Episode 227: So-called Cancel Culture
In this episode Jessica Luther, Brenda Elsey and Lindsay Gibbs talk about so-called "cancel culture" in sport. But first, they talk about about the meaning of footballers Cam Newton and Dani Alves returning to their home teams. Then, sparked by Aaron Rodgers's recent "I'm immunized" drama, the team discusses the myriad of ways that "cancel culture" in sport has been wielded to avoid accountability for lying, harassment, abuse and more.
Following the main discussion, you'll hear a preview of Shireen Ahmed's interview with Ashley Lawrence, Canadian gold medalist and finalist for the prestigious global football award, the Ballon d'Or. Next, they burn all the worst garbage of sports this week in The Burn Pile. Then, they celebrate those making sports better, including Torchbearer of the Week, FORMIGA!, the legendary Brazilian footballer who recently announced her retirement from international play. They wrap up the show with what's good in their lives and what they are watching in sports this week.
This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network.
Links
Americans and ‘Cancel Culture’: Where Some See Calls for Accountability, Others See Censorship, Punishment https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/05/19/americans-and-cancel-culture-where-some-see-calls-for-accountability-others-see-censorship-punishment
‘Cancel Culture’ Isn’t the Problem. ‘OK Culture’ Is. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/opinion/culture/jon-gruden-nfl-cancel-culture
An Open Letter From the Woke Mob to Aaron Rodgers: https://www.theroot.com/an-open-letter-from-the-woke-mob-to-aaron-rodgers-1848018949/
Aaron Rodgers’ lies, his illogical defense, and his hubris damage all professional athletes: https://kareem.substack.com/p/aaron-rodgers-didnt-just-lie
Opinion: Real cancel culture isn't moving MLB All-Star Game, it's the erasing of Black lives https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/mike-freeman/2021/04/13/cancel-culture-isnt-moving-all-star-game-erasing-black-lives/7197217002
Transcript
Jessica: Welcome to Burn It All Down, the feminist sports podcast you need. I'm Jessica, and I'm joined today by Lindsay and Brenda. On this week's show, we're going to talk about so-called “cancel culture” and “woke mobs”. So, buckle up. Then we'll burn things, highlight the torchbearers, tell you what's good in our worlds, and we'll let you know what we're watching this week. But first, before we get into all of that, there's been news this week of players returning home, and for one of us that comes with a lot of feelings. I knew this had to be top of show, because I really wanted to hear how Lindsay is reacting to the news that Cam Newton is a Panther again. Linz, how are you doing?
Lindsay: [laughs] I think I tweeted on Twitter that I'm literally having every single emotion in the universe, like, at one time, which is just really unhealthy. [laughter] Just like, you're not supposed to feel them all at the exact same time about the exact same story. I do have to say, I can't separate Cam Newton from the joy of sports and from my best sports memories ever. And when the Panthers let him go so unceremoniously and just kind of cut him a couple years ago, I mean, it was devastating. I've had a hard time watching the team. Seeing him in Patriots jersey was really, really hard because he just was so integral, like I said, to my time. He is such an outsized personality, and I think so much of Cam Newton love is just like, he brings out just the joy of the game in this really pure way that people respond to, positively and negatively. Like, he's a feelings guy.
And look, I mean, he had the sexist comment a few years ago in the press conference. He's, you know, wasn't vaccinated for a long time, you know, he does things that are not great. But I mean, I started crying. I never thought it was possible for him to come back to the Panthers. Like, I just thought that bridge was just so burned that there was just no way. You know, when Sam Darnold got injured and all the fan supporter groups just started tweeting, “bring him back home, bring him home, bring him home,” I don't think any of us thought it would happen. At the press conference, he said, “I've been waiting a couple years to say this again, but keep pounding” – which is the Panthers’ motto, keep pounding.
Jessica: Aww.
Lindsay: And I just cried. I'm going to wear his jersey today. I don't think he's going to play much in the game, but like, it's overwhelming joy that honestly I didn't think I could really feel about sports anymore. [laughs] Like, I thought I was too jaded to feel this level of emotion. But he just…He means so much. And I think also to the part of the fan base that is, I mean, a little bit more progressive, and saw all the racist bullshit he had to deal with for years in Charlotte and saw everyone rooting for the backup…You know, not everyone, because there's a lot of the fan base that supports him unconditionally. You know, all of that stuff just makes you even more attached to a player, right? Because you see up close what they're having to deal with.
Jessica: Yeah. Like, to be your quarterback, he's dealing with all that.
Lindsay: Yeah, in order to be your quarterback.
Jessica: Yeah. It's really interesting that he chose to go back, right? That he chose to go back. Yeah. All the feelings here. I'm so excited. Watching you talk about Cam Newton has made me very happy. But Brenda, am I wrong about this? Was there a big return in non-American football?
Brenda: In football.
Jessica: In soccer, this week? [laughs]
Brenda: There is a big return, which is Dani Alves, legendary right back, used to be for Barcelona, is going back to Barcelona. It's mind boggling and I encourage anyone who's really interested in this to listen to a very special hot take that Shireen Ahmed and I had on Burn It All Down. I think it's aptly titled, what the fuck is wrong with Barcelona? There's another one called Barcagate. And as much as I love Dani Alves – love Dani Alves! – I think this is indicative of Barcelona's continuing desperation. The 38 year old player won't be eligible to play until January–
Jessica: Is this desperation because the Messi vacuum?
Brenda: I mean, I think it's just a lack of foresight. It's just the director's scrambling, you know? Let's add this or add that, the not building from the academy level…
Jessica: Are the fans excited in the same way that we just heard Lindsay talk about Cam Newton?
Brenda: No, no. [Jessica laughs] I mean, everybody loves Dani Alves. Everybody. Look, he's one of the most beloved–
Jessica: But he’s 38.
Brenda: If you remember the racism that was directed at Dani Alves, he began the banana campaign, which is that he in European football kept getting bananas thrown at him and he would open them up and eat them. And then everybody around the world, like, all these footballers, in support–
Jessica: Started eating bananas.
Brenda: Yeah. And so he's genuinely like a beloved figure. So, everyone's excited, but it does seem to indicate more problems than like Cam Newton would, you know?
Jessica: Oh, I see. I do like Dani Alves because the thing…I was thinking about players returning, and my favorite thing is when a player returns to whatever's considered their home before they retire, or simply to retire, like when they get to play their final game or stand on the field before they retire.
Brenda: True. Yeah.
Jessica: I always find that very sweet. So I like…At least, I assume that will be happening for him at Barcelona.
Brenda: Yeah.
Jessica: We talked briefly at the top of last week show about Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers coming down with COVID and everyone finding out that he is not vaccinated – which came as a surprise to many, because Rodgers, months ago, had answered the question “Are you vaccinated?” with “Yeah, I'm immunized.” It turns out, that was him lying to the media and the public. A little wordplay there. But it was incredibly brazen of him. Bren, what do you make of this particular aspect of it?
Brenda: It's pretty upsetting, and I mean, this isn't a kid. He’s not new to the league. He was drafted in 2005. I think it's his 17th season.
Jessica: Yeah, it’s a long time.
Brenda: He's been playing longer than my teenage daughters have been alive. And, you know, that feels like he should know better, and he does know better. So then it was on purpose. This is a purposeful lie. He didn't want to miss any games. He didn't want to pay any fines. He didn’t…
Jessica: He didn't want to wear his mask before the media.
Brenda: Right!
Jessica: Like, wasn’t that one of the rules?
Brenda: Yeah, with the plexi glass, you know? And that the team provided cover, you know? And there was a lot out there. And Jemele Hill had a really good article on it in The Atlantic, thinking about Kirk Cousins and Kyrie Irving as well, and kind of how these cases are different and similar. But one thing about this is that the Packers clearly are protecting him, and people say, oh, it's just a star…And I don't think that's true. I think they go to great lengths to protect, of course a star the most, but any part of the organization. They lie all the time.
In fact, it didn't make much news, but USA Today has compiled stats of at least 275 known arrests for driving under the influence of NFL players. This is on a spectrum of them deciding that they can just sort of wild west it in the world, you know? So, Aaron Rodgers has seen this happen again and again for 17 seasons, and he knows quite well that he's able to get away with it.
Jessica: Yeah. I mean, he's the reigning NFL MVP. And then he went on the Pat McAfee show to explain – or whatever you want to call it – his decision-making, and he said this:
Aaron Rodgers: I realize I'm in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now. So before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I'd like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies that are out there about myself right now.
Jessica: Ah, yes. The powerful woke mob, putting nails in his cancel culture casket. So many buzzwords, Mr. Rodgers. [laughter] So, let's talk about Rodgers' word choice here. Bren, our resident historian, please give us a rundown on where the term “cancel culture” came from. Like, what was its original purpose?
Brenda: Yeah. The verb “to cancel,” used in a manner like this, was originally heard around the 1980s in disco songs – “cancel your love.” And then there were some Black characters that used it in movies like New Jack City. And it gained popularity on Black Twitter, like 2014/2015, in a moment where social media, Black Twitter and social media, looking for ways to attack powerful people, to use social media to attack powerful people. And so “cancel” was a way to, you know, mean that you’ve overstepped my boundaries, that you have violated, that you have done harm.
And it's now been flipped into this idea of a culture, and that that culture is a mob, is ignorant, and presumably not white, uniformly, right? And so that “cancel culture” is a process of, you know, powerful people constantly playing the victim, or putting themselves in a position of victimization. So it's an appropriation from Black language and community, and used for the very opposite reason it was intended.
Jessica: Yeah. I just feel like we see it all the time in sports at this point, right Linz?
Lindsay: Yeah. There's so many examples of it being used so ridiculously. I mean, that former president, whose name I don't like to say, when the Cleveland baseball team changed their name, he said that was cancel culture. Jon Gruden recently got fired – he was the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. And when we talked on the show about his emails that were racist and sexist, he…I don't think he used the phrase cancel culture publicly, but the right wing media certainly held him up as an example of cancel culture and, you know, their new cancel culture martyr.
But think the one that was the most infuriating to me was Richie Burke, who was the head coach of the Washington Spirit until Kaiya McCullough came forward, and other players anonymously came forward with allegations of verbal abuse – and I think the kindest way to say it would be racial insensitivity – and, you know, just all around harassment. And he was fired from the position as the head coach of the Washington Spirit, after the Spirit tried to kind of put it under the rug. But a person who used to kind of work with the Spirit and considered Richie, a friend she's @stephnacho on Twitter, and she shared a text exchange that she had with Richie Burke.
She was telling him, like, I'm hurt and I'm very disappointed in you. And his response was, you know, “There's two sides to every story.” He called the Washington Post piece which exposed the abuse, and he said, you know, “I'm sickened. Owners are using me as a pawn in the power struggle.” And this quote got a lot of attention: “Players can't speak up for me, even though they've sent flowers and Edible Arrangements to me throughout this.” [laughter] But ultimately he said, “Cancel culture got me. Sprinkled the hot topics of allegations of abuse, transphobia, homophobia, and racism, none of which are true.” And when he was initially hired for the Spirit head coaching job, there were allegations of his verbal abuse.
Jessica: Yeah. There’s a history.
Lindsay: There's a well established history. And he calls getting fired for abuse “cancel culture,” which is just…It’s very revealing what these guys are saying in private. [laughs]
Jessica: And I think the ubiquity of this...Because Lindsay, I saw that you went on Twitter and you're like, am I wrong? Did Richie Burke say that he was canceled? Because like, you can just…It’s hard to remember who all is using this language all the time, because it's so out there so much. But this does go beyond simply people creating a narrative within the news media or social media. Brenda, what are the politicians up to?
Brenda: Well, bad things. [laughter]
Lindsay: Well, that's a shock. That's a shock.
Jessica: End scene. [laughs]
Brenda: Very bad things. Whether it's preventing the New York Times’ 1619 Project from being taught in schools, or whatever it is – especially right-wing politicians have decided that “cancel culture” is something that they've been attacked, by that limits free speech. And yet the rage against cancel culture is fueling their attempts to do things like ban the 1619 Project from schools.
Jessica: Actual canceling.
Brenda: Yeah! Actual canceling of actual thought and actual facts and actual work. So, it's not surprising then that it's actually linked to an anti-vax movement, right? Because it's very anti factual. These are moral arguments that they have, not political or intellectual ones. And so anyway, yeah, last April when MLB announced it was moving the draft from Atlanta–
Jessica: The All Star game.
Brenda: Sorry, thank you. Because of the racist voting law in Georgia, former president Trump had called for people to, quote, “Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies,” end of quote. Again, that sounds a lot like canceling in a literal sense. And then the Republican Congressman Jeff Duncan sought to end baseball's antitrust exemption as a way to get back at Major League Baseball for taking these kinds of steps. So, I think that trust legislation should be passed for entirely different reasons, right? [laughter] For labor rights, which I know that the Georgia government isn't in support of either. [laughs]
Jessica: Yeah. That’s not the point. Yeah.
Brenda: So, but the point is that it's not like it has passed the notice of right-wing politicians when sports organizations do take up some of these more progressive social justice issues, and that they've used the idea of “woke” and “canceling” specifically, and mobilized those to make people angry and turn public opinion against them. And if you haven't seen, we've talked a lot about Ohio representative Jim Jordan, the cases that are still pending against him by Ohio State wrestlers. I want to bring that up as often as I can. He has a new conference for those survivors. It's just utter bullshit that he gets to never have to talk about this. He has an entire conference called Uncanceling America.
Jessica: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.
Brenda: [laughs] So, you know, the idea that you're canceling Christmas or Muppets or America, it's all about cherry picking and ridiculing real inequality and social justice.
Jessica: Right. Exactly. And the idea that it's just something that like someone writes in a text message when they're fired. It's not just that, right? Like, we're seeing it in the highest levels of power in this country. And it's so frustrating, because like, as Lindsay said, with Richie Burke, clearly “cancel culture” the phrase is being used to avoid accountability, right? Like, they're blaming it on something, anything other than themselves and their actions and their behaviors. It gives them an out. But at the same time, as Brenda just mentioned, the same people who are often screaming against cancel culture are out here actively canceling people. And this is as true in sports as anywhere else. Lindsay?
Lindsay: Yeah, I mean, I mentioned Jon Gruden before about how right-wing publications are really using his firing as an example of cancel culture. But if you actually look at the emails that he sent, there were emails talking about keeping Eric Reid out of the league – Eric Reid, who is the first player to join in taking a knee alongside Colin Kaepernick. And Eric Reid does not have a contract right now, I don't believe. And if I'm really thinking about the term cancel culture and like what that would be, it would be the examples of what's happened to Colin Kaepernick and what's happened to Eric Reid, right? There's no real punishment on the books for them, right?
It's literally just kind of a…They’re being blacklisted, right? Because people don't like their beliefs and the way they choose to show them. And you know, it's hard not to look every single Sunday at the NFL, you know, there are still many…You know, Tyreek Hill is still one of the stars of the league, right? And we know of his past of domestic abuse. Ray Rice, that was in 2014, right? And it's almost like Ray Rice is the only one who ever saw real consequences from that, and nobody learned anything. And if I was truly believing in canceling, there are a lot of people who I think have done things that would deserve “canceling,” and yet because they can help their team win, they're still out there.
Jessica: Right.
Lindsay: And so, I don't know. The way this term is used, it's just so transparent. It's such bullshit, and it's infuriating. Like, the conflation between cancel culture and just accountability for your actions, right? Those lines are being purposely blurred to act like any sort of consequence is a “cancellation.”
Jessica: Which, like, maybe it should be? [laughter]
Lindsay: Yeah, yeah!
Jessica: Maybe there are times when you should be canceled! And I feel that same way about the term “woke mob” when it gets thrown around, right? Like, Rodgers is like, oh no, the woke mob! Because I would say, here at Burn It All Down, [laughs] we’re pretty in favor of the idea of a woke mob, right, Bren?
Brenda: I'm very pro woke mob. I mean, the thing…Just as Lindsay was alluding to, I mean, if the very basis of canceling is that you don't have structural legal consequences for people who are doing something wrong, you cancel them as a society or as a culture in recognition that those institutions are failing you, right?
Jessica: Yes.
Brenda: And so, yes, I am pro that we can have a public opinion that says misogyny, sexual assault, sexual harassment, racism, homophobia, ableism are bad, and you should be ashamed of yourself. What is wrong with that? That's right. That's the right thing, you know? So, people say to me all the time, like when it comes to punishing fan bases, for example, for discriminatory behavior and football, when I work with Fare, and they say, well, you're not changing their hearts and minds, you know? “You're just shaming them.
You're just a woke mob.” And it's like, good! You know? They should be ashamed of themselves, and we shouldn't normalize that behavior. And I'm sorry if I can't change their hearts and minds. I'm not a therapist. I don't have that kind of training.
Jessica: Yeah. The point is to mitigate harm. Yeah.
Brenda: Be ashamed of yourself! Be very ashamed of yourself. Walk around and know that we think you're shameful, at least, if I can't put you in jail for the shit that you do, then know that I think you're a piece of shit, at least! [laughs]
Jessica: Yes. And the very people who are so resistant to collective punishment or public accountability, they're out here now creating their own institutions in order to avoid it. And this week a bunch of people who do nothing but complain about how the “liberals” are ruining everything are creating their own fucking university, the University of Austin. Yes, here in Austin, Texas.
Lindsay: Do they not know what Austin is? Like, do they–
Jessica: Well, they said they chose it here because Elon Musk and Joe Rogan chose Austin. [Lindsay laughs] But they're literally making places to escape to if you are held accountable by the “woke mob,” right? They're just creating their own institution. Who knows – like, this place is not accredited yet. Who knows what it will actually be in the end.
Brenda: And what can you major in? I mean, just think to yourself–
Jessica: They don't have any of that yet.
Brenda: All the new majors you can have at a place this. [laughs]
Jessica: Yeah, I know. But it is telling that they're like, “we will create our own space in which we can escape, if and when we're held at all accountable.” And we see this in other ways, right Linz?
Lindsay: Yeah. I mean, the irony of people complaining about safe spaces, right? Who literally have to create their own safe space, is just too much. They made a trailer for the university. [laughs] It was like an action film. Do you know what I mean? With all these Oscar winners, like, they flash all the names on the screen as they’re zooming in, with this dramatic music! But I'm going to read Caitlin Flanagan, who’s one of the people whose names was flashed. She's a writer. “When all seems lost, you have to protect the light. Cicero protected it and John Adams found it and now and I” – so, lots of typos “are free. Once again the light is sputtering out. Join us. Freedom won’t die on our watch.” [laughter] And then there's the trailer. [laughter]
But honestly, we see this in sports too, and I'm sure there's going to be some of these sports people going on there, right? I mean, think about some of these media companies, right? Like, these people don't stay at ESPN and they go to like an OutKick the Coverage where they can kind of be…You know, they're not going to be held accountable for anything. And you've seen that be the career trajectory where, you know, leave any sort of mainstream institution. And I think we're seeing people make a lot of money that way, and god is that depressing.
Jessica: Which is also…It just shows the lie behind all of this, the idea that the people who are complaining the most about cancel culture have so much institutional power and wealth and money. Like, they can literally build their own infrastructure and institution, if and when they are held accountable by the “woke mob.” And that's just so, so telling. I want to end this segment, though…One of the things I've been thinking a lot about after seeing some of the clips and reading all the shit that Aaron Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee show, like, we talk a lot on the show about wanting athletes to have space, to speak out on issues that matter a lot to them. We talk about that a lot and that we want that for athletes. But man, how do I feel when someone like Rodgers uses his platform to say things that I feel like are harmful? And I'm just wondering how you guys are thinking about this, when we have these moments when athletes say things that we do not agree with. How are we feeling about athletes and platforms? Bren?
Brenda: I think that, of course, you know, they should be able to voice their terrible opinions – the same way that we should be able to then cancel them for their terrible opinions. [laughs] But I certainly think it's different…Or you want to disaggregate some of the cases like Kyrie, just the historical discrimination of the medical community towards African-Americans makes me want to hear and listen to what he's saying. And I did, and it's not about that and it's terrible. [laughs] So, I mean, I'm sad about that, but I do think the Aaron Rodgers stuff is different somehow. And so there are athletes that I am particularly disposed to listening to, even if they have opinions I don't agree with, you know? But yeah, I think they should be able to all air their ridiculousness.
Jessica: Linz?
Lindsay: Yeah, I agree. I mean, I mentioned Cam Newton at the top of the show, right? He has said things that I don't agree with, he's used his platform, right? He hasn't crossed whatever line, you know, which to me would be, I don't know, 23 accusations of sexual assault by a massage therapist or, you know, something like that. But we all draw our own lines, right? I mean, I don't think there's any athlete that a hundred percent of the things they've said I fully agree with. Like, they're learning, we're learning…Some of them aren't learning, but whatever. [laughs]
Jessica: But it's good to know. It's good to know they’re not learning.
Lindsay: It’s good to know And yeah. Have there been times where I’ve wished a certain athlete that I like would shut up because they're making it very hard to support them? Yes. But like, I don't actually want their platform taken away. And there have also been times where athletes have said stuff “wrong,” or that, you know, have been hurtful. And then they've gotten feedback and they've learned, do you know what I mean? And that's part of the ongoing conversation. So, that's just part of navigating life in an open society.
Jessica: Yes. I agree so much with you. I guess that's why we're all here making this podcast together. [laughter]
Lindsay: Yeah, probably.
Jessica: If you want to hear more about this, I highly recommend Amira's roundtable with Dr. Candis Smith, Dr. Courtney Cox, and Dr. Brooklyne Gipson about NBA players and vaccination that posted back on October 7th. This week on Thursday, Shireen interviews Ashley Lawrence, a member of the gold medal winning Canadian national soccer team, who currently plays for PSG in France and is one of five finalists for BBC women's footballer of the year and the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.
Ashley Lawrence: As a team, we're just constantly looking to have an impact – not only on the field, but beyond the pitch. And I think that's what just ties into our strength, and that is just our unity, and we’re just like a family. And so that, I think, has shown in our performances, because we're willing to be out on the field and to fight for the player next to you.
Jessica: Now it's time for everyone's favorite segment that we like to call the burn pile, where we pile up all the things we've hated this week in sports – at least some of the things that we've hated this week in sports [laughs] – and set them aflame. Lindsay, what are you burning today?
Lindsay: All right, I've got a double burn. I'm sorry.
Jessica: Comin’ in hot.
Lindsay: They’re both soccer related, so we're going to tie them under one soccer’s pissing me off umbrella. Over on Yahoo, Henry Bushnell did a great piece reporting on how US Soccer works to make sure that Mexico vs USA men's games are home games for the United States, in the United States. And they have to go through extremes, you know? They believe that they could sell 100,000 tickets, but they feel like there would be too many fans of the Mexican team if they did that. So they limit these games to like 26,000, 24,000-seat stadiums.
And then they have a high level of control over who they give the tickets to, and they give it to like these high-paying supporter groups and people who are members of US Soccer and pay all this money. To get the tickets on the secondary market, it's a minimum of $400, which is just absurd. And they specifically picks cities and states that do not have a high population of Mexican Americans. So, they do all this to make sure they have a home advantage and, you know, US did win this important game against Mexico. And part of me kind of gets it, and then part of me is like, this is bullshit. If you haven't earned a home advantage by having a large enough fan base, then you haven't earned it, right? Then do better, work harder. Don't artificially create it.
And then my B burn goes to Mallory Pugh, who it just was announced that she is out of the NWSL semifinals. She is an MVP candidate this year for the Chicago Red Stars. That greatly torpedoes the Red Stars’ chances, and I'm I'm pissed that I don't get to see her play. But it's basically over because of COVID-19 protocols. It's pretty widely assumed that Mal Pugh was not vaccinated due to, you know, her sharings on social media. And she recently turned down an invitation to Team USA camp for the Australian friendlies. And it's widely believed that that's because of the vaccination requirements.
And, you know, her boyfriend just won the World Series; he plays for Atlanta. And she was doing a lot of traveling during that time, which can't be good with protocols. So, it is infuriating to see this young star who is finally back playing the type of soccer, you know what I mean? Like, after really struggling at the beginning of her career, is finally back to her prime, and now it's going to fucking torpedo her career, basically, because she won't get a shot? Oh, my god. I'm so…I’m mad! I'm also mad because I want to see her play. Like, I want her to succeed. Burn, burn, burn.
All: Burn.
Jessica: All right, Bren, what's on your burn pile?
Brenda: I'm going to burn the behavior of the US men's team. Congratulations for a very good definitive 2-0 win – especially Weah, the son of George Weah, Ballon d’Or winner and president of Liberia. Very interesting.
Jessica: Yeah. He was great.
Brenda: He was phenomenal. So I just want to preface that, so you don't think I'm canceling America. [laughs] But I do want to say that Guillermo Ochoa, long time Mexican goalkeeper, said last week in a very complex and nice statement in Spanish – and if anyone bothered to read it, like Christian Pulisic, they might understand it. And he said the US rivalry is very important, and it's one in which the US constantly looks to Mexico to see the mirror image of itself. Okay. Does that sound super offensive to you?
Lindsay: No.
Brenda: It doesn't. No. But Christian Pulisic took this to mean that there was a deep lack of respect for them, and decided to use a phrase from Michael Jackson, because of course he would, saying “MAN IN THE MIRROR” to pull his shirt up when he scored the goal. And he said it was a way to respond to the smack talk of Guillermo Ochoa. And then Berhalter, the coach for the US men's team, said that they deeply disliked the Mexican men's team. So I would just like to co-burn or to add on to Lindsay's whole point. If you were a USA fan there that had the money to pay at least $400 per ticket, you would have seen actually one of the most interesting rivalries in CONCACAF, two of the top teams. This is unnecessary. To mobilize Michael Jackson against Guillermo Ochoa, who has gone out and done tons of anti-homophobic work for the Mexican team, is some other bullshit. Get yourself some education, Christian. You’re a fine, fine player, but you're not a great guy. Burn.
All: Burn.
Jessica: A month ago, I burned ESPN’s Adam Schefter for seeming to always side with power whenever he gets the chance. I said then that a major part of why I hate his capitulation to access over and above integrity is that it feels like it exists in direct opposition to the work that I personally do. Well, this week Schefter showed again his ass, and in a way that made it clear that we exist in opposition to each other. A woman filed a lawsuit this week against Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook for battery, assault, and false imprisonment. It included pictures of her bloody and bruised face, arm and scalp, as well as screenshots of an Instagram DM of Cook apologizing to her.
Cook, for his part, has denied everything, and said that in fact he was the victim, because she held him hostage at gunpoint, and he only hit her to defend after she had attacked his cousin. For now, that is all we know, but before the lawsuit was even filed, Cook's agent clearly wanted to get in front of it. And so he went to Schefter, who has 8.7 million followers on Twitter. Schefter fired off a tweet that read, “Minnesota Vikings’ RB (running back) Dalvin Cook is the victim of domestic abuse and extortion – there’s pending litigation, according to his agent Zac Hiller.” It literally started, “Dalvin Cook is the victim of domestic abuse and extortion.”
After all we know about Schefter’s process, one has to wonder who exactly got to edit this tweet before it went up. You know what Schefter didn't tweet? The woman's account. The one in the fucking lawsuit. He actually wrote five tweets about Cook’s side before finally linking to a piece that mentioned what she said had happened. And he did that by writing, “An update on the dueling allegations between Dalvin Cook and an ex-girlfriend.” Like, my heart is beating so hard, just like…
As Robert Klemko tweeted, in a great thread about Schefter’s decision, quote, “Schefter is happy to do it, because Hiller has fed him every big Dalvin Cook scoop since the man has been in the league. Last night, it came time to pay the Piper.” I am not saying that Cook’s response didn't deserve coverage, because it does. I am saying the Schefter’s coverage of the whole thing was incredibly lopsided and deeply unfair. And it's just so shameful. Like, it's so shameful. This man should be deeply ashamed of himself. And I know that he will not be, so I just want to fucking burn it. Burn.
All: Burn.
Jessica: Now to highlight people carrying the torch and changing sports culture. Linz, who is our pay it forward of the week?
Lindsay: This week, before the start of the basketball season, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley fulfilled her promise to give a piece of her 2017 championship net to every Black female head coach in Division I basketball. Every single one. If you don't know the backstory to this, Carolyn Peck, who was the first Black female head coach to win a championship, had gifted Staley a piece of her championship net, you know, with the promise that Staley would do the same when her time came. So, this passing the net has a quickly become my favorite tradition in sports. And seeing all the Black female head coaches tweeting and sharing the note from Dawn Staley and little piece of net that they got was definitely the feel-good story of the week.
Jessica: It's true. Brenda, who are our fan activists of the week?
Brenda: Bayern Munich supporters, who held up a huge banner during the team's home game last weekend, criticizing the club for sportswashing of human rights abuses in Qatar, because Bayern still has sponsorship from Qatar’s national airline.
Jessica: Apparently the fans have been doing this for a long time. They've been very opposed.
Brenda: Yeah. Yeah. Bundesliga fans are no joke.
Jessica: Yeah.
Brenda: They care deeply about this.
Jessica: Our sister act of the week is Kenya’s Sheila Jerotich, who came from behind to win the 2021 Istanbul marathon in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 15 seconds. Her sister, Jackline Chepngeno, was only six seconds behind her! One-two duo in the Istanbul marathon.
Lindsay, who is our ceiling breaker of the week?
Lindsay: New Zealand rally driver Emma Gilmour, who made history as the first female driver for the famed British motor racing team, McLaren.
Jessica: All right, can I get a drumroll, please?
[drumroll]
Bren, who was our torchbearer of the week?
Brenda: Formiga, [laughs] the Brazilian player, midfielder. It's no secret that Formiga is my favorite footballer of all time. Yes, even beyond Lionel Messi. And she is retiring from international play. She will continue to play at São Paulo FC, so you can see her at Corinthians arena.
She's the last active player born during the ban, the legal ban on women playing football in Brazil. That's not regulation football. That's not team football. That's football anywhere – like in your backyard, in your school, anywhere. The draconian law lasted from 1941 to 1981. So, when Formiga was born, it was banned. And in addition to that, even when she first started playing there were rules…Like in the São Paulo federation, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, that players had to have hair long enough to make a ponytail. And if you are to Google pictures of Formiga, you will see that at every turn. She blazed all the trails and refused to comply with the increasing pressure to look feminine for a heteronormative audience.
She is an Afro-Brazilian player, at a time when most of them were Afro-Brazilian, and the team has become increasingly white. So, in Bahia, traditionally the largest slave state, the nickname Formiga means an ant. And I think her play really does resemble this work and ethic. She's embraced the nickname, always. Seven Olympics, seven World Cups, 26 years on the Brazilian national team. Obrigada, Formiga!
Jessica: All right. What is good with y’all? Lindsay, what's good with you?
Lindsay: Well, I haven't gotten to talk about my vacation. So I'll briefly talk about–
Jessica: Woo! Yes please. Yes! You have to. You have the best what's good. [laughs]
Lindsay: I got to go to San Francisco and then wine country, and it was just a phenomenal trip. I love the Bay Area and wine country. Like, I could see myself living there. It is just incredible. And the weather…We had such good weather. And I ordered so much wine! Like, we all got it shipped, and it's about to start getting here. By the end of the trip, I was like, $35 a bottle of wine? [Jessica laughs] That’s cheap. I gotta get that. It was ridiculous. And the most depressing thing was I got home and the only thing I had was like my Target wine. I had a glass of that and I was like, this is actual grape juice. [Brenda laughs] So, I got to take on a couple of extra jobs now, because I'm such a wine snob.
Jessica: Uh oh! [laughter]
Brenda: Oh no!
Lindsay: It was gorgeous! It was so pretty and just such a great change of pace from things here on the east coast. So yeah, I loved it.
Jessica: Yay! Bren, what’s good with you?
Brenda: Oh. First and foremost, my eight year old child received her first dose of the vaccine.
Jessica: Yay! [claps]
Brenda: That was really emotional. They've lost a lot. They've complied with whatever we've said. They have no choices in this matter. Masking, not masking, vaxxing, not vaxxing. So, I appreciate her goodwill and patience throughout all of this, and it felt like a big moment. Argentina and Uruguay, one of the best football rivalries in the world, played this past week. Very clean, lovely game. Argentina won, 1-0. It was super, super exciting, and I was very happy. This coming week on the 16th, you should check out in San Juan, Argentina the very delayed qualifier between Argentina and Brazil, which is sure to be a great game. It's hard to dislike either of those teams right now, and the way that they're playing.
I'm finally slowly, slowly – way too slowly, embarrassingly slowly – my book, I have some progress. And I'm giving my first talk on the Afro-Cuban baseball project and Martín Dihigo, which I've been working on for years, but most dedicatedly – if that's a word – the past few months on leave. So, thank you to Hofstra for giving me a leave. And I'm excited to start to get some feedback. And please come and correct me if you want on December 9th – it's on my Twitter.
Jessica: That sounds great. I can't wait to hear. Brenda's had a…We’ve had our own Caribbean baseball discussions. [laughs]
Brenda: Oh yeah. There's a whole separate Jessica Luther/Brenda Elsey Caribbean baseball thread. [laughs]
Jessica: Yes. Have you found any women, Brenda? [Brenda groans] [laughter] Part of my what's good is that Brenda and I were on the most recent episode of Rose Eveleth's excellent podcast, Flash Forward.
Brenda: Yes!
Jessica: The interview was so much fun.
Brenda: So much fun.
Jessica: Rose cut a hilarious line that Brenda had about sex robots. [Brenda laughs] Brenda is just delightful. The final product is so good. The whole thing is about robotics and sports. So if you want to listen to us, that's Flash Forward. If you were on Twitter on Thursday night/Friday morning, you saw that I was one of the white ladies very excited about Taylor Swift re-releasing Red.
Lindsay: Yes!
Jessica: All Too Well, I think I had said last year, was one of my most favorite songs. So, I got feelings about the 10 minute version, but I was thrilled to hear it. And I think my favorite song is her new one. It's from the vault with Phoebe Bridgers called Nothing New. I think that is just a beautiful song. And the two of them sounds lovely together. So, I was very excited about that. Also, last night my family watched Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings; it's now on Disney+. We had not seen it. It is gorgeous. It is a very beautiful movie. One of my favorite Marvel movies, I would say. I really, really enjoyed it.
Okay. So, what we are watching this week: obviously Brenda mentioned Argentina vs Brazil in the qualifier. Women's college basketball and hockey seasons are underway. The second round of the NCAA women's soccer tournament is Friday, November 19th, and the third round is on Sunday the 21st. And sandwiched in between those rounds is the NWSL final on Saturday, November 20th at 12:00pm eastern on CBS. So, make sure that you tune in.
That's it for this episode of Burn It All Down. This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our web and social media wizard. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Follow Burn It All Down on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Listen, subscribe and rate the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play and TuneIn. For show links and transcripts, check out our website, burnitalldownpod.com. You'll also find a link to our merch at our Bonfire store. And thank you to our patrons. Your support means the world. If you want to become a sustaining donor to our show, visit patreon.com/burnitalldown. For Lindsay and Brenda, this is Jessica, reminding all of our flamethrowers to burn on and not out.