From the players of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds: pic.twitter.com/qkhH4AmBKm
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 26, 2020
The Milwaukee Bucks have boycotted Game 5 of their First Round series vs. the Orlando Magic this afternoon.
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 26, 2020
The team provided the following statement: pic.twitter.com/ul5rMlitlS
Our nation has faced many tragedies and challenges, but games were played.
Now, a player tests positive for COVID-19 and everything shuts down.
Now, the teams decide it would be wrong for them to play because of the shooting of Jacob Blake. Shut it down.
They don't boycott or suspend their games when Milwaukee has a particularly bloody and deadly weekend, which occurs all too often. They don't refuse to show up to play when a child is killed by a stray bullet while in her own home. They don't fail to show up when countless crimes and injustices occur.
Did they play when Steve Scalise was gunned down? Of course they did. That horror didn't outrage them.
Dozens of people are shot and many killed in Chicago week in and week out. Professional sports don't shut down because of that bloodshed.
The Brewers and Bucks have very selective standards when it comes to determining what constitutes an appropriate reason to protest rather than play. Gun violence, deaths, innocent victims are not worthy of recognition. They have a problem with police. They don't seem to appreciate the important role that police officers play in maintaining the peace and protecting the people. They don't acknowledge the risks officers take each day they go to work.
It's too bad professional sports teams are spending time posturing rather than playing. Games no longer serve as an opportunity for the community to come together. The respite they provided as entertainment no longer exists.
It used to be fun, but that's all over, at least for now.
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