Donald Trump, in typical understated fashion, helped ramp things up by opining that any "son of a bitch" that takes the knee during the anthem should immediately be fired or suspended for showing disrespect to America. In rebuttal, more athletes started dropping to their knees (or linking arms), including both teams at an NFL exhibition game in London's Wembley Stadium ("Wembley," for those who don't know, is the british name for American football).
That game, between the Jaguars and Ravens, was a 44-7 blowout...demonstrating that at least one team should be more ashamed of its athletic ability than its country.
It's hard for us to get very worked up about all of this, as the political opinions of any entertainers don't concern us much - let alone entertainers who make their livings by absorbing repeated blows to the head.
Still, if it will restore peace and harmony to the NFL, we'd like to suggest a modest proposal: in predominantly black neighborhoods, replace the police with "special teams" units of football players wearing standard helmets and padding (no kevlar allowed) who will humanely subdue possibly-armed suspects by implementing an explosive blindside tackle, after which they can do a happy little ass-shaking dance while judges review tapes of the play.
And who knows - maybe one day, we'll see the whole thing come to Wembley Stadium when the "Thin Blue Linebackers" take on the "Pistol Packin' Perps." It would have to be a more entertaining game than the overpaid prima donnas of the Jaguars and Ravens put on last Sunday.
AND ON ANOTHER PLAYING FIELD...
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| Because Pre-Apocalyptic humor is the funniest kind. |
LOL! Whilst all the young'ns are scratching their heads over this title, I am still grinning widely and will bring you a shrubbery as soon as I can find one suitable...
ReplyDeleteSeriously funny when all these really higher educated athletes (puff. puff. cough!) have the exact same comments as Black Idiots Don't Matter, Kaepernick, and other well-known leftie intellectuals who at least all agree on Donald hatred.
I don't know if the Broncos (my favorite team) have gone over to the Dark Side, but myself...I would make it a rule to NEVER go up against a President loved by many vets, current military, myself, and many well-armed, pro-America, plain ol' 'mericans while at work...
Just sayin'...
Silly boys don't understand that kneeling whether on one or both is historically a sign of submission to rule! I daresay they have been trumped by the Donald but are too self righteous and uneducated to "get it".
ReplyDeleteCotton's been picked like this for some decades now:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-v8D-ARk_M
Velveeta..
ReplyDeleteAin't tech wunnerful?
Love how it unloads the metric buttload 'bale' w/o stopping...
Remember a discussion about 'farm raised salmon'... buddy - "Wonder how they harvest them?"
Combine, like anything else...
If everyone who thinks these overpaid punks playing a game don't deserve notice, then quit going to their overpriced games and quit watching them on TV. Maybe cutting off their income will get through to their uneducated brains
ReplyDeleteThe only people more pathetic than those overpaid thugs (yes, dat be a facis' word) are the oblivious dregs who pay their salaries... the people in the stands and in front of the TV set at game time.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, who ain't no part African and is in her 80s, picked cotton as a preteen. So this afternoon I am going into the local Walmart and pull all of the cotton balls out of the pill bottles. Then I will go to the sports department and deflate all of the footballs. I may need bail money.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't watched football or any athletic competition for many years. The reason? Athletes, for the most part, are vastly overpaid for having but one skill set. They are also spoiled brats with no sense of responsibility. And, I don't know the number, but many of them, after they get too old or broken, end up on skid row.
Fred said it well. Ditto. I quit watching college ball of any kind. Those are the farm teams where these assholes are assembled. There are some exceptional student-athletes, but not nearly enough. You want to educate? Then educate. You want to play at football?
ReplyDeleteGet the hell off my lawn.
It would have been better if Trump had not gotten involved with the extremely hypocritical NFL player's protest, in my opinion. Afterall, it is their First Ammendment right, and will most likely fade out after a season or two of continued declining viewership.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Richard Petty, "Anybody that won't stand up for the anthem ought to be out of the country. Period. What got 'em where they're at? The United States.”
ReplyDeleteNascar team owners have the opposite approach. No one 'kneed' at the NH race this weekend.
Pat Tillman was unavailable for comment. Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteOnly in the good ol' USA would paying millions to people to play a game on TV be considered "oppression".
ReplyDelete@Geoff: I hear ya, but the players are at work, and their employers are condoning this behavior by allowing it. I'm sure that such demonstrations at any other company would be taken very differently, as you subjugate many of your rights to your employer as a condition of said employment...
As for the situation, I believe the NFL is dying a slow death at their players' knees.
Now, back to cutting down this tree with this herring...
The left set its sights on destroying the NFL. Some of the players set their sights on disrespecting the country, (AFTER the election of the WORST most INCOMPETENT black guy, (who's actually an Oreo), in the nation's history). Every player I've seen doing this is a "person of color", but, considering a sport where the participants get hit in the head REGULARLY, WITHOUT helmets or protective gear... BOXING... the left gives us... CRICKETS!!!!? What is going on... just a BITCHFEST?
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing about these protests complaining about what an awful country this is, especially if you are not white. And yet, what is one of our biggest problems? Accommodating the millions of non-white people who are literally dying to come and live here. Maybe it's only awful for millionaire athletes who feel oppressed because society unfairly looks down on thuggery, rape and partner/spousal abuse, and other crimes.
ReplyDeleteIMHO, these players are killing their golden goose. Sports is one of the few things in our society that people can enjoy together regardless of ideology or other differences. It's mass escapism for a few hours. And Progressives in their desire to politicize absolutely everything are working hard to destroy that. ESPN has been committing suicide for years now. Ratings for the NFL overall are dropping. These clowns need to realize that at the end of the day, they are entertainers and we do not need them that badly. Bore and annoy us, and we'll happily spend our time and money elsewhere. Millions already are.
As @Stilton infers, of all the things going on in the world this week, this is really the dumbest and least consequential, especially when compared to:
o North Korea is threatening to test a hydrogen bomb in the atmosphere.
o Three national disasters impacting millions of citizens.
o Acid attacks continue unabated in Europe.
o So many jihadists are using Amazon to buy their bomb making supplies, that the site's "frequently bought together" algorithm now makes shopping easy.
o Another church shooting.
And regarding yesterday's church shooting: Didn't even see it on the news this morning. Where are the calls for more gun control from the usual suspects that are inevitable after this sort of thing? (crickets) I find it consistent and interesting that such demands are notably absent when the shooter isn't a white guy. There will be absolutely no introspection about what cultural influences might possibly had motivated him. And considering that the shooter was an immigrant from Sudan, expect not to hear any more of it at all.
On yet another playing field: I'm old enough to remember when Presidents didn't mind when players took to their knees. But conservatives were just as upset.
Did you catch my hero at the Steelers game Stilt? USMA first, repays his college debt and still wants to play football. The Eagles in their infinite wisdom cut him so it turns out he's only good enough to be the blind side tackle for Big Ben. Can I get an ooah for Alejandro Villanueva who had the gumps to stand at the outer end of the ramp while the rest of the team stayed off the field for the National Anthem. I'm finished with the NFL and with ESPN.
ReplyDeleteDon't watch football (except LSU,and this year they aren't doing so great). Think the NFL is a production/support company for abusive men and head tramas. They should be paying these guys the salaries soldiers get and paying soldiers (the real heros) what those NFL pansies make.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that the left is becoming more ridiculously strident every second. Their rhetoric and behavior prove democruds aren't fit to hold office while attracting more Independents. Soros is definitely NOT getting his money's worth with BLM, antifa, rent-a-rioters, etc. The pendulum is swinging rapidly toward the right.
ReplyDelete@ CA: So true. Now if only the MSM and the coastals will get a clue.
ReplyDeleteAnd the real people have voted:
ReplyDeletehttp://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/09/25/alejandro-villanueva-national-anthem/
I've always been a Denver Bronco fan, and watch NFL whenever I can. Rethinking that now. The only language these NFL people understand is written in dollars. I'm not a big fan of boycotts, but perhaps boycotting is the only way to get through to Goodell and the owners. If they start seeing more and more empty seats, and less and less viewership, maybe they will grow a set and start cutting bad actors.
On the other hand, Trump should have kept his big fat mouth shut. It used to burn me up when O'Liar would stick his nose where it don't belong, and Trump gets no pass in that regard.
Many years ago, I asked my father, a WWII veteran, why and when the National Anthem started being played at sporting events.
ReplyDeleteHe said that in the 1930s NO teams played the National Anthem. They just started the game. Starting in WWII, it was played at the start of all public meetings, at the start of movie showings, and at all sporting events.
After the war, we stopped playing the National Anthem before the start of movies and public meetings, but sports teams continued, in a "marketing effort" (my words here, not my dad's) to tie in patriotism with spending money on entertainment to watch a sporting event. NOW, in contradiction to the original effort to tie in watching a sporting event to being patriotic, the owners and players are stupidly making the playing of the National Anthem an UNpatriotic event.- not a good marketing ploy.
Another bit of trivia I picked up from my father: We didn't HAVE a "National Anthem" until 1931. U.S. schoolchildren picked "The Star Spangled Banner" over "America the Beautiful" by a ratio of about two or three to one in 1930. As a result of that vote, Congress made "The Star Spangled Banner" our National Anthem.
Incidentally, "The Star Spangled Banner" has four verses, but our National Anthem only has three. The third verse of "The Star Spangled Banner" was not included in the National Anthem, because of the derogatory lyrics, insulting the British.
Love your modest proposal. Make it so!
ReplyDelete@Geoff King, I don't think the NFL would be betraying the First Amendment by holding its players to their own rules and regulations. Was threatening to fine the Dallas Cowboys for wearing stickers honoring the fallen Dallas police offices violating their First Amendment rights? How about all the fines for dancing in the end zone, or throwing down helmets or taunting other players? Would the league/owners/coaches be so high minded if the players came on the field wearing Swastika arm bands? How about KKK hoods? I personally feel the league is making a huge business mistake by allowing this nonsense to continue. The bottom line is supreme and they are endangering it. Owners/employers have a fiduciary duty to protect their product, not pamper overpaid, America hating babies.
ReplyDeleteWell, Jesse the Jerk Jackson is in town, urging folks to Boycott NFL until someone picks up Kapernick.
ReplyDeleteSo there's that - any notice of people not watching, he will now take credit for.
Irrelevant racist has been shilling for another irrelevant racist has been. What could possibly go wrong?
On the other hand, for the first time in years (Decades?) the Lions are actually worth watching. Heart breaking ending yesterday - 8 sec left, quick lob, Touchdown! to win!
All scores automatically reviewed. Oops, he had a knee down outside the goal line, and a defender was touching him, so NOT a touchdown.
Because Officials stopped the game, they ran 10 sec off the clock.
That only had 8 sec on it.
Being beaten by the other team is no fun. Being beaten by the RULES just SUCKS...
Graylady, I've heard that before, and kid of agree. The problem is when you try to use war to sell beer...
Funny, when Tim Tebow took a knee, he was ridiculed, and eventually run out of the game. I expect he'll be healthier longer playing baseball, any way...
Sweet LORD it's hot today, AND humid... I think it's the 3rd time all year I'm running the air, and first time EVER this late in the year...
Roger Goodell: "comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL"
ReplyDeleteNVRick: "Kneeling during the anthem demonstrates an unfortunate lack of respect for the USA."
Does Goodell actually carry a brain around in his head, or has it been deflated by Tommy Brady?
Just tell the libs (most of who are far above crass games that cause sweat) that the are taking a knee to secret pray to Jesus Christ - then this will all be over before another sun rises......
ReplyDeleteHey Pete! Pete!!! ......(Jumping around waving at Pete (Detroit)...)
ReplyDeleteOh wait this ain't me , I don't know you.....Never met ya before.....never mind...
(so much for plausible anonymity)
Well, the NFL is dead to me - actually have been for quite some time.. Glad to see ESPN reaping what it's sowed. Not that they care.. The left wing agenda is littered with their followers and high paid footballers look to be next on their list...
ReplyDeleteBut what of Weiner getting 21 months hard time - think he can stick it out?
About Weeney ... I mean Weiner getting 21 months; he'll be able to 'stick' it out. He's been sticking it out for far too long now ... so to speak. I am sure that someone will be keeping him warm and comfy. Every night. Sometimes daytime too. I wonder if they'll let him have a smart phone? Or an iPad? Hmmmmmmmmmmm
ReplyDelete@Gee M- I was hoping some people would get the "Nuts who say "Knee!" reference.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the knee-benders, I support their right to express their opinions. I do NOT, however, think they should do it "at work" nor during the playing of the National Anthem. The outrage is both predictable and appropriate.
@Noor al Haqiqa- Obama had many faults, but even he knew not to kneel during the anthem. Instead, he usually cupped his hands over his groin and looked bored.
@Velveeta- Fascinating! Ever since I was a little kid attending the Indiana State Fair each year, I've been fascinated with farm machinery.
@Stan da Man- What I couldn't figure out was where all the "chaff" from the cotton plants was going!
@Judi King- I encourage a boycott of NFL games, but can't actually participate because I wasn't watching them before.
@Alej- There's plenty of guilt to go around.
@Fred Ciampi- There are PLENTY of white people who picked cotton, not infrequently in circumstances not much better than black slaves endured. I think there's a widely believed myth that ALL white folks were wealthy plantation owners who sipped mint juleps on the porch when not whipping their slaves. The truth is very different.
@Sortahwitte- It's a mistake for anyone to take themselves too seriously, but football players more than most.
@Geoff King- Amen, brother. Trump needs to be above this and move on to more important issues; the American people have got this one handled.
@AmyH- During the anthem, the idea is to stand up for what's right about America, for the ideals we still hope to realize, and to honor those who have fought to get us where we are today. We are an imperfect nation, but we're not going to get closer to perfection with such a confrontational and anti-American protest strategy.
@Casey Carney- You just sucked the air out of my lungs with that comment. Goosebumps and a sad nod.
@Emmentaler "The Employed" Limburger- Exactly. The players are in their workplace, and representing their teams and franchises. If they make a-holes of themselves, then they deserve appropriate discipline as surely as if a McDonald's worker wants to wear an Aryan Nation pin on his uniform.
@Bruce Bleu- You sum things up nicely with "What is going on - just a bitchfest?" I'd like to hear these kneeling nutjobs asked "Okay, what is it you want changed so you'll love our country again?" I'll bet no two would give the same answer (nor likely a cogent one).
In reality, the 'tards don't want to destroy the NFL, they just want to grab that big Cash Cow by the teat and start milking it for all they're worth. Most of the owners and execs are lefties and don't really give a shit or else they would have addressed this issue by now. The problem seems to be that most of the kneelers still believe that "Hands up, Don't shoot" was a real occurrence in Ferguson, MO. When will these drones wake up and realize they're being played by the MSM and the other chest-pounders. How come none of this SJW crap came out when glorious leader was still in office ? You just can't free fools from the chains they revere....
ReplyDelete@John the Econ- It's not complicated; football players are entertainers, and when they bring strident political gestures onto the field they cease to be entertaining. It's only appropriate that their subsequent market value takes a beating.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can only shake my head in agreement about the laundry list of genuinely important (even terrifying) stories being ignored while this trivial nonsense fills the "news." And yes, I had to actually LOOK for news stories to find out details about the church shooting by the Sudanese immigrant. I guess if the shooter doesn't own a rebel flag, it's just not news.
@Sam- I certainly applaud Villanueva for (literally) taking a stand. I'm starting to think that to immediately put an end to all of this, ALL teams should be kept in the locker rooms during the National Anthem, after which they can take to the field during the playing of "Yakkity Sax." I'm only 50% kidding: I think it would help remind these jokers that they're just clowns and not the whole circus.
@graylady- Amen.
@CA- I'm not sure if the pendulum is swinging right, or just tearing itself in two. These are strange days.
@Judi King- Spoiler alert: it won't happen.
@Colby Muenster- I agree with your every word.
@Alan Mcintire- Fascinating and accurate insights. Thanks for sharing!
@Mike aka Proof- I think we need a lot more Jonathan Swift-style think tanks. And yes, I'm available on short notice.
@Shelly- Yep, yep, yep!
@Pete (Detroit)- I think you're right that Jesse, that fish-eyed bastard, is hoping to take credit for people tuning out the NFL.
@NVRick- Goodell doesn't seem to realize that respect is not only earned, it can be lost when the recipient is no longer deserving.
@REM1875- Or just have the stadium announcer say: "We now play the National Anthem - feel free to bow down to President Donald Trump!"
@Tracy Evans & Fred Ciamp- And so the Weiner jokes begin (and not inappropriately so) as he begins doing hard time.
@Stilt. I've been fascinated by farm machinery since I was about 5, when I started running it.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, that great American, Tank Mcnamara, has weighed in on the kneeling controversy:
http://www.gocomics.com/tankmcnamara
On a hot September afternoon in 1969 I watched West Virginia play Duke at Duke. This was my first time as an adult of attending a game. Both teams had benches on the sidelines and both were in the hot afternoon sun. But, on looking at the setup I could see several heavy duty electric cords running out to the Duke bench and, sitting on milk crates just behind the bench was a row of window air conditioners. There was no such arrangement for the West Virginia players. I considered that to be an unfair advantage and was amazed the officials nor the West Virginia coaches didn't address the situation. I decided that afternoon to never attend another football game. I suspect we'll see a decline in football attendance and, as soccer gains in popularity this current mess will only hasten the decline. BTY, never heard of "football moms" but "soccer moms" is a part of today's language.
ReplyDeleteI forgot this on my list of "stories the media thinks are less important that what sports celebrities think:
ReplyDeleteGermany’s Merkel clings to power amid far right surge
Technically, Angela Merkel won because she wasn't voted out. But her ruling coalition took a big hit from "the far right". (Remember, in Europe, anyone to the right of an outright communist is what we might call a "conservative", and anyone to the right of that is "far right")
"The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) garnered around 13 percent of the vote, according to preliminary returns — a result expected to upend the consensus-driven culture that has marked Germany’s postwar political landscape. Though Merkel secured another term, her center-right bloc recorded its worst result since 1949, winning around 33 percent of the vote, down from over 41 percent in 2013. Most polls in the days before the election had predicted Merkel’s bloc would finish in the mid-30s, with the AfD getting about 10 percent."
BTW, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is responsible for the "Bikinis, not Burkas" ad campaign, which literally gave the pajama boys over here the vapors. (Would love to see what Busty Ross thinks about that)
Yes, recognizing the incoming flood from the Islamic world for what it is, the "deplorables" in are starting to make themselves heard, even in the staid arena of European politics. Of course, the leftist establishment will call any deviation from the Progressive norm the resurgence of the Nazis, just as they've been trying to do here. But as more people get to experience first hand the ongoing unpleasantness of the surge of people who not only do not share western values, but are willing to actively challenge them, the ranks of the "deplorables" will continue to grow. As Mark Steyn once said, "If the political culture forbids respectable politicians from raising certain topics, then the electorate will turn to unrespectable ones."
America did it with Trump, and the Germans are doing it with the AfD. The only question is, will it be too late?
@John the Econ...
ReplyDeleteAhhh... German ads. I remember when I was in Germany ('69-70) and there was a lot of subway work going on in Frankfurt. The streets were all torn up as they decided to work from the top down instead of tunneling. The mess in the streets caused a lot of complaints, so the city fathers sponsored an ad campaign to soothe the masses. There was a picture of a totally hot babe, topless, with her jeans partially unzipped. The caption said, "In order to work on the bottom, you have to remove the top first."
The posters lasted about three days or at least until they all got swiped by the American GI's who had never seen anything like that before.
Yes, indeedy, the Germans knew how to do a poster campaign... and, no, I did not get one of the posters.
Best title ever, Stilton. Still laughing...
ReplyDeleteHave to disagree with you about the teams taking the field to "Yakkity Sax." No, they should take the field to the tune of "Ma Na Ma Na" or "Looney Tunes."
Certainly not "Brave Sir Robin," as they aren't as courageous as that bold knight...