Patterico's Pontifications

5/5/2010

Los Politicos

Filed under: Sports — DRJ @ 12:07 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Management and players of the Phoenix Suns NBA basketball team are pumped about politicizing sports. The team decided the players will wear “Los Suns” jerseys to oppose Arizona’s new immigration law:

“The team will be wearing its “Los Suns” jerseys for Wednesday night’s Game 2 against the San Antonio Spurs “to honor [the] Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation.” Awesome.

The decision to wear the jerseys came from way up the corporate ladder, as team owner Robert Sarver suggested the team wear their Noche Latina alternates.

Sarver, who was born and raised in Tucson, said frustration with the federal government’s failure to deal with the illegal immigration issue led to the passage of what he called “a flawed state law.”
***
The Suns voted on the jerseys and unanimously decided to wear them for Cinco De Mayo. As if he weren’t likeable enough, Phoenix guard Steve Nash(notes) succinctly summed up the Suns’ feelings on the issue.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Nash said after Tuesday’s practice. “I think the law is very misguided. I think it’s, unfortunately, to the detriment of our society and our civil liberties. I think it’s very important for us to stand up for things we believe in. As a team and as an organization, we have a lot of love and support for all of our fans. The league is very multicultural. We have players from all over the world, and our Latino community here is very strong and important to us.”

This will probably be popular in San Antonio, if for no other reason than the Spurs already have “Los Spurs” jerseys as a nod to their Hispanic fans. However, the Arizona law is popular at home and this Politico article reports it’s popular elsewhere, too. Will they wear these jerseys in Phoenix? [EDIT: Yes they can. In the comments, steve sturm notes the game is in Phoenix. My thanks to steve for the correction.]

— DRJ

23 Responses to “Los Politicos”

  1. i doubt there are very many illegal aliens with season tickets…..and it would be nice if this cost them an appreciable number of current holders in protest.
    one of these days entertainers will learn that a modicum of physical talent in some narrow specialty does not translate into a greater understanding of the world at large. possession of a “bully pulpit” does not mean you have a sermon worth listening to.

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  2. Glad to see that Steve Nash, Canadian, enjoys the liberties this country can provide, and which but for an odd athletic skill he likely wouldn’t to this extent.

    Kevin in ABQ (460121)

  3. What gringo idiot came up with “Los Suns”? You would think they could at least find someone who could properly translate “The Suns” into Spanish.

    retire05 (2abfb2)

  4. Well, I would suggest that all those illegals just jump the arena fence and place themselves in box seats at this game. When security comes to remove them, all they need to do is accuse the security guards of being “racists”. Hope the illegals let us know how well that works out when they screw “Los Suns” out of ticket money.

    retire05 (2abfb2)

  5. Little Nashy was yammering on the news last night about how the NBA has players from 43 nations. The part he fails to mention, as they always do, is that they are all here legally. Very few people have an issue with legal immigration. It’s the other kind we object to. The “man on the street” in last night’s newscast was not well pleased at this turn of events.

    gazzer (7588eb)

  6. Will they wear these jerseys in Phoenix?

    well, yes, since tonight’s game is in Phoenix.

    If it was just a nod to Phoenix’s Hispanic fans, that would be ok, but it is being done in opposition to the Arizona law… the law supported by a majority of the people in Arizona. What a nice gesture by the owner, telling a good portion of his fans that he thinks they are wrong. If the Phoenix fans who support the law had principles, they’d stay home… but principles fall by the wayside when there’s a sports team to root for.

    steve sturm (369bc6)

  7. I thought it was in San Antonio. Thanks for the correction, steve sturm.

    DRJ (d43dcd)

  8. Comment by steve sturm — 5/5/2010 @ 1:29 pm

    Well, the Phoenix Suns front office number is 602-379-7900. Why not give a call to voice your displeasure like I did yesterday?

    Or are you too “principled” (aka: “Not wanting to get my hands dirty.”) to do something like that?

    Brad S (9f6740)

  9. Comment by steve sturm — 5/5/2010 @ 1:29 pm

    If you’ve already purchased tickets, the only punishment that the team receives are the empty seats shown on TV (embarrassment – are Liberals ever really embarrassed?), and the lack of revenue from parking/consessions (if it is shared to them).
    Far better would be to show up wearing colors of the visiting team, and cheer for them, just to make a point to the ownership that they just might not want to piss off their fan base.

    AD - RtR/OS! (5b0773)

  10. well, lord knows, bouncing a basketball and throwing it into a steel hoop makes you uniquely qualified to speak out.

    Mind you, if they want to speak, knock yourselves out. but why should anyone else care?

    Btw, if they really wanted to make a statement, boycott!

    oh except them that might harm their bottom lines, which in turn might reduce their ability to get hookers and coke. which ironically might be supplied by illegal aliens, doing jobs americans won’t do.

    A.W. (b1db52)

  11. PC nonsense. I wish these gringos would STFU. Pox on the Suns and Steve Nash. I hope everyone on the Suns ruptures their achilles tonite.

    HeavenSent (a9126d)

  12. I want someone to ask Nash and all the other legal immigrants in the NBA if he carries his “papers” with him at all times as required by federal law signed by FDR.

    Or would he consider that unfair and join in the rioting?

    MU789 (13091a)

  13. If the NBA gave me season tickets I’d burn them to assure an empty seat at every game.

    Why do you need a ticket to attend an NBA game if they think you don’t need paperwork to enter the country? Gates should be open and free.

    Scrapiron (996c34)

  14. Plain old Sol would be better.

    Drop the “Phoenix” part because it is two powerful competing symbols and the whole “rising” thing gets redundant… and the Aztecs prefer Sun imagery anyway

    Then sell Sol beer, let the taco trucks in to sell sopes and gorditas in the parking lot. Have mariachis. I realize letting the taco trucks in would be doubtful.. the “Sol” would lose $$ on concessions and triple the restroom usage, but I was going for authentic

    That said, I hope they get booed for being twits

    Steve G (7d4c78)

  15. It’s interesting to imagine the ticket-holders’ reactions to this, but don’t you also kind of wonder how all the team members and staff of the Suns organization feel about it? In this day and age it is hard to imagine that the entire team thinks and sees issues in lock-step. Are some of them being muzzled, or are they too intimidated to say anything? Or have many of them in their ignorance of the facts been bamboozled by management?

    This special uniform is not the same thing as a team wearing pink to recognize breast cancer month, or wearing black jerseys when a former player dies. This is far more controversial on its face. Still, if they were merely going to have fun on cinco de mayo by wearing a collectible “Spanish” jersey it would probably have been just fine. It’s their making it so blatantly political, and a protest statement against their own state government that feels so wrong.

    elissa (170fb7)

  16. How many people of Hispanic descent own NBA teams?

    How many people of Hispanic descent hold team front office jobs?

    How many people of Hispanic descent work in the NBA front office?

    How many people of Hispanic descent work in the coaching ranks?

    How many people of Hispanic descent are players?

    The answer to each of these questions is either very few or none.

    It appears someone should do a little investigating.

    GeneralMalaise (33f99a)

  17. Yay, more reason to hate the Suns, who (tellingly) can’t play defense.

    lee (cae7a3)

  18. What gringo idiot came up with “Los Suns”? You would think they could at least find someone who could properly translate “The Suns” into Spanish.

    Comment by retire05 — 5/5/2010 @ 1:05 pm

    Spanglish?

    Arizona Bob (e8af2b)

  19. Isn’t it great when a wealthy Canadian like Steve Nash (salary – $13.125 million this year) tells a bunch of lower-middle-class Arizonans that they are being mean in not being willing to compete with low-wage illegal immigrants? Does Steve Nash live down the border and deal with narco-gangs smuggling drugs and workers across his property? Do his children attend crowded public schools in neighborhoods with a large population of illegal immigrant families.

    Or is he just another smug white liberal whose only contact with illegal immigrants are the gardener, pool cleaner, and housekeeper he employs part-time and sends back to their own neighborhoods once he is done with them?

    JVW (bf4fc7)

  20. There are few people more detached from the real world than the high-priced athlete. Nash makes $13 million a season.

    beer 'n pretzels (3d1d61)

  21. Just another reason to pay no attention to the NBA. Basketball season ended with the NCAA championship game.

    either orr (466a1d)

  22. 3.What gringo idiot came up with “Los Suns”? You would think they could at least find someone who could properly translate “The Suns” into Spanish.
    Comment by retire05 — 5/5/2010 @ 1:05 pm

    — It wouldn’t be a true liberal pandering move unless it included a touch of racism itself.

    “We need to do ‘Los Suns’ because nobody (especially the white fans) will understand “Los Soles”.

    Gee, patronize much?

    Icy Texan (ee62c3)

  23. hi im arriane, i just want to say thank you for this post i really like your blog. keep up the good work
    🙂

    arriana (ebf1a8)


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