in creating context. in making meaning from it. i think the story of one goal speaks a little bit more to how the competition and the game itself can be read in some anyways i think that the game is played in this hockey town i think who is playing it. i think when the airplane it. the fall of 2015. it's when this team makes its quest for it's the first state champion title. a team that out scores an opponent 113 to seven. yes it's a good sports story. the wear and the wind and win and the what of this sports story. of all of the journeys that get to that moment in november

of 2015. when a 4,500 people shop for a soccer game in maine. more people that shut up for the football state championship a couple weeks later. it's crazy talk to think about that. to see this team and what they're doing and what they mean. it means the community is there. it's represented. they're having this moment to figure out what this team means. one of the words that is used to described one goal is heartwarming. i think there is that component. i also think there is a lot of gut got punches in these stories. at the end of the day what we

can learn from the soccer team in this particular context is that community is work is not just something we should take for granted. in the journeys of different people a coach a longtime coach. in the fourth decade of coaching this team without a title learning what it means to head players who are coming out for receiving -- preseason they suddenly had to invoke along -- a large portion of the community. and think about thinking about all of those journeys. creating a connection with the community. but not just that coach can call it directives. it is an enormous competitive advantage. so these kind of things about what it means again to embrace change and not just tolerate change and cap allies. i think it's all of the components that go into one goal and to figure out how sometimes it is just a game itself.

thank you for having me. there are a lot of things that are my fault. i apologize for everybody coming out in braving this. if i look at my stats every time for the past 16 years since i wrote my first book. it's always raining. i wanted to congratulate him on only a game as well. and they love to have their books promoted. it was one of the places when you got the call that was a big deal for us.

i sort of felt for me when it came down to doing projects. i have always wondered i have these steps of anxiety when i do a project. do you have an idea. i think in this case it really started to me. i think it was the 2013 super bowl. the terrible game where the power went out. and he would be in there. for his reason to protest. the reason why it hit me is because in watching that and knowing the super bowl commercial tells us everything we need to know about where we are in america. i have noticed that every commercial have to bend 60 to 70% of those commercials for half-time all have some patriotic theme.

someone's trying to sell us something here. you can't sell bag of doritos without a veteran there. you watch the red sox game. and the wall has got the flight on it before. you can see there was a major shift taking place. obviously you could see it now. even the referees have an american flag on their uniforms. there was that which was enough to talk about post- 911 but then the other thing i thought was important. came the very next year with what happened in ferguson and then new york. and then in cleveland and then all of a sudden he started to see these athletes started to do something they hadn't been done since mohammed ali.

there was not a lot of guys who got involved. i used to write about it referring to them. they were removed from it and then you see the players having i can't read teachers -- t-shirts. all the sudden you are looking at this. in combining these two images the flag on one side and then all the sudden the arrival and the return of these athletes have told me that that was news. that was a second part of my anxiety. how do you get this idea.

in getting the idea he have a go talk to people and figure out a way to put this idea together and it was very difficult for me because i wondered how these two strains were to come together. in the conclusion that i had reached is that this country has not reconciled the effects of 911. it's a very different than it was pre- 911. it has changed. getting involved do you see that it was taking place as a referendum of their patriotism. and their citizenship we are asking ourselves questions and when you hear them say things. maybe you don't belong in the country for taking a position. that to me told me there was something here it was

something else. it was not just cops it was something else. it was the combining of police and military the fact that we had been fighting however many wars that we are fighting right now. all of these things are coming together in a place that we supposedly said didn't have a political edge to it. that we have away from the problems. all of the issues are taking place right here. and they can be hidden. to take that on was gratified and a lot of fun. incredibly important to me. and getting more and more important. i was grateful to have the opportunity to do it.

thank you for having me. and thank you for braving the weather. i did not know it was can be this bad and this cold. this is something that has been a passion of mine for a long time. i always got the questions when i come in your different i ended up defending my people in the athletic sphere as to is a different reasons why they scream choose to remain silent. and some that are really encouraged me and given me support. they aren't really able or prepared to do it publicly.

it was one of those that i really wanted to examine in the book. i wanted to get a personalized narration of why so many athletes are getting involved right now. in showing the stories behind them. i wanted to get a little bit deeper. i have these incredible conversations with athletes throughout my entire career and i said nobody else knows this. they need to know that you feel this way. i thought to ask different people if they wanted to do an interview. everybody knows the entire team where the were the hotties. but then i wanted to ask some of the guys a little bit deeper as to why they did that.

he's thought about his son. he actually became scared for his children. he have to have that talk with his son. once i get to a certain age. hearing duane or they had been exaggerating. now they hear other athletes say that aunt. it resonates a little bit differently. i wanted to ask other athletes. why his supported freddie gray after the murder. he talks about how he was from baltimore. he's watching the news. what if he was actually dragged up. the different guy. russell westbrook.

the comedy. how are the police going to interact with him. are they can look at him. if he was pulled over by the side of the road and the car is broken down. it is not just because they want to be a part of a conversation or the topic of the day or anything like that. there are personal reasons why they are speaking up. in dealing with the reactions from cap her neck. the misrepresentation of what they were taking the knee

for. not the always the entire truth. we all know that. but still when we are presenting it over and over. you can this might be the truth. this might get ingrained in your have accidentally. the voice of athletes to be able to move the needle in semi- different ways. in to be able to encourage younger athletes to continue using their voices by showing the power. one of the things i will tell a great story. one of the persons i interviewed was martin's brother. i didn't expect him to say.

if it weren't for athletes they would not know my brother's name. he said when he was first killed the family was trying desperately to get some of the local news to cover it. this is not newsworthy. just a younger another young black man killed. but then you have a lebron james wearing the hoodie. then you have all those people who are fans of theirs. and then they start noticing another amount of coverage. i want to show younger athletes the power of the voice as well as well as the

amount of criticism that they're going to receive. this is a really special project for me. it's something i've been interested in. i think it's absolutely beautiful to see. one of the things that we talk about and i was think about this notion of shut up and play or shut up in trouble. and always remind me of james fonda. a celebrity. what does she know about this. in this case if anyone should be talking about the relationship between young black men and the cities in the place. it's the athletes.

i know specifically. we listen to famous people. and then we talk about oprah being a presidential candidate because she's rich and famous. everybody else that has money will speak but accept them. it's something that deserves discussion as well. people usually when they disagree with you that's when

they speak up. this is great. they love the kanye west now. but they never liked him before. there is a corollary. i am familiar with your book. of course, athletes should have the same right as everyone else to speak.

this is the point that he made. he said, anybody who has a principal stand and has a platform should make use of that platform to present their principal stand. they were not speaking exclusively about professional athletes. people did it take that situation seriously as a story with important implications until pro athletes. a comment on how screwed up the culture is.

until someone that we recognize from watching them on television speaks up. the fact is i would say no. that's not their passion. you know people whose passion it is to speak. they could say the wrong thing. they don't have the follow-up of when there can be challenged. when you say something that someone disagrees with. like lauren graham did. that was the whole point. you have to be able to show that that person who is trying

to portray it this way to the entire world to almost kill the messenger to kill the message. he almost a go like that speech and eight. a lot of people aren't equipped to do that. people whose passion it is i think it's bigger than the athletes themselves. just entertainment. and their workers. and laborers. but i also think it's sports at large. not just conception of the level playing field but this hallowed bubble that supposed to remain not political. i keep thinking when you're talking about a non- athlete.

mike pence who created the entire spectacle something that was preplanned and we knew it was preplanned. when the combined of rear delegation. i have this moment of joy. he gets it. to make a political statement. mike pence is making a political statement. it's not. it's a hypocrisy they keeps moving back and forth in terms of these politics. the politics of those various things themselves.

it's also sport as an arena. if it is okay which kind of stuff is okay. it's a question of ownership as well. when you look at black athletes especially in sports the filter of it is white owners and white coaches. that's how we view sports. and that is how sports works. even when you watch television there are very few very few journalists out there of color. usually you get a sub x player out there. but normally there's some balance. they are not trying to understand the player. who is buying the tickets. it's not who is watching the game.

in terms of who has the disposable income to actually buy that. it's a lot of money. who gets to go. suddenly everyone went to red sox games. there is a question of ownership. that is one of the things that really offends people. if you're here to entertain me. i don't want to hear what you have to say. this is the battle of whether or not they have the opportunity to speak or whether they are just simply a laborer. we have this moment of espn. we get hammered all the time for being too liberal sub presently. the republican pollster did a focus group with us. they wanted to know what trump

voters thought. they did this focus group and they have all of these different images up on the screen. this is how you figure out who is popular. whenever there was an image of colin cap her neck the rating of the people in the audience dropped. with the ratings dropped like a stone. the ratings spiked up. and after the presentation was over he have asked the group wide of the numbers do the numbers drop so badly. is political. i don't want politics in my sports.

as of that being a little hypocritical. when they showed the flag and the soldiers your response changed. and she had set that's not politics that's patriotism. and he said what's the difference. it's actually interesting. we talked about this before. i will ask the audience the same question i ask and i go to universities. most of the time it's just crickets. when you go to a sporting

event it's not even patriotism. it's money because the united states government. that is advertising. in the patriots should be ashamed of themselves and so should every other team and in sport that does this. when you watch a game and looks like it is an organic display of patriotism. it's actually money. they charged that national guard $80,000 per year to sing god bless america. there is a money aspect all this. when there is a huge flag. when you see all of the soldiers up in the luxury box. your taxes are paying for

that. it's a financial transaction that they've never disclosed to the public. and i think that's part of the reason why you see a lot of the pushback they don't quite see in the nba. i wanted to ask him with interviews and coaches. will they punish them for them. and then i said even if it is a topic get top get that you disagree with. if they speak out on the topic. then you have the issue. again, i wanted to be able to encourage younger athletes all

of them said in different ways we appreciate that. they had been able to use the position of the platform. that's great. i did not even get a response when you try to reach out to them. dan snyder. he did not respond to me. i tried anyway. i wanted to get their opinions and there was no response. not like they didn't know already. no question. the question that occurs to me. we will it to your question in just a minute. i think you eloquently talked about the current landscape mohammed ali was recognized as

the prince of peace before he died. he was cheered mightily with the torch. with the brave heroic figures. do we have to wait for them to be celebrated as a patriot. my cumulative collectively. is it that we only celebrate

people after they are dead or so old that they're no longer dangerous. >> i interviewed john carlos for our book. that's what they said. they were invited to go every different place. back then not at all. times that by 100. he would join the nation of islam. the thing is that once 30 or 40 years from now. you'll be reading about it. and you will be surprised by hearing all of the people that say all the nice wonderful

glowing things about them. that is the same thing that happened to mohammed ali. they say that all the time. there is a shot that always happens when an athlete opens his or her mouth. unless you had one of those moments of national transformations where they became an american. we have the solitary moments of acceptance. but every single time i think someone have said that not forget about june of 2016. there was not a big gap there.

i think it's a same thing with jackie robinson. we sat there and i live out in north hampton. we are watching the movie. and two black kids in the audience. in your listening. and everybody is laughing at this cartoonish racism. it's so preposterous and i'm looking around in the dark. these are your relatives. this is not a remarkable position that they were taken back then.

he was not indicting the past. he was looking at our current police force in the system. looking at everybody. they are talking about uncles and grandparents. from 75 years ago. that is the biggest difference. you are looking at this from an indictment standpoint. they know that he was ultimately vindicated. we know vietnam was a mistake. because you know how the story ends. i think a number think that happens is the notion and something that was brought up

a lot throughout my book. as the notion of the ungrateful. if you make money when you have the labor-management relationship. we treated the players as if they are given something. the reason why they work harder than you. if i mess up a story tomorrow might get cut. there's not some eighth-grader turn to take my job.

there is a farm system where they have someone slotted into replace me. at the end of the season. they don't have to worry about things of society. i was talking to a group. not a whole lot of young females there. and they were saying they don't understand the issue with the police because that's not reality. you do understand. i tell the story in the book. i was driving him in some of the players home after practice one night.

i turn the music down. the hands are at ten and two. they're all looking at me like what are you doing. how are you doing. i'm going to get my registration that's on my dashboard is that okay? >> i was slowly degraded and then slowly to get it back from him. same thing. slow movements so afterwards i'm talking to them because now it's a teachable moment for my players. afterwards my son was a really like you shouldn't had to do all that.

he was treating it like a criminal. the way i act in that situation could be the difference of us getting home safely and not. never in to talk about reality. and right now the most important thing is to get home safely. i can just head my windows down. to be able to dispute the situation and increase in the first place. because as the nature that is the nature been a black man in america. a lot of athletes are saying that they explored this after

they leave the game. where thousands of people are chilly -- cheering for them. what is the question of ownership. it's a question of ownership. and what are you supposed to be. what he supposed to have. if i leave for the first time brought a nice car. it's not my thing. my cousin on the other hand he would like live in the box a box and have a great car. he does not care anything except that. i went to go play some tennis. and here comes the police guys were behind me.

he comes before me and he says your registration has expired. i was even thinking about it because the with them in his june. i hadn't have it been home for three weeks. legally i cannot let you drive away. i can't let you take the car. we're supposed to impound the car because you're not supposed to have an expired registration. he said do you have a smart phone. if you just hop on the registry website i can just give you a sign when you have it done. they probably lost the match that they play. if that have taken place in roxbury made that's a

different story. maybe i'm not just to have that car. it's when you have that. are you a drug dealer or are you doing something illicit that i believe you should not had. it's all a question of optic and ownership. if you have no concept of being assumed of what you're supposed to have and not supposed to have. you're never going to get it. and what you're allowed to have. your soup bows to choose sport. it is the royal patriotic view. they are given nothing. when you talk about football what do you think they say. they don't care about you. you are a widget. you are a commodity to be replaced.

i don't know why. every event this man shows up. i don't know why. not heckler. why do you think some leaks are leagues are more terrified of this than others. the nba seems to embrace this. the nfl is terrified. i'm curious about the underlying reasons because as you mentioned the players roughly the same demographic.

some of these leagues are very scared. the book this is just something that he encompasses. after everything that happened with donald sterling. i do get starts at the top. the football player contract.

your money is guaranteed when we play. we have to respond to the player. they also know something else. i'm of the generation and the magic that league was on its way out. they know they need each other. the league needs them. what happened with donald sterling happened with the nfl. if they did the way they did. all of the players said they didn't want them there. and other teams. i can't even imagine.

that numbers of players. they regard the name of the washington franchise. as a racist name. consequences is what happens on every level here. also consequences for the players at large. as the that is the reason they are talking high school sports. you're so young. there are consequences can be much more dire because they're the cutting off their future path.

also crossing the picket line here in boston. it's a great day for a ballgame. i don't know where the astros are seen. this is the question. if you begin. the players in basketball and the players in baseball. do they recognize a labor. there is a labor community care.

they have to relent about what was happening on campus. do you also recognize when you check into hotel where the workers are on strike. do you feel the next and all this. where are you just out for yourself. that was kind of what i was can talk about also. you had been talking about the recent protest in the context. and the sum. i just wondered what you thought about a fighter for one becoming a fighter for all.

alpine's gear. they make it very much not black. kind of throw away interview to cnn. we go to the white house. i won't go to the white house. this is literally america's golden girl. and this is what is thrown apart. the combat for doing that. they hoped they would vet their athletes before they put them on the olympic team. that is the craziest trial i've ever heard of. how are we going to do that.

it's even the tiny step. that kind of decision. the 50th anniversary this year. that one was not invited to the white house. they didn't have the opportunity to say no were not coming up. it's an interesting place of or in right now. this referendum is very dangerous to me. when you start think about the implications of it. i had been up there to nines about whether it was raw commercialism. the nfl and professional sports which is profiting from patriotism and now you have another. you have these other corporations. i'm thinking that neither one of these con text should ever be for sale.

i also started thinking on the other hand. if something been said in this company right now. it is all right for a corporation to take everything that you have because you disagree with them. even someone as boneheaded as rosanne. she got wiped out. they just took from her i thought she said something that was with cause. she said things that were inflammatory towards them. is this who we are. if you disagree that we will mobilize to take your life from you.

now we are going to go after it. i think that's how it's always been. michael bennett when i interviewed him. he talked about refusing to go to the trip to israel. once he saw what it was he said you're not going to exploit me in this way. am i going to visit the palestinian side. it's just gonna be a big promotion. i'm not going to do this. and this is why. it doesn't directly affect them. that is wrong as well. it's something that we need more. it's something that doesn't directly affect you.

three quick comments. number one i'm a retired naval supply officer veteran. it's not the military. the military does what we do. do what you gotta do. number two, have a chance to meet eric hemphill. he will a book. we were able to communicate.

and to get him on board because he was a retired national football guy. howard have said earlier. the government has pain is paying for all of that paper to get on they are paying for the files. that's unpatriotic. that is retirement. that's for recruitment. .. ..

>> last comments since i was in military i had a chance to vote having massachusetts plates down south it is dangerous. [laughter] i'll tell you it is very dangerous. >> thanks. thank you. >> thank you for great discussion. and i'm just curious this will be over out by all three of your

s and i'll read and enjoy them. >> you're our favorite. [laughter] as i walk through this audience a i kind of see a lot of people just like me who -- might to the same thing and wondering as your readers a sports lover and high brairn how do we take this message to a different audience -- to bring this discussion because sports i do think an opportunity to reach a much more diverse group is how any thoughts about how we can take this discussion into that? >> i think it is happening right now. i think you're having a different group, you know, kind of cross helping each other. and you're getting different people able to speak in favor of other people and speak up for other people so you're getting that message that not just as far as one group is sports but into a wider audience. i just came back from a conference and it was absolutely amazing but different groups

that are -- but what you're saying we need to keep it happening. >> it is okay for sports to be escape and after a week of brett kavanaugh to it can into a 161 red sox victory it felt really good. [applause] but you also need to encourage kids that sports like absolutely anything else that they study, they have to take it siresly you have to investigate and read about it and make meaning out of it and not dismiss it as just a game. >> agree. we have to get to questions quickly because -- >> i write for scholastic news so i would like to know -- [applause] i would like to know what's your best advice for writers who want to make a difference. >> read. read. i would say read. do a lot of research. not just your opinion but make informed opinions based on research that you've already done and read people you disagree with a lot. and your opinion comes last get the facts -- there we go. pest.

perfect. done. last question. last question. okay. so amy you talked a little bit about lindsey vonn and i'm wankeddering if we can address women's issues so -- serena williams or -- aly raisman in the me too movement. >> one issue that i think i read about it -- in your book about the wnba so i have a whole chapter to wshes nba what they were able to do collectly able to do and that was during the wnba season to they -- you know, minnesota first which was where steele was killed came out wearing shirts that had her name on and dallas 5 black lives matter something is like that so president of wnba said nobody do that again and ig ignited them new york liberty everybody they

started wearing this shirt together so onefelt questions i had who was the prominent wnba players i said how did y'all do that? get everybody on one accord. you have players that are from here don't understand what's going on, and his response was that well first women do it differently. [laughter] and -- and -- [applause] as they said they have empathy so they saw that we were hurt by something and this was their sister, their teammate and they have empathy so they said if they're sister is hurt then we're too and i'll stapgd by it that was amazing. >> by the way you don't get that with the men and especially with the white men, you know whether it's -- 60 years worth i can barely name a white player who put themselves on line but i want one quick thick out of you because when i was looking at my project and finished with it, one of the questions that came across was this idea of a female heritage where are they and one of the interesting things that is really important to consider --

is that without the wnba in wnba players are paid virtually compared to what had men make that most ofier women are individual athletes serena williams dorothy you know, olympians so their money comes from directly from sponsors. and if you see a dominique or, you know, a.d. did i raisman or somebody take prominent controversial stance the first thing they worry about is a sponsor to poll. >> everything is controversial. doesn't put her hand on her heart and a gold medalist is not a patriotic. >> as far as them speaking out dr. larry nasser and they have because for a long time abusing all of the o'limp i olympians tt was heart brag to hear that-going on for that long of a time and nobody has been saying anything. you have one player say something, dominique i forget

her last name but she said something and they kind of outcasted her but now you saw a lot of different saying that happened to me too, as well i saw somebody, you know, that just is happened to. and then they got him everything started moving but i thought that was a great model to show especially young female athletes a lot of times people they don't feel empowered. you know, so to show the power they have is collectively so -- >> when they feel empower they are held to different standards and serena is our case and point. >> that's true thank you all. thank you very much. all of you. appreciate it. thank you -- [applause] thank you. you're watching booktv on c-span2 for complete television schedule, visit booktv.org you