Sports & Politics Intersect: Fans call foul over MLB political donations

• Oakland, Portland announce new ballpark renderings - The Oakland A's revealed plans for a “jewel box” of a ballpark to replace the O.co Coliseum while redeveloping what could become their former home. Further north in Oregon, the Portland Diamond Project has an agreement with the city to build its own MLB-ready stadium, though how it will be paid for remains unclear.

• Kaepernick hearings will go on as planned - There’s been no progress in settlement talks between the NFL and free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and the activist athlete’s lawyers are putting together the schedule for the two-week hearing set for the early part of 2019. Meanwhile, while your favorite team could use someone other than Mark Sanchez, every single franchise has passed on signing Kap, making his return even less likely. 

• Argument over player protests led to shooting - On Thanksgiving Day, a Cary, North Carolina man was charged with shooting one of his sons during an argument over the athlete protests during the national anthem.

• Eagles’ social justice grant paid bail for nine - Prior to Thanksgiving, nine people were bailed out of Philadelphia jails thanks to the Eagles, who tapped into the team’s social justice funds. As part of the Players Coalition’s pact with the NFL, the Eagles are one of several teams that have already disbursed funds for various causes in their communities. On an individual front, players all over the NFL once again are taking part in the league’s “My Cause, My Cleats” initiative.

• Staley laments lack of black coaches in women’s basketball: For The Players’ Tribune, Dawn Staley, the head coach for South Carolina women’s basketball, spoke about the lack of racial diversity among coaches in the game — where nearly 90 percent of the coaches are white. On a different playing field, women are trying to crack the glass ceiling when it comes to coaching football.

• Under Armour CEO making changes at company - Kevin Plank, the founder and CEO of apparel maker Under Armour, has vowed to change the company culture in light of a Wall Street Journal article that revealed a hostile work environment for female employees.

• MLB enters gaming partnership with MGM Resorts - In a true “hell has frozen over” moment, Major League Baseball announced a new sponsorship program with MGM Resorts. It’s the third such agreement the company has made with a North American sports league after making deals with the NBA/WNBA and NHL in recent weeks. MLB believes that its slower pace is actually a selling point when it comes to gambling agreements, which seems to counter the recent initiatives to speed up the in-game experience. Separately for MGM, it hopes to have betting kiosks available at T-Mobile Arena during Vegas Golden Knights games. Meanwhile, the NBA will give gambling companies real-time data for in-game betting.

• Nationals asking D.C. council for betting fees - In Washington D.C., the Nationals, along with the NBA, Major League Baseball and others, is asking the city council to pass a bill that allows for sports leagues to collect 25 cents for every $100 bet on games played in the city. Farther west, in Missouri, lawmakers in the “Show Me State” want to take another chance at legalizing sports gambling.

• Men’s World Cup every two years? - Conmebol, South America’s soccer governing body, is proposing to FIFA that it change the schedule of the men’s World Cup from every four years to every two years. As for the upcoming tournament in 2022, Amnesty International is warning FIFA against expanding the hosting duties from Qatar to neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

• Argentinian soccer championship moved to Madrid - The second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between Boca Juniors and River Plate was moved out of Argentina to Spain, as fan violence outside of River Plate’s stadium caused the match to be postponed indefinitely. The clashes between fans of the opposing sides is another page in the long and sordid history of violence in soccer fandom.

• Bowlen Trust seeking NFL’s help in Broncos ownership dispute  - The three managers of Pat Bowlen’s trust have requested that the NFL act as the arbitrator in the ongoing family dispute over who takes over for the owner, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014. It’s a last resort for Bill Bowlen, Pat’s brother, as he hoped a family issue would not need such mediation.

• Group wants to ban “midget” from youth sports - The Little People of Manitoba have asked for Sports Manitoba (Canada) to ban the term “midget” from being used in its activities. “Midget” is traditionally used for the province’s youth sports, but the group wants to get rid of the term because “it’s very derogatory. It’s a word that brings up a lot of negative emotions.”

• WWE’s Sonya Deville talks about coming out on national TV - Sonya Deville (real name Daria Berenato) is the WWE’s only openly gay female performer, and she spoke about her decision to publicly come out while competing on the company’s “Tough Enough” program, as well as addressed her support for the Rainbow Laces campaign in Britain.

• Mayweather, DJ Khaled charged with cryptocurrency fraud - Retired boxer/promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music star DJ Khaled were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud for promoting initial cryptocurrency offerings without disclosing that they were paid to do so. (Both reached settlements.) 

• Late Texans owner left a complicated legacy - Bob McNair, who helped bring the NFL back to Houston after the Oilers left for Tennessee, died at the age of 80. McNair’s expansion bid led to the arrival of the Houston Texans in 2002. While he was well regarded by his fellow franchise owners and many in the Houston region, his personal politics showed a much more divisive legacy, most especially his incendiary comments about players protesting during the national anthem in 2017.

This week in sports and politics history: Racial integration in baseball leads to the demise of Negro National League 

“In spite of improved organization, when these two Negro leagues made formal application for admission to organized baseball. … They were turned down cold.” - Negro National League President John Johnson on not being integrated into white organized baseball 

The variables that led to the demise of the Negro Leagues are plenty. The leagues were underfunded, oft mismanaged, devoid of resources and hurt by financial recessions more than the white leagues. However, the biggest reason the Negro Leagues fell apart is a sort of Catch-22: Black players were beginning to be integrated into the majors. 

In 1947, Jackie Robinson didn’t just break baseball’s color barrier: He played so well that major league owners began taking more chances on players of color. Before the start of the 1948 season, which was at the same time that individual players were moving to the major leagues, the Negro National League and the Negro American League were applying to be incorporated with white organized baseball as well. 

Both leagues were ultimately denied acceptance because of territorial conflicts with minor league teams that already existed. Following the bad news, the NLL set a mere $6,000 a month salary cap for teams for the 1948 season. Meanwhile, huge attendance drops made the League’s financial woes even worse. To combat the revenue loss, teams began selling top prospects to the major leagues instead of investing more into the Negro Leagues.

On Nov. 30, 1948, the NNL was disbanded with some of the remaining teams joining the NAL for the 1949 season. However, between 1949 and 1962, the NAL saw its franchise numbers drop from 12 teams to a mere three before disbanding itself. The three remaining teams became barnstorming performers, similar to what we see with the Harlem Globetrotters now. 

Black baseball players eventually were fully integrated into a better paying, more established league, while the Negro Leagues were kind of left with nothing not too long after Robinson showed that their players belonged in baseball’s most prestigious league. While the history is documented, the leagues no longer exist, and without them, many black-owned businesses were hurt without the revenue that visiting teams brought in. 

It’s hard to weigh the good against the bad in a situation like this, but we should always understand that the Negro Leagues had more purpose than just providing a place for black and Latinx athletes to showcase their skills. They brought revenue, excitement and new ways of thinking to a culture that was largely dominated by white men.