CJ is the real deal...speaks well for up and coming sports journalism. Great questions and respectful interview
He is the real deal! Very Impressive... Canzano is a nimrod for being very critical of CJ's interview.
I love the last question. Sports had been a divider but has historically been something that has brought us together. Women crossing the gender line (a woman couldn't run in the Boston Marathon until 19 fucking 72...) Blacks crossing the color line (well documented). With the white house disinviting those champions that are critical of him and his policies uses sports to create division. It's shameful.
First of all, I agree with you about the white house. However, aren't the athletes refusing to go because of his policies doing the same thing?
People have done that all the time. Tom Brady didn't visit Obama and lied about other plans. No one on the Philly Eagles kneeled but he disinvited them too.
This is a really hard topic to tackle in a forum post. Trump sucks, we could list all the ways he sucks but that deserves something more like a novel than a forum post. The problem with the "invites" from the white house is that it's just a photo-op, it's not about discussion or any of that. So I don't think the athletes refusing to go, or the President dis inviting them is a problem on either side. The racial divide, was here long before Trump has he emboldened it? Some would argue yes. Has he tried to fix it? That is where my issue is here. The answer is no. Lebron builds a freaking school for kids in need of an education and Trump uses that as a place to blast him. A guy knee's in the NFL, Trump turns that into a stage show about patriotism and derails the conversation to a flag. The issue to me is the sign of a good leader is bringing people of opposing view points together and trying to find common ground. While there are times I think the athletes could have maybe handled situations better, I think it's also Trumps job to be a president of not just the people that agree with him, but of the people who don't. If Trump (I know this is pie in the sky and won't happen) sent out an invite to LBJ, and NBA stars who have vocally disapproved of him, of NFL players who had protested, and maybe sports commissioners. If He stood up and said hey we may never agree on all these issues but how can we use sports, your influence, my influence to try to bring unity? Let's at least talk, let's try then the onus would be squarely on the athletes (even if they weren't sure it was in good faith) to do that. Unfortunately this hasn't and won't (apparently) happen, it's become he's going to tear them down publicly whenever it suits him, they'll retaliate and away we go. Ultimately why I cannot support and have a hard time respecting Trump as a president is he does nothing to act presidential, he does nothing to support peace inside our borders. He has emboldened extremists on both sides to at times violently disagree. To me whether the president is orange, white, black, or brown if you call yourself a leader, your job is to bring people together not rip us apart. It is not the athlete's job to bring people together, it's his job. Maybe instead of shut up and dribble, it should be shut up and lead.
Damn... Great post. I agree 100%. I would NEVER turn down an invite to the white house personally. Whoever is in charge wouldn't matter to me. If I disagreed with him/her, why the HELL would I turn away a chance to tell the MF to their face?
Damn. This is post of the year material right here. I can only speak for myself, but i love having you here.
Trump would never do it (at least while president) but it would be great if he went on that LeBron Barbershop show with a group of athletes including Kaepernick.
I ALMOST talked my way into a dinner with Dick Cheney back in the day. I had a shittalking ambush up my sleeve, only to have the invitation withdrawn. But I'm not famous like LeBron or Steph Curry, @KingSpeed or @HCP. If I wanted to be heard I'd have to go. But when these bigtime athletes and stars say no thanks, it's pretty powerful.
And Kap would where a shirt with Castro on it the guy he admires that never showed any understanding for his people. And he's be wearing socks that depict police as pigs! The man had a great opportunity to bring people together and hopefully overcome some things but he dialed it up with his attire to invoke more negativity. All in the name of free speech! Very fruitful indeed.
I get that Kap did and said some things that at least to me derailed the message he was trying to deliver. There are plenty of NFL players who have done a good job at trying to put there messsge out. I’m not sure I’m against Kap being there and having a voice if this conversation were to ever take place though. Isn’t the entire point that people have different views, and part of the job of a leader is to unite the people he is supposed to be leading?
Castro? Lol. I missed that he wore that. What an idiot. It's funny people are always getting in their own way. What you said also reminds me of the people that wear Che shirts or have their kids(!) wear Che shirts and gear. Dude was not cool. Unless torturing and killing people is cool.
Yes, his ATTIRE is just as important as the millions he's contributed to important causes and the awareness hes brought to them as well. One pair of socks and one T-shirt is a valid enough excuse to not pursue unity and instead, focus on clothing instead of the real issue? This is why we keep politics to the OT section.
You’re right and I apologize for getting into the political stuff, I shall be done with it and back to basketball stuff. I know this wasn’t at me but I was talking politics stuff too.
