Athletes' decision to forgo games praised, criticized
Imagine there is a four- alarm fire, and 80 firefighters and eight command staff decide they are upset over a shooting of a Black man by white police officers and refuse to respond to the fire? Or, emergency room physicians refuse to admit patients, garbage collectors stay home, or heaven forbid, our military refuses to intervene to an attack on our soil all because they are upset?
It would be dangerous, ludicrous, and incomprehensible; yet, the Milwaukee Bucks started a domino effect that quickly spread across professional sports for the very same reason.
Professional athletes play at the pleasure and demand of fans. They get to play their favorite sport every day and get paid well for it. Do your job. Be a role model for kids. Don’t whine. Look to our first responders and men and women who work hard every day to make life better for others and follow suit. We would all be a lot better off.
Ann Moore, Centennial
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Watching sports is a privilege no matter your race, religion, gender, or country of national origin. Mark Kizla and Gordon Monson outline the anger of fans deprived of this privilege because athletes decline to play games due to their concern about racial and social injustice.
For those angry fans, they should remember that equality feels like oppression to the privileged. When privilege is threatened, it is mistaken for a violation of rights.
Certainly athletes are privileged to play games for high salaries. However, once athletes of color leave the playing field that privilege no longer exists and often becomes a liability, sometimes a lethal liability, simply due to the color of their skin. Angry fans certainly have missed these realities. Now is the time for all of us to learn the marked distinctions between privilege and rights. Athletes using their platform to raise voices against racial and social injustices help drive these lessons home and just maybe save lives. Clearly that is much more important than the privilege of watching sports.
Dan Sage, Centennial
I was 5 years old when Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey “hatched a bold plan to break the sport’s color barrier.”
Dad was a big Cincinnati Reds fan, and I became one too. We listened to double headers on his transistor radio and went to games at Crosley Field. We cheered for a defensive double play professionally executed by Roy McMillon, Johnny Temple, and Big Klu. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Reds, but I’ve become a fan of our Colorado Rockies. My fellow Silver Sluggers know that shortstop Trevor Story is one of my favorites.
I applaud Mark Kiszla’s “Athletes will not be silenced in 2020.” I will stand up and cheer for Trevor Story and the Rockies for being true role models for young and old.
I hope sports fans like Eric Arthurs get the message that the athletes are showing they care about more than just themselves. They do care about their fans, but they also care about their teammates and their families. They have come to know and care about each other through the game they love playing.
Patty Cordova, Denver