Sports As A Weapon Podcast

This week, Miguel spoke to Toronto-based sports journalist and TSN.ca columnist Shireen Ahmed (@_shireenahmed_). Shireen is a mother and is an award-winning sports activist focusing on Muslim women in sports and the intersections of misogyny and racism in sports. Shireen is also co-creator and co-host of the feminist sports podcast, the Burn it All Down Pod (@BurnItDownPod).

First, Miguel asked Shireen how she became a sports journalist and podcaster, Shireen's love for the people's game, futbol (soccer), and her favorite Burn it All Down podcast episodes. Additionally, Miguel and Shireen discuss the contradictions of sports fandom, Shireen's recent articles on TSN.ca, the controversial hiring of Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd as NBA head coaches, while Becky Hammon once again was passed up for an NBA Head Coaching job, and more! 

Next, Miguel gives you his Molotov MVP for episode 23, Track and Field superstar Sprinter, Sha'Carri Richardson (@itskerrii). On June 19, 2021, at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, the 21-year-old Richardson won the 100-meter race in a blazing 10.86 seconds, which qualified Richardson for the Tokyo Olympics in late July. Unfortunately, a week later, Sha'Carri Richardson was suspended for 30 days by the U.S. Doping Agency for testing positive for Cannabis after the Olympic trials. Richardson accepted the suspension and took responsibility for the positive test.

Miguel ends the podcast with another Chicana/o Sports History segment. This week, he highlights Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Center Auston Matthews (@AM34). Auston Matthews was born in San Rafael, CA, but raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. His mother Ema is a Mexicana from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico! Auston Matthews was not the first National Hockey League player of Mexican-decent to play in the league, but he was the first to be chosen with the #1 pick in the NHL draft when the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Auston with the #1 pick in 2016.

Miguel Garcia produced this episode.

Be sure to listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
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Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

This week, in Part Two of the Cancel the Olympics series, Miguel spoke to Political Scientist Dr. Jules Boykoff (@JulesBoykoff) about the Tokyo Olympics being held later this month despite concerns with COVID-19, the spectacle of the Olympics sacrificing lives in the name of capitalism, the potential of athletes protesting the games, and much more!

Dr. Jules Boykoff is the author of four books on the Olympic Games. His newest books, NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Beyond (Fernwood, 2020) and Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics (Verso, 2016). His writing on the Olympics has appeared in places such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and Asahi Shimbun. Previously, Jules was a professional soccer player who represented the U.S. Olympic Soccer Team in international competitions. He teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon. 

Next, Miguel gives you his Molotov MVP for episode 22, Olympic Hammer Thrower, Gwen Berry (@MzBerryThrows). On Saturday, June 26, 2021, Gwen Berry placed third in the hammer throw competition at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials, which qualified Berry for the Tokyo Olympics, beginning on July 23, 2021. However, when she stood up at the podium to recognize her third-place finish, she was shocked to hear the Star-Spangled Banner begin to play. 

At that moment, Gwen Berry made history and showed courage in speaking truth to power! Berry responded to the playing of the national anthem by turning her back away from the American Flag and draping a t-shirt over her head that read, "Activist Athlete."
 
Miguel ends the podcast with another Chicana/o Sports History segment. He highlights a legendary Mexican/Chicano Basketball player from the 1930s and 40s, Jose "Joe" Placencia. "The sharp-shooting King of the Mexican all-stars" led the Men's Mexican National Basketball team to the Bronze Medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany (The Nazi/Hitler Olympics).

Miguel Garcia produced this episode.

Be sure to listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amaz

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
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Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

After a week off, Miguel shares Part 1 of his Cancel the Olympics series this week. In Part 1 of the series, Miguel spoke to Eric and Taylor, 2 members of NOlympics Los Angeles, "launched by the Housing & Homelessness Committee of the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America in 2017. The coalition has since expanded to include over two dozen partner organizations based in Los Angeles and California, as well as a growing transnational movement with dozens of groups around the world (https://nolympicsla.com/about/)." Follow them on Twitter: @NOlympicsLA. 
 
First, Eric and Taylor explained how Los Angeles won the 2028 Olympics instead of the 2024 Olympics and broke down who the prominent stakeholders were that made sure Los Angeles hosted the 2028 games. Also, Miguel, Eric, and Taylor discuss the legacy of the 1984 Olympics and its impact on Black and Brown people, the working-class, and the poor. 
 
In particular, Eric and Taylor explain how LAPD Chief Daryl Gates conducted gang sweeps via Operation Hammer before the 1984 games. They also speak about next month's Summer Olympics Games in Tokyo and the work the comrades in Japan have done to fight the capitalist Olympic machine, plus more! 

Lastly, Miguel gives you his Molotov MVP for episode 21, Las Vegas Raiders Defensive End Carl Nassib, who last week was the first active NFL player to come out as openly gay. He ends the podcast with a different approach to his Chicana/o Sports History segment. On Saturday, June 19, 2021, a video went viral on social media of an ugly, racist ending to a CIF San Diego Section championship High School Boys basketball game between Coronado High School and Orange Glen High school. It is important to note that Coronado High School is predominately white and from an affluent area of San Diego, and Orange Gen High school is predominantly Mexican and from a working-class San Diego area city, Escondido. 

After Coronado's buzzer-beating three-pointer in overtime to beat Orange Glen 60-57, players and fans associated with Coronado started hurling corn tortillas towards Orange Glen players and coaches. Orange Glen players, coaches, and fans were outraged and called the incident racist. As a result, a Press conference was held on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, by players, parents, coaches, and Orange Glen High School supporters, cond

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
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Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

This week, Miguel speaks to Dr. Jose Alamillo  (http://josealamillo.cikeys.com/), professor of Chicana/o Studies at California State University, Channel Islands. Dr. Alamillo is a cultural historian who teaches and writes about immigration, labor, race, gender, leisure, and sport. Dr. Alamillo is also the author of Deportes: The Making of a Sporting Mexican Diaspora. 

Miguel spoke to Dr. Jose Alamillo about his book Deportes and the development of the Sporting Mexican Diaspora in the 20th century between Mexicans on both sides of the border. They discuss the importance of boxing, baseball, and other sports in developing a transnational sports network between Mexico and what became known as Mexico de Aufera, which was Southern California & beyond. The development of this network through sports created what Dr. Alamillo calls the Sporting Mexican Diaspora.
 
 Additionally, Dr. Alamillo described how the U.S. government's imperialist project in Latin America deliberately shaped the Sporting Mexican Diaspora through the Good Neighbor Policy and the Office of Iner-American Affairs (OIAA). Dr. Alamillo also explained the importance of Mexican sports journalists in developing the Mexican sporting diaspora, plus more!
 
 Episode 20s Molotov MVP is the legendary Mexican/Chicano Tennis superstar Richard "Pancho" Gonzalez. He faced racism as a Mexican in a sport dominated by the white establishment. Nevertheless, El Maestro de la Raqueta was ranked #1 in the world of tennis for eight consecutive years, from 1952-1960, and was in the top 10 for 21 straight years, from 1948-1969. After the segment, Miguel included archival audio from a 1950s sports program called Jimmy Powers Press Box Favorites featuring Pancho Gonzalez.
 
 Lastly, Miguel highlights the legendary Chicana labor organizer and teacher, Emma Tenayuca, for episode 20s Xicano/a sports history. The San Antonio-born Indigenous Mexicana was a communist labor organizer and an all-city San Antonio high school basketball player!
 
 Music Credit: Emma Tenayuca (La Pasionaria de Texas) by Sacramento’s ¡Las Pulgas! (Band Camp)

Miguel Garcia produced this episode.

Be sure to listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
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Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

This week, Miguel speaks to Bay area Chicano Poet and writer Alan Chazaro  (@alan_chazaro). Miguel spoke to Alan about becoming a poet and writer, Bay Area sports fandom, his love for Golden State Warriors basketball, and more! 
 
Miguel also gives you his Molotov MVPs for the week, Naomi Osaka and Kyrie Irving. Miguel ends the podcast with this episode's Xicano sports history segment. Miguel highlights a Xicana baseball/softball player and a team from his hometown, Colton, CA. 

 Buy Alan's latest book, Pinata Theory, and visit his website. Also, follow Alan’s hedonistic basketball hoops blog, with original art on Twitter: @HeadFakeHoops

Miguel Garcia produced this episode.

Be sure to listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and Pandora!

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More Reading and Videos:

Naomi Osaka: French Open withdrawal statement in full

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

This week, Miguel is honored to speak to Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports), Sports Editor at the Nation Magazine, and host of the Edge of Sports podcast. Miguel spoke to Dave about various politically entangled sports topics such as pro athletes and Palestine, LeBron James and the LAPD, the Tokyo Olympics, Tim Tebow, and much more! 
 
Miguel also gives you his Molotov MVPs for the week and highlights the first-ever Mexican baseball player to win an MLB batting title for this week's Xicano sports history segment. 

To end the podcast, Miguel pays tribute to two-time Olympic gold medalist, world recorder holder, and human rights activist Lee Evans, who passed away last week. Evans was 74 years old and left a great legacy. Miguel speaks on Evan's legacy as a civil rights activist, Olympian, and member of San Jose State's illustrious Track and Field program, dubbed "Speed City." Miguel ends the podcast with some archival audio of Lee Evans throughout the decades. 
 
 Miguel Garcia produced this episode. 

Be sure to listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and Pandora!

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SportsAsAWeapon
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YouTube: Sports As A Weapon Podcast

More Reading and Videos:

Dave Zirin-Israel causes American sports stars like Kyrie Irving to break their silence. Here's why it's taken years.

Dave Zirin-LeBron James doesn't need coffee with the LAPD. Police need to stop killing people.

Dave Zirin-Bringing the Black Freedom Struggle into Sports (2004)

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

This week, I am joined on the podcast by Irvin Castellanos (@TwittIrv), who covers the Dallas Mavericks for WFAA ABC 8-Dallas. He is also the co-host of the Eat My Shorts: A Simpsons Podcast (@eatmyshortspod). So, this episode was mostly fun, and we both break down the 2021 NBA playoffs that start tonight, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Unfortunately, bigger things are also going on around the world, so it was not all fun.

First, we get to the fun part of the podcast and we give our thoughts on the 2021 NBA Playoffs. We recorded this episode on Saturday, May 15, 2021, so some of the matchups were undecided at the time of this recording. However, we both discussed each conference. Also, we both picked our 2021 NBA MVP and made our other season hardware picks.

To end the podcast, we discussed the NBA’s 2020 Hall of Fame class, made our NBA Finals picks, and felt it was important to talk about Palestine. Lastly, this week’s Molotov MVP and Xicano History will be slightly different. I decided to combine both segments and honor Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving with this week's Molotov MVP. Before I honored Kyrie for lighting that cocktail and tossing it back at enemy lines, I play some news clips from this past week on Israel’s latest attack on the people of Palestine. Que Viva Palestina! Long Live Palestine! Justice for Palestine!

As always, you can listen, subscribe, and download the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer,  Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and Pandora!

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Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
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Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

On May 9, 1959, Los Angeles Sheriff Deputies forcefully removed and arrested Aurora Vargas, daughter of Abrana and Manuel Aréchiga. The City of Los Angeles displaced the Aréchiga’s and the communities of Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop to build a new stadium for the Dodgers. The Dodgers had just arrived in LA from Brooklyn in 1958. The 62nd anniversary of this event was this past Sunday, May 9, 2021.
 
 So, for today’s episode, I am honored to be joined on the podcast by writer and former VICE editor Eric Nusbaum (@ericnus). In his book, STEALING HOME: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between, Eric did a fantastic job recounting the displacement of Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop to build Dodger Stadium. Eric rightfully centered the story on the Aréchiga’s but connected several other stories as well.

For example, Eric tells me about the LA Housing Authority official, Frank Wilkinson. Mr. Wilkinson hand-picked Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop as the new site (without asking the residents) for the city’s ambitious public housing project. Eric also explained how red scare politics derailed the project and Wilkinson’s life and career. Eric also detailed how Walter O’Malley’s Dodgers ended up in Los Angeles and gives us a little history of the LA baseball scene before the team’s arrival. As a Xicano who grew up a Dodger fan, we should never forget what happened to the three communities. 

“Dodger Stadium should not exist!”
-Frank Wilkinson

"Stealing Home has a driving plot, a humane heart, and a proud conscience. Read it and enjoy the story, or read it and get mad, or read it and change your mind. Most importantly, read it.”
     —Chuck D, Founding member of Public Enemy

For more information, please visit www.buriedundertheblue.com. Buried Under the Blue (BUB) is “an indigenous platform bridging the past and present communities through historical context, education, environment, community services, and technology. To empower and educate people to create healthier communities for a united future.”

Special thanks to Melissa Aréchiga for allowing me to use the video audio from a BUB IG video. 

Go check out Eric Nusbaum’s latest project, Sports Stories. Eric and illustrator Adam Villacin explore spor

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
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Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

Feliz Cinco De Mayo! I am joined on the podcast this week by Xicano poet and author, Matt Sedillo, of Tele-Jaguar; and by Rudy Mondragon, co-host of The Split Draw Podcast.

The episode is all about "Mexican-Style" boxing, and Matt and Rudy discuss their ongoing project on “Mexican-Style” boxing. They both get into the actual boxing style, the narratives, stereotypes, and contradictions associated with "Mexican-Style" boxing. Matt and Rudy also push back against the racist stereotypes that "Mexican-Style" boxing is unskilled, savage, and un-scientific; narratives pushed by the white boxing establishment. However, Mexican and Xicana/o boxers, and even European boxers such as Gennady Golovkin, aka "Triple G,"  embrace the style and narratives of Mexican-Style boxing. 

We also discussed and previewed the Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Chris Arreola fight on May 1, 2021 (we now know Ruiz Jr. won with a unanimous decision) and the Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders annual Cinco De Mayo fight this upcoming Saturday, May 8, 2021. I also asked Matt and Rudy who their favorite Mexican/Xicano fighters of all time are. 
 
I end the podcast with my Molotov MVP, Muhammad Ali, and my second Xicana/o Sports History segment on legendary Chicano movement activist and Crusade For Justice founder, Rodolfo 'Corky' Gonzales. Corky was not only one of the most important figures of the Chicano movement, but he was also a former professional boxer, who retired in 1955 with a 63-11-1 record. Que Viva Corky! 

You can purchase Matt’s latest book, “Mowing Leaves of Grass” here, and check out Rudy and The Split Draw Podcast on Spotify. Visit their websites at mattsedillo.com and rudymondragon.com

As always, you can listen, subscribe, and download the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer...and now on

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
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Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

I am joined this week on the podcast by Dr. Frank Andre Guridy, historian of sport and society at Columbia University.  Frank is also the author of the new book, The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics.

Frank provides a  well-researched and historical analysis of how Texas revolutionized sports in the U.S. during the civil rights era. For example, the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas embraced the end of Jim Crow by integrating their football and basketball teams; while powerhouse football programs such as the University of Texas and Texas A&M were slow to integrate their programs. Frank also explained the importance of the Houston Astrodome in not only Texas but in the US during the 1960s and 70s; The "Eighth Wonder of the World" hosted legendary sporting events that revolutionized the culture of American athletics, such as the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs, at the height of the second-wave feminist movement.

Frank also talks to me about the connection between the San Antonio Spurs and the working-class Tejano/Mexican community of South Texas, plus much more. I also award this episode's Molotov MVP to former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and Xicana Tina Jimenez. In the summer of 1978, Jimenez and other ex-Cowboys cheerleaders started their own professional cheerleader organization known as the Dallas Cowgirls, Inc., to seek better opportunities and pay for their labor. To end the podcast, I introduce a new segment, "Xicano Sports History."

As always, you can listen, subscribe, and download the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer...and now on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
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Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

I am joined this week on the podcast by Dr. Derek Silva, Sociologist from Kings University College in Canada. Derek is also the co-host of the @EndofSportPod with Dr. Johanna Mellis and Nathan Kalman-Lamb. Please check out their podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Derek broke down the exploitation of NCAA College Athletic Workers and their March 2021 article in The Guardian, ‘I signed my life to rich white guys': athletes on the racial dynamics of college sports.” We also discuss the March 31st Supreme Court arguments for NCAA v. Alston and NIL (Name, image, likeness), and what might come next; and discuss the College Athletic Bill of Rights introduced by congress that would potentially give NCAA college athletic workers 50% profit shares from revenue-generating sports after accounting for the cost of scholarships. Derek also echoes Dr. Billy Hawkins, and how the NCAA is “The New Plantation,” another form of Racial Capitalism and calls out the BS outdated NCAA argument of “Amateurism.”

Lastly, Derek gives his take on the impact of COVID-19 on College Athletic Workers and why those in power do not really care about college athletes, pro-athletes, or fans during the pandemic as stadiums/arenas are opening to fans. I close the podcast with this episode's Molotov MVP, Spurs legendary Head Coach Greg Popovich, who sounds off on the Police murder of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potters on Sunday, April 11, 2021, near Minneapolis. All this while the world watches the trial of the Minneapolis cop who murdered George Floyd last May.

When will it end? When will the Enemies in Blue stop murdering Black People and People of Color?

As always, you can listen, subscribe, and download the podcast on

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

I'm joined by my friend Mke O of the Sci and Tell Show Podcast again and we do a 2021 MLB Season Preview. This was recorded on March 29, 2021, so it's a week later...but better late than never, right? We preview each division and pick our division winners alongside each team's 2021 Fan Graph projections (and Mike had some PECOTA projections as well).  Since we are both diehard Dodger fans, we tried not to show our bias but it's hard lol.

As usual, we throw in a splash of politics but it is a heavy baseball preview episode. I also pick this episode's Molotov MVP, Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts. As the only manager who is Black and of Japanese descent, Roberts spoke out against Anti-Asian hate and racism; and also supported the MLB's decision to move the game from Atlanta, Georgia because of the New Jim Crow voter suppression law. 

As always, you can subscribe, listen, and share the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer...and now on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and Pandora!

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Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

I talk to New York Times best-selling author, Andrew Marannis (@TruBlu24). His new book, Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke, is out now! Glenn Burke was the first openly gay MLB player and was the inventor of the high five. Burke deserves to be rightfully revered as an important social justice sports icon like Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali before him, and Colin Kaepernick after him. 

Andrew talks to me about Glenn Burke coming of age in the 1950s and 60s Bay Area during the Civil Rights movement and the rise of the Black Panther Party; How Glenn Burke did not come out publicly during his brief three-year career,  but many of his teammates, family, and friends were aware of his sexuality; and how Burke was driven from the game due to homophobia but left an impact and legacy on and off the baseball diamond with the LGBTQ+ community for decades to come.

Also, Andrew tells me the story of Glenn Burke inventing the high five with teammate and current Astros Manager Dusty Baker; how Glenn was also the first MLB player to rock some Nike's during an MLB game; and Glenn dealing with racism in the minor leagues, homophobia in the big leagues and society, and the AIDS epidemic. I hope you enjoy the interview! Don't forget to share and leave some comments on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. 

About Andrew Marannis:
"Andrew is a Visiting Author at Vanderbilt University Athletics and a contributor to ESPN’s TheUndefeated.com. He has appeared on several national media programs, including NPR’s All Things Considered and Only A Game, NBC’s Meet The Press, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, ESPN’s Keith Olbermann Show, ESPN Radio’s The Sporting Life, and the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum Show (http://andrewmaraniss.com/)

As always, you can subscribe, listen, and share the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer...and now on Amazon Music

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
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BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

This is our Part 2 interview with WFAA ABC 8 Mavericks reporter Irvin Castellanos (@TwittIrv). This episode is a little late but we talk about Mark Cuban not playing the national anthem and then playing it once the NBA found out about it. We also talked some baseball since he grew up a Texas Rangers fan and I grew up an LA Dodgers fan; which leads to a discussion on the MLB Word Series bubble that was held in Texas because of COVID-19.

Also, since Irvin co-hosts his own Simpsons podcast (Eat My Shorts: A Simpsons Podcast), he tells me what his favorite Simpsons episode is (spoiler: it involves sports!) Lastly, I finish the podcast with the second-ever Molotov MVP segment, where I decide to pick co-Molotov MVPs: Oregon women's college basketball star Sedona Prince (@sedonaprince_) and former NBA player and University of Wisconsin men's college basketball player Nigel Hayes (@NIGEL_HAYES).

This past week, both players (March 17 and March 19) called out the NCAA's hypocrisy and corruption. Prince exposed the NCAA's gender bias when she tweeted a video of a very empty and basic weight room set up at the NCAA women's basketball tournament. Prince then gave her followers a glimpse of the men's tournament weight room which was fully stocked and looked like an actual weight room.

On March 17, Nigel Hayes was quoted in the UK's The Guardian. The article, 'I signed my life to rich white guys': athletes on the racial dynamics of college sports," was written by our End of Sport Podcast comrades Nathan Kalman-Lamb, Derek Silva, and Johanna Mellis. Nigel Hayes rightfully called out the NCAA exploitation of Black Athletes in college sports.

As always, you can subscribe, listen, and share the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
Tik Tok: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

In today's episode, I'm joined by Irvin Castellanos (@TwittIrv), who covers the Dallas Mavericks for Dallas ABC-affiliate WFAA 8. He is also the co-host of the Eat My Shorts: A Simpsons Podcast (@eatmyshortspod). First, we get into crazy Texas Governor Greg Abbott ending the statewide mask mandate that goes into effect on March 10, 2021.

Then, Irvin and I breakdown The Texas Tribune's investigative report from last week (3/1/2021). The bombshell report revealed racist, angry emails from wealthy University of Texas boosters; who threatened to pull back their financial support of the university because the football team didn't sing the "Eyes of Texas" after a game last season.

Next, we discuss Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hitting the "Jackpot" while Texans froze to death,  and talked some NBA,  Dallas Mavericks and the NBA All-Star weekend (which will be over when you hear this episode lol). To end the podcast, I introduce a new recurring podcast segment I call the "Molotov MVP."

This is Part 1 of 2 with Irvin. Part 2 should be dropping later this week.

As always, you can subscribe, listen, and share the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer...And now on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, and Stitcher!

Follow us on:
Facebook: fb.com/Sportsasaweaponpodcast
IG:

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
Tik Tok: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

In today’s episode, I discuss a rapidly growing movement in the state of California regarding the re-opening of youth and high school sports. On Friday, February 19, 2021, CA Governor Gavin Newsom announced updated guidelines allowing the return of youth sports in counties with Covid-19 case rates at or below 14 people per 100k. In the first segment, I detail how the Let Them Play CA movement played a pivotal role in Newsom allowing youth sports to resume, but they may have played a role in growing Anti-Newsom efforts in California as well. 

In the second segment, I welcome my good Friend Mike O to the podcast; co-host of the Sci and Tell Show Podcast! Mike is also a JV baseball coach and Math teacher in Southern California. I will be asking Mike about the process of starting their baseball season and how he’s been managing on and off the field during the pandemic with his students.

Lastly, I detail how the movement gained even more momentum when on February 11th, 2021, Let Them Play CA co-founder Brad Hensley, coaches, student-athletes, and parents from all over CA, held a protest rally outside the California State Capitol in Sacramento. They wanted their voices heard and called for the return of youth sports in CA. However, they were not alone in protesting at the Capitol that Thursday.

The #RecallNewsom and #ReopnSchoolsNow movement also held their own protest rally at the State Capitol. Among the chants of "Let Them Play" by student-athletes, parents, and coaches, were chants of "Recall Newsom!  #Recall Gavin! and Reopen Schools! The Let Them Play CA movement was now entangled with the Pro-Recall Governor Newsom and Reopen Schools movement, and likely boosted the Recall Newsom and Reopen school movement’s momentum. This, in spite of the group’s leaders’ efforts to stay clear from those two movements.

As always, you can subscribe, listen, and share the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer...And now on

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
Tik Tok: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

Happy Friday! It's good to be back after a few months.
On today's episode, I welcomed my very first guest on the podcast, Screenwriter Abdul Malik, co-host of the @offcourtpod
Based out of Edmonton, Canada, and a fan of the Canadian Football League, Abdul provided insightful analysis on the current labor situation in the CFL.  We discussed his recent article on the topic in Jacobin Magazine, CFL and Canadian Nationalism, and the differences between American Football (NFL) and Canadian Football.
We also talked basketball, Raptors fandom, Bill Russell, and the origins of the NBPA;  Racial capitalism and Offensive Native Mascots (Edmonton Football Team); and briefly discussed Super Bowl 55 among a few other topics.   

As always, you can subscribe, listen, and share the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer.

Also, now on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, and Stitcher!

Follow us on:

Facebook: fb.com/Sportsasaweaponpodcast

IG: @SportsAsAWeaponPodcast

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon

YouTube: Sports As a Weapon Podcast

Follow Abdul on Twitter: @socialistraptor
&
Off Court Pod on Apple Podcasts

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
Tik Tok: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

Hey everyone! My name is Miguel Garcia and I’m the host of the Sports As A Weapon Podcast…A working-class sports podcast on the entanglement of pro sports, radical politics, & working-class sports fan culture…. And we just talk about sports too!

In today’s episode, I want to discuss Tennis Superstar Naomi Osaka using her platform at the U.S Open to highlight racial injustice and the continued killing of black people by the Police and White Supremacist Vigilantes in the United States.

I also discuss Week 1 of the NFL season, which included protests by Players and Teams...but was overshadowed by the boo's from racist Kansas City Chiefs fans and racist San Francisco 49ers fans on Twitter. Lastly, I end the podcast discussing the recent Covid-19 study involving recovered college athletes diagnosed with heart inflammation because of Covid-19 and blast (pun intended) the dirty Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva trying to blame LeBron James for two of his cops getting shot and ambushed.

You can subscribe, listen, and share the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Deezer!

Follow us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SportsAsAWeapon

Sources:

The Guardian and Naomi Osaka

New York Post on ESPN Tennis Analyst

Former NBA Player Ethan Thomas on Kansas City Fans Booing Moment of Unity

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
Tik Tok: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

Hey everyone! My name is Miguel Garcia and I’m the host of the Sports As A Weapon Podcast…A working-class sports podcast on the entanglement of pro sports, radical politics, & working-class sports fan culture…. And we just talk about sports too!

You can listen, download, and subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer, and soon on Stitcher, Pandora, and iHeart Radio.  

Follow us on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Background/intro music by the metal band SANGRE. Follow them on:
SANGRE on Facebook
SANGRE on Instagram

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
Tik Tok: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com

Hey everyone! My name is Miguel Garcia and I’m the host of the Sports As A Weapon Podcast…A working-class sports podcast on the entanglement of pro sports, radical politics, & working-class sports fan culture…. And we just talk about sports too!

 In today's episode, I discuss Wednesday's historic day in sports entangled with social justice and worker solidarity. The Milwaukee Bucks decided to strike and not play in Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, which led to a wave across all sports with MLB, NFL, WNBA, and even Tennis Superstar Naomi Osaka striking in solidarity. Oh, and eventually the NHL joined the strike in solidarity too, due to the efforts of the Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA).

Ultimately, the NBA is returning to play this weekend, but their 48-hour "Strike Heard Around the World" will have a lasting impact on sports and labor and sports and society for years to come!

You can subscribe, listen, and share on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Follow us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SportsAsAWeapon

Sources:

Milwaukee Bucks Statement

Dominic Smith Press Conference 

Miguel Garcia produced this episode. The Sports As A Weapon Podcast is part of the @Anticonquista Media Collective. Subscribe to the ANTICONQUISTA Patreon and follow ANTICONQUISTA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok!

Also, listen/subscribe to the Sports As A Weapon Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @sportsasaweapon
Facebook: fb.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast
Instagram: @sportsasaweaponpodcast
Tik Tok: @SportsAsAWeapon
BlueSky: @sportsasaweapon.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sportsasaweaponpodcast (If you want)
Visit our website: www.sportsasaweapon.com