Month: May 2020

“This is America” is a song by American rapper Donald Glover, professionally known as Childish Gambino that came out in 2018. At the 61st Grammy Awards, Glover became the first hip hop artist to win Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The main message of this song, accompanied with a “controversial” music video addresses being black in the United States and gun violence in the country. It also touches on police brutality.

Justice for George Floyd

On May 25th, 2020 George Floyd, an African American man, was killed by a Minnesota police man Derek Chauvin. Chauvin handcuffed and forced his knee onto Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Two minutes of that time George Floyd was unresponsive. A video that onlookers took caught Floyd begging the officer not to kill him and that “I can’t breathe”. Floyd’s arrest came after he allegedly used a counterfeit 20$ at a local deli. All four officers including Chauvin were fired the next day.

On May 26th, protests were intentionally peaceful in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, but later that day the protests became violent as windows were smashed at the local police precinct, with two stores being set on fire and many others being looted and damaged. Local police fired back at protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets. All throughout the nation, similar protests sprung up in support of finding justice for George Floyd.

On May 29th, Derek Chauvin was finally arrested and charged with 3rd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter. This was after protesters figured out his home address and started protesting outside.

On May 31st, 1921 the Tulsa Massacre happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This post isn’t going to be about it but please read more about it here. This happened 99 years ago today.

Speak Out Now

Many athletes have spoken out about the violence and protests going on in the world. Some athletes include LeBron James, Evander Kane, Akim Aliv, Colin Kaepernick, Jaylen Brown, Stephen Jackson and JT Brown to name a couple.

LeBron James:

Stephan Jackson: https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1266470760786378752?s=20  

Evander Kane: https://twitter.com/evanderkane_9/status/1266443451760914432?s=20

Akim Aliv: https://twitter.com/Dreamer_Aliu78/status/1266502079645986816?s=20

Something needs to change systematically in order to bring all the people wrongfully killed by people in justice holding positions, like police officers, to justice in order to live peacefully. George Floyd is just another person added to an ever growing list, but now is the time to stand up for what’s right. We are the generation that can stop it.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd 

Until Next Time

∼RJ

Ever since the NHL season went on pause due to the COVID pandemic, hockey fans have been eagerly waiting for the season to resume. The season was put on pause with nine games left in the regular season, with many teams looking for a late playoff push. Typically, the NHL playoff format is made up of 16 teams, but now the NHL is looking at a 24 team playoff format.

24 NHL Teams in Playoff Contention:

• Boston Bruins (Atlantic)
• St. Louis Blues (Central)
• Colorado Avalanche (Central)
• Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic)
• Washington Capitals (Metro)
• Philadelphia Flyers (Metro)
• Pittsburgh Penguins (Metro)
• Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific)
• Edmonton Oilers (Pacific)
• Dallas Stars (Central)
• Carolina Hurricanes (Metro)
• Toronto Maple Leafs (Atlantic)
• Columbus Blue Jackets (Metro)
• New York Islanders (Metro)
• Winnipeg Jets (Central)
• New York Rangers (Metro)
• Calgary Flames (Pacific)
• Florida Panthers (Atlantic)
• Nashville Predators (Central)
• Vancouver Canucks (Pacific)
• Minnesota Wild (Central)
• Arizona Coyotes (Pacific)
• Chicago Blackhawks (Central)
• Montreal Canadians (Atlantic)

For some of these teams, they are thankful for the expansion of the playoff format to be able to get more exposure and revenue after losing the last nine games. No games would resume until July and the NHL would jump straight into the playoffs.

The NHL plans to use four arenas in eight or nine different cities, with the teams not allowed to play in their home arenas. The whole state of California is up for contention, as the Kings, Sharks, and Ducks did not make the 24 team playoff cut.

When hockey comes back, some rules that would seem to be applied would be: wearing full face shields, no fighting allowed, no scrums after whistles for referee’s to break up, coaches wear masks and social distance on bench, and no spitting on the ice or bench.

 

What team are you rooting for when the NHL comes back?

Until Next Time

∼RJ