The check-in: Still thinking of Uvalde
And still screaming: FREE BRITTNEY GRINER.
This isn’t really going to be about women’s sports. We’ll get back to that tomorrow.
(But in case you don’t read until the end, a quick programming note: I’m at the Women’s U.S. Open in Southern Pines for most of the next four days.)
1. Massacres and metaphors.
It’s been over a week since an 18-year-old man murdered 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and I just cannot think about anything else.
I remember one time when I was working at ThinkProgress, there were two mass shootings in one week. I remember the overwhelming wave of nausea when our editor told us, “just follow the same protocol we followed a couple of days ago.” It was gut-wrenching, but sometimes when horrific news breaks, I miss being in a newsroom. There was some semblance of solace being surrounded by others who were feeling as much despair as I was. It’s that same desire for (cold) comfort that keeps me endlessly refreshing Twitter and when tragedies like Uvalde unravel; it’s somehow better than processing the evil all alone, even though it’s not a particularly productive solution.
I just keep picturing the NINETEEN POLICE OFFICERS standing outside the classroom where children are trapped with a shooter. As they stood out there for over an hour, the kids were calling 911 and begging for help. I’m well aware that it was a real situation, but it also feels devastatingly metaphoric given *waves maniacally to everything going on in our country.* People are BEGGING those in power to help, and yet those with the power to help those in need are twiddling their thumbs, moving with the urgency of a snail.
Things feel completely hopeless. And I very much want to give up fighting and hoping for a better tomorrow. But we just can’t. We can rest, we can recharge, but we can’t stop.
I don’t know how to wrap this up — or even what, exactly, I’m trying to wrap up — but I’ll leave you with some words from Washington Mystics guard Natasha Cloud, who spoke to reporters after a Mystics game last week.
“We have an issue in this country, not only white supremacy, we also have a gun violence issue,” Cloud said.
“We’re talking about our kids not being safe to go to school and our government is still not implementing sensible gun laws. This isn’t about taking people’s rights away to bear arms, this is about putting sensible gun laws in so this doesn’t happen again. We cannot continue to make the same mistakes, we cannot continue to allow these things to happen in our country.”
She continued: “Write to your, not only your local representatives, but your federal representatives, and tell them that we are tired. Tell them that we are tired of lives being lost in this country for senseless shit. It is time to implement gun laws and stop caring about profit and money over people and lives. If our government’s not going to do our job then we’ve got to do our job and stay together as a community, because this is absolutely ridiculous at this point.”
2. Keep making noise to bring Brittney Griner home.
When news of WNBA star Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia first broke, her family and team requested discretion from fans and the media. But now their strategy has changed. We need to incessantly and loudly call for our government to bring her home.
She’s been wrongfully imprisoned for 104 days.
I highly recommend that you watch the video below from Alexa Philippou at ESPN. She talked with Phoenix Mercury players and coaches about the situation, which is obviously and understandingly and rightly overshadowing their season.
“It just breaks my heart every single day, even as we stand here right now, to think this woman is in a Russian prison and we’re just here at a basketball game,” Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard told Philippou.
“It’s just unbelievable. It’s just horrific to have a woman that we know so well and that we care about — and such a kind person — to be imprisoned in another country wrongfully, and to not have her here with us.”
Here’s a link to a previous Power Plays newsletter where I include a few action items to help Griner. But the main thing is, keep talking about it, keep tweeting about it, and keep reaching out to your federal representatives.
We miss you and love you, BG.
3. Mental health is such an annoying, ongoing, asshole of a struggle.
May was mental health awareness month. I have no less than six drafts sitting in the Power Plays back-end that are just me starting and stopping telling the story of my mental health odyssey in varying formats and framings. (This is in addition to another 10 drafts of half-written stories about actual women’s sports/Power Plays stuff that my stupid stupid brain has interfered with completing.)
I’m obviously not quite ready to dive deep on this topic, though hopefully, I will be soon. (I think one reason that it’s so hard for me to write about this here is that it feels like I’m making excuses for my lack of productivity. Which: guess I kind-of am? And that’s: Ick. And also{ I *hate* pity. So don’t.)
But I do want to say something, because it helps me so, so much when others talk about their struggles: Depression, anxiety, and ADHD make my brain feel like an earthquake of cobwebs. And the job I have chosen to do (and the job I think I’m good at!) exacerbates most of my symptoms. I take medication, which helps. I have been in therapy multiple times, and I love it. But still, recovery is a verb, not a destination; it’s a roller coaster, not a steady incline. I am in the process, thanks to coaching and support groups, of developing strategies and systems to help me constrain my to-do list, rebuild trust with myself, properly prioritize tasks, and manage all sorts of other ADHD symptoms that make working for myself an absolute fucking nightmare. I’m excited, and I’m hopeful. Not for an end to the suffering; I’ve given up the hope of anything execution-based ever being “easy” for me. But for a better status quo. For less paralyzing overwhelm. And for much more to show for the hours of work and anguish I put in on a daily basis.
I pray that none of you can relate to anything I just wrote, that you all think I’m speaking another language. But if you can relate? Let’s keep pressing forward, friends, one shitshow of a second after the other.
4. I’m in Southern Pines at the U.S. Open.
PLEASE let me know if you’re around, or if there’s someone here you think I should speak with or a story you want me to explore!
I’ve never covered a golf tournament before, and it’s a lot for my anxiety, and it’s also going to be NINETY-SIX DEGREES TOMORROW, so I need all the help I can get.
But I’m excited to be here. The purse is $10 million, which is almost twice what it was last year. It’s a historic moment for women’s golf. And it’s the beginning of a summer of Power Plays in-person reporting trips! I’ll post my June/July travel schedule next week. Let’s do some meet-ups.
Tomorrow: A WCWS #CoveringtheCoverage interview. You’re going to love it.
Regarding #3 and all of your drafts: Do not beat yourself up. You are producing high level content and it probably takes a lot out of you. I'm sure most of us are worn out by everything, including covid and the news of the day. Enjoy the golf tournament!
Keep it up! Thanks for giving me great ideas, analysis and guidance. As a sports lover and someone who teaches about sports and politics, you are an amazing resource. I love reading your stuff.