Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY J.A.SCHWARTZ
Sports franchises are driven by clearly defined forces that prioritize victory. When their teams succeed on the field of play, they’re likely to see local broadcast ratings improve, which helps drive advertising rates and interest in the club. Winning draws more fans, spending money on parking, concessions and other revenue generating streams. The value of organizations is directly related to their on-field success, and playoff berths and championships help boost their profile, making it more likely that the best recruits and free agents will eventually sign on to join their rosters. Quite simply, winning translates to and is entwined with revenue, and those two vectors are powerful allies that help incentivize entire organizations to achieve at all costs.
Players play through injuries that may compromise their future ability to walk or even think, literally sacrificing themselves for sports glory. Coaches eschew sleep and time with their families to pore over game film, reports and analytics, attempting to cultivate the smallest edges in strategy. Scoring more points, goals or runs than your opponent is the priority, underpinned by the twin engines of money and fame.
In light of the recent scandals that have rocked the world of sports, a difficult question has to be considered:
Should owners and executives of sports franchises be held accountable for the stewardship of the teams they lead in more holistic terms than simply wins or championships?
Within the past decade, the owners or leaders of at least five different professional franchises in the United States have been involved in sordid situations involving sexual harassment, misogyny, racist behavior, or some horrific combination of all three.
Robert Sarver, owner of the Phoenix Suns, Donald Sterling, now deposed owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Daniel Snyder, the disgraced owner of the Washington Football Team, John Gruden, ex-head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and Jerry Richardson, the past owner of the Carolina Panthers have all been accused/found guilty of participating in or helping to perpetuate a culture within their organizations that led others to come forward to report their acts.
In each case, the environment for employees of these franchises has been a nightmare, and the reputations of the organizations both locally and nationally have suffered grievous short and long-term damage. In those cases, the selfish and myopic behavior by members of the ownership team or the owner himself was driven wholly by an abusive, ill-informed and predatory personality-but not in the name of competitive aims. The decision to behave in racially insensitive or sexually inappropriate or illegal manners was an individual choice borne of the entitled, powerful positions those men held, not because they felt that by doing so, that their teams would be more likely to prosper on the field or court (or at least one would hope).
Those men were certainly destructive to the integrity of the institutions they represent, and in some cases (Sterling, Gruden and Richardson), eventually were forced to relinquish the privilege of owning or leading those franchises. Those teams have tried to move forward in the wake of scandal, embarrassment and legal action, and their fans are left squirming with the choice of continuing to support an institution that witnessed those horrors, or decide they can’t do so with a clear conscience.
The situations described below depict a different level of unsavory behavior. The heartless and selfish decisions made by the leaders of the teams in question were motivated by an insatiable desire to win, placing that goal above all others-including legal and moral obligations owed to the human beings whose lives were affected and traumatized by the acts in question.
Kyle Beach was the eleventh overall draft pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008. He was working his way towards a lucrative career with the Blackhawks when Beach states he was sexually assaulted by video coach Brad Aldrich in May 2010. Beach, who was 20 years old at the time, claims that Aldrich told him he “needed to act like he enjoyed the sexual encounter or (he) would never play in the NHL-or walk-again.”
That harrowing quote is part of a 69-page report, available to the public, written by Reid Schar, a former federal prosecutor. The Blackhawks hired the firm to defend themselves against a lawsuit filed by Beach against the team in May 2021.
Based on interviews Schar conducted, head coach Joel Quenneville, team president John MacDonough, General Manager Stan Bowman and assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff were each present at a meeting on May 23, 2010, where the allegations made by Beach were detailed. The Blackhawks were in the midst of a playoff run, and the consensus from the meeting, according to Schar’s report, was that it would be best to wait to address the situation after the playoffs-in order not to disrupt the focus of the team. Both McDonough, the team president, and Quenneville, the head coach, “made comments about the challenge of getting to the Stanley Cup finals and a desire to focus on the team and the playoffs.”
Chicago went on to win the Stanley Cup on June 9, 2010.
On June 10, 2010, at a celebration party, Aldrich reportedly made unwelcome sexual advances towards a 22-year-old intern. Four days later, MacDonough finally informed the team’s human resources director that Aldrich had been accused of sexual assault by Beach. On June 16, Aldrich resigned his position with the team instead of facing an investigation.
Aldrich went on to continue his coaching career at high schools, colleges and even with USA Hockey. He was arrested in 2013, and served nine months in jail for fourth degree sexual conduct with a minor in Houghton, Michigan, while a volunteer hockey coach at Houghton High School. According to Schar’s report, there is no evidence that the Blackhawks acknowledged Aldrich’s actions to any of his future employers.
As a result of the report, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman resigned. Quenneville, who had been the head coach of the Florida Panthers, also stepped down two days later. The lawsuit filed by Beach is still pending resolution.
It wasn’t that long ago that the Iceland national soccer team was the toast of the world. Iceland put themselves on the map in 2016, when they beat heavily favored England at the Euros to advance to the final eight before losing to France. As the smallest country (just less than 400,000) to ever qualify for the World Cup in 2018, they captured the attention of the entire soccer community with their signature Viking clap and raucous fans. It was good to be an Iceland soccer fan.
In August of 2021, a woman went on live television in Iceland to allege that she had been assaulted and sexually harassed by an Iceland national soccer player in 2017, and that the Icelandic Football Association (KSI) knew about it, and did nothing.
KSI president (and former player) Gudni Bergsson resigned as a result of the scandal.
Fifteen other KSI board members would ultimately follow suit and resign when they learned that two national team players, including the captain, had been accused of rape in 2010. They claim that the board was not made aware of any of the allegations, and Bergsson himself noted that his knowledge of the allegations was “confidential,” which is why he did not share what he knew with the board.
Unfortunately, these types of scandals are far from uncommon. There is no need to relive the despicable details of the Jerry Sandusky situation at Penn State, or the serial abuse of Dr. Larry Nassar at Michigan State and US Gymnastics. People in positions of authority and influence making decisions that poison the integrity of the institutions they represent, and cause irreparable harm to the victims of their crimes.
Sport and competition began as a way to honor the best attributes of the strongest, fastest and most skilled in any culture. Entire countries measured their relative merits by the exploits of their boxers, Olympians and soccer teams. Fortunes have been made, lifelong reputations established, heroes raised and worshipped based on their abilities to kick a ball, run swiftly or throw hard. These combatants earn their glory playing or coaching children’s games whose importance is disproportionately inflated based on the passions of those watching, and the money at stake in those contests.
The Blackhawks acted in a way that has destroyed one professional career, and has led to untold levels of trauma inflicted upon hockey players at levels well below that threshold. Their leaders felt it was more important to prioritize winning over addressing a heinous crime against one of their own players. Brad Aldrich’s name is on the 2010 Stanley Cup. Kyle Beach has never played an NHL game.
Iceland’s national soccer team quite literally bears the flag for an entire country, whose residents unerringly line up to cheer on their countrymen on the pitch. When they traveled to Russia to support their World Cup bound national team, they didn’t know they’d be rooting for men who had been accused of sexual assault and rape. All that mattered to them was the opportunity to share national pride with the rest of the soccer mad world, which was smitten with the upstart underdogs with the catchy group clapping ritual.
The leader of their soccer federation knew that the players he approved to represent the nation on the field had been involved in unethical situations, but he chose to let those players continue to wear the red, white and blue of Iceland for one reason: to make it more likely that they’d win games. There is no other explanation for his silence, and his refusal to inform other members of the board of the situations caused by his players. Winning was more important than moral accountability, a decision he made for the national team and an entire country of supporters.
Sports franchises, national teams and Olympic athletes are all afforded the unique privilege of rabid media attention and public adoration. The opportunities they have to promote the best ideals of sportsmanship, courage, sacrifice and teamwork is unparalleled in modern society, outstripping even the platforms of the elected leaders of the localities they compete in.
History has watched Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe champion causes that helped promote the best ideals of mankind, and helped nations overcome painful legacies of racism and intolerance, serving as shining examples of what athletic skill could achieve beyond the field of play. Countless organizations utilize their financial positions to promote local humanitarian efforts, donating millions in the pursuit of beneficial outreach . Modern athletes like Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe have used their influence to bring attention to issues of social and cultural importance, helping to lead an entire nation towards a greater understanding of the challenges faced by large sectors of the country.
Sports, and the amazing people who play for our amusement and delight, can be an incredibly powerful force for charitable giving, inspiration and positive change.
When those in positions of influence, leadership and ownership fail to uphold the most wholesome ideals of competition, they compromise the powerful bond forged between team and fan. When they act in ways that neglect the integrity of the individual, and fail to honor the simple concept of human decency in the quest for victory and personal gain, they siphon the joy from what it means to compete.
Sometimes decisions made in the name of winning at all costs are made by those blind to the true price of their singular avarice. In places like Chicago and Iceland, legions of fans are left foundering in the wake of those mistakes, which will not soon be forgotten, or easily forgiven.
“And the men who hold high places must be the ones to start,
To mold a new reality, closer to the heart.”
-Neil Peart
