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This Time, Athletes Can’t Stop Kneeling And Protesting

“What we’ve learned from George Floyd’s death — and history — is that racial activism cannot afford to be intermittent. Sports protests must be relentless, and leagues should allow athletes to kneel as they please”

Jay Mariotti

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Kap Kneeling

This is no time for amnesia. It wasn’t long ago when the almighty power bases of American sports — the NFL and its broadcast partnerships — were burned out on Colin Kaepernick and his racial injustice movement. The sentiment was sweeping that sideline protests had run their course, that network cameras would avoid showing athletes in the act of kneeling. The evil seeds were planted, of course, by You Know Who, in an Alabama speech urging teams how to proceed if a player took a knee.

“Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. He’s fired. He’s fired,’’ said President Donald Trump, adding, “I guarantee things will stop’’ if fans immediately got up and left the stadium.

Before you knew it, by incremental design, the demonstrations were a non-story. Roger Goodell, working for billionaire owners, distanced himself from Kaepernick by embracing another league activist, Malcolm Jenkins, then enlisting rapper Jay-Z as his cultural minister and crisis fixer. The exit strategy was insensitive and awkward, as are many flashpoints of Goodell’s commissionership, but eventually, the spectacle of football and pressures of television money overwhelmed the protests, appeasing white-influenced advertisers who’d watched nervously. As for other top leagues, there were no such tensions; NBA players and commissioner Adam Silver have been in powerful lockstep about race since the 2014 Donald Sterling debacle, and Major League Baseball is disturbingly indifferent amid a grim racial imbalance, with African-American players comprising less than eight percent of Opening Day rosters last season.

Call it corporate suppression. Call it white supremacy. Certainly, call it a case of the football establishment getting what it wanted and quieting the angst of black America yet again.

Photos: Tensions Flare in Chicago for Day 2 of Protests Over ...

But now, in all its grotesque horror, we have the cold-blooded murder of George Floyd, the latest victim of police brutality in our twisted, hatred-gutted republic. Coming as it did after the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, a truth has become self-evident: This time, sports cannot be allowed to strategically tip-toe out of inconvenience because a bunch of rich white men are uncomfortable in boardrooms. Like it or not, the NFL and all other institutions, professional to college to high school, must obey their social responsibilities and let athletes take a knee as they please. If and when live games resume, those who wish to kneel in protest of racial inequality should be permitted to do so without resistance for as long as they damn well please — years, if necessary.

The networks must air it. The commissioners and owners must honor it. The advertisers must deal with it. The fans must respect it. And Trump must put a sock in it — or, better, move aside and let someone else try to lead America through its violence-and-pandemic turbulence without daily provocation and cartoonish responses.

Otherwise, another atrocity awaits, another tragedy as unspeakable as a racist cop pressing his knee against the neck of an unarmed black man for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

What we’ve learned from the Floyd images, and the outbreaks of civil unrest, is that racial activism cannot afford to be intermittent. No one can shut up and dribble. Protests must be relentless, if also peaceful, so the world isn’t allowed to forget Minneapolis and slip into old, sick habits that enable killer cops such as Derek Chauvin. Black athletes have been vocal for generations — Muhammad Ali, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, Jim Brown, LeBron James — but their robust voices ultimately fade amid the inevitable disruption of another racist act. That’s why the composed but persistent visual of Kaepernick, in a period when NBA players routinely wore “I Can’t Breathe’’ shirts in memory of Eric Garner, harbored hope for a long-term sea change.

“Ultimately, it’s to bring awareness and make people realize what’s going on this country,’’ Kaepernick said of his mission. “There’s people being murdered unjustly and people not being held accountable.’’

Colin Kaepernick may make it back on an NFL team - Marketplace

Alas, the kneeling campaign sputtered and stopped. And here we are, right back where we started, outraged about another man who couldn’t breathe. Kaepernick no longer is playing in the NFL, but Trump is still the president, shaken enough by violent protests near the White House to lash out on Twitter and escape to his underground bunker, yet striking the pose of a strongman in threatening to summon the U.S. military. All Kaepernick ever did was peacefully kneel by the San Francisco 49ers bench until the national anthem ended. Trump, by comparison, is a self-caricature in free fall, using the Bible as a prop in a surreal photo-op outside a fire-damaged Washington church … but only after police swept away protesters with gas, rubber bullets and flash bang grenades. When calm and equilibrium are the urgently needed presidential tones, Trump is hapless to summon anything but bluster.

“I am your President of law and order,’’ he declared, vowing to rid the nation of “professional anarchists, violent mobs … arsonists, looters, criminals, rider rioters, Antifa and others.’’

And as long as he’s in office, Trump will oppose what’s next in sports: Athletes again wanting to kneel, scribble messages on their shoes and uniforms and demonstrate on game days. He will resurrect his “son of a bitch’’ speech. He will contact Goodell and influential NFL friends, such as New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Trump will denounce athletes as unworthy of jobs and appeal to Americans to turn against them. This time, the NFL and the networks cannot budge.

Let them kneel. Let them speak.

Take a lead from Europe — hella Europe — where Premier League players can protest Floyd’s death without fear of reprimand. This is in contrast to Germany’s soccer chiefs, who investigated three Bundesliga players for displaying messages supporting Floyd. “A common sense approach,’’ said the Football Association, England’s governing soccer body. “The power of football can break down barriers across communities, and we remain deeply committed to removing all forms of discrimination from across the game we all love.”

We have had enough: Michael Jordan on 'racism and violence ...

It has been inspiring to watch athletes and entertainers speak out in recent days, including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Derek Jeter, all averse to enter past racial frays. Said Jordan, memorably: “I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry. I see and feel everyone’s pain. I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough.’’ In particular, young athletes such as Jaylen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon are rising up to lead peaceful protests. Among the words resonating most instructively are those of Gregg Popovich, a 71-year-old white male and military veteran who has evolved into an outspoken crusader against racism. Sometimes, his anti-Trump rants are out of place at, say, a pre-game media briefing, costing San Antonio Spurs fans the joy of a refreshing hoops conversation. But this is the real time and place to vent, as a thoughtful American, and in a conversation with The Nation site, the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball coach struck a chord that must resonate.

“The thing that strikes me is that we all see this police violence and racism, and we’ve seen it all before, but nothing changes,’’ Popovich said. “That’s why these protests have been so explosive. But without leadership and an understanding of what the problem is, there will never be change. And white Americans have avoided reckoning with this problem forever, because it’s been our privilege to be able to avoid it. That also has to change.”

But will it change? Ever? All the education and demonstration in the world can’t stop a rogue racist from becoming the next Derek Chauvin. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar thought he had seen the abyss 28 years ago in Los Angeles, when an unarmed black man named Rodney King was savgely beaten by police officers who would be acquitted, prompting riots that feed the city’s anxieties today. “Think about this: nothing has changed since what was supposed to be a routine traffic stop of Rodney King,’’ said Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA great, author and social observer. “That was 30 years ago. And still nothing has changed. White cops still can act with impunity and kill people that they feel like they want to kill. It’s got to stop someplace.’’

Tell Bob Kroll. He’s the Minneapolis police union president who thinks Floyd’s 2009 conviction, for assault and robbery, begins to justify death-by-asphyxia. “What is not being told is the violent criminal history of George Floyd,’’ Kroll said in a letter to members. “The media will not air this.’’ Has he considered that the media, like most human beings, are consumed by viral visuals of Floyd. We see him telling witnesses, “They’re going to kill me, man,’’ which is exactly what happened as he became unresponsive, though Chauvin kept his knee on his neck for another two minutes and 53 seconds.

The NFL and Trump both reek of hypocrisy over George Floyd's death ...

For reasonable people, it never was a question of whether Kaepernick was right or wrong in sideline protests that started four years ago. It was whether he ultimately would disrupt racism and force a American social metamorphosis. Obviously, he did not, and the recent string of killings give oxygen to theories that Kaepernick has been blackballed by the NFL. After Goodell released a statement, saying “the NFL family is greatly saddened by the tragic events across our country” and that “protesters’ reactions to these incidents reflect the pain, anger and frustration that so many of us feel,’’ the commissioner was mocked on social media by everyone from director Ava DuVernay to Houston Texans receiver Kenny Stills.

“Save the bull(bleep),’’ said Stills, one of the few players still kneeling on sidelines last season.

“Your statement said nothing,’’ Minnesota Vikings linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr said in identical tweets. “Your league is built on black athletes. Vague answers do nothing. Let the players know what you’re ACTUALLY doing. And we know what silence means.’’

No doubt the league would benefit substantially, in the optics of social awareness and the interest of calming players, if a franchise swooped in now and signed Kaepernick. This was suggested by former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart, the NFL’s primary spokesperson when the kneeling protests took hold in 2017. He is urging the Vikings to make an offer — the team that plays in a stadium not far from the Floyd death scene. Lockhart claims Goodell had no agenda, saying, “Kaepernick was not blocked because the league wanted to punish him for setting off the protests.’’ Rather, Lockhart says franchises ignored the league’s “prodding and pushing’’ to sign him, adding that teams “thought he was bad for business’’ and “an executive from a team that considered signing Kaepernick told me the team projected losing 20 percent of season ticket holders if they did.”

NFL and Kaepernick still at odds on failed workout

Is Kaepernick still too hot to handle? Of course, he is, now more than ever. Given the magnitude and breadth of violence nationwide, his arrival in any city would be akin to a tsunami as people try to stay safe from the unrest, ward off COVID-19 and deal with rampant unemployment. Consider two key points: (1) The NFL season is in limbo because of the pandemic; and (2) Kaepernick has not been a difference-making quarterback since 2013 and at times has been a bad quarterback, such as when I covered him in San Francisco. He hasn’t played an NFL down in almost four years, and when the league arranged for a mass tryout last fall, he complained, moved the workout site and pissed everyone off. So, stop the politicking, Joe, and let Kaepernick get back to work on America’s social conscience.

Besides, his cultural influence remains dynamic. In West Hollywood, an LAPD officer made an offer to protesters: If they were peaceful, he would take a knee. They complied. So he dropped into the Kaepernick stance.

And the protesters took a knee with him.

Don’t stop kneeling. Don’t stop believing.

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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