Hi I know you abandoned this ship but I am a fan of other athletes on this “council” and the sentiment in those fanbases is that athletes were asked to apply to help make decisions on “sports, fitness and nutrition” but many of them weren’t told they actually got accepted and weren’t given details on the responsibilities. Again it sucks that Matthew is so excited to be a part of this, but I do think there was Bettman pressure involved + the transphobia part was not the selling point for him.
hi! i wouldn't say i've entirely abandoned ship since i've definitely still been keeping up with what's happening while i stepped away from fandom spaces but i appreciate you providing me with this information while i was gone!
as i mentioned in one of my last asks before taking a month long hiatus , this administration is a disaster and they announced saquon barkley as part of it but then he said he never actually accepted. and since then, matthew himself has said it wasn't official yet, and tua tagovailoa said he didn't know how he got appointed but it was an honor, so i definitely think there's been a lack of transparency about what the council is about with the people involved and with the public in general.
i did read the whole executive order on it and it was all focused on the fitness aspect of it (which in itself is so embarassing because it's all tied to how it's a national security threat for kids to be out of shape because our military is gonna be weak lmao lmao) and i listened to the chair of the whole thing talk about how they're revitalizing the presidential fitness test, and those things on their own are problematic (read: the militarism of it all) but not, like, the worst thing ever because while trump renamed it, the council itself has been around for nearly 70 years and has had bi-partisan support.
the nhl was actually partnering with the council just last year under biden, and steph curry was one of biden's appointees to the council, so if they stuck solely to the fitness aspect, i honestly wouldn't have much of a problem with it because while i DO think it's embarrassing to willingly associate yourself with this administration, i also think we'll get no where in rectifying the situation if the trump admin is only full of yes men and he only appoints people to important places that won't push back on him at all.
with all that said, i don't actually think any of the people on the councile outside the chair people are a) involved enough or b) care enough to push back on anything. and while the official website went up and makes no mention of the "keeping men out of women's sports" agenda that was mentioned in just the one press release, that is the republican agenda and if they start making PSAs for that or whatever, then it's so beyond over.
at the moment, my feelings are complicated because unfortunately, it's not just matthew involved. the nhl itself is listed as a supporter of the council on the official website and like i said, if they stay focused on the fitness aspect, that's one thing, but i don't want to financially support something that's being used to spread literal hate. so i guess we have to wait to see what the council does.
i truly don't want to start discourse again or tell anyone what to do but the nba was once listed as one of the supporters on the actual website and has since been taken off, so the fact that the nhl is still listed there as a supporter unfortunately signals to me that they are involved and that abandoning my fave over it isn't enough because i'd still be supporting something partnered with all that so idk what i'm gonna do once the season starts because my head says one thing while my heart says but those are my little guys
