5 infamous political moments in sports you forgot about



Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest was one of the most talked-about political moments in sports history. For many, it became a symbol of standing against bigotry and racism, and eight years later, the protest is surprisingly still in effect in English soccer leagues.

To others, it represents an unwanted interruption in a medium that should be void of activism, serving as an escape from reality.

With the sports world now using the election of Donald Trump as an inspiration for dances and celebrations, the simple acts signal that politics in sports isn’t going away any time soon.

‘On the war in Vietnam, I sing this song.’

Muhammad Ali’s fight against the Vietnam War

Iconic boxer Muhammad Ali is often portrayed as not only one of the greatest ever in his sport but also one of the greatest activists of all time.

However, many of his polarizing remarks don’t often make it into recollections of some of his most famous protests.

In 1967-1968, Ali was seeking an exemption from the Vietnam War as a conscientious objector on the basis of being an Islamic leader, USA Today reported.

Ali was sentenced to five years in prison for draft-dodging, but he was freed on bail and never served any time.

Your browser does not support the video tag. Footage by Getty Images

Ali’s boxing title was revoked by the New York State Athletic Commission, and he was banned from the sport. At the same time, his opinions and even his poetry about his views on the war were widely publicized.

Keep asking me, no matter how long,
On the war in Vietnam, I sing this song,
I ain't got no quarrel with the Viet Cong.

However, other remarks, specifically about white people, are not often recited.

"You’re talking to me about some drafts, and all of you white boys are breaking your necks to get to Switzerland and Canada and London. I'm not going to help nobody get something my negroes don't have. If I'm gonna die, I'll die right here fighting you."

"You my enemy,” Ali continued. “My enemy is a white people. Not Vietnam, Chinese, or Japanese. [You’re] my opposer when I want freedom."

In 1971, the Supreme Court ruled in Ali’s favor, saying his beliefs in his faith were sincere.

Before Kaepernick, there was Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

Image via Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Much like Cassius Clay changing his name to Muhammad Ali, Chris Wayne Jackson changed his name to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf upon converting to Islam and following black identitarianism.

In 1996, Abdul-Rauf sat during "The Star-Spangled Banner" more than 60 times. When questioned on his decision, he reportedly said Islamism and American nationalism don’t mix.

“Islam is the only way,” he said, according to ESPN.

"It's also a symbol of oppression," Abdul-Rauf said of the American flag. "Of tyranny; it depends on how you look at it. I think that this country has a long history of that."

The player garnered mixed reviews from other NBA players, including Dennis Rodman, who said for the amount of money Abdul-Rauf was being paid, he should be happy to stand for two minutes.

"If you want to do that, why don't you bring your own flag and sing your own national anthem?" Rodman said.

Fellow Muslim player Hakeem Olajuwon said that the flag should be respected, while Magic Johnson simply stated that people shouldn't be mad at others for expressing their beliefs.

Abdul-Rauf eventually agreed to stand, but not until he was suspended two games and started losing money. The trade-off was that the player could stand and say his own private prayer during the anthem.

He was booed during his first appearance after his suspension.

Cold War buzzer-beater

During the 1972 Munich Olympics, with the Cold War in full swing, the Soviet Union and the United States played a heated men’s basketball final in front of a tense audience.

The Americans were poised to win — or face shame upon their return home for losing in the sport they had long dominated.

With just three seconds left in the final, American Doug Collins sank two clutch free throws despite taking a nasty fall just seconds earlier. This gave the American team a 50-49 lead with three seconds remaining.

What followed was a calamity of scoring table errors that transformed the game’s ending from iconic to controversial.

Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images

First, Russian coaches took a time-out, but their team inbounded the ball anyway, and referees blew the whistle with the clock stopped at just one second remaining. Before the clock could be correctly reset to three seconds, the referee handed the ball to the Russians, who then inbounded and threw up a desperate last-second shot that missed.

The elated American squad celebrated for minutes on the court, ecstatic about their victory and relieved of the immense pressure on their shoulders.

However, officials stopped the celebration, reset the clock to three seconds, and gave the USSR yet another chance.

A full-court pass to Alelxander Belov resulted in an easy bucket, giving the Soviets a 51-50 gold medal win.

Due to the apparent controversy, the American team refused their silver medals and did not show up for the medal ceremony.

Team captain Kenny Davis said the Americans felt the Soviets “did something” that was illegal, and they didn’t know any other way to protest.

“You're not about to get us to show up to take that silver medal,” he said.

The team appealed, but Olympic judges voted 3:2 in favor of the official result.

"Everything progressed according to strictly Cold War politics," Sports Illustrated writer Gary Smith remarked. "There were three Communist Bloc judges. It's a three-to-two vote. America loses. The Soviet Union wins the gold medal, and at that point the American players are facing a stark reality. Do they accept the silver medal?"

Those silver medals are now kept in a vault. Some of the American team members allegedly wrote into their wills that their beneficiaries cannot claim the medals, either.

World Cup struggle session

In 2010, the North Korean soccer team qualified for its first FIFA World Cup since 1966. Expectations were appropriately low, until the North Korean squad looked impressive in a 2-1 loss to Brazil, which was a juggernaut in the tournament.

Despite the loss, the close score was so unexpected that North Korea decided to run its next game against Portugal live on state-run television, the first time a sporting event had been broadcast live in the country.

This would turn out to be a horrible mistake.

Photo by Alex Livesey - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Unfortunately for the North Korean players, they lost 7-0 to Portugal in that live broadcast and then 3-0 to Ivory Coast in their final game.

The Portugal game had long-lasting consequences on the players, as when they returned home they were reportedly subjected to a six-hour struggle session.

According to the Telegraph, the entire squad was placed on a stage and subjected to criticism from the sport minister as 400 government officials, students, and journalists looked on.

The event was called a “grand debate” because the team had failed their “ideological struggle.”

The team’s manager was allegedly forced to become a builder while being expelled from the ruling political party.

Only two players avoided the communist display, Jong Tae-se and An Yong-hak, who were both born in Japan and returned there immediately following the World Cup.

Even stranger, North Korea allegedly pumped out videos to the masses in an attempt to change history. In one video allegedly broadcasted, a state television news host not only claimed North Korea had beaten Brazil but was “denied a rightful victory” against Portugal and that the game ended in draw.

The broadcast also dubbed over star Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo and pretended that he said he would be willing to play in Pyongyang because of the wonderful fan base.

For the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, North Korean television stated that the North Korea team beat Japan 7-0, the United States 4-0, and China 2-0. The broadcast said North Korea would go on to play Portugal in the semifinal.

North Korea was never actually in the 2014 World Cup. Neither was China.

Helmet Pride humiliation

2023 was a year of reckoning in the NHL when it came to gay pride, Pride Nights, and the ever-present specter of woke ideology.

Teams were seemingly falling over themselves to outdo one another’s Pride Night festivities and pregame gay-pride jerseys.

At least seven players eventually took a stand against the practice during the 2022-2023 season, one of whom was Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov.

Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images

Did Samsonov make a public statement? Carry a crucifix across the ice? No, the goalie’s crime was simply not wearing a rainbow decal on the back of his helmet during warm-ups.

Samsonov did not even play in goal that night, and the Leafs organization went above and beyond in its tribute to non-heterosexual lifestyles.

Nonetheless, Samsonov was subjected to a humiliation ritual by the Toronto sports media.

Canada’s TSN specifically singled out Samsonov for not wearing the decal in the few minutes he was on the ice, meaning there was likely someone assigned to check for such ethical violations.

Another since-removed report from MSN claimed the Leafs "hid Samsonov away from the media" and called the Russian's actions a "disappointment," along with "foolish and unnecessary."

Eventually, at least seven NHL players refused to participate in Pride activities, leading the league to announce that teams would no longer wear “Pride”-themed jerseys during warm-ups, which bothered some of the league’s most woke players.

Not to worry, though. It took just a week for the league to announce a new Player Inclusion Coalition to help create a "safe space" and educate about the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Spain's ex-soccer president to stand trial for sexual assault after kissing female player at World Cup celebration

Spain's ex-soccer president to stand trial for sexual assault after kissing female player at World Cup celebration



Former Spanish soccer President Luis Rubiales will go on trial for his kiss of a female soccer player after the country won the Women's World Cup, which prosecutors have alleged was a sexual assault.

Rubiales appeared to kiss star player Jenni Hermoso on the lips, which sparked outrage among her teammates. Hermoso later filed a criminal complaint.

State prosecutors are reportedly seeking a fine or imprisonment of up to a year, Yahoo reported, which would fall under the jurisdiction of a new law that reportedly eliminates any discrepancies between sexual harassment and sexual assault. As such, the charge against Rubiales is sexual assault, along with an alleged attempt to coerce the victim into publicly supporting him.

The judge reportedly described evidence that Rubiales pressured Hermoso to appear in a video in the aftermath, but she refused. Other Spanish soccer officials allegedly applied additional pressure to the player as well.

Rubiales denies any criminal wrongdoing, the Sun reported, and previously claimed that he was a victim of a campaign led by "false feminists."

However, the day immediately following the Women's World Cup, Hermoso had downplayed the incident when she called the kiss "mutual" and said she had maintained a great relationship with Rubiales.

"It was a mutual, totally spontaneous gesture because of the huge joy of winning a World Cup," she said, according to Fox News. "The 'presi' and I have a great relationship. His behavior with us has been a '10.' It was a natural gesture, of affection and gratitude. ... We've won a World Cup, and we won't get away from what's important."

"There are idiots everywhere," Rubiales reportedly stated. "When two people have a gesture of affection, that isn't important, we can't pay attention to idiocy. We're [world] champions and I'll focus on that."

Further complaints rolled in as the soccer president was retroactively criticized for a crotch grab he made on-camera earlier in the Women's World Cup. There was also outcry according to the Daily Mail over the executive carrying around one of the female players during the championship celebration.

It took just a few days after the celebration for the entire women's team to refuse to play again until the president stepped down.

"No woman should feel the need to respond to the forceful images that the whole world has seen and of course, they should not be involved in non-consensual attitudes," the team said as part of a statement.

After initially refusing to resign, less than three weeks later Rubiales decided to step down following a 90-day ban from soccer's international governing bod,y FIFA.

"After the suspension from FIFA, plus all the other proceedings opened against me, it’s evident that I cannot go back to my position," Rubiales said in a letter.

Rubiales has since seen his appeal of a new, three-year FIFA ban rejected, with the appeals committee saying they were "comfortably satisfied that Mr Rubiales behaved in a manner contrary to the principles" of the organization.

The kiss was declared as "unconsented and carried out unilaterally and in a surprising fashion" by a Spanish High Court.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Criticizing Taylor Swift And Her Fellow Girlbosses Rouses The Fragile Feminist Ego

Males holding female celebrities to equal standards isn't misogynist.

Cheering The Defeat Of The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Is The American Thing To Do

Sometimes the most patriotic thing you can do is get excited when political hacks who hate your country lose.

USWNT players adopt victimhood, but wait until you see what their actual salaries are



While the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team has many beefs, one of the women's biggest complaints has been their “disparaging” salaries compared to what their male counterparts earn.

“They did work out a deal where they share equally with the men’s team, all the revenue, despite the fact that they’re not bringing it in,” says Pat Gray, clearly annoyed by the flagrant entitlement.

Their salaries must have been abysmal for such a drastic shift, right?

Well, not exactly.

“The number-one highest-paid women’s soccer player on this planet: Alex Morgan from the United States,” reports Pat. “What did she make? $70K a year? $80K a year?”

Turns out $7.1 million is her actual salary.

“How is she getting by?” asks Jeffy, who can’t quit laughing at the absurdity.

But Alex Morgan isn’t the only player making it big.

Megan Rapinoe earns $7 million, and Trinity Rodman earns $2.3 million.

“How do you make ends meet on just $2.3 million?” Pat jokes.

Crystal Dunn, Julie Ertz, and Sophia Smith all earn $2 million a year as well.

Clearly these professional athletes aren’t struggling to make ends meet.

And yet, even though they now share revenue with the men’s team, “they just got permission from the U.S. Soccer Federation … to go ahead and kneel during the national anthem again.”

“It’s pathetic,” says Pat. “[You’re] millionaires and you’re not bringing in the same revenue as the men, so you got a sweet deal for yourself – what are you complaining about?”

“It almost makes one want to not root for them,” Jeffy says.

Pat agrees, adding, “you’ve got to push pretty hard” for him to “[want] the U.S. National Team to lose, but that’s what they’ve done to me.”


Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.