To paraphrase the ESPN “30 for 30” sports documentary opening: “What if I told you that a sport based on lying, cheating and rule bending worked perfectly fine as long as brown kids and fans paid the price?”
That title would never get past the editing room, and yet, stripping the Jackie Robinson West All-Stars team of its Little League World Series title for cheating can’t be described any other way.
The team’s loss of a championship and vacated wins is not only another horrible reminder of the racial politics of American sports but a blatantly obvious lesson to kids that cheating is OK as long as you have the right money and branding on your side.
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