Category: SPORTS ARCHIVE

Three Reasons Colin Kaepernick is wrong

When San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to wear police “pig” socks to practice, and then later sit out and kneel out the playing of the national anthem prior to all 2016 pre-season games in order to draw attention to police violence against blacks in the U.S., he thought he was doing the right thing.

He wasn’t. And here’s why. 

  1. We must stand together. Make no mistake, sitting out the national anthem is disrespectful to all Americans, past, present and future. There is no greater insult. Collectively we have built what many consider to be the greatest nation in the history of mankind. To turn his back on our flag is to effectively flip the bird to all those who face it with hand on heart. And by so doing, he’s created a chasm of divisiveness that didn’t previously exist. United we stand, divided we fall. That’s why we stand together as a nation for our anthem … to remind ourselves of that.
  2. There’s no plan beyond the final note. It is hard to argue that starting the conversation that might put an end to bad cops and the courts that protect them is a bad thing. Because obviously it’s not. No American I know wants to live in a society where bad people can do bad things and get away with them. But to affect change is not easy. It will take a lot of hard work and smart choices to make it happen. To sit out the national anthem is an ineffective way to start the conversation because it is a cheap and easy act of defiance that lacks depth and thought. Sure it takes guts, but as is evident, the conversation that has ensued is mostly about patriotism and not about police reform. He has no next move. Law enforcement and the communities they serve all need to take responsibility for building a future where such injustices no longer take place. But instead of adding something useful to the cause, all Kaepernick has done is muddy the waters with no next step, and place even more hurdles in front of a topic that needs to be addressed sooner than later. Had he chosen his platform more carefully, he might have had an impact that did not come at the cost of insulting others. To me, his approach has the feel of one step forward, two steps back.
  3. You can’t undo this. The reason we’ve never seen this before is because there was no precedent. Kaepernick has opened Pandora’s Box now. I fully expect from this point on every injustice – real or perceived – could result in U.S. citizens sitting out the national anthem in order to draw attention to their particular cause. Soon enough there will be so many people sitting out the anthem for so many different reasons, the causes will be lost, as will the purpose of the anthem. We need the anthem. We rally around it when times are good, and especially when times are bad. We get the chills from it. We cherish it. Why? Because it has always represented – and will continue to represent – our willingness and ability to achieve the impossible, together. Instead of sitting out the anthem, Kaepernick should find an equally sensational but entirely more sensible platform, and be leading by example in a positive, non-divisive way. If he truly wants his message to be heard, that would speak volumes.

Say Goodbye to Daily Fantasy Sports

For me, daily fantasy sports are dead.

The onslaught of TV commercials initially piqued my interest and lured me into opening an account, but my experience with the product left me feeling like a rube. That’s why when daily fantasy sports like Fan Duel and Draft Kings were banned from operating in Nevada where I live, I could not have cared less. They did me a favor when they pulled the plug.

Until DFS are regulated by someone other than themselves, I want no part of it.

Whether it’s considered a game of chance or a game of skill, the industry needs gaming-level oversight. The kind of regulation and standards sports betting has in Nevada. Without it, it’s going to continue to feel like a sketchy backroom poker game where the sharks always win and the chum are diced up and thrown overboard without hesitation.

The revelation that DFS employees were raking in enormous jackpots by scrubbing the data bases and positioning themselves for almost guaranteed paydays was more than enough to convince me there’s better ways to throw my money away. But there were little things that would never have occurred with regulatory oversight that irked me almost as much.

First off, the lure Fan Duel threw out was that they would “match my deposit up to $200.” That’s what the ads say, so I expected my $50 deposit to grow to $100 immediately. But that’s not what happened. The “match” instead occurs over time and is tied to the amount wagered, er, played. With regulation, there’s no way they could make a claim as backloaded with stipulations as that one.

The next oddity I encountered was when I made may first play on an otherwise ordinary day in Major League Baseball. I selected a team that included a starting pitcher who was to take the mound in Washington D.C. that day. The game was washed out by rain. And so was, much to my amazement, my play that day. I assumed that my play would be considered a no-contest since one of my players wasn’t allowed to pitch because of weather. But instead the game went on, and my team compiled a score that did not include points from a starting pitcher. Customer service said I should have monitored the weather reports. I say they should not force me to be a weatherman and instead do the obvious and void the play. That’s what Nevada would have done.

Not related to regulation but equally disturbing to me with DFS is that I also came to the realization that my single play being thrown into a pool of pros utilizing sophisticated software and algorithms to place multiple plays that mathematically eliminate me before the first kickoff, is never going to result in a win.

Why would I play a game I can’t win? I won’t. Because daily fantasy sports are dead to me.