On Wednesday’s “All in With Chris Hayes” on MSNBC, sports editor for The Nation magazine Dave Zirin reacted to the NFL’s finding of the New England Patriots using deflated footballs.
Zirin said he believes that since the Little League World Series team Jackie Robinson West, who was comprised of all African-Americans and won the USA title but was stripped after it was found that it had players on the roster that resided outside of the geographical area represented by the team, was stripped of its title for cheating, so should the Patriots.
“Right now, they are a bunch of really sweet-faced kids in Chicago and members of a team called Jackie Robinson West. They are asking their moms and dads, ‘Does this mean the Patriots lose the title, mommy?’ And they’re saying, ‘No, kids, that only happens to poor black kids in America, not billionaire NFL teams.”
When asked if he believed the Patriots should be stripped of their title, Zirin responded, “Oh, hell yeah, unless you want to give the little league title back to Jackie Robinson West. I mean, you have one standard of morality in sports. You either cheated or you didn’t.”
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