A Mexican man was found dead from blunt trauma to the head after being detained by the police for not wearing a mask in public.

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Tonight on the WWE Friday Night Smackdown open discussion thread:

Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles took very different paths to the Intercontinental Championship Tournament Finals, but they are the last two competitors remaining in what was an extremely impressive field.

Bryan chose to earn his spot in the championship round by defeating Sheamus in a grueling semifinal matchup. The Phenomenal One embraced the “work smarter, not harder” mantra by accepting a bye into the title match.

Will the two decorated competitors stay civil, or will the allure of championship gold set the stage for a more brutal title showdown? (via WWE.com)

Tonight’s card is about as stacked as Smackdown gets with Bayley and Sasha Banks versus Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in a Women’s Tag Team Championship match, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles in the finals of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament, Jeff Hardy explaining why he opened last week’s show with a weird car accident, and more.

As always, give a thumbs up to any comments from tonight’s open thread you enjoy and we’ll include 10 of the best in tomorrow’s Best and Worst of Friday Night Smackdown on Fox report. Make sure to flip your comments to “newest” in the drop down menu under “discussion,” and enjoy the show!

The NFL was at the center of America’s culture wars back in 2016, when now-former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat and, eventually, knelt for the national anthem in an attempt to raise awareness of police brutality and systematic oppression against Black individuals. Despite the fact that Kaepernick spoke to former Green Beret and NFL long snapper Nate Boyer about how he could protest while still respecting those who served in the military, which led to him choosing to kneel over taking a seat, Kaepernick found himself at the center of a firestorm about how and when someone should protest.

Those efforts worked, and individuals in power who wanted to avoid having the uncomfortable conversation Kaepernick brought into the discourse were able to shift the narrative. Kaepernick opted out of his deal in March of 2017 to become a free agent, and has not appeared in the NFL since.

His efforts have reentered the discourse in recent days, though, following the nationwide protests in response to the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was killed by a Minnesota police officer. This is in part because of the firestorm stirred up by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who gave off-base remarks on kneeling for the anthem, and this video by a handful of Black NFL players.

On Friday evening, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell joined the chorus of individuals speaking out, as the league posted a video in which Goodell invoked the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and noted that the league was “wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier, and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest.”

As you noticed, while the video is an attempt to put the NFL on the right side of history, there is no mention of Kaepernick anywhere, just a vague allusion to the fact that the league failed to listen in the past. While this video is a start, the league still has a way to go to atone for the sin committed against Kaepernick, and a good way for that process to begin would be for the commissioner of the league, along with its 30 owners, to admit this and say his name.

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On Friday, professional athletes from various leagues around North America wore orange in support of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. In a video compilation circulated by Everytown for Gun Safety, WNBA champion Natasha Cloud, MLS winger Alejandro Bedoya, U.S. ice hockey player Hilary Knight and more spoke about the increasing need for gun control in the U.S.

“Gun violence devastates so many families and neighborhoods and disproportionately affects communities of color,” Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said in the video.

One of the NBA’s most politically outspoken coaches, Kerr has repeatedly advocated for stricter gun control laws over the years. When Kerr was an 18-year-old college freshman, his own father, Malcolm Kerr, assassinated by gun violence because he was the president of the American University of Beirut. In 2018, Kerr called gun control a “public health issue.” At a press conference before Game 2 of the 2019 NBA Finals three days after the Virginia Beach mass shooting, Kerr wore a black t-shirt with the words, “Vote for our lives,” and spoke about the March For Our Lives movement.

In the video, Kerr said he wants tighter regulation around guns “because kids all over this country deserve to go to school and feel safe.”

“I wear orange because domestic abusers shouldn’t have access to guns,” said Cloud, guard for the Washington Mystics.

Cloud has made it her life’s mission to fight against gun violence. As the only child with a black biological father in her family of five children, the 28-year-old grew up in what she calls a “gray-area,” not quite realizing she was black until she was older. Since coming into the WNBA in 2015, Cloud, who is biracial and bisexual, has been a part of a politically vocal Mystics team and she became increasingly comfortable with the idea of using her platform for good.

“This community has become part of me. It was time for me to step and use my platform — my God-given platform — for something greater,” Cloud told ESPN’s The Undefeated in September.

Cloud has met with policymakers, gun violence survivors and activists to home games and and volunteered with her teammates at a local DC elementary school that was shot at twice in two weeks last summer. Following the second shooting, the Mystics guard held a media blackout in which she would only address questions from the media regarding gun violence reform.

Many players in the video also spoke about family members they had lost due to gun violence.

“Today, I wear orange to honor my best friend, Branden, and also to be an example to the youth, to motivate and to inspire,” said Tim Anderson, shortstop for the Chicago White Sox.

“To represent for my late sister Taiesha Watkins,” said NFL running back DeAndre Washington. “She was murdered two years ago due to senseless gun violence.

“In honor of my father, who was killed in 2010 to a senseless act of gun violence in his place of business,” Diontae Spencer, wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, said.

“To honor my cousin Jojo, who was shot and killed seven years ago,” two-time WNBA champion Devereaux Peters said.

Other women’s basketball players, including Mystics forward Tianna Hawkins, Lynx rookie Crystal Dangerfield and ESPN analyst and women’s basketball hall of famer Rebecca Lobo also took to Twitter to post their support using the #WearOrange hashtag.

The NBA’s Board of Governors almost unanimously approved a return to play plan on Thursday, one that would send 22 teams to Orlando for a bubble league that is tentatively slated to tip off on July 31. One day later and the plan made its way to the National Basketball Players Association for another vote, which ended in the players giving their unanimous approval.

According to multiple reports, the 28 players reps who were on the call signed off on the plan.

Next up for both sides is a round of negotiations, something that Wojnarowski mentioned will occur in the next week and will include one of the talking points from Thursday’s vote: the proposed Dec. 1 start date for the 2020-21 campaign that caught the NBPA off guard.

Charania reported out some of the specifics for the bubble league, with details including daily testing for COVID-19, families being able to join teams at their hotels at a certain point, exhibition games, and a limit of 1,600 people on the campus that will be used for the league.

One of the most interesting details is that the league plans on doing daily COVID testing once the season resumes, but Charania noted that it will not be the incredibly invasive testing that you may have seen or experienced in recent months.

We’ll still have to wait for final details to get hammered out in the near-future, and eventually, players will start making their way down to Orlando for the league. For now, perhaps the two biggest hurdles have been cleared, and the NBA’s return after months of no games can be seen on the horizon.

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As another weekend of Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality approaches, Paramount Network and A&E are making bold moves with the airing of two popular, law-enforcement/reality-crime documentary series. Especially in the case of Cops, the move’s a significant one, given that the show was set to launch Season 33 next week on Paramount Network. As for A&E, the four-season original series won’t see airtime again anytime soon. Instead, both programs have been replaced on schedules for the foreseeable future.

Variety first reported the news while noting that Paramount Network appears to have made the decision a week ago with all mentions of the series disappearing from its website. Via Indiewire, ViacomCBS has confirmed that Paramount Network has “no plans” to air Cops anytime soon. Meanwhile, A&E has issued a statement about putting Live PD on hold, at least for the time being:

“Out of respect for the families of George Floyd and others who have lost their lives, in consultation with the departments we follow, and in consideration for the safety of all involved, we have made the decision not to broadcast ‘Live PD’ this weekend.”

There’s no way to tell if viewers will see new Cops episodes on air again, ever, or perhaps it will shift homes again. The long-running series moved from Fox (after a few dozens seasons) to Spike TV (later rebranded as Paramount Network), and it’s entered the cultural conversation on more than one occasion for its sensationalism and at-times controversial portrayal of law enforcement. Earlier this week Paramount Network was one of many channels that participated in Blackout Tuesday by devoting 8:46 of darkened airtime to represent the duration that Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin pushed his knee into George Floyd’s neck during a fatal apprehension.

(Via Variety, IndieWire & CNBC)

Toronto FC captain and longtime USMNT skipper Michael Bradley lambasted Donald Trump’s lack of leadership on a media conference call Thursday. As protests persist across the nation following the killing of George Floyd, Trump has repeatedly tweeted attacks on those taking to the streats, even sharing a letter which labeled peaceful protesters as “terrorists” and posing for a photo outside a D.C. church after law enforcement dispersed protesters with tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber bullets.

When asked about Trump’s response to everything going on in the country right now, Bradley didn’t mince words.

“We have a president who is completely empty. There isn’t a moral bone in his body,” Bradley said, according to the Canadian Press. “There’s no leadership. There’s no leadership from the president, there’s no leadership from the Republican senators who have sat back and been totally complicit in everything he’s done for the last three and a half years.”

“Nothing but the truth here,” tweeted Jozy Altidore, Bradley’s club and national teammate.

Bradley went on to encourage Americans to turn their words into action by voting in November.

“I just hope that people are able to go to the polls in November and think about more than just what is good for them, more than what is good for their own status, their own business, their own tax return,” the veteran midfielder said. “I hope that people can go to the polls and understand that in so many ways, the future of our country and the future of our democracy is at stake.

“We need as many people as possible to understand that at a real level, to think about what four more years with Trump as president, what that would mean, how terrible that would be for so many people.”

Bradley, who made his debut for the USMNT in 2006 and served as its longtime captain, is the latest athlete to speak up regarding the current situation in the United States. Many NBA and WNBA players including Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon, Jewell Lloyd and Breanna Stewart have attended protests or rallies in the past week. Four-time WNBA champion Maya Moore has spoken out as well. Bradley’s U.S. teammate, Weston McKennie, who plays for FC Schalke in the German Bundesliga, wore a white armband with Floyd’s name during a game this past weekend, while U.S. goalkeeper Zack Steffen and defender DeAndre Yedlin have also commented on social media about the Black Lives Matter movement and racial injustice in the U.S.

Individuals have taken to the streets in recent days in protest of the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old man in Minneapolis who was killed by a police officer. Floyd’s death was the latest in a disturbing trend of violence by law enforcement officials toward Black individuals, and as a result, Americans have marched nationwide in the name of racial equality and fixing the systematic injustices that exist in this country.

Beyond marching, individuals have put money toward a myriad of charities designed to fight these issues, whether they be local bail funds or organizations that put time and effort into striving for a better tomorrow. Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand have decided to put a major financial commitment toward this as well, as longtime manager Estee Portnoy released a statement indicating that $100 million will be allocated over the next decade to “organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education.”

“Through our Jordan Wings Program, we have been focused on providing access to education, mentorship and opportunity for Black youth facing the obstacles of systemic racism,” Jordan Brand president Craig Williams said in a statement of his own. “But we know we can do more. In addition to the investment from NIKE Inc., we are announcing a joint commitment from Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand to donate $100 million over the next 10 years. We must join forces with the community, government and civic leaders to create a lasting impact together. There is still more work for us to do to drive real impact for the Black Community. We embrace the responsibility.”

It has not been announced which charities will be on the receiving end of these donations. Jordan spoke out about Floyd’s death earlier this week, releasing a statement via that Charlotte Hornets in which he said, “Our unified voice needs to put pressure on our leaders to change our laws, or else we need to use our vote to create systemic change. Every one of us needs to be part of the solution, and we must work together to ensure justice for all.”