of Jacob Blake, it was because reality
needed — and still needs — to change
in America.
This time it’s no different.
Generally, sports like to stay
apolitical and erase division. But
sometimes, the reality of the failures
of our nation must be acknowledged
in the pastimes we use to distort it.
If black men aren’t safe from the
police when they get pulled over and
if children aren’t safe from gunmen in
school, it is ridiculous and childish to
ask that sports be devoid of the vitriol
that comes with politics.
By speaking out, Steve Kerr, the
Rays, the Yankees and the Heat aren’t
just being political, they’re being
pragmatic. And every other person
and entity in the realm of sports
has a duty to follow suit, Michigan
included. The athletic department
can’t sit idly by, it needs to be
outspoken. Coaches need to speak
out, activism must be encouraged and
individuals must make their opinions
known.
Because sometimes kayfabe must
be broken. And I happen to think that
following the preventable murder of
children — that our leaders are too
cowardly to prevent with necessary
stricter gun laws — it is a damn good
time for that to happen.
CHARLIE
PAPPALARDO