A student-operated publication at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Oak Leaf

A student-operated publication at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Oak Leaf

A student-operated publication at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Oak Leaf

Trump vs. sports

Donald+Trump+continues+to+stick+his+nose+in+sports%2C+probably+because+he+wishes+he+owned+an+NFL+team.
Devin Schwarz
Donald Trump continues to stick his nose in sports, probably because he wishes he owned an NFL team.

President Donald J. Trump should be focused on politics instead of always thrusting himself into the sports world.

Most businesses he has owned or been involved with haven’t done well, like Trump University or the New Jersey Generals.

The Generals was a team in the United States Football League thatTrump owned. During a 1984 interview, he said he could’ve purchased the Dallas Cowboys, but thought the Generals were a better investment.

The USFL was created in 1982 by David Dixon, who saw an opportunity to form a football league that ran through spring and summer, providing football fans something to watch when the NFL is finished in the fall.

Ratings were decent during the first few seasons, but in 1985 the USFL voted to move from spring to fall because of the pressure Trump put on the owners to try to compete with the already established and popular NFL.

After he lost a lawsuit claiming the NFL was monopolizing fall football failed, the USFL collapsed in 1986.

In 2014, Trump, once again, tried and failed to purchase an NFL franchise, this time the Buffalo Bills, but wasn’t able to because he claimed the price was too high. And big surprise, he turned to Twitter to vent.

“Even though I refused to pay a ridiculous price for the Buffalo Bills, I would have produced a winner. Now that won’t happen.”

Trump was pissed after his previous attempts to purchase NFL teams were foiled by other owners, who wanted nothing to do with him. His need to be No. 1 drove him to bite off more than he could chew and he made it his mission to beat them at their own game.

Trump is acting like a jealous ex-girlfriend with the NFL because some of his buddies are owners like the Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, who donated $1 million to Trump’s campaign.

When you thought the tensions between the NFL and Trump couldn’t get any worse on Sept. 20, Trump gave a speech in Alabama that was supposed to be a rally for Republican Senator Luther Strange. Instead, Trump had to bring up the protest occurring in the NFL in which players knelt during the National Anthem, a movement started by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

In the speech, Trump said, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!”

Just let that sink in. Our president is telling owners to fire players for exercising their First Amendment rights and calling them sons of bitches. That’s something you would never hear come out of the mouth of any other president but then again we’re talking about Donald Trump, the man who said “grab em by the p***y” in a 2005 recording.

The sports world is fighting back. Trump’s buddy Jones and other owners were quick to turn on him after the “son of a bitch” speech. Some even kneeled with their players, and others linked arms with them.

He hasn’t been allowed to be involved in the business side of the NFL, so instead he finds other ways to mess things up. Through Twitter posts or in his speeches he’s also attacked NFL players and professional teams for opting to skip the traditional White House visit after a championship season.

The first professional team expected to visit during Trump’s presidency was the 2017 NFL champions, the New England Patriots. A total of 68 players were invited to the White House, but shocking no one, only 34 of those players made the appearance.

Many of the players made it known early like Martellus Bennett, who told reporters in the locker room immediately following the Super Bowl win that he wouldn’t visit the White House. Even Tom Brady, the guy who had the “Make America Great Again” hat in his locker, didn’t show up.

It’s clear that athletes and professional sports teams don’t respect Trump. How could you? The man goes to Twitter whenever anybody says something remotely bad about him and doesn’t seem to shut up about things he has no business being in.

Trump does not just go after football. After the Golden State Warriors terrific 2017 playoff run, culminating in a championship, two time MVP Stephen Curry said he wouldn’t attend the White House visit when he was asked in an exit interview after the championship win.

Instead of representing our country better and just ignoring it, Trump addressed this by embarrassing America once again with a tweet saying Curry’s invitation had been revoked. There are more important things in politics than the Warriors not visiting the White House.

Trump needs to stay in politics and worry about things like funding the government right now. Sticking his nose into this is not only pointless and makes America a look bad, he’s not adding anything to them. He’s just taking away. When players have mixed sports and politics they’ve used their platform for good. Their protests open people’s eyes and bring them together instead of separating them.

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About the Contributor
Devin Schwarz, Podcast Editor

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