Sports thoughts
Iwas driving around Yuma with a friend and all I saw was a sea of red. My first thought was, “boy we’ve got a lot of Arizona Cardinals fans.” But reality quickly set in and I saw teachers everywhere, holding signs, waving, smiling, standing up for a just cause. I found myself honking my horn continuously at every street corner. (P.S. I honk my horn about three times a year. I don’t like confrontation.) I was getting excited like at a football game when the home team is driving for
the winning touchdown.
My learned friend said, “they won’t win.” I replied, “why not?” He informed me Arizona is a “right to work state” and no unions are allowed. He added, “that bunch of legislators in Phoenix won’t do very much, some of them even own charter schools.”
A dim light went off in my brain. I said to my friend, “We have unions in Arizona, and they are all pretty powerful.” “Oh yeah Einstein, which ones are those?”, he quipped without looking at me. I said, “The NFL, the MLB and the NBA player’s unions. They’re all in Phoenix.”
“Don’t you know about anything but sports, Blabe? Those unions are national, and not considered Arizona unions, besides, they have no power here,” was his retort.
More honking, more waving and more adrenaline in my body as I saw men and women standing up fighting the odds. I always root for the underdogs in sports, they seem to fight harder and never give up, no matter what people say.
The dim light in my brain got a touch brighter as I thought back to 1990’s. Arizona was only one of two states in our country that had not passed making Martin Luther King Day a holiday. That’s what the voters of our state decided and by golly, that’s the way it’s going to be — or was it?
The NFL player’s union simply said, “you don’t pass MLK day, no Super Bowl in Arizona.” There was a huge outcry, “how dare some overpaid jocks tell the voters of Arizona what to do!” But the baseball players and basketball players jumped in too. No All-Star games in Phoenix. Plus, these small unions added, “we will use our influence on the NCAA, no national championships will be held in Arizona.” Some enraged citizens in the state said, “the right of franchise can’t be compromised by some overgrown men that play with a ball.”
The unions went on to say, “not only will these events not take place, but we will use all our influence to discourage many businesses from using Arizona as a place for conventions and meetings.” Bitter feelings on both sides until the statisticians came out with the number – no not RBI’s or pass completions, but monetary facts. They simply said, “in the next ten years if this boycott takes place, Arizona will lose billions of dollars and thousands of jobs — period.
The Sea of Red is not a union. They are not overpaid. They have very little political clout. They are blamed for poor test scores, chastised for lack of discipline in school, forced to work without proper supplies, brow beaten with federal and state mandates, and asked to nurture children in overcrowded classrooms as if they were their parents. They are underdogs fighting the odds. The Sea of Red is made up of college graduates that rank at the very bottom of our nation in pay, many qualify for federal assistance. Did I say that? Are we that callous to let these people suffer? I hope not.
My advice — keep fighting, never give up. Try to get those three sports unions on your side, you never know. And by the way, I think January 15th is a national holiday, even in Arizona.