With prez on field, game Trumps
ATLANTA — The stage was set. If there was ever going to be a moment in which politics and sports were going to meet in a head-on collision, this was it. Donald Trump had walked out on the field Monday night at the College Football Playoffs National Championship Game flanked by military officers, with a big smile on his face. He was going to stand with the troops as the national anthem played. And in a game that was being played in the Black Mecca, in which the overwhelming majority of the players on both teams were black, we all waited to see if any player would take a knee. Because, if they were going to do it, this was the perfect setting. Earlier in the day, The New Yorker released its latest cover featuring a cartoon drawing of Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett and Dr. Martin Luther King locked in arms while kneeling next to Colin Kaepernick. And with Trump standing at midfield, it felt like the president was daring players to defy him. But, nothing happened. Why? Because the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs weren’t even on the field during the national anthem.
However, that didn’t stop Alabama’s Bo Scarbrough from expressing his right to free speech. As the Crimson Tide walked down the tunnel headed to the field, while Trump struggled and mumbled his way through the national anthem, the Alabama running back was caught on video shouting “F--k Trump!”
It was the same phrase that had been projected on the side of the stadium, as small groups of protestors gathered in different areas around the venue informing the president of what they think of him.
Coming off a year in which sports and politics were joined at the hip, the first big sporting event of 2018 was set up to continue the trend.
Donald Trump + a large number of black football players + two teams representing the heart of Trump’s base + Kendrick Lamar, who regularly raps about social injustices, racism, and his disdain for Trump, performing at halftime = drama.
But after the anthem, Trump was an afterthought.
And Lamar focused his energy on the 20,000 people who withstood freezing temperatures to see him perform.
Coming in, it seemed like this night was going to be remembered for what happened off the field, but instead, it wound up being about the players on it. What started out as a snooze fest, wound up being one of the best championship games in recent history. The 77,430 fans that packed Mercedes Benz Stadium were all wearing some hue of red, but by the end, it was easy to tell whose team won, and whose team lost.
Tua Tagovailoa became a household name, as the freshman quarterback’s second-half performance was the sparkplug that the Alabama offense needed. Before Tagovailoa entered the game after halftime, the Crimson Tide hadn’t scored a point and had only gained 94 yards of total offense. After giving up a 16-yard sack in overtime, the freshman recovered on the next play by throwing a 41-yard game-winning touchdown pass to seal the victory. Alabama fans’ emotions literally went from sorrow to surreal in a matter of seconds.
Nick Saban once again showed why he’s the best coach the game of college football has ever seen.