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MLB stands up for basic right to vote in pulling All-Star Game from Atlanta – Sportsnet.ca

Published

3 years ago

April 4, 2021

TORONTO – The discourse is too easily hijacked in these disquieting culture-war days, distilling complicated issues into a rhetorical jingoism that prevents rational conversation and nuanced arguments.

Predictably, Major League Baseball landed in the woke-versus-MAGA fray with its decision Friday to pull the all-star game from Atlanta, in protest of Georgia’s new election bill that places several restrictions around the state’s voting process. Media proxies spent Saturday dutifully howling into the echo chambers of their respective audiences, the usual bluster replacing anything that might resemble productive debate.

Rather than falling down the rabbit hole, let’s emphasize that any election reform that wins approval on a strict party-line vote, rather than bi-partisan support, is designed to give someone the shaft. In the wake of Stacey Abrams’ loss to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018 by less than 55,000 seats, after Democrats flipped a pair of senate seats in last year’s election, with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of widescale voting fraud debunked, the Georgia law is a blatant attack on the voters – often Black – who fuelled those gains.

None of this is comfortable territory for Major League Baseball, which despite cloaking itself in the legacy of Jackie Robinson, was the last of the major North American sports leagues to respond to the killing of George Floyd last year. That commissioner Rob Manfred reacted so quickly this time, consulting only with his executive council rather than all 30 team owners, is a clear indication he felt the sport couldn’t duck this and wait for things to blow over.

Tony Clark, head of the players union, may have helped set events in motion when he told Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe on March 26 that players “would look forward to having that conversation” about whether the all-star game should remain in Atlanta. U.S. President Joe Biden said he’d support pulling the game from Atlanta while several companies, Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines among them, criticized the law.

The possibility of at least some players boycotting and tarnishing the event carried risk, and some corporate sponsors were surely wary of the association. But Manfred also met with The Players Alliance’s leadership in recent days, and MLB needed to prove its statements on social justice over the past year weren’t just lip-service.

“I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s all-star game and MLB draft,” Manfred said in the release announcing the decision. “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box. … Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support.”

Even if pragmatism factored into Manfred’s calculus as much as altruism, Major League Baseball in effect calling out the Republican sponsors and supporters of the Georgia bill represented a break from its carefully cultivated political protections.

Clearly rattled, Republican lawmakers threatened retaliation, with South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan going after baseball’s prized federal anti-trust exemption.

How Manfred reacts if Texas and Florida pass legislation currently under consideration that is similar to Georgia’s bears watching, but it’s going to be hard for the sport to walk things back after picking a side, and pulling millions of dollars in economic activity from the state.

“I support the decision,” said Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Marcus Semien, a member of both The Players Alliance and the union’s influential executive subcommittee. “It’s kind of a tough situation there where I personally, and I’m sure I speak for the Alliance, we want to support Georgia and the people who are affected by this bill by encouraging people to vote, doing everything you can to vote on Election Day.

“I know as a kid growing up, my mom went to work and it was hard just to get off work and go and go vote that day. Hopefully other states can make things easier for working class people, especially in Georgia, in those communities. I’m sure The Players Alliance will help that community and support them.”

Semien credited the Alliance leadership of Curtis Granderson, CC Sabathia and Edwin Jackson for leading discussions with Manfred, but added that the issue had been a topic of discussion in the Blue Jays clubhouse over the past week “just to make sure everybody knew what’s going on.”

“We were just waiting to see what happened,” said Semien. “I got the notification on my phone that they made that decision and I thought it was pretty quick, so that’s good. I support it and we’ll move on from there.”

Added Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk: “Any time there’s voter suppression, it needs to be called out and obviously MLB stepped up and made the decision to move it. I definitely support MLB with their call.”

Such drastic action isn’t unprecedented for North American sports, as the NFL stripped Phoenix of the 1993 Super Bowl when Arizona voters declined to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a state holiday, and the NBA stripped Charlotte of the 2017 all-star game in response to a law scaling back anti-discrimination protections for members of the LGBTQ community.

Major League Baseball responded eight days after the bill was signed into law.

“It’s not the first time sports is trying to make a difference with situations like this,” said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo, who added later: “I don’t know all the specifics of those new laws in Georgia – I have an idea – but I supported the MLB decision to move the all-star game. I think every citizen should have the right to vote with ease.”

Unfathomable as it may be that saying this is necessary, let’s be clear that advocating for the right to vote isn’t politics, it’s a foundational right. All Major League Baseball did was stand up for a basic ideal, no matter how much the diversionary what-aboutism attempts to distract from that.

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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