Victoria HarbourCats head coach Todd Haney says you can feel the tension in the air. It hangs thick.
鈥淏asically, everyone is on edge,鈥� he said, about today鈥檚 U.S. presidential election.
The HarbourCats bench boss spends the West Coast League baseball off-season in his hometown of Waco, where he coaches collegiately in Texas.
He is among a number of Americans who play on or coach Island teams. No matter their sport, all their attention today is on the game of politics. And it ain鈥檛 beanball, as they say.
鈥淭he election has been the biggest conversation on a daily basis,鈥� said Haney, of the lead-up.
鈥淓veryone is waiting to get it done and move on,鈥� said the former infielder, who played five seasons in the MLB with the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets.
Most of the HarbourCats players that Haney coaches each summer are Americans from top NCAA Div. 1 conferences such as the Pac-12.
Forward Chase McInnis of the Victoria Grizzlies, meanwhile, is from Massachusetts and one of two Americans on the Grizzlies along with Nicholas O鈥橦anisain of Troy, Michigan. The sophomore McInnis, committed to NCAA Div. 1 Northeastern, indicated how contentious this year鈥檚 U.S. election has been.
鈥淚 will be following it [today] but I鈥檓 not really that much into politics, because it usually starts arguments,鈥� said McInnis, on how touchy a topic it has become. 鈥淢aybe I will be more into it once I start making money,鈥� added McInnis, whose dad Marty McInnis, was a 12-season NHL player and represented the U.S. in the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics.
Scott Kellum, point-guard for the University of Victoria Vikes basketball team, is from Issaquah, Washington, and received his ballot in the mail from his mom and mailed it back to be processed and counted last month during early voting.
As an indication of how polarizing this election has been, neither Haney, McInnis nor Kellum indicated who they prefer or voted for or will vote for between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The states of Washington and Massachusetts are deep blue while formerly deep red Texas has been talked about as a potential longshot flip today to blue. While Waco is one of the most conservative cities in Texas, Haney also has strong connections to Austin, one of the most liberal, from when he played for the University of Texas Longhorns.
鈥淚 stay out of politics,鈥� said Haney, flatly, when asked which party he will be pulling the lever for today.
It鈥檚 the process that matters, noted Kellum.
鈥淭he most important thing is to vote,鈥� said the former sa国际传媒 West rookie of the year, now in his fifth season of eligibility with the UVic Vikes.
鈥淭he biggest issue in the U.S. right now is having your voice heard. A lot of American athletes are emphasizing that.鈥�
Especially in Kellum鈥檚 sport, where National Basketball Association players have been highly vocal about getting out the vote.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 been the big message among the NBA players and it鈥檚 one I agree with,鈥� said Kellum.
The biggest election issue has been the pandemic. That鈥檚 a commonality, however, among athletes and coaches around the world regardless of nationality. No athlete or coach has been unaffected. Kellum鈥檚 2020-21 sa国际传媒 West hoops season for UVic has been cancelled. Haney and the HarbourCats had their 2020 WCL season cancelled. With the sa国际传媒-U.S. border closed, it was quite a process for McInnis to travel to Victoria, then quarantine for two weeks, in order to play in the extended BCHL preseason with the start of the regular season delayed to Dec. 1.
鈥淲e just want to move forward and get through this pandemic, and hope things are more normal for ball by the spring,鈥� said Haney.
