23 | Burn it All Down with Sports Activist, Podcaster, and TSN columnist Shireen Ahmed
This week, Miguel spoke to Toronto-based sports journalist and TSN.ca columnist Shireen Ahmed (@_shireenahmed_). Shireen is a mother and is an award-winning sports activist focusing on Muslim women in sports and the intersections of misogyny and racism in sports. Shireen is also co-creator and co-host of the feminist sports podcast, the Burn it All Down Pod (@BurnItDownPod).
First, Miguel asked Shireen how she became a sports journalist and podcaster, Shireen’s love for the people’s game, futbol (soccer), and her favorite Burn it All Down podcast episodes. Additionally, Miguel and Shireen discuss the contradictions of sports fandom, Shireen’s recent articles on TSN.ca, the controversial hiring of Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd as NBA head coaches, while Becky Hammon once again was passed up for an NBA Head Coaching job, and more!
Next, Miguel gives you his Molotov MVP for episode 23, Track and Field superstar Sprinter, Sha’Carri Richardson (@itskerrii). On June 19, 2021, at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, the 21-year-old Richardson won the 100-meter race in a blazing 10.86 seconds, which qualified Richardson for the Tokyo Olympics in late July. Unfortunately, a week later, Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended for 30 days by the U.S. Doping Agency for testing positive for Cannabis after the Olympic trials. Richardson accepted the suspension and took responsibility for the positive test.
Miguel ends the podcast with another Chicana/o Sports History segment. This week, he highlights Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Center Auston Matthews (@AM34). Auston Matthews was born in San Rafael, CA, but raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. His mother Ema is a Mexicana from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico! Auston Matthews was not the first National Hockey League player of Mexican-decent to play in the league, but he was the first to be chosen with the #1 pick in the NHL draft when the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Auston with the #1 pick in 2016.
Miguel Garcia produced this episode.
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Links:
The Walrus: When Sports Fans Change the Game (Shireen Ahmed/June 16, 2021)
TSN: Time for hockey world to recognize brutal history of anti-Indigeneity (Shireen Ahmed/June 1, 2021)
Suspension of Sha’Carri Richardson reignites Olympic banned substance debate (CBC.ca)
Sha’Carri Richardson on the Today Show (Twitter Video)
Matthews discusses Mexican roots, National Hispanic Heritage Month (Nicholas J. Cotsonika/NHL.com)
Blazer’s Edge: Defector Publishes More Complete Details of Billups Sexual Assault Case (Dave Deckard/July 12, 2021)
