Many sports teams in multiple leagues have cancelled their games, matches and practices in protest over the recent racially motivated police shooting in America. After a Black man from Kenosha, Wisconsin named Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a police officer on Sunday August 23rd, 2020, a large number of athletes, coaches and organizations spoke out about how disgusted they were concerning the almost deadly incident, one that left the 29-year-old father of six paralyzed.
Nobody thought that the players from all these different sports would protest this strongly in response to the shooting. But, they are applauded by much of the United States public, especially those citizens who are already protesting in the streets about Jacob’s shooting, as well as all of the other shootings that have happened to Black people prior to his at the hands of trigger-happy policemen.
It started with the Milwaukee Bucks, with them refusing to play their playoff game against the Orlando Magic on August 26th, 2020 after officer Rusten Sheskey repeatedly shot Jacob from behind in Kenosha. The Bucks were then followed by the WNBA, MLB and MLS. NFL teams were also canceling practices.
Sports Teams That Didn’t Play in Protest
The WNBA sat out all of Wednesday August 26th’s games in order to bring attention and awareness to Jacob Blake’s shooting. The league has made a good reputation of siding with the Black Lives Matter movement, especially when they partnered with the #SayHerName campaign after the police shooting that killed Brianna Taylor.
According to CBS Sports, some MLB teams also called off games in protest after the shooting in Kenosha. The Reds at the Brewers, the Mariners at the Padres, and the Dodgers at the Giants were all cancelled on that Wednesday. And, although the other twelve out of the fifteen games that were scheduled to play continued to do so, there were other individual players who joined in protest with the teams who didn’t play.
ESPN reported that several NFL teams decided not to practice, but did meet to speak with each other about how they felt about social change in America. Among those organizations were the LA Chargers, the Arizona Cardinals, the Indianapolis Colts, the Tennessee Titans, the Denver Broncos, the New York Jets, the Chicago Bears, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Detroit Lions.
Major League Soccer also called off or postponed most of their matches that Wednesday in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting. Reports indicate that these included the LA Galaxy vs. Seattle, Real Salt Lake vs. LAFC, Miami vs. Atlanta, San Jose vs. Portland, and Dallas vs. Colorado.
How Long Will These Teams Protest and Not Play?
These players and organizations are postponing or canceling games and matches and practices just temporarily for now. But, the general public still wonders whether or not this is something that’s going to be permanent, especially in the NBA. Those in charge of the leagues and organizations are still planning what the next steps will be at this time.
