All posts by amwoods

The Kaepernick Enigma

Politics, Sports, ,

Our long national nightmare was almost over. Word came down last week that the NFL was going to hold a workout for former 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick on behalf of teams that were “interested” in employing him. Kaep has been unemployed since opting out of his 49ers contract in March 2017. For some reason, other NFL teams were not interested in employing a quarterback who had led the 49ers to a Super Bowl and several other playoff berths. Kaep couldn’t even get a back-up QB job, while NFL teams continue to employ the likes of Robert Griffin, Brian Hoyer, Matt Moore, Josh McCown, Colt McCoy, and Blake Bortles on rosters despite lengthy resumes of failure.

So finally action was being taken to potentially return Kaepernick to an NFL roster. Or was it? As we’ve all heard by now, issues arose between the NFL and Kaepernick over a waiver and other issues. The NFL workout in Atlanta was cancelled by Kaep and he instead went forward with his own public workout at a high school. The media has been severely divided over this situation. Some have argued that Kaep should have gone forward with the workout despite the issues that arose, while others say the NFL workout was a sham and Kaep was right to refuse to do it. So what happened and who is at fault over this situation?

To understand, we have to start back in 2016.  At the time, there had been a number of deaths of innocent people of color caused by law enforcement sparking the Black Lives matter movement.  During the NFL’s 2016 preseason, 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick began sitting during the national anthem because he did not want to show pride for this country’s flag while African-Americans were being murdered by the police and getting away with it.  Kaep’s action sparked outrage even when he switched to kneeling during the anthem at the suggestion of former NFL player and military veteran Nate Boyer as a way to pay respect to veterans while still protesting the social injustices that were occurring.  A few teammates and other players began joining Kaep’s kneeling protest though.  To demonstrate his devotion to his cause, Kaepernick donated a million dollars to organizations working in oppressed communities and started the Know Your Rights Camp to teach disadvantaged youth about the history of social injustice, people’s rights, and self-empowerment.

Photo by Mike Morbeck pursuant to a Creative Commons license.

After the end of the 2016 football season, Kaepernick and the 49ers parted ways.  Despite being in his prime and being a quarterback with a history of success, no other NFL team signed Kaepernick.  This was particularly curious given the rise of similar mobile quarterbacks likes Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, and Lamar Jackson.  Clearly, Kaepernick was better than at least 50% of the quarterbacks with jobs in the NFL, but NFL owners were refusing to employ him because he was a vocal opponent of police-caused deaths of African-Americans.  NFL owners were cowed by some outcry–spurred on in no small part by incessant anti-Kaepernick tweets by the president–over a non-violent protest.

When it became clear that he was being blackballed by the NFL, Kaepernick filed a grievance against the league in October 2017, accusing the owners of collusion in refusing to even work him out, much less sign him.  That grievance was settled earlier this year.  Because of a confidentiality clause in the agreement, the details of the settlement have not been disclosed.  Without seeing the agreement though, I can tell you that the agreement surely contained two specific clauses.  One, the settlement only covered the NFL’s collusive actions up to the date of the settlement.  And two, the NFL would not prevent any team from working out and signing Kaepernick to a contract thereafter.

So what has happened since the settlement was reached last February?  A fat lot of nothing, that’s what.  No team has brought Kaepernick in for a workout, despite a number of serious quarterback injuries that have occurred this season.  Not.  One.  Team.  You can be sure that word has filtered from Kaep’s camp to Roger Goodell that the collusion to keep him out of the league had continued and Kaepernick was considering a new grievance for the post-settlement collusion.  So if you did not understand why the NFL suddenly offered a workout to Colin Kaepernick last week, now you know why.

As soon as word about the possible workout got out, the NFL PR machine went into high gear.  There were stories about how a number of teams were interested in him, but wanted the cover of an NFL workout, instead of a team workout, to gauge whether Kaepernick was in shape.  There were stories about every NFL team being invited to the workout and that 25 teams were planning to send representatives and that the NFL would video the workout and send it to all 32 teams.  There were even stories that the NFL wanted Kaepernick back in the league.

As we now know, the planned “workout” fell through and Kaepernick ended up doing his own workout at a high school.  The NFL PR machine continued to try to steamroll the narrative.  Word was that Kaep was not truly serious about returning to the NFL, he wouldn’t sign a standard workout waiver, was more interested in making a political statement (apparently because he wore a Kunta Kinte t-shirt to the workout but not during the workout), and he was trying to set up the NFL for another grievance.  Let’s examine the known facts that have come out since last week’s workout fiasco:

  1.  Kaepernick was not told about a possible workout until the Tuesday prior to the planned Saturday workout.  He asked for additional time and the NFL refused.
  2. The workout was planned for a Saturday despite in-seasons workouts by teams being universally held on Tuesdays.  That’s because teams are deep into Sunday game preparations on Saturdays and don’t want other Saturday distractions.  That meant that any team personnel who would show up to Kaep’s workout would be far down the authority list.
  3. Kaepernick asked for a list of the personnel who he would be working out with in advance of the workout.  The NFL refused to provide the list.
  4. Kaepernick asked to be allowed to film the workout himself because he was worried that the NFL would edit their video of the workout in a way where he would not look good.  The NFL not only refused this request, but threw a major corporate sponsor, Nike, under the bus by saying that Kaep’s video of the workout would be used for a Nike commercial.  Nike demanded that the NFL retract that statement as completely false.
  5. After the request to film the workout himself was denied, Kaep asked that the media be allowed to watch the workout so that his readiness to play could be fairly reported.  This too was denied.
  6. The “standard” workout waiver turned out not to be standard after all and included new clauses with enough ambiguity in them that, if Kaepernick were to sign the waiver, he might be prevented from bringing a future grievance or lawsuit against the NFL.  As one of Kaepernick’s lawyers put it, it would have been malpractice for him to advise Kaep to sign the waiver.  Kaep’s lawyers revised the waiver to account for their concerns, but the NFL refused the modifications.

Put yourself in Kaepernick’s shoes for a moment.  Everything about this situation screams “SHAM!”  It looks like the NFL is trying to trick you into signing away your rights to come after them for their continued collusion against you.  Do you, as some members of the sports media have suggested, go ahead and sign the waiver and hope that some team signs you?  Or do you refuse to sign the waiver and put on your own workout instead.  I know what I would do and that’s exactly what Kaep did.  At his own workout, the press was invited, as well as the representatives of any NFL team.  As a result, we all got to see the film of the workout on Saturday, which showed that Kaep is both in shape and still has a strong arm.

So what happens now?  Unless one or more NFL teams step up and bring in Kaepernick for their own workouts and one of them finally signs him, it appears inevitable that Kaep will bring another grievance or lawsuit against the NFL for continuing collusion.  For whatever reason, NFL owners seem more concerned over the backlash that might result from signing a player who had the audacity to kneel during the national anthem than they are over a backlash for employing domestic abusers, rapists, drug users, and even players convicted of manslaughter (Leonard Little & Donte Stallworth, look it up).  You can’t make this stuff up.  The NFL continues to lose my respect.

The Day of Finals

Sports, , , , , , , , ,

July 7, 2019 presented a rare confluence of futbol championship events.  In the morning (US time), the 2019 Women’s World Cup final between the U.S. and the Netherlands took place in France.  In the afternoon, the Copa America final featured host country Brazil versus Peru.  In the evening, the U.S. men’s team faced off against Mexico in the Gold Cup final in Chicago.  The U.S. women’s team rightfully considered themselves disrespected by the North and South American soccer federations for scheduling their finals on the same day the World Cup came to a conclusion.  Nonetheless, it was a great day to be a soccer fan.

2019 WORLD CUP FINAL:

The United States cruised through the group stage scoring an astounding 18 goals while giving up none.    The Netherlands didn’t have it quite so easy in their group, but still came away with three convincing wins.   The American found tougher games in the knockout rounds, but won by a 2-1 score in each round–the Round of 16, the Quarterfinals, and the Semifinals–on their way to the finals.  The Dutch gave up a goal in their 2-1 Round of 16 win, but threw shutouts in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals.  This was only the second World Cup that the Netherlands had qualified for, but they served notice of their abilities by winning the European championship two years ago.

From the start, the U.S. dominated the game.   They continually pushed the attack, fired shots, and earned corners as the game was largely played in the final third.  The Dutch showed resilience on their back line though and turned away attack after attack by the  Americans.  For the first time in the tournament, the U.S. failed to score in the first 15 minutes of the game and the game was still scoreless at the half.

The American lethal front line of Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Tobin Heath continued their relentless assault into the second half and earned a penalty kick 15 minutes in when a Dutch defender kicked too high in an attempt to prevent Morgan from receiving a pass inside the box.  Rapinoe buried the penalty kick as she has done all tournament.  The Dutch defense seemed rattled at that point and less than 10 minutes later, that discombobulation cost them.  U.S. midfielder Rose Lavelle took a pass near the mid-line, dribbled straight down the center of the field, made a simple juke move at the top of the box that turned the defender the wrong way and then rocketed a left-footer past the goalie into the right corner of the goal.  Even with the two goal lead, the U.S. continued to press the attack, something many squads fail to do when they build a lead.  The Dutch got their best chances as time ran down, but could not convert.

The 2-0 win gave the U.S. their fourth World Cup title–their second in a row–two more than any other national squad.  Rapinoe won both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards.  With the emergence of the 24-year-old Lavelle, who won the Bronze Ball award, the future of the U.S. team continues to look very bright.  Much of the Dutch squad will still be in their primes in four years, so look for them to be a force at the 2023 World Cup.

Given the American womens’ dominance at the highest levels, it is high time that the U.S. soccer federation paid the women the same as the men.  The womens’ team scores better results, draws bigger crowds, and gets better TV ratings.  It’s time they get PAID!

2019 COPA AMERICA FINAL:

In a rarity, the Copa America final matched two teams that came out of the same group.  In the group stage, Brazil punished Peru 5-0, but La Blanquirroja managed to advance out of the groups with a tie against Venezuela and a win over Bolivia.  Peru then won Quarterfinals and Semifinals games against Uruguay (penalty kicks) and Chile, respectively, that they really had no business winning, but for a stout defense that turned away numerous shots and making the most of the few chances their offense received.  Seleção fought through some minor bumps in the road, notably a tie against Venezuela in the group and a penalty kick win against Paraguay in the Quarterfinals, two national squads that Brazil should have dominated.  In a hard fought game, Brazil turned away Argentina 2-0 in the Semifinals, disappointing Leo Messi on the world stage yet again.

in the Final the Peruvians surprisingly came out swinging at the start, repeatedly pushing into the Brazilian box, but could not finish.  At the 15-minute mark, a Brazilian run down the right sideline produced a long cross into the box where Peru’s defense had collapsed inward, leaving Everton alone on the back side.  He ran onto the cross and rammed home the first goal of the game.  Just before half-time, Paulo Guerrero delivered the equalizer for Peru on a penalty kick after a pass in the box bounced off the arm of a falling Brazilian defender.  Minutes later, in extra time, Peru’s defense again failed, leaving Gabriel Jesus with too much space at the top of the box which he converted into a 2-1 halftime lead for Brazil.

Brazil continued to dominate the ball in the second half, but neither team was able to get much in the way of shots on goal.  However,  as Jesus tooketh, he also gaveth away, doing Peru a favor and earning his second yellow card of the game by delivering an elbow to the back of an opposing player’s head while jumping for a high ball.  Brazil had to play a man down for the final 20 and Peru nearly tied it up again on a long shot by Edison Flores.  However, Brazil maintained its attack and got an insurance goal on a questionably earned penalty kick just before extra time.  With the 3-1 victory, Brazil won its first Copa America championship since 2007.

2019 GOLD CUP FINAL:

Mexico and the United States have long dominated the CONCACAF Gold Cup with 7 and 6 championships, respectively.  Canada is the only other national squad to have won a Gold Cup.  So it came as no surprise that El Tri and the Americans found themselves facing off in yet another Gold Cup Final.  Both squads rumbled through their groups without much problem scoring many goals in the process.  For the U.S., always known for their conservative game, this attacking approach was refreshing.  Both team faced tougher games in the knockout rounds, but survived to reach the championship game.

The Americans did not abandon Coach Gregg Berhalter’s attacking style, creating two great early opportunities for Christian Pulisic and Jozy Altidore that could not be converted.  The Mexicans played a more patient passing approach, but the stiff U.S. back line prevented any troubling penetrations in the final third.  At the end of the half, the stats say Mexico had more possession and shots, but the U.S. clearly created the more dangerous opportunities, though they were unable to finish them.

An early corner in the 2nd half nearly put the Americans on the board.  A header off the Pulisic corner was saved by a defender’s header on the goal line at the near post.  A follow-up shot went off a defender’s back.  As the half progressed though, Mexico’s attack kept building, earning corners and putting shots on goal.  Momentum had clearly shifted and the Mexicans finally cashed in on a push up the middle where Raul Jimenez put through a beautiful back heel pass to Jonathan dos Santos at the top of the box.  Dos Santos then placed a left-footer into the top left corner of the net that U.S. goalie Zach Steffen could only watch.  The United States staged a furious rally in the final 20 minutes, but despite some great opportunities, they could not find the equalizer.

The Americans should feel good about their showing in this tournament.  They still need to find a Clint Dempsey-like finisher, but the attacking style suits the make-up of the team.  Budding stars like Pulisic, Weston McKinnie, and Reggie Cannon, all 20 or 21 years old portends a bright future for the USMNT.  Mexico’s bend but don’t break approach survived this time, but many of their attackers are 25 and under, so they will get better with experience too.  Hopefully both squads continue to get better so that CONCACAF can put forward a better presence at the World Cup.

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FIFA World Cup 2018: Championship Preview

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Championship Preview

FRANCE vs. CROATIA

This is not the World Cup final people were expecting and could have been a round of 16 match-up if Group play had gone to form.  Instead, Croatia surprisingly won Group D by upsetting Argentina and thus got to face the 2nd place finisher in Group C, Denmark, instead of Group C winner France in the round of 16.  The French barely got by in their high-scoring round of 16 win over Argentina, while the Croatians survived on penalty kicks against the Danes.  Since then, France hasn’t allowed a goal, beating Uruguay 2-0 in the quarterfinals and Belgium 1-0 in the semis.  Croatia went to extra time in both rounds, again getting by on penalty kicks against Russia and netting a winning goal against England in the semis in the second extra period.  France was one of the favorites to get to the final all along, while Croatia was viewed as a team that might make it out of group play, but not likely to go any further.  France is considered a strong favorite for Sunday’s championship game, which is a rematch of their 1998 World Cup semifinal game.

France has been on a mission since losing the Euro 2016 final on its home soil to Portugal.  France’s speed, particularly Paul Pogba in the midfield and Kilian Mbappe up front, has proved to be unsettling for opposing defenses, but Mbappe has not scored since the Argentina game.  Les Bleus have instead had to rely on winning goals coming from defenders pushing forward during set pieces in the last two games.  The French have won regardless of winning the possession battle because their defense has been indomitable and has shut downs attacks before shots can even be taken.  In the semis, Belgium controlled the ball 64% of the time, made nearly twice as many passes as France with better accuracy.  Yet, the French took twice as many shots with more on goal because their defense closed down attacks quickly and efficiently.  Except for the outlier game against Argentina, the French defense has given up only one goal in the tournament.

Croatia’s journey to the Cup final has been quixotic.  Their national federation has been plagued by scandal and corruption.  The team’s coach was fired before their last qualifier and they had to beat Greece in a playoff to even qualify for the World Cup.  They got placed in a group with 2014 second-place finisher Argentina, the always tough Nigerian team, and the rising Icelandic squad.  Getting out of the group was no sure thing, but Croatia crushed the group stage, winning all three games while scoring seven goals and only giving up one.  The knockout rounds have been a different story, with all three games requiring extra periods, two of them going to penalty kicks.  Croatia faced adversity in each one, giving up the first goal in each knockout game.  In fact, they gave up very early goals to Denmark in the round of 16 game (and missed a late spot kick) and England in the semis, as well as very late equalizer to Russia in the quarterfinals.  Every time though, the Croatians showed their mettle and persevered.

France is a huge favorite in the championship game and it is easy to understand why.  They possess greater speed, play great defense, have a strong midfield, and have a lot of experience on the big stage.  They have beaten two teams ranked in the top five of the world rankings in the knockout rounds and have not given up a goal in their last two games.  Croatia, on the other hand, has just barely survived at each phase of the knockout round against lesser competition than the French have faced.  However, they have one of the best shot creators in the world in talisman Luka Modric and an attack that can come down the middle or through either wing.  Eight different players have scored goals for Croatia.  France may be the favorite, but they have not faced the adversity that Croatia has faced to get here.  Croatia has a resilience that no other team, including the French, has.  I am picking the upset here.  Croatia has found a way to win every game they’ve played in this tournament so far and I think they do so one last time on Sunday.

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