49ers’ Kaepernick stands out for not standing up
Principled protest may cost QB if team decides to take action against him
BULLS OF THE WEEK
It was a good week for the phenomenon of eSports when Toronto’s Air Canada Centre sold out for the North American finals of League of Legends. When more than 15,000 fans pay money to watch video gamers play video games, you’re on to something.
All-star third baseman Josh Donaldson only seemed like he was playing video games when he hammered three home runs in one game in Baltimore this week, throwing his name back into the conversation for a potential repeat as American League MVP. That will only add another layer of demand for baseball tickets in Toronto as the Blue Jays get close to selling out the rest of their home games in the midst of another pennant race. The Jays are poised to cross the three-million mark in fans for the season next Friday night when they host the Boston Red Sox.
Meanwhile, rookie quarterback Jonathon Jennings engineered his league-leading fourth game-winning drive of the CFL season as the B.C. Lions beat the Toronto Argonauts Wednesday night to go 5-1 on the road and 7-3 overall. That should help the Lions see some growth in B.C. Place Stadium attendance next Friday night when they host the Montreal Alouettes.
Yet there was no player more talked about or more relevant in the NFL or North American pro sport this week than San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick. First sitting and now kneeling for the Star Spangled Banner, Kaepernick says he is protesting the oppression of black Americans and people of colour. He’s attempting something difficult in making a stand as an individual playing a team sport. Sport business dynamics suggest he is potentially compromising his duties as an employee and as a teammate, but outside of his socks Kaepernick is showing he’s smart enough to allow his protest to evolve and back it up with at least $1 million in donations to his own cause. The question is for how long will he continue to enjoy the public platform of an NFL player?
BEAR OF THE WEEK
It doesn’t get any lower than a candidate politicizing the death of an American during a campaign for the U.S. presidency, but that’s exactly what Donald Trump did when Nykea Aldridge, the cousin of NBA all-star Dwyane Wade, was shot and killed in a crossfire last weekend in Chicago. For the golf course magnate and former USFL owner this was off the charts, leaving as sour a taste as any of Trump’s tweets during his unfathomable run in the U.S. election campaign.
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