Red Rubber Ball, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

May 3, 2014 Martha Thomases 0 Comments

It is hard to put into words how little I care about professional sports.  I also don’t care very much about amateur sports, at least since my kid outgrew little league.

Still, I recognize that sports have a large part in our cultural life.  At least a third of most local news programs are about sports.  Sports take up an entire section of our newspapers (ask your parents).  In any random group of casually dressed Americans, at least one person will be wearing a team logo of some kind.

Do sports give you joy?  I’m glad.  We all need more joy.

 

However….

This week, we were again reminded that professional sports are a microcosm of corporate capitalism.  Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was caught saying horribly racist things and banned from the NBA.  The other team owners are trying to pressure him to sell the team.

I have some problems with this.  As the link points out:

“It is important to realize that this is a person’s property (in the form of his ownership interest in a professional franchise) that is being taken from him without his consent.  If NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would not have taken such a hard-line approach, imposing a $2.5 million fine, suspending Sterling for life and stating his intention to take away his ownership of the team, the Golden State Warriors would have been willing to boycott performing in a Playoffs game against the Clippers.  Failing to completely eradicate Donald Sterling, including his ownership shares, from the NBA could also jeopardize the viability of the business of the NBA as a whole if players take a collective effort and refuse to perform.  Adam Silver said what was necessary, whether he had support of the NBA’s Constitution of not and despite his plan including the conversion of one person’s property because it may be in the best interests of the game.”

Sure, the man is a racist, and yet his attitudes about being a business-owner are remarkably in line with others, including those who are currently opposing a raise in the minimum wage.  As this article <http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10861745/sterling-saga-reveals-players-power> says, “On the tape, Sterling referred to African-Americans in his most paternalistic voice. ‘I give them clothes. I give them houses. Who else gives them that?’”

He “gives” the players that.  They don’t earn it from their work.  They don’t receive it because they have contracts, mutually agreed to and legally enforced.  It’s not as if they are NFL cheerleaders, who clearly should pay for the privilege.  No, he “gives” it to them.  He’s a job creator.  It’s a world-view he shares with mainstream Republican Eric Cantor.

By forcing him to sell his team, the NBA will, in fact, allow him to make a huge return on his original $12 million investment.  The last estimate I heard for the auction was $575 million.  So his punishment means he’ll make more than a half billion in profit.

I’m also uneasy with forcing him to sell his property as punishment for his vile speech.  It’s vile, but it’s just speech.  However, since it is the NBA that is doing the forcing (not the United States government), and since he must have agreed to abide by certain rules when he joined the league, I will assume that First Amendment is not the issue here.

But mostly, I’m disturbed by the fact that this isn’t news.  According to every account, Sterling has spewed this garbage for years, maybe decades.  Because he is rich, because he can bury his hate under a pile of money, he’s been able to get away with it.  Even now, his rich friends try to excuse him, saying he was set up by his girlfriend.

Because if you have that much money, you’re allowed to cheat on your wife, and then blame the girlfriend.

Look, I really don’t care what this old man does with his genitals, nor do I especially care what he believes.  I think he is not so different from many of his peers in the .01%.  If we didn’t prize money over every other single thing in our society, we wouldn’t wipe our shoes on this guy.

Media Goddess Martha Thomases just got some lovely new shoes for the season, and hopes she never has to wipe them at all.