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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

When Sports & Politics Don’t Mix

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  May 7th, 2010 at 09:38 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Elisabeth Meinecke has the top story today at Human Events.

One of the cardinal rules of sports organizations is that it always boils down to the fans. That’s why mixing politics and sports, like the Phoenix Suns organization did Wednesday, is tricky.

The Suns decided to wear their “Los Suns” jerseys—which they’ve done before—on Cinco de Mayo for their playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs. In a statement Tuesday, the Suns’ owner Robert Sarver explained the decision was to honor “our Latino community, and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation.” But then he said, “The frustration with the federal government’s failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration resulted in passage of a flawed state law. However intended, the result of passing this law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question,” referring to the new Arizona immigration law.

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  • SteveLA

    Erick

    Here’s the thing though, do Los Suns have the right to be idiots, and do we as the folks that pay for the price of a ticket to a game, or watch the games on a TV have a right to vote with our dollars and not watch or go to their games?

    While I understand the angst in some quarters about the silly jersey issue and the mindless statement by the Los Suns ownership, I tend to put statements made by these folks in about the same basket that statements made by David Letterman, Lindsey Lohan and Megan McCain, the who cares basket.

    You don’t like what Los Suns has done or said, don’t go their games, don’t watch them in the playoffs, whatever, but they do have the right to beclown themselves as long as they are a private business. Besides Steve Nash, isn’t he Canadian?…:)

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    if every team has the right to change and put anything on their uniforms that they desire.

  • throwback59

    to everyone who supports the immigration bill. Couple that with the students who were sent home on Cinco de Mayo for wearing American flag T-Shirts and you have to ask, “whose country is this?”

  • davidabippus

    I can’t believe that the Suns require you to show your papers in order to pick up tickets:

    The US Airways Center requires that customers picking up WILL CALL tickets furnish the following:
    1) PICTURE IDENTIFICATION THAT MATCHES THE PICK-UP NAME
    2) CONFIRMATION NUMBER THAT MATCHES THE CUSTOMER ACCOUNT

    Isn’t this unreasonable? They also have a policy that you can’t bring in concessions to the arena. That is hardly fair. Apparently they also control access to the locker rooms. Isn’t all of this discriminatory? Shouldn’t all people be free to roam in and out US Airways Center during Suns games without being persecuted? I can’t believe that Steve Nash and the Suns management tolerates such bigoted actions.

    Typical liberal double standard. It is okay for the Suns to protect their assets and their sovereignty while trying to run a business and make a profit, but shame on the rest of you for trying to protect a country and the citizenry from people entering illegally and placing a burden on legal residents. I am just so fed up with this stuff. The Houston Chronicle covers 25 people protesting the Arizona Diamondbacks in town to play the Astros, but can’t seem to cover the thousands that attend Tea Parties locally. This has got to end!

  • Richard Mullins

    There would be no problems. Now if a right of center owner like Peter Holt did something that was more supportive of the AZ law, he’d get a reprimand from the league and might not be able to own the team. I guess that they would want Red McCombs as an owner either.

  • TxCon

    nt

  • TxCon

    nt

  • tngal

    Keith Olbermann (lefty extrordinaire) is permitted blogging status on Major League Baseball’s website. The Phoenix Suns make a political statement with uniforms
    and its cheered by the NBA

    However,

    When Rush sought to buy into the Rams he was shredded by the media, the players union, and fans. What that says is if the message is from the left its ok.

    I wrote a diary Wednesday entitaled Sports+Politics = Oil+Water , and get that former players may want to jump into the political arena. But it doesn’t seem fair that individual players cannot have political messages on uniforms, like vote for tammi or yes to steroids , wnereas teams and leagues can openly work to sway opinion.

    http://www.redstate.com/tngal/2010/05/05/sportspolitics-oilwater/

  • johnt

    therefore no difference between citizenship and illegal entry. Sarver has a loose idea of what constitutes principle and how it translates into law.
    How do you honor your country, as this wealthy sap puts it, by speaking in a foreign language on an issue of illegality ?
    How do you honor your country by ignoring it’s borders and what immigration, the legal kind, has meant to America.

  • earlgrey

    Hollywood, most media outlets and now major sports teams are and have been attacking traditional values for a long time, but it has really reached a fever pitch. What will be the consequence?

    I think that is part of the reason the tea parties were successful. Before anyone says that MSM is losing viewers, they still hold a tremendous amount of power over the narrative. Fox News is not enough. How long will we have the internet? Talk radio is great for some, but many that might be sympathetic to the conservative cause can easily be turned off by its reputation and it’s in your face approach.

    This is another reason why local elections are just as important as state/national ones to start shaping the narrative.

  • Achance

    I would only watch pro basketball if they put up a bulletproof screen around the court, allowed the players to be armed, and the only rule was, “no autopsy, no foul.” Most of the NFL would be in prison if they weren’t making millions playing ball and I lost interest in baseball when the league decided that major league games should be 18-15 rather than 1-0 in the 13th and basically outlawed pitching.

    So, the only sport I attend to at all is NASCAR, where a conservative/Republcan can still be comfortable and you don’t have to tell people to take their hats off for the invocation and National Anthem except at some of the northern and western tracks.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine
  • IJB

    If the so called “national passtimes” are going to engage in a nakedly partisan manner, than they aren’t “national” anymore, and the next GOP Administration can show them all the ‘gate’, along with all the other little foul, sordid interests that align themselves with the Democrats.

    Removing the anti-trust exemptions would be a good stick to wield. Unfavorable tax policies to the professional sports could be another.

    It’s time “major league sports” be shown the negative consequences of being “partisan” and not “non-partisan” and truly “national”. If they don’t change their ways, and fast, give ‘em the stick.

  • schooky

    Would it be appropriate to start a thread on this subject. I believe our representatives who read this site would greatly benefit if given some advise from people who actually hire hispanic employees on the issue of immigration reform.

  • Richard Mullins

    Major sports are run by leftists and conservative owners aren’t well liked by the leagues. It’s the same throughout and it’s ok to do something like this. It might be a good idea for the more conservative owners to call the shots as to what accepted. That’s been something that’s not happening right now. NASCAR is still conservative but it might not be long until it’s on PBR that ok.

  • Richard Mullins
  • Leopard1996

    Like the left does to stop people like Rush Limbaugh from being part of an ownership team. to own an NFL team.. I think I am a bit tired of playing nice-nice with liberal scumbags so that we can appear above the fray. I don’t think appearing above the fray matters anymore and we need to do what is done to us.

  • mbecker908

    but it was reported that at least one person was ejected from the stadium the other night for wearing a “Viiva SB 1070″ t-shirt.