The Story:
The Associated Press polled sports writers on the question: what was the outstanding sports story of 2017? Their answer: the continuing take-a-knee movement in the National Football League and President Donald Trump’s reaction.
Other Contenders:
Other contenders for top sports story included: a World Series win for the Houston Astros, that franchise’ first Series win ever, especially heartening since it came on the heels of the great damage done the Houston area by Hurricane Harvey; the resignation of Steve Penny, the president of USA Gymnastics, in the face of reports of widespread sexual abuse in the ranks; and Clemson’s dramatic last-second comeback to defeat Alabama in the college football championship game.
The Thing to Know:
The spectacles of NFL players kneeling silently through the playing of the National Anthem, in protest of racism and police violence, and of a President of the United States demanding that they be fired, easily defeated those other stories in the AP vote.
