January 23, 2026 • 21 mins
When politics hijacks the playing field, everyone loses. Today’s rant dives into how sports—once a sanctuary for unity and pure competition—have become a battleground for political agendas, media pressure, and cultural division. From reporters cornering athletes with loaded questions to global events turning into proxy debates about national identity, we detail how and why the line between patriotism, protest, and performance has never been blurrier. Whether you see it as cultural evolution or media overreach, this conversation forces us to ask: Are we watching the game, or watching the narrative?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:11):
The week is over.
The month of January is reallybringing it to an end.
By the way, somebody wished mehappy new year and I said, Oh,
thank you.
And they said, Not too late.
No, not too late to wish me ahappy new year.
But it would seem that the mediaisn't happy that it's a new
year.
Although they'll say they're oneyear closer to the end of the
(00:32):
Trump era.
I mean, just amazing in thefanaticism, the craziness, and
whatever that the media, theleft, is trying to put out
there.
This week, Stuart was theone-year anniversary that Trump
v2 of his uh term in officeJanuary 20th, he was um sworn in
as president of the UnitedStates.
And many would call him the neworder of the world, the new
(00:54):
emperor, new Caesars in theWhite House, all kinds of
different remarks.
Um, and and you could take itfor what it is and the style.
If you're reading a MelaniePhillips, a British journalist
who wrote about Trump, um, it'snot a demeaning piece in calling
him a Caesar, it's just hisstyle is very Caesar-esque.
(01:14):
But the media is gonna lovethis, is gonna try to trample
all over Donald Trump becauseagain, DST, deranged Trump
syndrome, DTS or whatever, orTDS, Trump derangement syndrome,
is out there because it's allabout making stuff up, trying to
corner people into sayingthings.
(01:36):
Now, I don't know if Stuart, ifyou remember the story when
Michael Jordan, way back when,was asked about his position on
Republicans, and his answer waseven Republicans buy sneakers,
and he was not gonna go there.
Same with Tiger Woods, refusedto go down the path of politics.
But the media wants to corner,the media wants to grab the
current Olympic athletes andsay, you must be embarrassed to
(01:58):
be an American today.
You know, it's crazy becauseStuart, none of the Olympics are
gonna happen in Italy thiswinter, but the World Cup is
coming to the United States,Canada, Mexico this summer, and
in 2028, the LA Olympics.
So are we gonna is the mediagonna try to trample all over
Trump at the expense ofdestroying the patriotism that
(02:19):
is the United States, the beautythat is the Olympics, and
cheering for America?
Uh, let the games begin.
Hi everybody, welcome back tothe Rent Network.
He's Stuart Brisgale.
He's back.
He came back finally.
He's he's back from his roadtrip up the coast.
Here at the Rent Network, whatwe do every Monday, Wednesday,
Friday noon Eastern.
We'd love to rant, we'd love tocomment about politics, culture,
(02:41):
society, stupidity, and so muchmore.
From the absurdities of life tothe media, to politics, to the
economy, to you name it, we'rehere to talk about these things.
So sit back.
And Stuart, today, I'm gonna letStuart, who didn't wasn't here
on Wednesday, share hisfeelings, his love, his income,
his passion for what is now thenew form of anti-patriotism.
(03:05):
Stuart, what say you, my friend?
SPEAKER_01 (03:09):
Oh boy, we live in a moment where sports and politics
are officially colliding.
Yep.
Like never before.
What used to be in the lockerroom, stadium, the court, places
where athleticism andcompetition were supposed to
reign are now becoming a stagefor political debate.
(03:32):
Increasingly, journalists areasking about players, training,
or strategy.
They're asking about how itfeels to represent the United
States in a Trump era.
Flag, anthems, uniforms, oncesymbols of pride and unity have
(03:53):
become a litmus test.
Make no mistake, this isn't anaccident.
It's a result of an agendadriven not by a genuine concern
of the sport athletes, but aneffort to reshape national
conversation and influencepublic sentiment about our
(04:15):
countries or any countries andits administration.
Kind of sounds like Hollywoodgone rogue.
What happened to sports media,right?
Let's look at what happened justthe other day.
It was the 2026 Australian Open,and reporters pressed the U.S.
(04:37):
tennis stars, Coco Galf, MadisonKeys, and Taylor Fritz, Armanda
Asmova, with politically chargedquestions.
And it ran like this How does itfeel to play under the American
flag today's climate?
Players like Anismova pushedback saying, what kind of
(05:00):
politicized question it had noplace at the sporting event.
And Fritz even warned that anyanswer could be misused in a
headline.
The reaction from the fans andcomments were wow.
Political commentary instead ofcompetition.
Just last week at the NBA Gamesin London, the national anthem
(05:25):
itself became a platform forpolitical protest.
An audience member yelled, LeaveGreenland alone.
Well, during the nationalanthem, which by the way, we
ranted about on Monday, becauseI missed Wednesday.
And by the way, I feel even morevindicated with that rant after
more information has now beenreleased about it.
(05:47):
And I stand affirmative thatGreenland does need to be
somehow attached to the Americanborder.
But whatever, a clear referenceto President Trump's
controversial foreign policyregarding territory and what is
planned.
The protest drew mixed boos andcheers.
(06:29):
Triggered a wave of pushback.
Not about the game, not aboutthe play, not about the game at
all, but about what his remarkssaid about politics and
celebrity culture.
And these are not isolatedmoments.
These are just three examples ofa trend in which athletes are
(06:52):
asked to stake a position onnational identity.
Policies, presidential,political, before the game even
begins.
We all know Kapanov, let me takea knee, let me put a hand up,
make a fist, right?
What happened to those Olympicathletes, David's, in the 1960s
and 70s?
Gone, that'll take it away.
Learn a fucking lesson inhistory.
(07:15):
So why is it really important?
Why is this happening now?
Athletes have today morecelebrityism with massive
audience.
Their social media reachesmillions instantly, like soccer
players.
When an athlete speaks, theworld listens.
(07:37):
Used to be when Tom Cruise ran,everyone watched.
Things changed.
That's an attractive to apolitical movement, parties, and
the media itself, becauseathletes endorsed or criticized
can shape a public's perception.
It's kind of like your kidscoming to you and telling you
(07:59):
the news on what's on TikTok.
Mainstream media outlets aredriven by engagement.
They make dineros.
Content that drives clickssparks outrage or divide.
Opinions get attention.
And remember, David and I spokeabout the onset of media from
the Stone Ages to the print tothe radio to the television, now
(08:21):
to the internet, and who's incontrol.
And that's all too often whatpoliticians and politics is
about.
Now it's sports producers.
According to recent mediaanalysis, political content
appears on the homepage of everymajor sports brand nearly every
(08:41):
day, blurring the lines betweenathleticism and ideologies.
So where is the Republicancritics becoming direct?
The policy fights about economy,border, inflation, national
security, ice, law and order,deporting, criminal actions
(09:05):
against murderers, they don'talways lend themselves too quick
for cislation of headlines.
Michael Jordan, even Republicansbuy sneakers.
So athletes that decide to breakthat line and fall beneath Tiger
Woods and many other athletesabout their brand not being a
(09:26):
political statement are the onesthat are going to stand the test
of time.
So, from a Republicanperspective, this pattern is
definitely not organic.
It's strategic.
When critics of Trump'sadministration fail to slow
economic growth, fail to pointout rising employment, fail to
(09:46):
make gains on issues thatactually are prioritized by its
voters, they look for anythingthat stirs emotion that appears
controversial.
Politics loses its bite when itreduces the sound bite about a
job number, GDP growth,sediment, feeling, national
(10:07):
pride, the amount of money yourgas costs you, the amount eggs
cost you.
It's digestible, especially whenyou repackage it with emotional
optics.
So instead of debating taxpolicy or border security, let's
now bring in sports athletesthat are embarrassed to wear the
flag of the country.
(10:28):
And you know what?
I think we should be embarrassedof the people that are in
politics that are embarrassed ofour country, like AOC, like
Talib, like Omar.
You know, let me just come to anend because I've been ranting
now for like 11 minutes.
(10:48):
It's the cultural moment ofsports where something that
historically brought peopletogether in arena, they're now
trying to use to divide.
From the days of the Romans,where the thumb up and thumb
down from Caesar meant life ordeath, they're asking the
athletes in the stadium to givea thumb up or thumb down to
(11:13):
Caesar.
SPEAKER_00 (11:13):
You know, Stuart, it's really funny what you said.
Just some thoughts came to mindbecause I'm a big sports fan.
Where you're not into the sport,it's I am.
And I was too young to remember1972 here in Canada with the
Soviet-Canada series, and thegalvan, how it how the victory
that Canada had in that yearover the Soviet Union made a
(11:35):
difference to Canadians.
And we're not such a patrioticcountry, but in 72, from what I
heard, it galvanized.
The United States felt that inLake Placid in 1980, when these
upstart university kids, andfolks, go watch the movie
Miracle by Disney.
It's as close to the real storyas possible.
It is fantastic, but you don'tunderstand the sentiment.
(12:12):
There were flags, and I rememberthat because I was 10 years old,
Stuart.
And I remember the Americanflags being everywhere.
That was the moment.
And by the way, that game wasn'teven live, it was recorded.
A C didn't even have it liveback in 1980, different times,
folks.
Um, Stuart Ken Dryden was the uhcolor man back in those, and
(12:34):
believe it or not, on thatbroadcast.
And and you know, when when Ithink about it, every single
time, every single generation,9-11, the first baseball game
after 9-11 in the YankeeStadium, and a cheer went out
for President Bush in what hedid, a Republican president.
It seems that when the chips arereally down, do Americans wake
(12:58):
up and go, I'm proud to be anAmerican?
And I thought that that was notjust in some countries, but that
the patriotism runneth deep inthe United States.
But apparently, politics hasreared its ugly head in Sports
Stewart for a while.
Major League Baseball pulled theAll-Star game out of Atlanta
because they didn't like thefact that they wanted voter ID,
(13:20):
politics getting involved.
You have the NBA running toChina to play basketball in a
country that is dealing withhuman rights violations, but on
the other side, they criticizeother countries, including
isolating one Turkish-bornbasketball player.
He's not there anymore.
He was been isolated because hehad a act, believe it or not, he
(13:42):
had a death threat on his head,and the NBA did not support him.
Brittany Greiner was arrested,was taken in in Russia, and the
WNBA went ballistic after GeorgeFloyd.
The WNBA, they they they wentnuts.
They took a knee for the anthem.
This was the thing, taking aknee for the anthem.
(14:04):
Colin Kaepernick.
This isn't new in sports.
Sports has been taking has beentaken on this whole notion.
Steve Kerr, the the coach of theuh Golden State Warriors, at
press conferences, when he can,he takes a shot at President
Trump.
LeBron James, same thing.
These are proud carryingDemocrats.
(14:26):
They are they'll tell you toyour face.
The line between sports andpolitics is gone.
There's no wall anymore.
And if you dare to tell areporter today, my politics are
my own and none of yourbusiness, you're vilified.
And once again, you are forcingpeople into doing things.
Stuart, let me just put it thisway.
(14:46):
On Monday, you talked about whatthe United States wants to do
with Greenland.
And it's very ironic, Stuart.
And I mentioned Melanie Phillipson purpose because she's a
phenomenal British journalistwho called it as it is.
That the media, this is what themedia is not going to tell you.
What's the word that theyassociate with Donald Trump on a
regular basis?
Bully.
That he's bullying the world todo what he wants.
(15:09):
And Melanie Phillips says, howinteresting that the left and
the media are calling DonaldTrump a bully when the world
bullied Israel since October7th, 2023, into forcing them
into doing things that theydon't want.
With Hamas, humanitarian aid,isolationism, boycotting, you
name it, the world is bullyingIsrael.
(15:32):
The same people who arecriticizing Donald Trump's
strategy are doing itthemselves.
We won't go there.
But what we're going to do isforce athletes, no matter where
they are, to denounce thepresident, denounce America for
their own benefit.
Stuart, the United States spendsand invests billions of dollars
(15:53):
in personal athletes to goOlympics and you name it.
You think Visa, who's a bigsponsor of the Olympic U.S.
Olympic team, wants to see downwith America?
No.
Do you think that, you know, doyou think that the Americans,
when they win a medal, when theywin a gold medal, what do they
do stuff at the Olympics?
(16:15):
No, aside from celebrate.
Thank you so much.
So, what are you gonna do now?
Not do it.
You brought up the two athletesfrom 1968 in the Mexican
Olympics, and I can't remembertheir name.
And they rose that they raisedtheir hand and they got their
medals withdrawn, and they weretold, you can't do that.
Politics do not do not get intosports.
Here we are, 60 odd years later,and politics is all over sports,
(16:40):
and that's the problem.
We've changed the rules, andwe're forcing the athletes who
just want to be neutral, theywant to be American, they want
to be Canadian, they want to beBritish, they want to be
Israeli, you name it.
Stuart Denny Evidia, a name thatyou have known probably don't
even know who he is, is anIsraeli-born NBA superstar on
the rise, playing for thePortland Trailblazers.
(17:02):
There's a movement to try to gethim boycotted from playing in
the all-star game because he'san Israeli citizen.
He's born and raised in Israel,did military service, but he's a
rising star, and this is whatthey're trying to do.
The Russians were thrown out.
Stuart, I can give you listafter list after list.
The Russians were thrown out ofthe IO international olympics,
(17:24):
they were thrown out of allkinds of sports, and now there's
Russians want to get back in,and people are going, oh, we
should let the Russians back inbecause they're okay.
Politics has been there forever.
1984, 1980, boycotting theMoscow Olympics, 1984.
SPEAKER_01 (17:41):
1984, boycotting the LA.
SPEAKER_00 (17:43):
Politics has been involved in sports for the
longest time at that level, andwe tore it apart back then.
We were embarrassed and offendedthat we let our politicians take
away our chance of competing.
And now the media is doing thesame thing.
Folks, when I watch sports, Iwant to not, I don't want to see
politics.
(18:04):
I have enough politics on thenews channels, on my social
channels, but I'm tired.
When I want to watch sports, Iwant to watch a football game, a
basketball game, a hockey game,and enjoy myself without a
microphone put in someone's faceand saying, What do you think of
Trump?
This is idiotic.
Politics does not need to rearits ugly head in sports.
(18:24):
And if the fact that the mediawants Americans to denounce
Trump, to put you know,basically put the middle finger
up to the American flag, I thinkis insulting and offensive, and
we should push back.
SPEAKER_01 (18:40):
At worst, this is a cultural moment that turns
sports something thathistorically brought people
together into arenas.
SPEAKER_00 (18:51):
Hey Stuart, let me ask you a question.
When you're think about it, yourneighbors may not be happy with
you, with your politics, but ifyou win the gold, if you win the
hockey gold, which is by theway, the the gold star of the
Olympics, what do you think isgonna happen?
Yeah, yeah, the winter.
No, no, no, Stuart.
I'm talking about this year intwo weeks, the Milan, the
(19:13):
Italian Olympics are gonnastart, and if the United States
wins the gold medal in hockey,are you gonna tell me that we
shouldn't be proud to beAmericans?
SPEAKER_01 (19:28):
David, I listen.
It asked athletes to answer aquestion that they didn't sign
up for.
It asked fans to interpretathletic commentary as political
judgment.
It asked Americans on both sidesof the aisle to reconsider
whether sports should be aboutspectacle and skill or ideology.
(19:51):
For many on the right, theanswer is clear this isn't about
sports anymore, it's aboutnarrative control.
The left opened the door,frustrated by electoral defeat,
policy losses, and leveragingcultural conflicts where they
can find it.
And the media is their tool,willing to amplify it every day.
(20:17):
And that's why we're here today,David, talking about who won or
lost, but about why sports havebecome a political battleground.
And what says about the state ofany nation conversation.
Folks are going to be nor arewhat's likely going to be a very
(20:40):
political.
SPEAKER_00 (20:41):
Stuart, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to wrap it
up like this.
Stuart and I in a few weeks aregoing to be talking about who's
got more medals.
And the United States is goingto have more medals than Canada.
And is likely to win the medalcount.
And likely to have more goldthan anybody else.
Because that's the UnitedStates.
And frankly, if I were anAmerican today, I'd be super
proud.
In 2010, when Canada beat theUnited States in the hockey
(21:05):
game, I was thrilled.
It was my probably one of myfinest Canadian moments at the
at the time.
That in 1987.
But folks, today, I gotta tellyou something.
Politics be damned.
Politics be damned and let thegames begin.
Stuart, with that, I'm gonnawrap up another week of the Rant
Network.
Thank you all so much.
Monday.
(21:25):
We'll catch you on the otherend.
Take care, have a good night,everyone.
Cheers.
SPEAKER_01 (21:28):
Nope.
The week is over.
The month of January is reallybringing it to an end.
By the way, somebody wished mehappy new year and I said, Oh,
thank you.
And they said, Not too late.
No, not too late to wish me ahappy new year.
But it would seem that the mediaisn't happy that it's a new
year.
Although they'll say they're oneyear closer to the end of the
(00:32):
Trump era.
I mean, just amazing in thefanaticism, the craziness, and
whatever that the media, theleft, is trying to put out
there.
This week, Stuart was theone-year anniversary that Trump
v2 of his uh term in officeJanuary 20th, he was um sworn in
as president of the UnitedStates.
And many would call him the neworder of the world, the new
(00:54):
emperor, new Caesars in theWhite House, all kinds of
different remarks.
Um, and and you could take itfor what it is and the style.
If you're reading a MelaniePhillips, a British journalist
who wrote about Trump, um, it'snot a demeaning piece in calling
him a Caesar, it's just hisstyle is very Caesar-esque.
(01:14):
But the media is gonna lovethis, is gonna try to trample
all over Donald Trump becauseagain, DST, deranged Trump
syndrome, DTS or whatever, orTDS, Trump derangement syndrome,
is out there because it's allabout making stuff up, trying to
corner people into sayingthings.
(01:36):
Now, I don't know if Stuart, ifyou remember the story when
Michael Jordan, way back when,was asked about his position on
Republicans, and his answer waseven Republicans buy sneakers,
and he was not gonna go there.
Same with Tiger Woods, refusedto go down the path of politics.
But the media wants to corner,the media wants to grab the
current Olympic athletes andsay, you must be embarrassed to
(01:58):
be an American today.
You know, it's crazy becauseStuart, none of the Olympics are
gonna happen in Italy thiswinter, but the World Cup is
coming to the United States,Canada, Mexico this summer, and
in 2028, the LA Olympics.
So are we gonna is the mediagonna try to trample all over
Trump at the expense ofdestroying the patriotism that
(02:19):
is the United States, the beautythat is the Olympics, and
cheering for America?
Uh, let the games begin.
Hi everybody, welcome back tothe Rent Network.
He's Stuart Brisgale.
He's back.
He came back finally.
He's he's back from his roadtrip up the coast.
Here at the Rent Network, whatwe do every Monday, Wednesday,
Friday noon Eastern.
We'd love to rant, we'd love tocomment about politics, culture,
(02:41):
society, stupidity, and so muchmore.
From the absurdities of life tothe media, to politics, to the
economy, to you name it, we'rehere to talk about these things.
So sit back.
And Stuart, today, I'm gonna letStuart, who didn't wasn't here
on Wednesday, share hisfeelings, his love, his income,
his passion for what is now thenew form of anti-patriotism.
(03:05):
Stuart, what say you, my friend?
SPEAKER_01 (03:09):
Oh boy, we live in a moment where sports and politics
are officially colliding.
Yep.
Like never before.
What used to be in the lockerroom, stadium, the court, places
where athleticism andcompetition were supposed to
reign are now becoming a stagefor political debate.
(03:32):
Increasingly, journalists areasking about players, training,
or strategy.
They're asking about how itfeels to represent the United
States in a Trump era.
Flag, anthems, uniforms, oncesymbols of pride and unity have
(03:53):
become a litmus test.
Make no mistake, this isn't anaccident.
It's a result of an agendadriven not by a genuine concern
of the sport athletes, but aneffort to reshape national
conversation and influencepublic sentiment about our
(04:15):
countries or any countries andits administration.
Kind of sounds like Hollywoodgone rogue.
What happened to sports media,right?
Let's look at what happened justthe other day.
It was the 2026 Australian Open,and reporters pressed the U.S.
(04:37):
tennis stars, Coco Galf, MadisonKeys, and Taylor Fritz, Armanda
Asmova, with politically chargedquestions.
And it ran like this How does itfeel to play under the American
flag today's climate?
Players like Anismova pushedback saying, what kind of
(05:00):
politicized question it had noplace at the sporting event.
And Fritz even warned that anyanswer could be misused in a
headline.
The reaction from the fans andcomments were wow.
Political commentary instead ofcompetition.
Just last week at the NBA Gamesin London, the national anthem
(05:25):
itself became a platform forpolitical protest.
An audience member yelled, LeaveGreenland alone.
Well, during the nationalanthem, which by the way, we
ranted about on Monday, becauseI missed Wednesday.
And by the way, I feel even morevindicated with that rant after
more information has now beenreleased about it.
(05:47):
And I stand affirmative thatGreenland does need to be
somehow attached to the Americanborder.
But whatever, a clear referenceto President Trump's
controversial foreign policyregarding territory and what is
planned.
The protest drew mixed boos andcheers.
(06:29):
Triggered a wave of pushback.
Not about the game, not aboutthe play, not about the game at
all, but about what his remarkssaid about politics and
celebrity culture.
And these are not isolatedmoments.
These are just three examples ofa trend in which athletes are
(06:52):
asked to stake a position onnational identity.
Policies, presidential,political, before the game even
begins.
We all know Kapanov, let me takea knee, let me put a hand up,
make a fist, right?
What happened to those Olympicathletes, David's, in the 1960s
and 70s?
Gone, that'll take it away.
Learn a fucking lesson inhistory.
(07:15):
So why is it really important?
Why is this happening now?
Athletes have today morecelebrityism with massive
audience.
Their social media reachesmillions instantly, like soccer
players.
When an athlete speaks, theworld listens.
(07:37):
Used to be when Tom Cruise ran,everyone watched.
Things changed.
That's an attractive to apolitical movement, parties, and
the media itself, becauseathletes endorsed or criticized
can shape a public's perception.
It's kind of like your kidscoming to you and telling you
(07:59):
the news on what's on TikTok.
Mainstream media outlets aredriven by engagement.
They make dineros.
Content that drives clickssparks outrage or divide.
Opinions get attention.
And remember, David and I spokeabout the onset of media from
the Stone Ages to the print tothe radio to the television, now
(08:21):
to the internet, and who's incontrol.
And that's all too often whatpoliticians and politics is
about.
Now it's sports producers.
According to recent mediaanalysis, political content
appears on the homepage of everymajor sports brand nearly every
(08:41):
day, blurring the lines betweenathleticism and ideologies.
So where is the Republicancritics becoming direct?
The policy fights about economy,border, inflation, national
security, ice, law and order,deporting, criminal actions
(09:05):
against murderers, they don'talways lend themselves too quick
for cislation of headlines.
Michael Jordan, even Republicansbuy sneakers.
So athletes that decide to breakthat line and fall beneath Tiger
Woods and many other athletesabout their brand not being a
(09:26):
political statement are the onesthat are going to stand the test
of time.
So, from a Republicanperspective, this pattern is
definitely not organic.
It's strategic.
When critics of Trump'sadministration fail to slow
economic growth, fail to pointout rising employment, fail to
(09:46):
make gains on issues thatactually are prioritized by its
voters, they look for anythingthat stirs emotion that appears
controversial.
Politics loses its bite when itreduces the sound bite about a
job number, GDP growth,sediment, feeling, national
(10:07):
pride, the amount of money yourgas costs you, the amount eggs
cost you.
It's digestible, especially whenyou repackage it with emotional
optics.
So instead of debating taxpolicy or border security, let's
now bring in sports athletesthat are embarrassed to wear the
flag of the country.
(10:28):
And you know what?
I think we should be embarrassedof the people that are in
politics that are embarrassed ofour country, like AOC, like
Talib, like Omar.
You know, let me just come to anend because I've been ranting
now for like 11 minutes.
(10:48):
It's the cultural moment ofsports where something that
historically brought peopletogether in arena, they're now
trying to use to divide.
From the days of the Romans,where the thumb up and thumb
down from Caesar meant life ordeath, they're asking the
athletes in the stadium to givea thumb up or thumb down to
(11:13):
Caesar.
SPEAKER_00 (11:13):
You know, Stuart, it's really funny what you said.
Just some thoughts came to mindbecause I'm a big sports fan.
Where you're not into the sport,it's I am.
And I was too young to remember1972 here in Canada with the
Soviet-Canada series, and thegalvan, how it how the victory
that Canada had in that yearover the Soviet Union made a
(11:35):
difference to Canadians.
And we're not such a patrioticcountry, but in 72, from what I
heard, it galvanized.
The United States felt that inLake Placid in 1980, when these
upstart university kids, andfolks, go watch the movie
Miracle by Disney.
It's as close to the real storyas possible.
It is fantastic, but you don'tunderstand the sentiment.
(12:12):
There were flags, and I rememberthat because I was 10 years old,
Stuart.
And I remember the Americanflags being everywhere.
That was the moment.
And by the way, that game wasn'teven live, it was recorded.
A C didn't even have it liveback in 1980, different times,
folks.
Um, Stuart Ken Dryden was the uhcolor man back in those, and
(12:34):
believe it or not, on thatbroadcast.
And and you know, when when Ithink about it, every single
time, every single generation,9-11, the first baseball game
after 9-11 in the YankeeStadium, and a cheer went out
for President Bush in what hedid, a Republican president.
It seems that when the chips arereally down, do Americans wake
(12:58):
up and go, I'm proud to be anAmerican?
And I thought that that was notjust in some countries, but that
the patriotism runneth deep inthe United States.
But apparently, politics hasreared its ugly head in Sports
Stewart for a while.
Major League Baseball pulled theAll-Star game out of Atlanta
because they didn't like thefact that they wanted voter ID,
(13:20):
politics getting involved.
You have the NBA running toChina to play basketball in a
country that is dealing withhuman rights violations, but on
the other side, they criticizeother countries, including
isolating one Turkish-bornbasketball player.
He's not there anymore.
He was been isolated because hehad a act, believe it or not, he
(13:42):
had a death threat on his head,and the NBA did not support him.
Brittany Greiner was arrested,was taken in in Russia, and the
WNBA went ballistic after GeorgeFloyd.
The WNBA, they they they wentnuts.
They took a knee for the anthem.
This was the thing, taking aknee for the anthem.
(14:04):
Colin Kaepernick.
This isn't new in sports.
Sports has been taking has beentaken on this whole notion.
Steve Kerr, the the coach of theuh Golden State Warriors, at
press conferences, when he can,he takes a shot at President
Trump.
LeBron James, same thing.
These are proud carryingDemocrats.
(14:26):
They are they'll tell you toyour face.
The line between sports andpolitics is gone.
There's no wall anymore.
And if you dare to tell areporter today, my politics are
my own and none of yourbusiness, you're vilified.
And once again, you are forcingpeople into doing things.
Stuart, let me just put it thisway.
(14:46):
On Monday, you talked about whatthe United States wants to do
with Greenland.
And it's very ironic, Stuart.
And I mentioned Melanie Phillipson purpose because she's a
phenomenal British journalistwho called it as it is.
That the media, this is what themedia is not going to tell you.
What's the word that theyassociate with Donald Trump on a
regular basis?
Bully.
That he's bullying the world todo what he wants.
(15:09):
And Melanie Phillips says, howinteresting that the left and
the media are calling DonaldTrump a bully when the world
bullied Israel since October7th, 2023, into forcing them
into doing things that theydon't want.
With Hamas, humanitarian aid,isolationism, boycotting, you
name it, the world is bullyingIsrael.
(15:32):
The same people who arecriticizing Donald Trump's
strategy are doing itthemselves.
We won't go there.
But what we're going to do isforce athletes, no matter where
they are, to denounce thepresident, denounce America for
their own benefit.
Stuart, the United States spendsand invests billions of dollars
(15:53):
in personal athletes to goOlympics and you name it.
You think Visa, who's a bigsponsor of the Olympic U.S.
Olympic team, wants to see downwith America?
No.
Do you think that, you know, doyou think that the Americans,
when they win a medal, when theywin a gold medal, what do they
do stuff at the Olympics?
(16:15):
No, aside from celebrate.
Thank you so much.
So, what are you gonna do now?
Not do it.
You brought up the two athletesfrom 1968 in the Mexican
Olympics, and I can't remembertheir name.
And they rose that they raisedtheir hand and they got their
medals withdrawn, and they weretold, you can't do that.
Politics do not do not get intosports.
Here we are, 60 odd years later,and politics is all over sports,
(16:40):
and that's the problem.
We've changed the rules, andwe're forcing the athletes who
just want to be neutral, theywant to be American, they want
to be Canadian, they want to beBritish, they want to be
Israeli, you name it.
Stuart Denny Evidia, a name thatyou have known probably don't
even know who he is, is anIsraeli-born NBA superstar on
the rise, playing for thePortland Trailblazers.
(17:02):
There's a movement to try to gethim boycotted from playing in
the all-star game because he'san Israeli citizen.
He's born and raised in Israel,did military service, but he's a
rising star, and this is whatthey're trying to do.
The Russians were thrown out.
Stuart, I can give you listafter list after list.
The Russians were thrown out ofthe IO international olympics,
(17:24):
they were thrown out of allkinds of sports, and now there's
Russians want to get back in,and people are going, oh, we
should let the Russians back inbecause they're okay.
Politics has been there forever.
1984, 1980, boycotting theMoscow Olympics, 1984.
SPEAKER_01 (17:41):
1984, boycotting the LA.
SPEAKER_00 (17:43):
Politics has been involved in sports for the
longest time at that level, andwe tore it apart back then.
We were embarrassed and offendedthat we let our politicians take
away our chance of competing.
And now the media is doing thesame thing.
Folks, when I watch sports, Iwant to not, I don't want to see
politics.
(18:04):
I have enough politics on thenews channels, on my social
channels, but I'm tired.
When I want to watch sports, Iwant to watch a football game, a
basketball game, a hockey game,and enjoy myself without a
microphone put in someone's faceand saying, What do you think of
Trump?
This is idiotic.
Politics does not need to rearits ugly head in sports.
(18:24):
And if the fact that the mediawants Americans to denounce
Trump, to put you know,basically put the middle finger
up to the American flag, I thinkis insulting and offensive, and
we should push back.
SPEAKER_01 (18:40):
At worst, this is a cultural moment that turns
sports something thathistorically brought people
together into arenas.
SPEAKER_00 (18:51):
Hey Stuart, let me ask you a question.
When you're think about it, yourneighbors may not be happy with
you, with your politics, but ifyou win the gold, if you win the
hockey gold, which is by theway, the the gold star of the
Olympics, what do you think isgonna happen?
Yeah, yeah, the winter.
No, no, no, Stuart.
I'm talking about this year intwo weeks, the Milan, the
(19:13):
Italian Olympics are gonnastart, and if the United States
wins the gold medal in hockey,are you gonna tell me that we
shouldn't be proud to beAmericans?
SPEAKER_01 (19:28):
David, I listen.
It asked athletes to answer aquestion that they didn't sign
up for.
It asked fans to interpretathletic commentary as political
judgment.
It asked Americans on both sidesof the aisle to reconsider
whether sports should be aboutspectacle and skill or ideology.
(19:51):
For many on the right, theanswer is clear this isn't about
sports anymore, it's aboutnarrative control.
The left opened the door,frustrated by electoral defeat,
policy losses, and leveragingcultural conflicts where they
can find it.
And the media is their tool,willing to amplify it every day.
(20:17):
And that's why we're here today,David, talking about who won or
lost, but about why sports havebecome a political battleground.
And what says about the state ofany nation conversation.
Folks are going to be nor arewhat's likely going to be a very
(20:40):
political.
SPEAKER_00 (20:41):
Stuart, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to wrap it
up like this.
Stuart and I in a few weeks aregoing to be talking about who's
got more medals.
And the United States is goingto have more medals than Canada.
And is likely to win the medalcount.
And likely to have more goldthan anybody else.
Because that's the UnitedStates.
And frankly, if I were anAmerican today, I'd be super
proud.
In 2010, when Canada beat theUnited States in the hockey
(21:05):
game, I was thrilled.
It was my probably one of myfinest Canadian moments at the
at the time.
That in 1987.
But folks, today, I gotta tellyou something.
Politics be damned.
Politics be damned and let thegames begin.
Stuart, with that, I'm gonnawrap up another week of the Rant
Network.
Thank you all so much.
Monday.
(21:25):
We'll catch you on the otherend.
Take care, have a good night,everyone.
Cheers.
SPEAKER_01 (21:28):
Nope.
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