Sporting Kansas City center back Matt Besler made his customary appearance on Sports Radio 810 WHB today, joining Border Patrol hosts Nate Bukaty and Steven St. John to discuss the social unrest that has swept the nation following recent events in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, five MLS matches were postponed Wednesday as players and staff across the league took a unified stand against racism and injustice. Games in the NBA, WNBA and MLB were also postponed.
Catch the full podcast above and see Besler’s full remarks below.
On his reaction to team boycotts in the NBA, WNBA, MLB and MLS…
First of all, just to take a step back and try and look at everything with the widest lens possible, the fact that something happens in Wisconsin and a few days later the Milwaukee Bucks make this decision, there’s this ripple effect within the NBA and then within other leagues. All of a sudden, MLS games are being suspended and teams are boycotting. That is just crazy to me. That is wild in a good way. It just shows just how united athletes are, how together they are within one team, how united they are within one league. As you saw, the NBA teams immediately followed the Bucks’ lead.
Within the entire landscape of professional sports and athletes across the country, it shows how together we are on these issues and how united we are. It’s wild to think that within a few hours, decisions like these can be made together. Everyone is still trying to digest everything that has happened, but I do think this is a very big moment in sports. Credit (the Bucks) for making that decision and having the courage to do so, but then they were supported by so many other teams, organizations and leagues around our country.
On Sporting’s plans ahead of a scheduled match at the Colorado Rapids on Saturday…
We have training this morning like we normally would. As of now, we are preparing for our next game, which is Saturday in Colorado. There will be conversations that need to be had within our team. It’s an ongoing situation where things stand. I can’t really speak for other teams because I’m not in their locker rooms, but our team—we would never boycott a game just to boycott a game. It’s not like we would ever just not want to play a game. I think every team wants to play. That’s what we do and that’s what we get paid to do. That’s our passion and we want to play games and compete.
But the question that we always try to ask ourselves within our locker room when we make a decision like this is, “Do we feel that conversations still need to be had? Do we feel like this is an opportunity to spotlight some of these issues again?” If the answer is a strong yes, then that’s why you see some of these decisions being made and actions being taken. Those are questions each team has to ask themselves and go from there.
On the discussions taking place in Sporting’s locker room…
What I can say is that our locker room is extremely together on these issues. We’re united. There’s been more organization within our team and within other teams around the league—there’s been more conversation among teams in the past six months than there has been in my 12 years in the league. A couple of months ago, the Black Players for Change coalition was founded in MLS. One of my good friends and college teammates, Justin Morrow of Toronto FC, is the executive director. I couldn’t be more proud of him and all of the other players who started this thing. It’s really helped push dialogue and connect other teams.
In our team we certainly feel very connected. This is something that we’ll have to deal with and it really exemplifies the situation we’re in. It doesn’t matter if you’re a white male or you’re black or if you’re American or foreign. As players, we feel strongly about these issues. They are human issues and that’s why you see so much togetherness from this.
On the challenges the last six months have presented society…
This year is crazy. There’s no handbook on how to deal with a lot of these situations. We’re just trying to do the best we can. It’s what we’ll continue to do and we’ll get through it. I’m hoping that we’ll all be better for it—I’m confident that we will.
To answer what soccer means right now, that’s a pretty big question to answer. There are times where soccer feels very small to me. At the same time, it’s nice to be able to go onto a field and compete and do something that I love. It’s a way to escape. It’s something I need—I need soccer. If I didn’t have soccer right now, I don’t’ know how I’d be feeling. I would be feeling a lot worse, I know that. But at other times, when you’re playing soccer and other things are going on around the world, yeah—soccer does seem small. It’s a confusing time.
