SCooP: Sports, Culture and Politics

Welcome to Old Time Radio: Volume II In this unscripted podcast, we look at:The Westbrook/ Paul trade and what it means in the NBA.Rape charges against Trump and Epstein.How memes are taking us back to medieval times.And an inspirational story.

In the past, I've scripted this podcast. But this summer I'm moving to a different format, channeling old school radio and talk shows. In this episode, I talk about:Kawhi leaving the RaptorsLisa MacLeod's conflict with Eugene Melnyk and her tire fire politicsHow the absence of facts increases polarization in societyAnti-vaxxers and climate deniersAnd finally, handing out free parent hugs at Pride. And how we can make a difference.

The NBA playoffs is a war of attrition. Everyone is hurt and banged up and dealing with something. For the Raptors, it was down to this moment. This singular moment. And with ten seconds left, the Warriors drew up a great play. A weakside pass to Draymond Green and a back screen for the greatest shooter in NBA history and an open look from three to win the game.

As I watched, everything slowed down, the way it does when you’re invested, the way it does when you share in something bigger than yourself. Welcome to the podcast.

There’s no guarantee Toronto wins this series. None. Golden State can easily win in seven. What makes sports so compelling is that we don’t know the story. The players and coaches will write it.

But it needs to be documented. At least for me, because I’ve never seen this before. And so long as we’re doing that, I want to talk about one of Toronto’s players. A guy who arrived in an unconventional way from another country, and has become their second best scorer and defender. A guy who was just a guy, until, as Draymond Green put it after Game One, he’s “a guy” now.

You have to fight for it. You have to fight for your team. You have to fight to be part of a team.

There will always be days of disappointment. Years of disappointment. But after 25 years of playoff failure, on Saturday night, it was confetti on the court, and horns honking, and people hugging.

Some people might say that’s shallow. But that’s because they don’t get that it isn’t about the win or the Raptors as much as it’s about the community, and the sharing of that win that made it so special.

The goal for all of us is to find joy. How we do it, well, it can be done in many ways. But the one the thing that will never change is that joy is only done together.

Today I want to talk about life. Not politics or sports, though it touches both of those things. I want to talk about life and how it matters when it’s the most important thing. When it’s the only thing.

When life is bigger.

(Credit to Dean lewis and his song Waves, which encapsulates this perfectly, I think)

There are the ones who reach celebrity status or become well known and it’s so much less about them and the message, the bridge they offer, that changes everything.

This is true of both Rachel Held Evans and Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

This past week Rachel died after suffering brain seizures. She was 37. Amy died two years ago at 51.

Two brilliant, loving humans, whose legacy should be even more known than it is.

This week, I mourn them. I also want to celebrate them. Not just because they preached kindness or broke through or somehow fought their way into the national consciousness, but because they did it the hardest way possible.

The greatest piece, the most important piece, of any democracy, of any culture that hopes to give equality and the best for all of its people, is empathy. And it feels like empathy is dying.

Absent empathy, humanity is nothing more than war and tribalism. So in this show, I want to take a look at that. I want to look at the way those in power have used this cultural change for their benefit. I want to look at how this happened, and what we can do to reverse this trend. 

Welcome to the podcast. Let's go.

This past week, Notre Dame de Paris, one of France's oldest and most beloved churches sustained damage that collapsed its spire and caused an outbreak of mourning on social media. At over 800 years old and considered the heart of Paris, the reaction was not surprising.

It was, however, upsetting.What does it have to do with the NFL? Or sports? And why was it upsetting? And what is Sacred Space?Welcome to the podcast.

The word legacy comes from the medieval word “legatia” and refers to property. Because in times past, your legacy was defined by what you owned and what was left. But legacy in sports and culture… and life, is much bigger than that. It’s not just about property or how nice our homes are or how well our foundations are doing. 

Let me tell you a few stories, and why your legacy is bigger than what you think, regardless of your star power.