(Robert Sarver: Is that shirt orange enough, homie?)
Oh for God's sake.
PHOENIX -- The The Phoenix Suns will wear "Los Suns" on their jerseys in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday night, owner Robert Sarver said, "to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation."
The decision to wear the jerseys on the Cinco de Mayo holiday stems from a law passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer that has drawn widespread criticism from Latino organizations and civil rights groups that say it could lead to racial profiling of Hispanics. President Barack Obama has called the law "misguided."
Sarver, who was born and raised in Tucson, said frustration with the federal government's failure to deal with the illegal immigration issue led to the passage of what he called "a flawed state law."
"However intended, the result of passing the law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question," he said, "and Arizona's already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them."
I for one think this is great. Because everybody knows that the Phoenix Suns should be focusing on making a political statement, not...you know...winning playoff games.
National Review's Jay Nordlinger has spoken a great deal about the death of "safe zones"-venues and events that are free from the day-to-day grind of politics. Sports are one of those areas of life where people should be able to safely let down their partisan guards and simply be fans. What Robert Sarver has done is made many of the followers of his basketball team very uncomfortable. Why? Because, as AllahPundit notes, the law is very popular-try 70% favorability on for size-amongst the citizens of Arizona.
What exactly is Sarver saying to Suns fans by having his team stage a protest rally during one of their games? It sounds something like-"Hey Phoenix supporters: Thanks for buying our overpriced crap and shelling out a wad of cash to come to our playoff contest, you knuckledragging fascist dickbags." That's a pretty interesting method of winning over fans. What's next? 'Free Face Punch From Amar'e Stoudemire Night'?
Even better, Sarver has taken some heat from fans for being a cheap owner. Wow. So the douchedrinker won't spend money to get players to compliment the spectacularly gifted Steve Nash while the guard is still in his prime. On the other hand, he's willing to turn his team into a walking pep rally for an intensely unpopular partisan agenda that insults his team's fanbase. What an insufferable jerk.
Even More: The jerkiness is not just relegated to Suns' ownership. Overeducated undertalented sportswriters are working their tedious moral outrage muscles as well.
