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Politics Have Invaded Football

We didn't start playing it at every bloody public game until World War II.

I've always found it a little weird. I can't really equate the majesty of our sovereign, democratic nation with a basketball game. I think you should instead play it before a session of the Supreme Court, when a new law is signed, when Congress actually does........something. But sports? Why only sports? Why not the theater, or symphony? Why don't we play the national anthem before every jury trial? Surely that's a better time to be reminded of one's patriotic duty.

I really think people get far too hung up on symbols; they start to worship the symbol itself and completely forget what those things stand for in the first place. People care more about an anthem than they do the rights and freedoms the anthem is supposed to represent. We as Americans have the right to peaceful protest; you could even say it's our duty to stand up against things we see as wrong in our society. I find it a refreshing change that young athletes, who usually are portrayed as selfish, violent, drunken prima donnas, are actually taking a stand on an important issue plaguing the country. I think it's wonderful that, even though it's just a tiny gesture, they are showing some sense of civic responsibility. It sets a good example for young people that they need to aware and involved in what's going on around them.
 
ichab said:
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/09/20/are-athlete-national-anthem-protests-costing-nfl-viewership/

On one hand I can understand the need to make a statement when you have millions of people watching. On the other, as a viewer, I'd like to escape politics and just enjoy the game. It's bad enough that I have annoying ads shoved in my face during commercial breaks but now demonstrations on the field? What are your thoughts on this?
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Flying B-2 bombers and F-16 fighters in formation over games is political. Having soldiers or police officers appear on field is political, even if they're not personally responsible for anything you might oppose. Having politicians at the game is political. Singing the national anthem before games is political. Having a country music star sing a halftime song about how "we'll put a boot in your ass" if you mess with the USA is political. Jackie Robinson taking the field was political. Tommie Smith and John Carlos holding up the black power salute at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 during the height of the civil rights struggle was political. Having women play baseball during WWII was political. Muhammad Ali being denied a boxing license and being stripped of his titles because he wouldn't allow himself to be inducted into the military was political. Sports have always been a venue for political expression, some more subtle then others, so the Kaepernick-inspired taking a knee during the national anthem movement is hardly a new or unprecedented development.

The idea that football players should just shut up and be grateful for being in the NFL idea put forth by the quote in the article is ridiculous, since wealth and fame as an athlete is no guarantee of safety from police profiling, abuse, or shootings, nor are their less well-off families and friends protected, nor are they required to sit quietly by as they see injustices happening across the country just because they happen to enjoy greater wealth and privilege than others. If anything their position gives them more of a responsibility to speak out, since their wealth and fame grants them a greater opportunity to affect change than an average citizen has, and since they have benefited from the money and support of those citizens they should give back and set a positive example for others.
 
Sportsball rivalries are, by the nature of their existence, political. As a Pittsburgher, I know that I am inherently better than anyone from Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, or Cincinnati. :angryrazz:

Even though very few of our sportsball playpeople are actually FROM here.
 
mos6507 said:
And how have pro athletes been living up to the opportunity to be seen as role models?

Michael Vick?
Aaron Hernandez?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/887063-top-25-biggest-criminals-in-nfl-history
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6fkJBl2.gif


Your post doesn't have anything to do with the topic, doesn't contradict or correct or supplement anything I said, doesn't add anything interesting or informative to the discussion, doesn't even make sense as a commentary on this situation, and comes off as a bitter and petty drive-by just to stir up trouble.
 
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You tried to stir up sympathy for athletes and I reminded people they aren't saints and don't deserve such coddling. Sorry you can't see the connection. Inserting a mocking animated gif doesn't help either, especially when it comes from a moderator who is, presumably, here to keep people from resorting to such ad homs.
 
I reacted instinctively with scorn when I heard about all this Kaepernick stuff but I have mellowed on it. Let him (and the others who are doing this) do whatever they want. Stand up, sit down, fight fight fight, whatever. :shrug:

If the league doesn't have a problem with it, and neither do his teammates, then I guess I don't either. There are forces at work here that I couldn't even begin to imagine and so what right do I have to go running off my mouth?

Those who stand aren't being scorned for doing so, so those who sit or kneel shouldn't be either.
 
mos6507 said:
You tried to stir up sympathy for athletes and I reminded people they aren't saints and don't deserve such coddling. Sorry you can't see the connection. Inserting a mocking animated gif doesn't help either, especially when it comes from a moderator who is, presumably, here to keep people from resorting to such ad homs.
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Mocking isn't an ad-hominem. Please LEARN your logical fallacies, maybe then you won't blatantly commit so many.
 
mos6507 said:
You tried to stir up sympathy for athletes and I reminded people they aren't saints and don't deserve such coddling. Sorry you can't see the connection. Inserting a mocking animated gif doesn't help either, especially when it comes from a moderator who is, presumably, here to keep people from resorting to such ad homs.
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No, he didn't. What @Locutus of Bored posted, what you were quoting and replying to, was:

Locutus of Bored said:
their wealth and fame grants them a greater opportunity to affect change ...
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That is a fact. Celebrities, any celebrities, whether they be actors, musicians, or (as in this case) athletes, have the attention of the public, and can therefore draw attention to matters that need change. That is not an agenda, that is not an opinion. It's a fact.

And even then, you're still saying that all NFL-athletes have lost the right to protest wrong-doings because some NFL-athletes have done other wrongs.
 
mos6507 said:
You tried to stir up sympathy for athletes and I reminded people they aren't saints and don't deserve such coddling. Sorry you can't see the connection. Inserting a mocking animated gif doesn't help either, especially when it comes from a moderator who is, presumably, here to keep people from resorting to such ad homs.
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So apparently letting people exercise their rights as human beings is "coddling" them. :lol: Good to know!
 
I actually think they've got a right to sit or stand, but I felt in his defense that he came across like he was putting them on a pedestal. The fact is it's been a long time since athletes have lived up to being role-models. Everything from doping scandals to domestic violence, rape accusations, to outright murder. Pro athletes really should not be seen by the public as role models.
 
^ Athletes aren't doing this to be role models. They're doing it because people see them do it. THAT's the point. Personal lives are irrelevant.
 
mos6507 said:
You tried to stir up sympathy for athletes and I reminded people they aren't saints and don't deserve such coddling. Sorry you can't see the connection. Inserting a mocking animated gif doesn't help either, especially when it comes from a moderator who is, presumably, here to keep people from resorting to such ad homs.
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No, what I said was that being rich and famous athletes does not exempt them from mistreatment and violence at the hands of police if they are minorities, and provided an extensive list of examples to back that point up, which was actually relevant to the discussion, unlike your "here are some athletes who suck!" non sequitur drive-by post, which wasn't even arguing against a point I or anyone else was making. Nowhere did I say anything about athletes being saints, or flawless, or that they deserved greater sympathy than any other person should receive. What I also said was that being athletes also gives them a greater opportunity to reach the public with their message, which is a simple statement of fact.

Why is saying minority athletes can be victims of police violence and therefor have the right to comment on it "coddling" them? Why is treating someone with basic dignity and respect "coddling" them? Why is saying they have the right to speak out "coddling" them. Please, enlighten me.

The mocking animated gif was more than your post and your continued spamming and trolling derailment of the thread deserved. Make better contributions to the discussion.
 
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