This week, Derek and Nathan have the honor of being joined by Otito Ogbonnia to talk about the life of a college football player and a summer of gridiron labor organizing and resistance. Otito is a Junior defensive lineman at UCLA, U20 USTF national champion in shot put, and bronze medal winner in the discus. He is also one of the organizers of the PAC-12's #WeAreUnited movement.
In the first half of the episode, Otito shares his nuanced views on questions of exploitation, coercion, and harm in college football, both from his personal experiences and conversations with countless other players across the country. Then, in the second half, he walks us through how the pandemic fomented labor activism on his own campus at UCLA and then in the PAC-12 more broadly, from the writing of the Players Tribune #WeAreUnited manifesto to meeting with Larry Scott and the cancellation (at the time) of the PAC-12's season. Finally, he shares where #WeAreUnited stands today after the news that the season will indeed be played.
You can find Otito on Twitter at @otitoogbonnia12. You can find the #WeAreUnited open letter/manifesto to the PAC-12 here.
Our piece from the summer on athlete labor organizing is here. Our piece on the cancellation of the PAC-12 season as union-busting is here.
Our argument against college football during a pandemic is here.
As mentioned off the top of the show, a big shoutout to friend of the show @Ryan_Reilly78 and his wife for putting in the work to shed light on the truly harmful and violent rhetoric that comes out of all things Barstool Sports. Ryan and his wife were publicly doxxed on-air which, predictably, led to a massive troll job on Ryan’s family. Please give him a follow on Twitter @Ryan_Reilly78 and show your support! Solidarity forever!
For a transcription of this episode, please click here. (Credit @punkademic)
After listening to the episode, check out our most recent pieces:
“Red-Scare Rhetoric Isn’t Gone From Histories of American Sport” in Jacobin Magazine
"Canceling the College-Football Season Isn't Enough" published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
“'We are being gaslit': College football and Covid-19 are imperiling athletes” in The Guardian
“Canceling the college football season is about union busting, not health” also in The Guardian
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As always, please like, share, and rate us on your favorite podcast app, and give follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
@Derekcrim
@JohannaMellis
@Nkalamb
@EndofSportPod
www.TheEndofSport.com
Episode 42: Cheer, College Football, and Suffering as Virtue with Amanda Mull
Episode 41: “Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back” with Kavitha Davidson and Jessica Luther
Episode 40: On the Player Strikes
Episode 39: 'Everyone On Screen Has Tested Negative' by Hannah Ensor
Episode 38: Fascism, Coloniality, and Sport with Zoé Samudzi
Episode 37: Olympic Sport on the New Plantation with Tezira Abe
Episode 36: Solidarity Forever with Kain Colter
Episode 35: Reimagining College Sport with Ricky Volante
Episode 34: Athlete A and Gymnastics Culture with Jennifer Sey
Episode 33: The Sports Industrial Complex with Kevin Blackistone
Episode 32: College Revenue Athlete Special with Hunter Reynolds and Benjamin St-Juste of College Athlete Unity and Miles Lester
Episode 31: Maya Moore, the Activist Athlete with Kurt Streeter
Episode 30: Teaching Capitalism to Americans: The Karolyis Come Stateside with Geza Pozsar
Episode 29: “Their System was Much More Brutal…”: The Karolyi Way in Communist Romania with Geza Pozsar
Episode 28, Part II: History and Harm in Gymnastics with Georgia Cervin
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Episode 26: #NotYourMascot with Jacqueline Keeler
Episode 25: Race, Gender, and Youth Sport History with Samantha White
Episode 24: (Athletic) Labor Talk with Hamilton Nolan
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