NEWSLETTER
I’m at a loss for words this morning, folks.
Mavericks 119, Warriors 109
Series: GSW leads 3-1
I find it difficult to talk about the Xs and Os of basketball this morning. I just dropped my children off at school. My son, 12, at the local junior high, and my daughter, 9, at the local middle school. My daughter Madison is the same age as some of the 19 children murdered in the supposed comfort of their place of learning on Tuesday afternoon. My son Patrick isn’t much older. It’s a sickening situation. I tried to block it out, but I couldn’t help but think about it as I dropped Madison off this morning; I had to give her hand an extra squeeze before she got out of the car.
It’s not fair that we all have to feel this way. It’s unfair that the families of the 21 people who tragically lost their lives on Tuesday have to come to terms with their lives, one without their loved ones in it.
It’s often talked about how sports is an escape from the day-to-day grind for us regular schmucks, but what about the athletes who provide us with an escape? Just hours after the terrifying and tragic news broke Tuesday afternoon, the Dallas Mavericks had to fight for their playoff lives as they faced elimination in the Western Conference Finals. But who the heck cares about the Western Conference Finals at that point?
Just 357 miles north of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made yet another desperate plea for action against gun violence. Kerr has long been vocal on that front. After yet another school shooting in the United States, a defeated Kerr again pleaded with anyone who would listen for some sliver of decency and common sense when it comes to this epidemic.
“I’m fed up. I’ve had enough,” Kerr said, at times fighting back tears. “We’re going to play the game tonight. But I want every person here, every person listening to this, to think about your own child or grandchild, mother or father, sister, brother. How would you feel if this happened to you today?”
There’s no more important highlight in this game than what Kerr had to say. If you haven’t seen it yet, here it is in its entirety:
Steve Kerr on today's tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/lsJ8RzPcmC
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 24, 2022
If you’re at work and you can’t watch, here’s the transcribed version:
“I’m not going to talk about basketball. Nothing’s happened with our team in the last six hours. We’re going to start the same way tonight. Any basketball questions don’t matter.
“Since we left shootaround, 14 children were killed 400 miles from here, and a teacher. (Note: This was before the count was updated.) In the last 10 days, we’ve had elderly black people killed in a supermarket in Buffalo, we’ve had Asian churchgoers killed in Southern California, now we have children murdered at school.
“When are we going to do something? I’m tired. I’m so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I’m so tired. Excuse me. I’m sorry. I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough.
“There’s 50 senators right now who refuse to vote on HR-8, which is a background-check rule that the House passed a couple years ago. It’s been sitting there for two years. There’s a reason they won’t vote on it: to hold on to power.
“I ask you, Mitch McConnell, all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence, school shootings, supermarket shootings, I ask you: Are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers? Because that’s what it looks like. That’s what we do every week.
“So I’m fed up. I’ve had enough. We’re going to play the game tonight. But I want every person here, every person listening to this, to think about your own child or grandchild, mother or father, sister, brother. How would you feel if this happened to you today?
“We can’t get numb to this. We can’t sit here and just read about it and go, ‘Well, let’s have a moment of silence. Go Dubs. C’mon, Mavs, let’s go.’ That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go play a basketball game.
“Fifty senators in Washington are going to hold us hostage. Do you realize that 90 percent of Americans, regardless of political party, want background checks, universal background checks? Ninety percent of us. We are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington who refuse to even put it to a vote, despite what we the American people want.
“They won’t vote on it because they want to hold on to their own power. It’s pathetic. I’ve had enough.”
“We can’t become numb to this” … That struck a chord with me. We can’t just wake up today and go on about our lives and talk about hoops or sports in general. The games will go on. Life will go on, we’ll get back to talking Xs and Os, but even so, we can’t go numb to what happened.
There have been 27 school shootings in the United States in 2022, according to Education Week.
Twenty-freakin’-seven.
I’m not talking about box scores today. I can’t bring myself to do it. Instead, take some time to learn these names and faces:
https://twitter.com/ndelriego/status/1529302566911213568?s=20&t=LdWONrAuLwYWraNyM9KHEg
