Educate, Energize, and Protect 👑 (10/20/20)
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Description
In today’s episode: 🏀 Find out how LeBron James is bringing attention to an important issue off the basketball court: fighting voter suppression 🗳️ Learn about what poll workers do and why they're the unsung heroes of Election Day 💰 We talk about money matters in men’s and women’s pro sports with friend of The Ten News, Kenny Curtis.
Links
🗳️ Read a letter to fans from LeBron James and the folks at More Than a Vote: An Open Letter To Our Fans Of Every Age, Race and Gender
👀 Watch the longest professional tennis match ever: John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010
🎧 Listen to friend of The Ten Kenny Curtis' show Kids Place Live on SiriusXM
💬 We want to hear your comments! Send us an email: hello@thetennews.com
🖼️ See what we look like on social media: The Ten News on Instagram
Transcript
Bethany Van Delft: [00:00:00] Hey there I'm Bethany Van Delft and welcome to The Ten News. The show where in the time it takes to suit up for a round of inflatable, Sumo wrestling, we find out what's up in the world.
[00:00:13] In today's episode, we'll find out how LeBron James is giving a major assist off the basketball court, learn about poll workers, the unsung heroes of election day, talk money matters in men's versus women's sports, and find out how long it took to play the longest professional tennis match ever played.
[00:00:38] Okay, let's get into The Ten News.
Various Voices: [00:00:41] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:00:47] Athletes who play their sport with millions of people watching have a platform. Meaning with a big audience focused on them, they have a unique opportunity to make an impactful statement. Many [00:01:00] athletes have used their platform to speak out when they see injustice like former 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, taking a knee during the National Anthem at games, or tennis superstar, Naomi Osaka wearing the names of victims of racial injustice on her face mask during every round on her way to winning this year's US Open.
[00:01:18] LeBron James is another great example. As a four time NBA champion, who's just as known for scoring as he is passing the ball and getting others involved, it should come as no surprise that while competing for his latest championship, he used his platform to bring attention to important issues outside of basketball.
LeBron James: [00:01:36] "We will definitely not shut up and dribble and to have athletes feel empowered, to speak about whatever they feel like they want to speak about to have that platform means everything to me."
Bethany Van Delft: [00:01:47] With a pivotal presidential election just around the corner, LeBron and a number of professional athletes took note and launched More Than A Vote, a nonprofit organization aimed at fighting voter suppression, [00:02:00] a tactic used to discourage, even prevent specific groups of people from voting. Their hope is that more African American voters will go to the polls this year. Back in June, more than vote issued an open letter, addressing their mission. "We are focused on systemic voter suppression in our community and have a specific mission, educate, energize, and protect black voters."
[00:02:23] It's clear they want people to know their vote matters, but they're not just looking to inspire people. They want them to take part in the movement too. More than a vote recently partnered with the racial justice, law firm, NAACP Legal Defense fund, and launched, We Got Next, a campaign that amazingly recruited more than 10,000 poll workers to volunteer in black communities this election. Having enough poll workers is crucial in fighting voter suppression because it makes it easier for people to safely cast their ballots without standing in line for hours on end, a major problem in the past [00:03:00] that has even kept some people from getting to vote at all. Now more than a vote is looking to get the younger generation involved in helping at the polls and who better than LeBron James to assist them in getting it done.
[00:03:25] Do you know that in major league baseball games, the umpires are required to wear black underwear just in case they split their pants? Oh my gosh. That is so smart. I think I would be doing that forever now. Also how many umpires have split their pants?
[00:03:56] You may be hearing a lot about poll workers lately, wondering [00:04:00] what they do and why we need them. Let's hear a few facts from our friend, 11 year old Isaac.
Isaac: [00:04:07] Three facts about poll workers. Number one, poll workers are volunteers who set up polling sites on election day, check voters when they arrive, answer questions and give important instructions. They help make sure everyone has a smooth and positive voting experience.
[00:04:25] Number two, according to the Election Assistance Commission, the majority of poll workers tend to be over 60 years old. Because people in that age group are considered a high risk for complications of COVID-19, this year's election is facing a poll worker shortage as people who might normally volunteer are opting to stay cautious during the pandemic.
[00:04:51] Number three, even though many more people than usual are expected to vote by mail this year, election officials [00:05:00] are working hard to make sure that there are enough poll workers to support in-person voting at polling sites. The state of Tennessee, even lowered the age requirements for poll workers to 16 years old, which means Tennesseeans who aren't old enough to vote can still pay a huge major role in this election.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:05:22] Thanks Isaac.
[00:05:32] Professional sports are big business and pro athletes can make millions of dollars, but when it comes to men's sports versus women's sports, not all paychecks are created equal. Let's hear from friend of The Ten, Kenny Curtis to find out more.
Kenny Curtis: [00:05:47] Thank you, Bethany. Okay. Today, we're going to talk about a very important issue in the world of sports. The gender pay gap. Yeah. Okay. I know it's not exactly what you were expecting. [00:06:00] I will not be discussing LeBron or Tom Brady or anything like that. Instead, we're going to look at the difference between what male and female athletes get paid, because it's a big deal. Now it's easy to assume that equal pay isn't really an issue anymore. You might think that in this day and age women will be paid exactly the same as men, but that's not exactly the case, especially in the sports industry. This is still a thing, people. Take basketball, for example. In 2019, the highest paid player in the women's national basketball association, the WNBA made $113,500 a year.
[00:06:40] Okay. Now what did the top player in the men's league, the NBA make? 40 million dollars. To be fair, the WNBA has a much shorter season and the NBA does generate a lot more interest from fans and makes a lot more money, but should the best male basketball player be making [00:07:00] 300 times more than the best female basketball player?!
[00:07:04] And of course, there's soccer. A sport that's really popular and commonly played by kids all over the world today. You might remember that the US Women's National Team won the Women's World Cup, the biggest soccer tournament in the world back to back in tournaments in both 2015 and 2019. The U S Men's National Team, unfortunately failed to qualify for the 2018 Men's World Cup and didn't even get to play.
[00:07:33] So you think that in this case, especially the women athletes would have to be paid the same, if not better than the male athletes, after all the women have won way more games and are indisputably the better franchise, right? Wrong. The women's team continues to get paid lower bonuses for friendlies, tournament's and other World Cup qualifying matches.
[00:07:55] And in 2019, the highest salary in the National Women's Soccer League [00:08:00] was $46,200 compared to 7.2 million in the Men's National League. The US Women's National Team brought the issue of equal pay back into the spotlight when they sued the U S Soccer Federation for discrimination, overpay, but in may, a judge ruled against them and dismissed the charges, the USWNT plans to appeal that decision.
[00:08:26] So it seems like we're headed in the right direction. But there's still a long way to go before we achieve equality among men and women athletes.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:08:43] It's time for your trivia question of the day. How long was the longest professional tennis match ever played?
[00:08:53] Was it A) eight hours B) 11 hours or C) [00:09:00] 17 hours. Have you guessed it? The answer is B 11 hours and five minutes to be exact. In June of 2010, American John Isner and Nicolas Mahut of France, battled it out in the now legendary match that took place over the course of three days.
[00:09:24] How did it end? With a winning backhand down the line from Isner you can watch the whole thing. Yes. All of it on Wimbledon's YouTube channel. I want to see reaction videos to watching 11 hours of tennis. Oh my gosh.
[00:09:41] What'd that be like? Aww, our time is up. That's the end of The Ten for today, you can catch new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
[00:09:52] The Ten News is a coproduction of Small, But Mighty Media in collaboration with Next Chapter Podcasts and distributed by iHeart Radio. [00:10:00] The Ten News writing team is led by editorial director, Tracy Crooks. With contributions from Steven Tompkins and Kenny Curtis. The creative producer is Jenner Pascua. Marketing is led by Jacob Bronstein with web support by Adam Pharr. Editing and sound design by Pete Musto under the production direction of Jeremiah Tittle. Executive Producer, Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan round out the team.
[00:10:26] If you have questions about the show, a story idea, or a fun fact, do you want to share email us at hello@thetennews.com. And don't forget to subscribe, rate and review The Ten News on Apple podcasts, IHeart Radio, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to The Ten News. Now go play a game you could keep at for 11 hours. What would that be? Minecraft? What could you play for 11 hours? Roblox. Is that a game? [00:11:00] I don't know.
