When "We Are NC" Goes Wrong

I try to avoid most of the political, controversial stuff here on Confessions of a Sportscaster. But this transcends politics and, while controversial, is something I feel like needs to be said.

I've touched on the anthem protests once before, and I've written some criticisms about a rival institution. The latter one raised an important point for me: you can't bring up the speck in your brother's eye without first removing the plank from your own eye. So today, I attempt to remove said plank.

And to do so, I need to refer back to the former post above. What I neglected to bring up back in May of 2018 was the plight of Mynk Richardson-Clerk. Richardson-Clerk is a 2020 graduate of North Central College and, in 2017 and 2018, a member of North Central's women's lacrosse team. So why, if she was a 2020 graduate, did she forgo those last two years of eligibility? Was it a loss of passion for the sport? Lack of playing time, or replacement by other players? According to Richardson-Clerk, it was a pattern of despicable behavior by teammates, coaches, and administration.

The #TakeAKnee Dilemma

Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez (AP)

I've been wanting to write something about this for a while now, largely because the story keeps coming up. Then the furor dies down and I wasn't able to narrow down the stream of consciousness that this whole topic spurs. I think I've finally got enough coherent thoughts though that this time I'm good to go. I'd like to start by pointing out that what follows is purely my opinion. If you don't agree with it, fine. If you want to open up discussion about how you don't agree with me, again, fine. But I'm going to try to not engage in any personal attacks about this topic, because they don't help anything, and if you feel the need to engage in debate, I ask that you do the same.