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NFL picked sides in the culture war, now it has to live with the consequences

NFL picked sides in the culture war, now it has to live with the consequences

In the NFL, some protests are more equal than others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obYxqlaCIX0

Over time, I’ve lost interest in professional sports for many of the same reasons I’ve lost interested in the professional music, film, and other entertainment industries.

They have become thoroughly politicized by the left as part of the culture war. So for me, the lastest public fight over NFL players protesting on the sidelines is just the latest straw, and in many ways, the last straw.

This is not an issue of freedom of speech. These are private industries which, like other private industries, regulate the speech that is permitted to take place on the job. That regulation takes place both officially through guidelines for employment conduct, and unofficially, as expressing a particular political opinion can result in social media and internal attacks leading to job loss. Just ask Brendan Eich and James Damore.

I can’t tell you how many times readers and potential/actual authors have told me they fear loss of job and career damage if they express non-liberal opinions at work or in a way that people at work could find out. There is a reign of terror ongoing in this country, but it’s not from the government, it’s from social-media-empowered leftists who seek to impose the most intrusive political litmus tests in every aspect of our lives.

The most revealing aspect of the culture war is not that the professional entertainment industries are uniformly and aggressively liberal, but that they have pushed politics into every aspect of our lives. You will be made to care in the classroom and now, on the sports field.

The result, for me, is a withdrawal from much of professional culture.

My last refuge was the NFL. Now that is gone.

The NFL is as political an organization as there is, now. It picked sides in the culture war, and the side it picked is decidedly left. The NFL refused to allow the Dallas Cowboys to display a decal honoring the Dallas police killed by a Black Lives Matter supporter, yet it is completely supporting the “right” of players to kneel on the sideline while the National Anthem is played, as both a sign of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and an anti-Trump protest.

The right to protest is selectively applied by the NFL. Some protests are more equal in the NFL than other protests:

https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/911953859613995009

Numerous teams have backed up the NFL position, including the New England Patriots. The statements issued talk about defending the players’ right to express their views. But would the NFL support the rights of all players to express all views on the field during a game? I think not.

Nor would the media permit all forms of expression. Tim Tebow was viciously attacked and mocked by the professional media when he took a knee for prayer, yet NFL players are lionized in that same media for taking a knee while the National Anthem is played.

We have the image of NFL players taking a knee during the American National Anthem in London. That should be a Dixie Chicks moment for the NFL. Whether it will be remains to be seen.

The NFL and its teams have a “right” as private organizations, to pick sides. And it’s my right and everyone’s right to protest those protests, and to turn off the TV and not to attend games.

This is the consummation of the culture war, the takeover of professional sports by leftist activists. I’d rather see the NFL go down than be a part of and enable it.

I expressed my views on Twitter today in my first “thread” on a subject.

https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/911949527812362242

[Featured Image: YouTube Video, Ravens and Jaguars kneel for U.S. National Anthem in London]

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Comments

Here’s one more example. The NFL has a rule that all players must be in identical uniforms. (It is not enforced as demonstrated by the variety of cages and eye shades on helmets.) The NFL used this rule to threaten fines against players who wanted to wear shoes to support first responders on a 9-11 anniversary.

    Likewise when they allowed “pig socks,” all the while refusing police decals on helmets.

      rabidfox in reply to Hank. | September 24, 2017 at 9:23 pm

      The NFL has decided that their leftist slant is more important than their customers. Not really a viable business model and I’m looking forward to former pro athletes learning to say “Do you want fries with that?”

        guyjones in reply to rabidfox. | September 25, 2017 at 8:16 am

        ESPN/Disney are going down the same untenable path.

        I’ve long written on this site, that, if ESPN’s ceaseless Leftist sermonizing could be justified as a sound business posture that ultimately served the interests of Disney’s shareholders, it could at least be rationalized, from a shareholder perspective. But, it’s obvious that ESPN’s descent into Leftist propaganda isn’t in the shareholders’ interest, inasmuch as it is serving to drive away customers in droves.

        The NFL is a private organization and has every right, as Professor Jacobson notes, to take a radical Leftist political stance in the Culture Wars. But, accordingly, its customers have every right (and, I would submit, the obligation) to reject and to criticize that stance, and, further, to abstain from using the NFL’s services and products, e.g., attending games, watching games, buying NFL-branded merchandise, etc.

“I can’t tell you how many times readers and potential/actual authors have told me that fear [of] loss of job and career damage if they express non-liberal opinions at work or in a way that people at work could find out. There is a reign of terror ongoing in this country, but it’s not from the government, it’s from social-media-empowered leftists who seek to impose the most intrusive political litmus tests in every aspect of our lives.”

Well, no. It IS from “the government” AND from the social media.

When were you called a “son of a bitch” by a sitting POTUS?

    MarkSmith in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    Aw, poor baby, Mr. President used a dirty word. Selective history to make a point, eh.

    “I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”

    ― Harry Truman

    President Harry S. Truman was quoted as calling General MacArthur a “dumb son of a bitch.” John F. Kennedy used the same term to refer to Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

    Screw the NFL and their sponsors. They are on the wrong side here. In the last 17 years I have exclusively had Nationwide spending more than 50 K with them in that time period. I am switching companies at my Oct. renewal.

      Ragspierre in reply to MarkSmith. | September 24, 2017 at 12:55 pm

      As usual, you’re just a lying sack of shit.

      When did Truman or any POTUS call anyone a “son of a bitch” in a major speech or appearance?

      You’re too corrupt to mess with.

        Juba Doobai! in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 1:07 pm

        Be careful about calling someone a liar when you yourself are lying. Here is the text of Trump’s statement. Parse it and determine yourself who said what.

        Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!”

          The Friendly Grizzly in reply to Juba Doobai!. | September 24, 2017 at 1:11 pm

          How to tell you won an argument or made your point with a liberal: he screams racist.

          How to tell you won an argument or made your point with Ragpierre: he calls you a liar in a manner that is high-school at best, and gutter language at worst.

          Ragspierre in reply to Juba Doobai!. | September 24, 2017 at 1:16 pm

          Did Truman say what is alleged in a very public speech?

          So, is the comparison a truthful one, or a lie?

          Your turn.

          Rags – you keep trying to change the rules and hope we don’t see …

          Rags: “When were you called a “son of a bitch” by a sitting POTUS?”

          Mark: “President Harry S. Truman was quoted as calling General MacArthur a “dumb son of a bitch.” John F. Kennedy used the same term to refer to Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. ”

          Mark should have replied that he was never called a SOB by a sitting POTUS, which I think is true, right Mark? But, he did provide two examples.

          And then Rags changes the rules by limiting the requirement that the words had to be in a major speech.

          Rags: ” As usual, you’re just a lying sack of shit. When did Truman or any POTUS call anyone a “son of a bitch” in a major speech or appearance?”

          Hmm, complains about the use of SOB while calling someone a “sack of shit.”

          Rags – you are funny today.

          Rags is a bit blinded by his distaste for Trump, I think, so he’s coming off as confused, imprecise and unclear, belligerent, and not a little desperate. His ability to stand back and see the bigger picture is tainted so heavily by his knee-jerk anti-Trump fervor that he’s not making much sense on this issue, but he’s really not a hot mess usually, so I appreciate your “today” qualifier.

        Two things: he was stumping for some random RINO in Alabama, hardly giving a “major speech” or making a “major appearance.” And Obama called us “tea baggers.” Personally, I’d rather be called a son of a bitch than that.

          Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 1:14 pm

          You ought to be ashamed, Fuzzy. I am for you.

          The POTUS gave an over-hour-long-speech in a very public forum.

          You’re being pitiful, and disgusting.

          Do you approve of T-rump’s language and his roiling for his own gain?

          Heh. I have zero problem with what Trump said. Zero. Problem. As usual, he managed to capture exactly what Americans think. These players are turning their sport into a political battleground, so it’s not at all surprising that they are being met on that same field of play.

          As to his roiling for his own gain, that’s one of my favorite things about Trump (I did a post about this some time ago). His trolling of the media and control of the news cycle is really quite impressive. Who’s talking about DACA now? Or TrumpCare? Or NoKo? Do I “approve” of it . . . I’m not sure I’d go that far, but I appreciate it for what it is.

          Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 1:31 pm

          Two things: he was stumping for some random RINO in Alabama, hardly giving a “major speech” or making a “major appearance.” ”

          That is simply a lie. And you know it.

          If you think roiling the divisions in the U.S. is cool, you’re gone.

          You are disgusting.

          It’s not a lie. He was on the campaign trail for Strange. This was not a SOTU or speech at the UN or from the Oval (major speeches all). It wasn’t a “foreign policy” speech or a “health care” or “jobs” speech (major speeches all). It was a clearly-unscripted, off-the-cuff ramble-athon for an Alabama senator few have heard of and fewer still care about.

          We know when he’s giving a major speech during a major appearance because he adopts his hushed, slow, emphatic “serious voice.”

          I’m really sorry that you find me disgusting, though. 🙁

          Oh, and quickly, roiling “divisions” is a ridiculous claim. Trump was very very clearly talking about the lack of respect for the flag and the national anthem; he was not talking about race. That is, however, exactly what progressives on the left and the right heard.

          Do you ever reflect on your hypersensitivity to dog whistles and division? Since when is calling out people for disrespecting the flag and anthem divisive? Were we roiling divisiveness when we were horrified by and wrote reams about Obama’s crotch salute to the American flag? Or did you condemn our outrage as racist and divisive because Obama is black? Were we divisive when the Dixie Chicks, also on foreign soil, said they were ashamed the president came from Texas? Or are we only divisive now because these players are black? Or is Trump such an issue for you that you can no longer see the forest for the great big orange tree?

          “Tea bagger?” How about “bitter clingers,” or “cop acted stupidly;” or those who disagree with him being “unpatriotic.” Or telling people to “get in their face” or “punish” their (political) “enemies.”

          Biden called Tea Party Republicans “Terrorists.”

          Or that a-hole clinton’s “deplorables” comment.

          The stink of the obama legacy is still fouling the air.

          Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 2:03 pm

          I can’t think of a time when you’ve been more defensive and more disingenuous.

          “Divisions” are not code-words for “race”. You know this, but you’re the one who injects this bullshit into the converation.

          Oh, well. I once had some respect for you. Maybe one day it will be rebuilt. Today, you tore it all down.

          What divisions were you referring to then? The pro-American vs. the anti-American? The pro-political protest as a feature of sports vs. the anti-? The . . . I’m at a loss. Seriously, to what divisiveness in Trump’s comment are you referring? The president vs. the NFL?, she asks grasping at straws.

          Bummer about that loss of respect thing, but I can’t see that I’m being any more defensive than usual. 😛

          Many thumbs up for Fuzzy Slippers, since we can’t vote when discussions get too deep.

          Rags – I think it is quite silly for you to make this comment to Fuzzy – “Do you approve of T-rump’s language..” when you consistently use a wide variety of impolite, descriptive words.

          Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 2:37 pm

          Name the last time…with a link…I’ve ever call anyone a “son of a bitch”, Liz.

          You’re just another of the pitiful liars here via your insinuation.

          You might also note that I am not the POTUS, speaking before an enthralled crowd of syncopates, making cheap hey out of flaking a divisive idiot who nobody really cares much about.

          Now, of course, he’s going to be MUCH grander than ever he should have been.

          Way to go, Der Donald. Nice, bright squirrel you ran out there…

          Rags, what is wrong with you? Seriously, you are way out of line. Liz clearly stated (and we can review it because it’s in writing) that you called someone a “sack of shit.” Which you did. Here.

          Liz is not lying, you are. And when you aren’t lying, you are shifting goals like an Orwellian pro. Get it together, Rags. This unhinged you is unappealing.

          Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 2:59 pm

          There are terms I DON’T use, Fuzzy, and you know that, good and well.

          I’m ALSO not the POTUS making a speech before a bunch of syncopants and TELEVISED to the world. Terms used solely for their rabble-rousing impact.

          You’re becoming MORE disgusting and disingenuous by the post.

          Rags, how were we (or Trump) to know that “son of a bitch” is one of your buttons? I am all-but-positive that Trump didn’t use this exact term with the intention of insulting you personally.

          When I was many many moons younger, I dated a guy who took such offense at my calling him “spastic” that he left the country. Well, okay, that was my hyperbolic interpretation since he actually left for a job, but he was so insulted by that word, a common descriptive at the time (everyone was “spastic” or “retarded” when they were over-excited or whatever), that we were done. He heard it on a very personal level, when I meant it on a rhetorical, socio-cultural level.

          What I learned from that is that we can’t be responsible for what people hear or what it means to them. If “son of a bitch” has a personal meaning or evokes some trauma for you, that doesn’t mean everyone else hears it that way.

          Rags, you’ve yet to tell me what was “divisive” about what Trump said or explained how I’m “disingenuous.” I’m saying what I think; that’s authentic. If you don’t like what you hear, I’m still being authentic, you, however, are simply triggered and don’t like what I’m saying. That’s okay by me. But it doesn’t make me disingenuous; it makes you hypersensitive and difficult.

          Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 3:37 pm

          “As to his roiling for his own gain, that’s one of my favorite things about Trump (I did a post about this some time ago). His trolling of the media and control of the news cycle is really quite impressive. Who’s talking about DACA now? Or TrumpCare? Or NoKo? Do I “approve” of it . . . I’m not sure I’d go that far, but I appreciate it for what it is.”

          I don’t.

          “How is it divisive?”

          Read the thread.

          “How am I being disingenuous?”

          Read the thread. I can’t help you beyond that.

          Fuzzy: Love your analysis here. President Trump is the first Commander-in-Chief to actually fight the Culture War. The outrage is from opponents not used to such a response. Personally, I am OK that he used a verbal Daisy Cutter!

          That being said, I think it is wise to step-back and note that President Trump often uses a culture-based distraction when he needs to shift media focus. If he had not lobbed this particular verbal grenade, then likely the weekend media would be about Sen. McCain and Obamacare.

          Clearly, everyone is talking about the NFL…and, for the most part, Americans agree the NFL has fumbled this bigly.

          I think this also shows you how bad monopolies are. I wish there was a competing national football league, so Americans could enjoy the sport minus the SJW drama.

          I’d be lying if I said I was boycotting football…I never watch anyway. But I do watch the Super Bowl, which I will forgo this year unless the NFL resolves this issue in favor of traditional American decorum.

          Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 3:53 pm

          So, both you and Fuzzy approve…even admire…the tactics of the “Limbaugh Theorem”.

          Continual campaign rallies, deflection, division, demagoguery and other assorted bullshit.

          You are on record. Swell.

          Rags, everything is public now. Even Trump’s private conversations for years back are sort of public because we just learned that Clapper had them recorded without a warrant.

          In the old days the President was a more distant figure because, well, there was less communication of all sorts. In this case he was talking to Republican voters in Alabama, and we all listened in.

          It doesn’t matter really, some of us will like it and some won’t. Given the boycotting today in reaction to his comments last week, I think his communication was effective.

          CZ75Compact in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 25, 2017 at 1:25 am

          Hillary called me a deplorable.

          I realize I don’t have a long history on this site and that may be coloring my view of the person using the ragspierre username. I can’t recollect posts by that person which weren’t confrontational and often embellished with crudities. Most often I think I’m reading a comment posted by a somewhat erudite, but often profane, High School student. That estimation may be a result of my age as I was in High School when Eisenhower was President.

          DaveGinOly in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 27, 2017 at 2:05 am

          I’m replying here because I can’t reply further down the thread.

          It’s time for Rags to go. He’s consistently uncivil, regularly (and boringly predictably) launches ad hominem attacks, uses uncouth language in a totally pejorative way (no attempt at its use for humor or other editorial effect – it’s just meant to be insulting and derisive), und so weiter.

          There was a time (now long ago) when I came to LI looking forward to reading Rags’ comments on this article or that. Now I cringe when I see Rags has posted yet another foul-mouthed, personal attack on someone who had the temerity to disagree with him. It is much worse than not contributing to the conversation, he is now actually detracting from them. Time to show him the door (if this place has one).

        Ragspierre in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 1:09 pm

        Seriously…???

        You are MOST pathetic. Is there ANY doubt about who Der Donald meant?

        Read, you stupid apologist.

        4th armored div in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 1:38 pm

        –> Truman:

        I fired him because he wouldn’t respect the authority of the President. That’s the answer to that. I didn’t fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, <—
        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-colbert/harry-truman-talks-about_b_621832.html

          He didn’t say that before a crowd of people and national news coverage. Did he, you lying SOS?

          BTW, was Truman right about MacArthur? Or was he wrong?

          Why do you even try…???

          4th armored div (quoting): I fired him because he wouldn’t respect the authority of the President. That’s the answer to that. I didn’t fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that’s not against the laws for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail.

          That quote is from Plain speaking: an oral biography of Harry S. Truman, which was not published until after Truman’s death, long after he held the bully pulpit of the presidency.

        If anyone would know about being a POS ….

        Moodswing916 in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 5:06 pm

        I’m not going to pretend to know what Truman called anyone, I’ll just with the precedent of Obama twice calling Kanye West a jackass. Once off the record in 2009 to MSNBC and then on the record in 2012 to Atlantic Monthly.

        theduchessofkitty in reply to Ragspierre. | September 25, 2017 at 9:22 am

        “He [a certain Central American dictator] may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch.” – FDR.

    A recent Rasmussen poll showed that 66% of Americans are reluctant to discuss their beliefs, primarily because of political correctness.

      Ragspierre in reply to bw222. | September 24, 2017 at 1:04 pm

      So, cowardice is trending…???

      THAT need to change. Why don’t you start here…???

        4th armored div in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 1:41 pm

        since you are SO BRAVE, why don’t you let us know your actual name instead of shithead ?????

          Whoo…..loving this smackdown! More popcorn, please.

          Ouch, that one must have hurt.

          A little data analytic on word pattern/phrases mixed with a Texas Lawyer and you might discover that a 50 year old still living in mothers basement seems to emerge. Don’t waste your time doing a Susan Rice (the Jacobin’s hero) unmasking. Even if you knew his name it would be meaningless.

          Your on point about “brave”.

          Key phase “Liar” seems to emerge when he can’t handle the discussion.

          As for Obama’s Teabaggers comment, that is a lot more pejorative then Trumps SOB statement. I didn’t have a problem with Obama saying that either.

          Like Mel Brookes said:

          “We have become stupidly politically correct, which is the death of comedy,” BBC Radio

          I would say the same about NFL. Stupid liberal farts are killing any fun we can have. They really want us to be miserable because they are. Sorry not going to let them do that.

      gospace in reply to bw222. | September 24, 2017 at 4:09 pm

      Facebook allows you to put down where you work and what you do so people can find you- if you want to be found. I left my profession up, but deleted where I work. Because most of the memes I post are not PC in the least, and offend special snowflakes.

      I’ve undergone 4 investigations for sexual harassment and one for racism- and beat back all of them. I have no desire to go through any more. I did it by following the advice in SJWs Always Lie, but well before the book was published. I’ve never apologized because some stupid idiot was offended by the truth I spoke.

      The only time I actually has something happen to me was long before the current sexism/racism mania. A civilian instructor got upset because I called him a sandcrab after he referred to me as a bubblehead. When I was called in and told to apologize to him, I refused, saying “If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out.” Insulting others is not and shouldn’t be allowed to be a one way street. Another job was found for me away from the civilian instructors. One of the reasons to like Trump- he dishes it right back at them. If either Bush had only done the same…

        tom swift in reply to gospace. | September 24, 2017 at 4:45 pm

        One of the reasons to like Trump- he dishes it right back at them.

        It’s been one of his most indispensable features all along.

        It’s amazing how many bubbleheads still can’t figure that out.

          gospace in reply to tom swift. | September 24, 2017 at 5:31 pm

          In this case, I think you meant to write bobbleheads.

          LibraryGryffon in reply to tom swift. | September 25, 2017 at 10:20 pm

          My bubblehead (ret.) husband agrees with with gospace’s resonse. 🙂

          Because we’re both pretty sure that most of the bubbleheads out there are far, far happier with the current POTUS than if we’d had to deal with Clinton 2.0. I just now asked him what he thought military retention would be like if HRC had won, and received a loud dismissive snort in answer.

    Pelosi Schmelosi in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    Need a tissue?
    Waaaaambulance?

    CarsInDepth.com in reply to Ragspierre. | September 25, 2017 at 10:39 am

    These are professional football players, guys who literally push people around for a living, and you think that calling them sons of bitches is going to hurt their wittle feewings? Geez, my mother has called me a son of a bitch.

    maxmillion in reply to Ragspierre. | September 25, 2017 at 11:03 am

    I do not believe that anybody of substance would care a whit about your opinion, moby troll that you are.

Wow, this is going to be really different. I grew up just 19 miles north or Pittsburgh and have been a fan of the Steelers ever since which isn’t all that easy because back in the 50s and 60s they were really bad, usually a good defense and lousy offense. Anyhow, even though living in different states most of the time since the I always stayed a fan, obviously it became easier once they started winning. I’ll remain a fan but at least for today I won’t watch the game. Not sure it will matter to anyone but me and that’s ok, I’m actually looking forward to my “kneeling”. They have a right as do I.

As an aside, that Michael Bennett?’s claim about the police sure went quiet. My guess is he’s been found out otherwise the news would be still banging on us.

    Being a Lions fan, I haven’t enjoyed my team’s success as you have. I went from watching 3-4 NFL games on Sunday and Monday Night Football two years ago to watching just the Lions last year. Today I am taking a knee on the Lions.

      I limit Lions-watching to Thanksgiving Day. Many good memories of going downtown for the Hudson’s Parade, then turkey dinner and then the game with seconds during half-time.

        bw222 in reply to Liz. | September 24, 2017 at 3:04 pm

        Detroit has really changed. I went to DeLaSalle, when it was across the street from City Airport and in a safe neighborhood.

      MarkSmith in reply to bw222. | September 24, 2017 at 7:18 pm

      I love that line “Americans take a knee on the NFL for disrespecting the United States!”

    I’m feeling your pain. Like losing a long-time friend in some ways.

    msmith44a in reply to alb2ral. | September 24, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    I recall that last season Mr Bennett described a player on another team as the best white running back in the NFL. The media/player reaction? Crickets…

    What do you think the reaction would be if J.J. Watt described Mr. Bennett as the best black linebacker in the NFL?

    TeacherinTejas in reply to alb2ral. | September 24, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    Moved to Houston, 19 years ago, like both teams. Am really, really angry at Steelers, except Villaneuva. They tried to split the baby and it looks just as bad. Not following them much from here on out, and on Christmas Day, Go Texans and JJ Watt, who stood as one today!

These idiots ARE living the American dream AND get paid very well in the process!

F88k them. If they want to be whiney little bitches then so be it BUT they can suffer the consequences for it!

The National anthem disrespect has nothing to do with any real condition in the US. It is simply an expansion of the cultural race war which various groups have been stimulating for the last decade.

First of all, virtually all of the NFL players who are participating in this act are black. And, what exactly are they protesting? These are a group of people from a 13% demographic in American society which makes up 68% of the population of the NFL industry. They are members of a wealthy economic group which is limited to approximately 15% of Americans. If they are protesting unfair treatment, they are sadly out of step. In addition to that, they showing disrespect toward the very people who pay their salaries, the fans. Most of their fan base is neither black not rich, being mainly white Americans making less than $100,000 a year. And, these yahoos are actively trying to drive their paying customers away? This is insanity. All kinds of excuses can be made for these idiots. What no one mentions is the effect that the actions of these players, over a non-existent grievance, has on others in the industry. Fans stay home and the concessionaires lose money. People lose their jobs. The same is true for the broadcast industry, if people tune out. And, even some local governments, as well as state governments, lose as declining revenues reduce taxes and make it difficult to cover bond and loan payments.

And, again, why are these people so intent on sticking a thumb in the eyes of their paying customers? It is simply insane. Unless the reason is solely to foment trouble and start, or expand, a race war. If that is the case, these players are moving in the right direction here.

    The Friendly Grizzly in reply to Mac45. | September 24, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    Manyh of these same men are spending the money as fas as they get it. Once they are used up or blow a knee, they will be sleeping in the back seat of some 15 year old car, and asking for spare change. “I used to be a star!”

    InEssence in reply to Mac45. | September 24, 2017 at 4:25 pm

    Yeah, they are ruining their income and future. But them a break; everyone knows that football causes brain damage.

    CZ75Compact in reply to Mac45. | September 25, 2017 at 2:02 am

    A national conversation about Black privilege is long overdue. We also need a national conversation on illegal alien privilege.

The NBA* opens its season next week.

Just wait for all the American Anthem race-based antics we’re gonna see.

*For the non-affirmative-action-minded NBA the percentages of black players > 70%

Do not forget giving a a Superbowl ring (and IIRC a Superbowl MVP trophy to Ray Lewis, a murderer ).
Or OJ Simpson a person who committed an extremely brutal double murder and got away with it because he was an NFL player.

Sports, music, film/tv the arts. These are the 1%. They are also the one percent that do not work as hard as the average person or produce anything near the value they are payed. As opposed to some other 1% who produced a lot.

    JLSpeidel in reply to RodFC. | September 25, 2017 at 11:59 am

    Ray Lewis was on the sideline of the Ravens game in London. He took a knee along with the players. He was there as a broadcaster.

NFL is digging its own grave. Unless they put down the shovel, shut up and play ball, they’re doomed. This is not a hill to die on.

    UJ in reply to UJ. | September 24, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    And sadly, the chances of that happening are the same as zero. Discouraging, because I’ve been a fan since I was a toddler. Shame to see the league and the game going sideways.

      InEssence in reply to UJ. | September 24, 2017 at 4:30 pm

      The league is already making less money than a couple of years ago. Some of the owners can afford it and others can’t. This type of stuff could cut into the owners’ pockets by about $50 million per team per year. Then the owners will demand that the players adjust their salary, and another strike will occur.

        DaveGinOly in reply to InEssence. | September 27, 2017 at 2:25 am

        I was going to wait for whichever came first, Tom Brady’s retirement or a player strike, before I stopped watching the NFL. Last weekend’s events have saved me years of couch-bound inactivity.

        For me, nothing the NFL does in the future can repair the damage its betrayal has done. I don’t look at the loss of football as creating a void in my life, but as an opportunity to do something new and exciting.

buckeyeminuteman | September 24, 2017 at 1:10 pm

It’s true. The American presidency does require a certain amount of decorum displayed by the people who hold the office. When you’re a public figure on national television and are seen as a sports role model around the world, a certain amount of decorum is also required. Whether it’s on the sports field or in the White House, you need to be aware that all eyes are on you. Grow up and give respect where respect is due.

    after the last 8 years, Trump has a pretty high bar to clear before anyone can accuse him of damaging the decorum of his office.

      tom swift in reply to redc1c4. | September 24, 2017 at 2:53 pm

      Billy Jeff was the low point. Personal and professional debasement, corruption, and just plain all-around embarrassment of the highest (lowest?) order.

      Obama was a pillar of rectitude and probity compared to that jerk.

        Given all the spying Obama did on his political opponents, I am not sure Billy Jeff was the low point.

          tom swift in reply to bw222. | September 24, 2017 at 4:50 pm

          Obama’s systematic abuse of office was probably more serious … although Clinton’s pimping of the Lincoln bedroom, selling pardons, and delivering National Monuments to order (in return for suitable recompense) were pretty serious abuses too.

          But I still consider Clinton’s fundamental personal sleaziness to be unmatched.

        CZ75Compact in reply to tom swift. | September 25, 2017 at 2:09 am

        The natural-born British East African bastard wasn’t even legally eligible to hold executive office. That makes him America’s low point, and I’m not sure if we’re pulling out of that hole or sinking deeper, thanks to the Cuckservatives in the GOPe.

    The malignant clowns leading these ignorant athletes around by the nose are counting on ‘decorum’ to jam their leftist poison down our throats.

    Bush/Rove was the epitome of ‘decorum.’ Their decorum gave us eight years of a bastard and son of a bitch – literally, in this case: obama.

    players must otherwise present a professional and appropriate appearance while before the public on game day.

    Page 31 of the 2017 rules… article 9… doesn’t mean anything, apparently.

      DaveGinOly in reply to amwick. | September 27, 2017 at 2:55 am

      That section of the rules deals with physical appearance of the uniform and equipment. It does not apply.

      What does apply is an NFL policy manual that requires teams to be on the sideline for the anthem, and for all personnel to stand and be silent during the anthem. The policy says the league “may” impose penalties for failure to follow the policy (including loss of draft picks, even for a first offense). A league spokesperson has referred to the policy as a “guideline” and not a “regulation,” pointing to the “may punish” language as proof that the standard is not “required.” This is asinine. The word “may” applies to the league’s authority to punish a breach of the policy and not to the policy itself (which is a set of instructions, with no prevaricating language). If the policy were merely a guideline and not a requirement, why does the league have any authority to punish a breach of the “guideline” at all (even if the punishment isn’t mandatory)?

“Ravens and Jaguars kneel for U.S. National Anthem in London.”

It’s the “in London” part that really ticks me off. British sports fans are not going to have a clue why these Americans are disrespecting their own national anthem by refusing to stand (while standing for the Brit’s national anthem).

They probably don’t know why these players are doing this, that it’s related to BLM and Freddie Gray and whatever other grievances have been rolled into the political protest. They see pampered millionaires disrespecting America on foreign soil.

That’s what I see, too. It’s one thing to bash your country while in it, and quite another to do so overseas.

    Agreed. How dare those idiots “represent” my country like that? Shaking my head and a little embarrassed for the U.S.

    They’re no better than that walking scum john mccain, who routinely disrespects our president while mccain is – for some reason – overseas.

    DINORightMarie in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    Sure they do – just read the UK Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4914628/Trump-calls-boycott-NFL-kneeling-protests.html

    An international embarrassment. The NFL, by allowing these protests – even encouraging them, given what Goodell said – has made the USA and American football an international scandal, and a farce.

    And, as for Trump making the statement he made was PREDICTABLE – he is world-famous for “You’re fired!!” from The Apprentice, after all!! And, I believe, he knew that this would be the response, because the left are just that predictable, too.

      DaveGinOly in reply to DINORightMarie. | September 27, 2017 at 3:14 am

      Trump very shrewdly forced the league into a position in which it had to make a stand – for the flag, the anthem, patriotism (which is not the same as “politics”), and its fan base, or for anti-Americanism, progressivism, the leftist worldview, and to avoid the leftist backlash that would have occurred had they done anything else. I believe it is mainly this latter concern that caused them to first ignore the protests (and allow them to fester and spread) and then to come down where they did. For this, the commissioner and many of the owners (including, to my great disgust, Bob Kraft) are cowards. And that’s why I’m not watching the NFL, ever again.

    Let’s give ’em the Dixie Chicks treatment.

    JohnOfEnfield in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    You will be pleased to hear that as soon as the London NFL game started on my sports channel in my Apartment here in the UK tonight I too switched it off. Sport is sport & I love to relax watching certain games. As soon as there is a hint of politics or political correctness I’m gone. Politics is politics, I’ve got my own views & I’m not interested in watching the many professional victims who parade across my TV screen essentially telling me it’s my fault & I should pay to help them overcome their victimhood.

    It’s the “in London” part that really ticks me off. British sports fans are not going to have a clue why these Americans are disrespecting their own national anthem by refusing to stand (while standing for the Brit’s national anthem).

    Like American sports fans do? Seems to me the UK fans have exactly as much clue why this is happening as anyone else, including the sons-of-bitches who are doing it.

    it’s related to BLM and Freddie Gray and whatever other grievances

    In other words, nothing articulable, because to say it out loud is to refute it.

Concerning the high pay of these athletes – there was an article somewhere (ESPN online??) that looked at the gross pay vs an estimated net pay of some players. The tone of the article was basically whining about how “little” these guys got to keep after agent fees, pension, and taxes. The net amount still kept these guys in the 1%.

In comparison, look at how the media treats small business owners who are in the 1%. They fail to mention the years of school, hard work, putting their own money at risk, and frequently not taking much of a salary in those early years. Yet, the media and the left faint at the idea of lower tax rates and the elimination of the death tax for these small business owners.

At this point, what difference does it make?

I enjoy college football much more these days. Not fond of the baggage the NFL brings these days, or its coverage. Virtue signaling, nothing more, and its become very stale.

    Daiwa in reply to Daiwa. | September 24, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    What a joy an edit function would bring:

    “it’s”

      Arminius in reply to Daiwa. | September 24, 2017 at 7:22 pm

      Not to be a spelling or grammar Nazi, but you had it right the first time. “Its,” without the apostrophe, is the possessive form of the pronoun. “It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.”

      Knowing that, if you’re unsure simply try writing out the two words instead of using the contraction “it’s.” Your sentence doesn’t work with “it is.”

      “Not fond of the baggage the NFL brings these days, or IT IS coverage.”

      So you used exactly the right form; the possessive “its.”

      I suppose I am a bit of a spelling/grammar Nazi. I’ve noticed that with the rise of auto-correct even professionally edited and published texts often use the wrong word, but the wrong word correctly spelled. Little things like that catch my attention. I’ll bow out now, unless somebody misuses affect vs. effect.

    bw222 in reply to Daiwa. | September 24, 2017 at 3:10 pm

    Football will become like basketball, where the college game has a much greater following than the pros.

    Oh, the same thing is happening there, too.

And, don’t forget, the NFL enjoys certain monopoly exemptions.

I think Pres. Trump was wrong to say what he did. However I’ve heard the same thing thousands of times at the American Legion Hall.

Trump didn’t divide “us”, he’s simply highlighting that divide just like Pres. Obama did when he said, “the police acted stupidly”, “if I had a son”, “tea-baggers” or when he wrote “typical white person” in describing the Grandmother who raised him. Difference is the national media didn’t call Obama out or question if he was dividing the nation.

Personally I find the protest during the anthem grotesquely disrespectful and to be build on a narrative that’s riddled with lies: Travon Martin was ultimately responsible for his own demise, Michael Brown didn’t have his hands up, Freddie Gray was respond for his death and Alton Sterling was reaching for a gun! Hell, even the DOJ-OCR found nothing to prosecute after months of investigations! Yet. . . . .we keep hearing how all of this MUST be a case of “the man” keeping folks down.

The NFL team owners can allow whatever they like as a “protest” as they’re a private organization. However as the NFL organizing body is a non-profit, I wonder if they’re treading close to a line.

For me, I’m good. I’ll read about the game in the Free Press later and will hope my Lions went 3-0 against the Falcons today. I’ll also refrain from ordering new Lions gear for Christmas as normal and have already sold my Thanksgiving Day tickets. It’s been a good run but I’m tired of being lectured on how I ought to think, feel and vote when all I want is to watch a game. Good news is that I’m nearly 100% positive these type of “protest” won’t filter into the NHL so I’ll get to enjoy games at the new Little Ceasars Arena!

Protest, advocate, demand all you like but understand when you decide to kneel during the National Anthem (or to stay in the locker room like cowards a’la Pittsburgh Steelers; can’t imagine THAT will be viewed well by the Steelers Nation), there will be blow-back from many veterans and proud Americans who understand the goodness of our country.

    Pelosi Schmelosi in reply to WillS68. | September 24, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    I agree with you 100% Will. I wish Trump had stayed away…but someone had to do or say something. That it had to reach the all the way to POTUS desk before someone took a stand says more about the NFL/NBA than it does about Trump.
    Someone needed to do something before it got this far and the owners and players, not to mention their unions refused.
    Everyone is responsible for their actions…they want to do this nonsense, they deserve every bit of ridicule and vitriol they get no matter who it comes from. Don’t blame Trump for echoing others concerns

      I don’t quite understand the criticism of Trump for saying what many Americans (and probably most of his base) were thinking. The presidency isn’t known as the “bully pulpit” for nothing.

    Remember: Bush/Rove stayed away: and gave us eight years of obama/jarrett – and this crap.

    CZ75Compact in reply to WillS68. | September 25, 2017 at 1:59 am

    As the head of state, if the President cannot criticize those who openly disrespect the state, then who can?

“Decorum” ain’t all that. I’d prefer a rude and crude patriot to a charming and smarmy anti-Semitic Marxist any day.

I feel sorry for those young men working hard to join professional football. Their future is being dismantled by the very heros they look up to. Additionally, if these players really care about their fellow brothers and sisters, why don’t they go to disaster areas (Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Chicago, Detroit, etc) and volunteer their time rebuilding the black neighborhoods.

my wife is the big sports fan here: SI subscription, etc… the vidiot used to be on all day Saturday & Sunday during football season.

she dropped her college season tickets when the school got greedy, and last year stopped watching the NFL.

this year she doesn’t turn on the box either day, which is fine by me.

Suck it, pro sports. we don’t need you, but you damn sure need us.

4th armored div | September 24, 2017 at 2:02 pm

i have only read the first 10 reply’s
————————–
the only way to hurt these deadenders is in the purse.
let the sponsors know that they will no longer purchase their products — there is more than 1 way to take a ‘knee’

we can also start a national rugby sports league —
The key difference between a field goal in the two sports is that an American football field goal attempt is normally kicked with a teammate holding the ball, whereas in rugby league the field goal is attempted using a drop-kick.

as far as fear of speaking out.
i am disabled and partially blind, i live in a large ‘home’ where many/most residents/inmates are LibRule,
i am quite outspoken and when i stumble on another conservative, i am quite pleasantly surprised.

being dependent on the kindness of others
/Blanche smilingly acquiesces as she loses all contact with reality, addressing the doctor with the most famous line in the play: “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”/

i sh ould be more circumspect, but that leads to totally giving in to the adversary.

in any case the only way, we as consumers of entertainment, have only one real way to effect their behavior – which is the man-purse.

Raggs;

Pres. Truman did call Gen Mac Arthur a dumb son of a bitch. True, he didn’t do it during a speech but he is quoted as saying so to his biographer.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/621832

Regarding Pres. Kennedy, he also referred to the Canadian PM as a “dumb son of a bitch”.

http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1995258,00.html

    Btw, anyone who calls obama a ‘bastard,’ is technically correct.

    The bastard.

    Ragspierre in reply to WillS68. | September 24, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    So, you’re holding up Truman and Kennedy…talking about a major military/political figure in a biography and another head of state (from an unsouced and unsupported “TIME” piece)…as equal to punching down to a washed-up quarterback who has every right to say bad things (even if he’s totally wrong)…???

    I wonder about people here.

I, for one, have not watched two seconds of NFL football or the accompanying commercials since the day that has-been Kaepernick took his first knee. My life is so much better what with all the free time I now have. I’m loving it! Thank You Mr. President for saying what many, many Americans are thinking. Come to think of it, that’s how DJT became President in the first place!

Hey, history lovers, Trump did not start this BS, black NFL payers did. This started before the 2016 Presidential elections when Obama was still in office and it looked, according to the MSM, that HRC would be our next president. All that Trump did was to articulate the opinion of his base. And, judging by the reaction to his statement, he was right on and most people, including the ownership of the NFL knows it. Players, including black players, are fighting the system which allowed them to become rich for no gosh darn reason. So, score another one for the Trumpster in the war against falsehood.

    Thank you for this! I’m so sick of the prevailing notion that Trump has started some divisive blah blah blah. When Kaepernick started this trend (i.e. still had a job in the NFL), he very clearly, very pointedly stated that “this is bigger than football.”

    His political statement invited political rebuttal. Funny how that works. Make a political statement, and get political backlash. Whodathunkit?

    Your point about these BLM “America sucks” protests being a part of a larger picture that was thwarted by Trump’s win is, I think, accurate.

This makes the Black Power salutes during the Mexico Olympics blanch in comparison.

The NFL has chosen to go political. They also want to expand to London. Maybe they can resettle present teams in appropriately socialist countries such as Venezuela and reap the benefits of their position.

They are killing the golden goose on the alter of progressivism.

Pelosi Schmelosi | September 24, 2017 at 3:02 pm

If you have Old Glory, fly her.
If you have a Flag pin, wear it.
And if you’re still attending an NFL game, bring Old Glory along proudly.
They wanna let their “freak flags” fly, then ram it right back down their throats.
Show these turdbuckets what you think of their disrespect.
God Bless America…God Bless her for free speech and the Patriots that defend it…and God Bless her for allowing me to disagree…

“So, you’re holding up Truman and Kennedy…talking about a major military/political figure in a biography and another head of state (from an unsouced and unsupported “TIME” piece)”.

Nope, never said I was “holding-up” anything. I was simply sharing that both men had used the term. Regarding the Time article being unsourced, okay. I’m not an editor and didn’t stay at LaQuinta Inn last night so I’ve no defense for Time. I will say that the animosity between JFK and Diefenbaker is pretty well know and there is tape of JFK calling him a “boring son of a bitch” (at least he wasn’t dumb in that case).

https://globalnews.ca/news/154789/canadian-pm-diefenbaker-bored-jackie-kennedy-tapes-reveal/

“. . .as equal to punching down to a washed-up quarterback who has every right to say bad things (even if he’s totally wrong)…???”

We can see this differently but I didn’t take Pres. Trump as slamming Colin Kaepernick but as slamming all players that have or will engage in these protest. While I’ve said I wish the POTUS hadn’t made the comment, I don’t think his comment was anymore out of line or divisive than many things we’ve been subjected to of late and I actually find it less offensive – course, I’m a Veteran and I believe in respect for our flag and national anthem. I’m not offering a justification of Trump’s remark but an examination on the faux outrage / hypocrisy of folks criticizing Trump for his words when Pres. Obama was given a pass for his “typical white person” observation (among others) in his biography. Heck, at least Trump targeted a specific group (those kneeling during the anthem) unlike Obama who painted with a huge brush!

“I wonder about people here.”

I’m sure they appreciate your concern but I wouldn’t stress because as you remakes about Mr. Kaepernick, they have that right.

    Ragspierre in reply to WillS68. | September 24, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    The hypocrisy of people who criticized Barracula, but support T-rump is the point.

    Note the above. I criticize both. Because both are wrong, divisive, and self-serving demagogues.

    Instead of suppressing the Kaepernick BS, T-rump has exploded it and cemented it.

    WWALD (what would a leader do)? Not this.

      Rags, you do know, I hope, that Trump didn’t mention Kaepernick at all? Why do you keep insisting that he’s responding to this one has-been when he was very very clearly referring to disrespect for our nation’s flag and anthem.

      Here’s the line that has you tilting at windmills: ““Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b***h off the field right now – he’s fired’?”.

      This is pure genius! Everyone who is not an SJW lunatic wants these political protests out of professional sports. Where do you get the idea that he was “suppressing Kaepernick”? You do know that Kaepernick is unemployed and has been for a while, unable to find a team willing to hire him?

      Look, I get that you dislike Trump. I do. I share many of your reservations, and many in Trump’s base are starting to question both his ability to get things done and his commitment to his campaign promises.

      What I do not get is your knee-jerk rejection of and condemnation of every single move he makes. You take this to such extremes that you apparently believe that Trump “called out” Kaepernick, that in doing whatever you imagine he did, he stoked division (of some kind, you’ve yet to say what kind) in this country.

      What the hell are you talking about? Seriously. Spell it out for we deplorables. What did Trump say that is divisive and in what way is it divisive? Try to reach really really far: beyond that fact that it was Trump speaking.

      Until you can respond with a cogent argument, you come across as a supercilious, condescending leftie who has no idea–no idea at all–why he’s taken the position he has. If you can’t explain why and how Trump’s comments were divisive, you lose. “I hate Trump” has turned into I hate everyone who supports him on any issue. That’s just sad.

      Tell my why and how what Trump said is onerous, divisive, and worthy of alienating one’s few allies. Explain to me, in explicit detail with links (as you so often demand), how Trump’s comments were divisive or out of line. Do keep in mind that the sports’ players “protest” is inherently political. They brought politics to sports.

        Pelosi Schmelosi in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 4:27 pm

        “Where do you get the idea that he was “suppressing Kaepernick”?”
        ————————————-

        He doesn’t care…Left-Tards like ProgTardPierre don’t care about facts

        “What I do not get is your knee-jerk rejection of and condemnation of every single move he makes.”
        ————————————————-
        Funny how ProgTard Pierre acts like every looney Leftist in this Country

        ProgTardPierre likes to claim he’s a holier-than-thou “conservative”, yet every one of his posts show him to be a retard Leftist

        Ragspierre in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | September 24, 2017 at 4:31 pm

        No. I’ve watched you play your “parsing” game too often to fall for it.

        My posts, your posts, the posts of others attacking me, with the T-rumpian demagoguery (of which you approve), all speak for themselves.

        Screw your name-calling and “everything T-rump does” bullshit.

        I’ve acknowledged good things T-rump does, and you damn well know it.

      DaveGinOly in reply to Ragspierre. | September 27, 2017 at 3:44 am

      IF Trump was suppressing the NFL players’ protests (and I don’t believe he was, he has neither the authority nor the power to do so), then he was only doing what the commissioner should have done when the first knee was taken. There’s NFL policy stating that teams should be on the sidelines, standing and silent, during the playing of the national anthem. The policy gives the league the authority to punish players and teams for failing to abide by the policy. Why wasn’t that policy enforced? One word: cowardice. The commissioner failed in his duty to the integrity of the league (because the league has prevented other types of demonstrations of arguably “political speech”) and failed in his duty to maintain the image of the league (as patriotic, and “pro-American”, without defining for the fans exactly that that may mean). So that means nobody should say anything or call out the league for its hypocrisy and cowardice? The presidency is not called the “bully pulpit” for nothing.

PBR (Professional Bull Riding) is making it their mission to celebrate America and the National Anthem; even the riders from Brazil, Canada, Australia like to stand!

If you have not yet watch this sport, give it a try, it is fantastically awesome! Today they are in Uniondale, Long Island, airing CBS Sports Network 6pm est.

Plus PBR.com has free livestream of entire event on Saturday nights.

Check out PBR Anthem tribute (they air Saturday night events)

https://www.facebook.com/pbr/videos/10154836239580832/

4th armored div | September 24, 2017 at 3:59 pm

Rags – why don’t you find someplace where you are appreciated –
clearly it is not here, where we, the deplorables, do not measure up to your high expectations ?

clearly wed are not worth your immense genius to reply to.
i will understand if you do not reply to the ones who verbally and mentally abuse your high level of deep thought –
as a matter of fact, why don’t you start your own website and let the whole inter world be able to appreciate your greatness of thoughts and insights (and don’t let the door hit you on the way out).

let’s see how many up and down thumbs this comment receives.

    I don’t come here for your “approval”.

    If I wanted to, I could lead these threads around like a circus poodle, you especially.

    All I’d have to do is chant the echo chamber meme.

    I won’t. So try your Stalinist shutupery somewhere else, on someone who gives a good fluck.

    I’ll be here when you’re long gone.

    Hoping you get a clue,
    Ragspierre.

    You may have noticed 4th armored he has no where else to go to feel important. Without this blog he really has nothing.
    Check the Reader Forum, used to be a lot of different posters in there. Now it’s the Rags Whine about Trump forum. Not many are posting there anymore and probably not many reading it either.
    I’ve seen the bullying like this on other sites. You will respect his authoriTay. Yet he knows if he tries to set up a blog of his own no one will read it so he has no attention. Which means he has to hijack someone else’s blog to post his hate.
    More than an edit button we could use an ignore button.

I will repeat this again here, as I think it bears repeating – I think it is wise to step-back and note that President Trump often uses a culture-based distraction when he needs to shift media focus. If he had not lobbed this particular verbal grenade, then likely the weekend media would be about Sen. McCain and Obamacare.

    Ragspierre in reply to Leslie Eastman. | September 24, 2017 at 4:11 pm

    Because that is sooooooo much less important.

    OR we could be considering the prospect of a nuclear exchange with the NORKS and/or Iran.

    Instead, we’re here (with your apparent approval) dancing around minutia that your Great Goad Cheeto threw out into the body politic in a nationally…or worldwide…speech.

    Which made the issue worse and much more permanent.

    “Brilliant”.

    You are probably at least partially correct in that assessment. However, the telling point with THIS “controversy” it immediately sent the NFL [including the owners] into full on “the sky is falling” hysteria. Why? Because Trump exactly expressed the feelings of a very large segment of the non-quiche eating, tree-hugging, professional football fan base. Is trump expressing a serious personally held opinion? Who knows. What is important is that the NFL fans have been sending the league signals for over a year, on this subject, and the league refuses to listen. Maybe now they will.

    Look, people have no control over Kim Jung Un, lunatic leader of NK. They have no control over climate change. They have no control over international terrorism. They have no control over radical, violent liberal anarchists. They do have control over how football players behave on the field. The fans are paying for the entertainment spectacle and that gives them control over the behavior of its participants. And, with the current frustration level among white middle class Americans, there is a very good chance that they will empower themselves by actively exercising that control.

Ah, so since the so-called left said nothing about Pres. Obama but are now utterly apoplectic about Pres. Trump the real trouble is that Trump supporters are wrong because they’re cool with Trump. Meh, IDK, the open Trump supporters in my circle (which is few as I’m a social worker) don’t actually support the “goofy Trump” but laugh at how the media / dem’s are unhinged in the attacks on DJT. They’re actually enjoying watching the media / dem’s act so crazy and almost see it as turn abouts fair play. It’s petty, childish and silly (IMO) yet there it is. DJT has made folks feel like it’s okay to day, “damn right I’m an ‘Merican BEEOUTCH!!” and to do so without apologizing or bowing.

I wasn’t personalizing my thoughts and saying you were or were not a hypocrite and apologize if it came across that way.

WWALD: Good question. My Social Worker / Court Officer “mindset” would say be politically correct and not make waves. While my “82d ABN, 18th ABN Corps, 6th ID (L) “mindset” screams, “GET THE PHUCK ON YOUR FEET FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM AND RESPECT THE LIBERTY AND FREEDOM YOU HAVE YOU CHILDISH, ILL-INFORMED, PREVIOUS LIL’WEASEL!!!”. It depends which minute of the day the “minset” I’m more likely to embrace. I will admit, when I first read DJT’s comments I thought, “dumbarse” but the more time passes the more I’m embracing (gleffully) the comment. Maybe it’s time we had the conversation in ‘Merica on our value for respect, duty and honor toward the privileges all of us have in the beautiful country.

Back to the Professor’s point about this being part of the Culture War the Left is inflicting on us all …

The NFL used to be nothing short of a celebration of masculinity and testosterone. Under dimwit Roger Goddell, the League has slipped into something hardly recognizable anymore: a billboard of all things Progressive-Left in a crazy attempt to attract the non-masculine into its viewership. Honestly, I love boobs as much as the next testosterone infused male, but seriously? Pink cleats and gloves to save the ta-tas? There is a time and place for everything under the sun, but the moment you diminish the product from sheer choreographed violence to something remotely resembling the View, you have inflicted your product with a horrible virus.

Most people who watch football want to be entertained with the spectacle of non-mortal combat. The second this is diluted, your business model mirrors McDonalds with predictable results. People love violence and grease from their product. Remove it and so goes the consumer’s desire to partake.

Suck it, Commissioner Goddell. You own this.

I am shocked and amazed at T-Rump (lul) This guy took the anointed candidate to be the the next Republican President and with two words ended his candidacy. Holy shit as I look back on it, it was pure genius. He took my favorite Republican candidate for president and ended him in one word. I kept asking myself during the primaries when would it be that T-Rump (lul) would be punished for sticking his foot in his mouth. His political incorrectness had to have consequences surely, but when, when would he face the backlash … I have stopped waiting. And when he used one word to sum up the Democratic candidate who then went on to live up to that one word I was shocked and elated because I really didn’t want her to be president.

Now I laugh, and I see the madness and the genius of what he is doing. Who on Earth would want to be the in the highest political office in any country? Really what kind of demented soul would see this as a good thing. Do we really believe that people’s quest for the gawd king wouldn’t play out over and over again? T-Rump isn’t our savior in any obvious way, if you think he is then you are no different than the sycophants for Obama … but watching him destroy the hypocrisy of anyone who dares to do such thing publicly is sheer artistry.

T-Rump isn’t a good person, but he is light years better than the idiots that he goes up against. Hillary, etc … When I saw T-Rump’s comments on the NFL I thought meh … tit for tat. I don’t think what the players are doing is good, they have a right, and though I don’t agree with what they are doing, I do agree they can if they want. I find it ironic that the very “flag” that they find sooooo detestable is the same “flag” that gives them the right to be stupid. However today when Stevie Wonder and all of the Professional victims and whiners decided to double down, I couldn’t help but think of Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton and smile this IS going to be fun.

Lead on my greatest of internet trolls lead on, I am with you and I’ve got your popcorn.

NFL in Jeopardy!

Colin Kaepernick.

What do you get when you cross an athlete with a truther?

    Ragspierre in reply to LukeHandCool. | September 24, 2017 at 5:15 pm

    No, no.

    According to Fuzzy, this has NOTHING to do wid Kaepernick. Where in in world did you come up that that crazy…???

      Arminius in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 8:33 pm

      You’re lying again, Rags. Fuzzy Slippers said:

      “Rags, you do know, I hope, that Trump didn’t mention Kaepernick at all? Why do you keep insisting that he’s responding to this one has-been when he was very very clearly referring to disrespect for our nation’s flag and anthem.

      Here’s the line that has you tilting at windmills: ““Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b***h off the field right now – he’s fired’?”.”

      This is why people consider you a liberal, because you demonstrating typical liberal behavior. In “Up From Liberalism” William F. Buckley wrote that when you touch on a liberal’s mania they lose their ability to reason. Trump is your mania, and you do lose the ability to reason. It’s amusing how you posit yourself as the only rational individual commenting here, and I’ve lost track of how many times you’ve committed the logical fallacy of changing the subject. Or, as most commenters here have put it, moving the goal posts. You originally said:

      “When were you called a “son of a bitch” by a sitting POTUS?”

      When people gave you examples you called them “liars.” They weren’t; you are in fact the liar. You never asked for an example from a major speech. Televised. Before a large crowd. I’ve lost track of all the follow-on qualifications you had to add because you’re not man enough to admit that somebody answered your original question. And you’re too lost in your hate because Trump is your mania.

      I’m not even a Trump fan. I didn’t vote for him. I voted down ticket and left the top spot blank. But I don’t go off my nut like you do, and insist everyone accept my subjective opinion about his language for an objective fact. You have no objective facts here. You think you do, because Trump drives you crazy.

      It’s funny as hell. I hope you keep commenting here but since you’re clearly foaming-at-the-mouth crazy you should be forewarned; spittle, I here, can really damage a keyboard.

        Ragspierre in reply to Arminius. | September 24, 2017 at 8:38 pm

        You poor, lost, unmoored idiot.

        When did you lose it?

        Ragspierre in reply to Arminius. | September 24, 2017 at 8:47 pm

        I seem to recall you making some really fine, sensible comments.

        Then you started commenting on your axe collection, etc.

        Oh, well…

          Arminius in reply to Ragspierre. | September 25, 2017 at 2:10 am

          I do have a nice axe collection, thank you very much. I have a Gransfors Bruk splitting axe, an older American-made Collins timbering axe with a 4lb head, and an older American-made Woodings Verona camping axe with a 2lb head. I also have a couple of hatchets and, most importantly, a European broad axe head; if you’re unfamiliar with those they’re intended to to shape round logs into such structural pieces as square beams, etc.

          But I need to hang the axe first.

          https://beaver-tooth.com/collections/broad-axe-handles

          I talk about them when appropriate. Or if you bring them up. I’ll probably be selling my splitting axe and timbering axe now that I live in Texas where the trees just aren’t as big as they are in the Sierras. And also I’ve discovered the miracle of the chainsaw and hydraulic wood splitter.

          Pro tip: don’t by a cheap axe. A lot of those made south of the border (and I don’t mean Mexico) have heads that are improperly tempered. Buy from a reputable Swedish company like

          https://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/

          or

          http://hultsbruk1697.se/

          Husqvarna sells quality axes but I believe some other Swedish company makes them.

      Arminius in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 8:59 pm

      You do realize it’s insane for you to insist the President’s remarks about current odious trends in sports have anything to do with Kaepernick?

      In case you haven’t noticed Kaepernick isn’t on any football team. He is euphemistically called a “free agent.” When Fuzzy Slippers had it right; he’s a has been. Nobody, from me to DJT cares what he does.

      But you keep insisting this is about Kaepernick, Rags. The nice people in the white lab coats will be along shortly.

        Ragspierre in reply to Arminius. | September 24, 2017 at 9:16 pm

        No, you poor delusional idiot, I’M the one who noted he is a has-been.

        But you’d have to be BOTH dishonest AND the loopy-doop you ARE not to know this is about the TYPE Kaepernick exemplifies.

        Nobody NEEDS to name him. Poor, old nutter.

          Arminius in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 11:23 pm

          No, you said he was washed-up, not a has-been. There’s a difference.

          He’s not going to play in the NFL again. Ergo, has-been. I’ll never have to look at Kaepernick again.

          But he still may play for a team in the Canadian Football league or on one of the European teams.

          Yes, they play American football in Europe.

          https://www.baltic-hurricanes.de/

          If he continues to get a paycheck playing football perhaps for years he’s not washed-up, is he? And the good news is if he plays in Canada or Europe it’ll be a better fit for the POS as he can stand for their anthems.

          Arminius in reply to Ragspierre. | September 24, 2017 at 11:55 pm

          You have to be an idiot and an ignoramus to think that Kaepernick is some sort of “type.” He isn’t. Among his other flaws he can’t even be original. He’s nearly 30 years too late for that.

          Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf played for LSU as Chris Jackson back in the late ’80s. After he was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 1990 he converted to Islam and refused to stand for the anthem. To it’s credit the NBA suspended him for one game and insisted he stand. But they allowed him to close his eyes and recite an Islamic prayer.

          Kaepernick is going to follow in Abdul-Rauf’s footsteps in another way. After the NBA decided Abdul-Rauf was more trouble than he was worth he played for European, Turkish, Saudi, Canadian, and Russian teams from 1998 until 2011.

          There’s a long history of black athletes disrespecting the flag and the anthem.

          Which is kind of amazing since the earlier generation of black athletes was very patriotic. Back when they had real grievances they never put on these kind of displays. During WWII Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis, like Pat Tillman, gave up his professional sports career joined the Army. Of course Louis was at the top of his game and even more of a recognized figure than Tillman (there’s an understatement). But as Louis famously said, “There’s nothing wrong with America that Hitler can fix.”

I don’t need a group of semi literate stick and ball jocks, who have been, for the most part, scholar-shipped their whole lives, showing disrespect for the United States National Symbols by kneeling, or “black power” salutes or other such nonsense.

Perhaps if the members of their community would start obeying laws and not think it is a bad thing to “snitch” on a criminal. Maybe law enforcement would give the benefit of the doubt if there was some doubt involved. Nothing is even mentioned of the blacks killing other blacks at an alarming rate, or that blacks kill many more whites than whites killing blacks. As a race, comprising about 12% of the population, the crimes conviction and incarceration rate is nearly triple that. Why is that? Racism cannot be that blatant or comprehensive.

The reasons behind the ways LEOs treat minorities is not due to prejudice but learned behavior over many years and personal experience. There will be mistakes made, some more serious than others, but real abuse of power is relatively rare, and should be dealt with when it happens.

    Arminius in reply to Romey. | September 24, 2017 at 9:55 pm

    Different minorities get treated differently. I practically grew up in Oakland. Black culture is, as you point out, not to rat the criminals out to the police. That’s how they stick together. On the other hand I practically grew up in Oakland’s China Town. I didn’t live there, but most of my neighbors and friends were Chinese. And the Chinese don’t hesitate to call the cops. They don’t care if the cops are white or black, they want the criminals gone. That’s how they stick together.

    Is it any wonder that certain ethnic groups have cultures that lead to greater success in life?

    And I’m not just limiting this to interracial differences. Blac immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean belong to the same race as American-born blacks. On average, according to website Black Enterprise, black immigrant households earn 30% more than American black households. Some, such as black immigrants from South Africa, actually outperform American-born whites.

    How could that be? Well, because black immigrants aren’t raised with the same narrative that poisons the minds of American blacks. They don’t know America was founded on a system of white cisgendered male supremacy. They’ve never heard of white privilege which, of course, does not exist. Since they haven’t been indoctrinated into the same cult, the cult’s indoctrination doesn’t hold them back.

    America is simply not oppressive. The only way you could believe that is if you’ve never left the country and seen how the rest of the world lives and operates. But rather stayed here and remained steeped in a culture of bitterness, resentment, and victimhood that teaches you that your failures aren’t your fault but instead “the man” is keeping you down.

    I recall an incident I had in a bar on Oakland’s Jack London Square. I don’t live in Oakland anymore, but I was back visiting family and friends. I and a friend were there having a few drinks. Also at the bar was a very loud black man telling the bartenders that America was a racist, oppressive society that forced blacks to live in crushing poverty. Now, I had just ridden BART (I won’t do that again as it’s now BART’s policy not to police the trains or even install security cameras but simply let the “youths” run wild robbing and beating people as anything else would be “racist”) though West Oakland. One of the poorer parts of town.

    So I just couldn’t help myself. I told the guy these people don’t live in poverty. I told him what I saw. Satellite dishes on every house, multiple cars in every driveway. According to Thomas Sowell the average poor person in America has more space in their homes than the average European. Note: not the average poor European, just the average European. And I can believe it because these people were living in stand-alone homes. The average European is an apartment dweller.

    I told him if you want to see real poverty go to Indonesia or central America. Blacks are only “poor” according to some random standard picked by government statisticians. For most of the rest of the world, including parts of what we consider the developed world, “poor” Americans including blacks are living what would be considered an upper middle class lifestyle.

    It was a mostly friendly if loud conversation. It got a little heated sometimes but nobody threw any blows. Finally my friend and I shut him down by saying, “Let’s go look. You show us real poverty in Oakland.” My friend is a former editor for the San Francisco Chronicle. He still had friends their so he said he’d write an Op-Ed about it. Of course he couldn’t so he had to drop it.

    The narrative that blacks are oppressed by a white supremacist system is built on lies. Like “Hands up, don’t shoot.” I recall idiot athletes running out on football fields and basketball courts with their hands up in solidarity with thug Michael Brown, who got what he deserved.

    An Irish playwright named Phelim McAleer, who now lives in Marina del Ray, wrote a play about it.

    https://www.facebook.com/FergusonThePlay

    The title of the play is “Ferguson; Truth Matters.” He wrote it entirely from the transcripts of Grand Jury testimony. As it turned out the truth didn’t matter to many of his original liberal L.A. cast members. Particularly the black actors and actresses. They read the script and insisted McAleer had his facts wrong or had an agenda. He showed them the transcripts, including those of the few witnesses who insisted Michael Brown had his hands up in surrender. According to Obama’s own DoJ those witnesses either recanted or were discredited. I’ve read some of those transcripts myself. One particularly sticks in my mind. A young lady who toed the “Hands up, don’t” shoot line. It turns out she was in her apartment building’s parking lot and another building on the other side of the lot blocked her view. She heard the gun shot, but couldn’t have possibly have seen anything.

    As for his agenda, McAleer told him his allegiance was to the truth. Many of his actors quit, while other tried to have him add in a little fiction to make his play more sympathetic to Michael Brown. It turns out their allegiance was to the narrative. They could care less about the truth.

      joekiddone in reply to Arminius. | September 24, 2017 at 11:12 pm

      You are correct. “Hands up don’t shoot” never happened. https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/kristine-marsh/2015/06/01/hands-dont-shoot-never-happened-networks-keep-using-it & https://www.mrc.org/articles/%E2%80%98hands-don%E2%80%99t-shoot%E2%80%99-never-happened-networks-keep-using-it

      But that lie had deadly consequences. Case in point: Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley, the assassin who brutally executed NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos in 2014, CITED THAT MSM AND OFA-propagated lie before his killing spree that occurred the same week Barack Obama was meeting with “reverend” Al Sharpton at the White House as Sharpton’s protesters in New York City chanted they wanted “dead cops.”

        Arminius in reply to joekiddone. | September 25, 2017 at 1:20 am

        The lie is perpetrated by a biased media (there’s a shock) that wants to portray America as incorrigibly racist. In order to perpetuate the lies like “Hands up, don’t shoot” they have to also hide the truth. Black cops and homeowners do shoot unarmed white teenagers. But you’ll never see those stories because the the national media outlets will insist those stories are only “local news.” In other words, those stories don’t fit the narrative.

        http://patterico.com/2013/07/21/if-only-there-were-a-case-where-a-white-teen-was-shot-by-a-black-man-who-claimed-self-defense-we-could-evaluate-obamas-comments-that-it-would-have-been-different-whats-that-there-is/

        “The Black George Zimmerman”

        Roderick Scott, the black home owner residing in Greece, NY, claimed self-defense after shooting 17 y.o. Christopher Cervini. The jury believed him and acquitted him of any wrongdoing.

        These stories are not especially rare, at least compared to other white on black police shootings. Did you know you have a higher chance of being stung to death by bees than a black person of any age has of being shot by the police? It’s simply not “open season” on black people in America.

        Again, you have to look for these stories as the national media will not report them. I was watching some idiot panel show on CNN (I’ve since cancelled my cable as there is nothing on TV I want to watch; it’s the 21st century equivalent of Mark Twain’s comment, “If you want to be uninformed don’t read, if you want to be misinformed read the newspapers). One of the guests was a black woman, an author, who made several comments that demonstrated that she believed no white man has ever gone to prison for raping a black woman.

        That happened in Tallahasee, FL, in June 1959. Four white men were sentenced to life in prison for gang raping Betty Jean Owens. You can look it up.

        Of course, the idiot author is exactly the kind of gullible fool the media is trying to convince of their lies about racism in America. Per FBI statistics in 1988 there were over 9,400 cases of black on white rape (the vast majority of rapes are intraracial). The FBI reported fewer than ten cases of white on black rape for the entire country for the entire year. I pick that year for a reason. That’s the year race-huckster Al Sharpton teamed with Tawana Brawley to perpetrate a rape hoax, accusing several white men of abducting and raping the black teenager.

        It rarely happens. You’d think it would happen more if white privilege really existed and I and racists who look like me can do just about anything we like to “people of color” and get away with it. Wasn’t that the theory behind the Duke LaCrosse players hoax? And isn’t that how we white people got rich, by stealing from society’s “most vulnerable” i.e non-whites?

Next up: Marc Lamont Hill gets NFL Truthers to take a knee against America’s alliance with Israel.

#NFL-BDS

You heard it here first.

Professor that was a very good post (and Fuzzy and Leslie). I actually think it was you that said politics is downstream from the culture years ago. Nevertheless, this latest front in the culture war is completely winnable and must be won.

Whatever one thinks of Pres Trump, you have to marvel how easily he manages to rip the masks off. His in-your-face brass knuckles approach is causing so many unforced errors by those who oppose him, it is rather remarkable.

No football for me. Pres Trump is willing to fight on the culture war front and I think it is important to support that.

Cheers to all.

Well, the optics of all these black men kneeling is a bit unsettling, isn’t it? Aren’t most of the NFL team owners white as well as the NFL executives, and the sportscasters who broadcast the games and write about the games? And of course the media is largely white. Maybe these guys ought to stick to playing their game and stand up and be a man about it. Black men on their knees is not a good visual.

First NFL Sunday in a long time that I didn’t watch at least one game.

I feel strangely OK. Wasn’t offended by anything, either.

So, all in all, a good day.

“Over time, I’ve lost interest in professional sports for many of the same reasons I’ve lost interested in the professional music, film, and other entertainment industries.”

Hear, hear.

F’m all.

When HDTV came along I started to neglect reading. I’ve since discovered streaming and have become reacquainted with books, even if some of them are digital.

Colin Kaepernick also disrespected law enforcement professionals AND supported mass murdering-dictators. (The irony of him wearing
his “Fidel shirt” the day Castro died will be lost on some. Castro was a brutal tyrant who made it a crime to protest or even complain about racism.) Talk about being ignorant…

    Ragspierre in reply to joekiddone. | September 24, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    Ah, but remember…!!! According to FauxySluppers, Der Donald NEVER, EVER mentioned anybody by NAME. So…whatever the fluck…

      Arminius in reply to Ragspierre. | September 25, 2017 at 2:28 am

      Actually it isn’t per Fuzzy Slippers. It’s per the transcript of the speech. Der Donald never mentioned anyone by name when he criticized athletes for disrespecting the anthem.

      But you run with this, crazy person. Like the wind.

      Milhouse in reply to Ragspierre. | September 25, 2017 at 5:43 am

      He didn’t. He said — and meant — all the sons-of-bitches who are doing this. Every one of them should be notified that they’ll be fired if they do it again. Bob Kraft should rename the Patriots; he doesn’t deserve to use that name any more.

      Rags, you’ve gone off the deep end on this one. Trump was exactly right, and I don’t understand why you’ve got a problem with his calling sons-of-bitches sons-of-bitches. They’re slapping America in the face, and as America’s figurehead Trump doesn’t appreciate it, and says so.

    Arminius in reply to joekiddone. | September 25, 2017 at 2:33 am

    Somehow after the Castro T-shirt fiasco I imagine Kaepernick is off the Miami Dolphins short list for back-up quarterbacks.

    Good headwork, Colin! You’ve pretty much narrowed down your choices to the Edmonton Eskimos.

Re: presidents and football… Flashback to the Obama administration’s hiring of the leading official behind the cover-up of Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of children

After Penn State University president Graham Spanier’s firing in 2011 for his role in allowing Jerry Sandusky’s decade-plus serial sexual abuse of children, President Barack Obama said, “…it’s a good time for the entire country to do some soul-searching… …every institution has to examine how they operate, and every individual has to take responsibility for making sure that our kids are protected.”

A year later, the Obama administration HIRED the fired administrator, giving Spanier a security clearance for a “top-secret” agency on national security issues(!), no less. So much for soul-searching. (Then again this is the same administration that already had a depraved individual and “fi**ing” advocate as its Safe Schools Czar.) Spanier, accused by prosecutors of “allowing evil to run wild,” has since been found guilty of Child Endangerment. He faces jail time but is appealing his conviction.

2011: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/president-obama-speaks-penn-state-sex-abuse-scandal-joe-paterno-graham-spanier-firing-article-1.976632

2012: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/graham-spaniers-gig-as-a-federal-worker-is-a-mystery/2012/07/26/gJQAbAx5BX_blog.html

2017: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/03/24/penn-state-graham-spanier-trial-jerry-sandusky/99595674/

The NFL, being a private business, is free to do whatever it wants and will reap whatever comes from it. It’s a free market thing. So are player contracts. In a free market they get what the market will bear.

I don’t agree with these protests. I’ve emailed our Carolina Panther front office and told them I will turn off any game if an opposing team member refuses to stand for the NA. I also told them I will turn off the Panthers for the rest of the season if one of our players does it. That’s the most one fan can do. I did it and now I let it go.

What’s one effective response when a child throws a tantrum? You ignore it lest you dignify or normalize it. We have a small percentage of NFL players essentially throwing a political tantrum when the NA is played. OK. Fine. But the media coverage and outrage of individual fans only feeds the problem by giving the tantrum tossers constant total media attention – precisely what they want. Going nuts in comment sections of various online blogs – regardless of which side one takes – accomplishes nothing.

The NFL is a free market business and only a loss of market share, TV ratings mostly, will compel NFL and individual team management to act. Nothing changes till the bottom line is affected.

My prediction is that the NFL and teams are already deep into figuring out how to fix this PR mess, and further, that they will have fixed it before the regular season’s end, and yet further, that most fans will have forgotten it and moved on to whatever media flame is burning bright at that time. As noted in many previous posts in this thread, the NFL routinely does/allows controversial BS. And it always passes. And fans quickly forget.

Don’t let the leftists urging this nonsense on place us at each other’s throats. If you don’t like what’s going on, turn off the TV, don’t go to NFL games, and don’t buy NFL merchandise. In other words, help the free market system sort it out. Refuse to get but so bothered by it, and spend those game watching hours working in the yard, playing with the (grand)kids, taking a hike, going shopping, etc. It’s just a game and these millionaire punks are not worth my time.

    artichoke in reply to Henry Hawkins. | September 24, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    I am not bothered by it, in fact I feel a part of a new team, those who are walking away from the NFL. We had a lot of camaraderie today. Having Trump on board is critical, and he adds fun as well. He’s a great leader.

    I don’t see this blowing over, because we don’t want it to. The standard assumption up to now has been that guys need their football. That is still the assumption in public statements the NFL has made. But statistics so far, this time, are putting that in doubt.

    What will happen to those stadiums after a few years of disastrous attendance? What will happen to ESPN if we boycott, especially the NBA? We’re interested to find out so we’re doing the experiment, and as with most experiments, some discipline and personal restraint on the part of the experimenters is needed for proper execution.

    Colonel Travis in reply to Henry Hawkins. | September 24, 2017 at 10:37 pm

    Agree with what you wrote. But I don’t know the politics of NFL fans. I’m guessing, on the whole, they are more conservative than not. But I really don’t know. I do know that there are millions of leftist Americans now who want to play the victim in life, with plenty of businesses happy to court them. If there were any question before about which values the NFL likes most, it is not in question now. I refuse to participate in anything involving it and don’t have a problem saying why if it ever comes up.

    This nonsense has infected the NBA, it’s just starting to hit MLB. I hope there are enough people like you (and me) who will push back and turn things around (with sports and all other aspects of leftist intrusion.)

    At this point in our country’s history, I seriously do not know if there are enough.

    Falling in love with a pro sports team is kind of like falling in love with a stripper. They don’t love you back. Al Davis taught me this back in 1982 when he moved my (formerly) beloved Raiders to L.A. It’s only a business. An act.

    I know some people’s Thanksgiving traditions revolve around football. Develop new ones. Take your kid pheasant or duck hunting. I know some of my most satisfying Thanksgivings were when I didn’t eat the the Turkey but the duck I shot myself with my Uncle after spending all morning freezing in a duck blind. I must be blunt about it. If you are shocked get over it. I know what I did, knew what I did when I was 11 when I was using a borrowed single shot 20 gauge, and to be frank what I did gave me a far greater connection to the pilgrims than any football game ever could.

    I didn’t mean the only way you can enrich your Thanksgiving is through hunting. Although I do admit that every American should own an M1 Garand (available through the Army’s Civilian Marksmanship program) and a black powder firearm like a Pennsylvania long rifle. Here I am remiss as I only own a Hawken rifle but I plan on addressing this oversight as soon as possible.

    The smell of gunpowder should remind one of fall just as much as the smell of burning leaves.

    But it that doesn’t suit your tastes, teach your child how to weld and/or rebuild an engine. Especially a classic like a flat head Ford.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLZmC5gqEOY

    “Building a High Performance Flathead Ford Part 5 – Engine Dyno Testing”

    Nothing sounds better on a crisp Fall morning than a flathead Ford. Except maybe an F-14 taking off from a carrier and we won’t be having any more of that any more of that, will we?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=JvVdOIE-IgU

    But whatever shakes your peaches. As someone on this thread said earlier, we don’t need these pampered millionaires but they need us. I say, screw them.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/24/nascar-draws-line-protesting-during-national-anthe/

NEW YORK — It appeared no drivers, crew or other team members participated in a protest during the national anthem to start the NASCAR Cup series race Sunday in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Several team owners and executives had said they wouldn’t want anyone in their organizations to protest.

Richard Childress, who was Dale Earnhardt’s longtime team owner, said of protesting, “It’ll get you a ride on a Greyhound bus.” Childress says he told his team that “anybody that works for me should respect the country we live in. So many people gave their lives for it. This is America.”

Hall of Fame driver Richard Petty’s sentiments took it a step further, saying: “Anybody that don’t stand up for the anthem oughta be out of the country. Period. What got ‘em where they’re at? The United States.”

When asked if a protester at Richard Petty Motorsports would be fired, he said, “You’re right.”

Another team owner Chip Ganassi says he supports Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s comments. Tomlin said before the Steelers played on Sunday that players would remain in the locker room and that “we’re not going to let divisive times or divisive individuals affect our agenda.”

The New England Patriots need to change their name.
Meh.

Will the NFL take the obvious solution and quit playing the Anthem to open games? It’s obvious now that it wasn’t done from patriotism, but was just part of the stage management of the event. Not playing it would end the controversy. I wonder how much taxpayers paid for things like overflights at the games? Maybe they could get the Cuban Air Force to do the overflights? Or the Lear Jets and Gulf Streams of the top dem donors?

I’m not a fan of ostentatious displays of patriotism, and find the way Americans venerate the symbols of their country not just distasteful but verging on paganism. If it were up to me the anthem wouldn’t be sung at these events in the first place, and these ingrates would never have had such a ready chance to display their disdain for their country. But it is and they have, and it needs a response. Patriotism ought to be a given; it shouldn’t need to be displayed so blatantly and so often, because it should be able to be assumed. Unfortunately among some people it seems that it isn’t, and those who so openly renounce it should be called to account. They have the right to express their opinion, and we have the right to express ours in return.

I’ve come up with a solution to this NFL mess.

We can all agree that there is endemic and systemic racism abounding in the USA. Furthermore there is a Police War on Black Males, and an incredible Justice system inequity resulting in disparate outcomes and Mass Incarceration of Black people. And don’t get me started on White Privilege. Of course, White Privilege is not the cause of all Black problems, but it make every Black problem immeasurably worse.

So what is to be done? Can anything be done? Well, the answer is yes. But the solution is not in having NFL players protesting by their actions during the National Anthem at football games. That accomplished nothing and is divisive to all sides.

Currently, the average NFL player makes $2,000,000 +, and there are hundreds of players. That would be a payroll of close to a $1,000,000,000 dollars. The answer is to have all NFL players refuse to pay any income taxes to this corrupt, racist US Government. They should file and instead of taxes they should send the IRS a letter saying F*ck the oppressive US Government, and F*ck Donald Trump.

This would mean that their hard earned $$$ ( and of course we all know that they are underpaid ), would not go toward furthering the actions of a racist, oppressive, white privileged Government. This tax protest would have real meaning, in that they would not be contributing to the budgets of the oppressive power structures that are holding them back. It’s an idea, whose time has come.

Who will be the Colin Kaepernick of this income tax protest. The nation awaits the first hero that sends the IRS his F*ck You letter.

This is NOT about “free speech,” the players are employees, and the owners have a great deal of control over the actions of players on the field. They get fined for dancing in the end zone – isn’t that a form of free speech? People get fired for what they post on Facebook and Twitter (see Justine Sacco et al.), surely football players can be fired for behavior on the playing field.
President Trump used to own a football team, the Jersey Generals.
And, as a sports fan, does the president not have the right to voice his opinion?
The president did not attack the NFL, as Roger Goodell seems to think. President Trump was expressing his thought (as a former team owner) that the team owners should crack down on unpatriotic behavior on the field.
If they want to protest, they can march somewhere, send letters to the editor or post comments on Facebook, Twitter or Legal Insurrection.
“Taking a knee” used to be be the first part of a phrase which ended, “in the groin.”

    JBIsmay in reply to JBIsmay. | September 25, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    Here are the rules, found on pages A62-63 of the league’s game operations manual:
    The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem.
    During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.
    President Trump may have been wrong in claiming the player should be “fired” for noncompliance, but he was certainly right about being taken off the field and suspension.

Rest assured NFL attorneys are at this moment drafting amendments to the behavioral clauses found in every player contract.

Irony – Colin Kaepernick is not a member of the NFL.

Dick Butkus said, “If I was smart I’d be a doctor; I’m not, so I’m a football player.”

That’s all I need to keep in mind as these protests unfold. A bunch of brain-damaged low-intelligence-to-begin-with 23 yr olds who got indoctrinated when they took the easiest courses available as they skipped through college. And I am supposed to be influenced by their opinions? (“Opinions are like a–holes, everybody has one.”)

The NFL selective double-down is so revealing. Even more revealing are the carefully worded threads from Fuzzy & Leslie to contrast “I don’t come here for your ‘approval’. If I wanted to, I could lead these threads around like a circus poodle, you especially.”
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A functioning democracy needs a foundational layer of integrity and fair play on display from participants.
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We seem far down a path that regularly discards respectful dialogue in favor of insults, malicious misdirection and repression. We can’t help but to have a tentative side when an issue presents, but the prevailing style is to slander the disagreeable party and do no work to see the issue from their point of view.
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The National Anthem was the place that we subordinated our disagreements to affirm America’s very being — and affirm its democratic way. As soon as someone puts their issue above that, the foundational fabric of fair play is torn. The kneelers are free to put themselves above the whole, but it is a profound error. Must they abuse the traditionally sacred moment, when they have so many other moments to make their points?
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The torn fabric manifests everywhere and on all sides, primarily in complete disregard for the other. Many seem to think “why bother to even try engaging politely with that obvious son of a bitch?” Perhaps unrelenting fabric-tearers should be disengaged – a graduating suspension policy might be in order.
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But it really took the cake for me when one of the NFL’s fiercest pass rushers put himself on display: pic.twitter.com/RVtAuo5h7s. A man who violently assaults and batters players every Sunday claims that a disagreeable tweet from Trump is an . . . ASSAULT! And he expects me to take him seriously. I have profound respect for Miller but I really need him to sit for an interview and show me how well he’s thought this out.

William A. Jacobson: I can’t tell you how many times readers and potential/actual authors have told me they fear loss of job and career damage if they express non-liberal opinions at work or in a way that people at work could find out.

A football player engages in a silent protest against police brutality, so the President of the United States publicly calls for him to be fired.

    DaveGinOly in reply to Zachriel. | September 27, 2017 at 1:37 am

    Liar. Trump did no such thing. He asked his audience if they would like to see a team owner fire a player for protesting during the anthem. A liberal friend told me that was the same thing as calling for the firing himself. Really? If that’s so, then why did every MSM outlet change what he said? If what he said was actually the same as how they represented his words, then why weren’t his own words good enough to convey that message? The simple fact is that they didn’t, so they had to change the words to change the message into something he did not say.

    And you believed the MSM that couldn’t keep itself from lying about Trump “staring into the sun” during the solar eclipse. If they can’t accurately report on such a banal action as glancing at the eclipse before putting protective glasses on, they certainly can’t be trusted to report accurately on anything of greater import.

      DaveGinOly: He asked his audience if they would like to see a team owner fire a player for protesting during the anthem.

      “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” — Henry II

      DaveGinOly: If what he said was actually the same as how they represented his words, then why weren’t his own words good enough to convey that message?

      The video has been repeatedly played on the TV. Where you been?

      DaveGinOly: My country comes before my entertainment.

      You seem to be conflating a totem or idol with the thing itself.

New Article: __BTW, Jesus is coming sooner than you think.
Nothing thrilled me more than watching NFL football on the glorious Autumn afternoons of my youth. I was in another world as I watched my heroes play, one o’clock every Sunday. AFC games on NBC while CBS carried the NFC.

The next night brought the Prime-Time Glitz and Glamor of “MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!! ” Cosell, Dandy, and Giff were on my tube every week.

NFL Film’s John Facenda, with his deep, God-like voice, chronicled game montages. Slow-motion action against a backdrop of military-march soundtracks or sweeping orchestral scores, creating a cinematic feel to the NFL Films production. Camera shots were so close-up that even player’s expressions were visible and hot breath could be seen spouting from their nostrils.

Facenda’s narratives were mesmerizingly hypnotic and irresistably captivating to a young person like me- “THERE. ON WIND. SWEPT. FROZEN TUNDRA. TWO TEAMS. TITANS OF HUMANITY. CLAD IN THE ARMAMENTS OF BATTLE. STUGGLED MIGHTILY IN PITCHED BATTLE. ‘TIL THE FINAL STROKE OF THE CLOCK. HERALDED THE END. OF THE HERCULEAN CONFLICT. ONLY ONE SIDE REMAINED STANDING. ‘NEATH THE GLORIOUS LIGHT OF VICTORY. WHILST THRONGS OF ONLOOKERS. PONDERED THE MARVELS THEIR EYES BEHELD. ON. THAT. DAY…” He made each game sound like an epic battle upon which rested the fate of the world. He could make the reading of a phone book sound exciting.

Looking back, the 1970’s NFL was jam-packed with Superstars. 70’s running backs: Campbell, Payton, Simpson, Dorsett, Csonka, Foreman, Harris, Mitchell, Muncie, Pruitt, Montgomery, Washington, Metcalf, Anderson, McCutcheon, Riggins, Brockington, and on and on. I know the rules has changed, favoring the passing game, but would anyone seriously argue for the passing attack if you had to yank a Gale Sayers out of the game, so you could heave the rock 36-39 times like they do now?

Quarterbacks & recievers: Staubach, Stabler, Bradshaw, Tarkenton, Kilmer, Fouts, Anderson, etc. (W.Moon was excelling in CFL). Recievers: Stallworth, Winslow, Casper, Biletnikoff, Branch, Swann, Pearson, Alworth, DuPree, Lofton, Rashad, Chandler, Newsome, Largent, Warfield – how can one list them all? I was Star-Stuck. I loved to watch these HOF players, and I emulated them when I played football with my friends.

Between NFL Films and John Facenda, the superstars, and the leadership of Pete Rozelle, the NFL morphed from an obscure football league, leaving 32,000, $12 seats empty in Super Bowl I, to a multi-billion dollar behemoth, equal to the COMBINED value of MLB and the NBA. Even more amazing? The NFL has a mere 16 opportunities to sell tickets. Between MLB and the NBA, there are 244 games played. AND, they compete for entertainment dollars with MLB throughout the month of October, then, the NBA for the rest of the season!

Somehow, someone created something so wonderful that America fell in love and elevated it to the most prominent, dominating pastime in our history. I will carry to my grave fond memories of exciting NFL games, the miraculous comebacks, the edge-of-your-seat overtimes, and nail-biting finishes. I will remember the absolutely astonishing story of the NFL’s evolution and rise to prominence in this country.

One last thing – I will never watch another NFL game.
My country comes first.

    DaveGinOly in reply to JimMayer. | September 27, 2017 at 1:46 am

    Yup. Followed the game for more than 40 years. No more, for the same reason.

    Some friends asked me why I no longer go to the movies or watch any television shows. I tell them because I refuse to support the Leftist/progressive content with my viewership and refuse to support its purveyors with my money. Some told me that’s foolish. Really? The entertainment industry has become an arm of the Democrat Party. Giving my money to it is no different from contributing directly to the party itself. Why would I want to do that? Money I previously paid for entertainment helped make stars of people who now use their stardom (and my money) to work against my interests and the interests of my country. No more.

    Ditto. My country comes before my entertainment. I’m done with the NFL. The league chose sides, and it chose badly.