Dear Donald: stop ruining my Sundays

OTTAWA—Donald Trump, keep your hands off my football. Go find Billy Bush and wreak havoc elsewhere. The only decent thing you ever really did for the sport was invest in the old United States Football League. That failed, and hopefully, eventually, you will, too. Is there no part of society you won’t mess around in for your own political gain? You are certainly a cunning guy, knowing that going after National Football League players for protesting during the American anthem was a surefire way to distract from the chaos that used to be called orderly government. It wasn’t even a Hail Mary pass; it was a surgical strike for a touchdown. While I am no fan of the anthem protests, everything America used to be built on and around means that a little peaceful demonstrating is acceptable. Telling the owners they should fire players for protesting—well, that is a classic Trump move. Sadly, not everything is Celebrity Apprentice, and as much fun as it might be to type ‘FIRED’ in all caps, you’re the United States president and the last thing America now needs is people pitted against people again. Can’t you just focus on Rocket Man? If that is too much to ask, try to do it on Sundays only. Strange as it may seem to a narcissist like you, some of us like to have some time away from the bizzaro world you are fond of cultivating. We like our Sundays. It is a time we kick back and watch some football. The athleticism, entertainment, and escapism are much needed after a week where you are usually bringing the world to the brink of some disaster or another. Being called a dotard probably hurt your feelings, though you yourself seem to live for the name-calling. Also, I can tell you, as someone who works in a national sports organization (I’m chair of Rugby Canada’s board), being called a bit dotty might be the nicest thing you ever heard. Remember that old rhyme: sticks and stones might break my bones, but names will never hurt me? Guess not. Turning on the sports news and the NFL pre-game shows on Sunday to see you dominating the programs made me yearn for the days of deflate-gate. You recall that, right, when your supporter and all-star quarterback of the New England Patriots, Tom Brady, got in trouble for rigging footballs to help win games? That was painful to watch, but at least you weren’t popping up on the screen. We aren’t so lucky anymore. You are now bursting back into North American sports culture for the wrongs reasons. This isn’t a vanity project like the USFL was for you. No this is crass, brutal political opportunism. An NFL Sunday is a bit like a day at church for legions of people in America and beyond. They go to reflect, rejoice, and rejuvenate as a community, all around a football game. You, apparently blind to the fact that church and state should not mix, barged right in and shook the foundations because it was in your best interest to do so. That is what you do. It is too bad that you know how to push the buttons of instigation and agitation so well. Sport is supposed to be a unifier for people. Great leaders like Nelson Mandela realized that. Our own prime minister and Prince Harry are showing the healing and actualizing power of athletic competition with the Invictus Games now happening in Toronto. But not you; like most everything you touch, it involves disruption for Donald’s sake. You won this week because you got people talking football, but for all the wrong reasons. Too bad your comfort with white nationalism and its offshoots is what started some of these protests in the first place. I have one wish for you though, please: don’t ruin any more Sundays. Tim Powers is vice-chairman of Summa Strategies and managing director of Abacus Data. He is a former adviser to Conservative political leaders. The Hill Times