F Nike!

I suspect the anthem is played to show pride in being American, like I see everywhere with flags flying and flag stickers seemingly on every vehicle. Pride in a nation that has achieved much in its 242 year history - like other nations in earlier times, not always good but mostly - imho the world would have been (and be,) a lesser place if not for the United States of America.
one must be really full ofthemselfs to believe that. I mean you can exercise your pride without plastering flags everywhere for example. to me a flag is just a design.. a cloth..or whatever, its got no impact on my personal being or state of mind. Its I political symbol and i feel like that should be displayed politically same as with the anthem. Dont get me wrong, you can love a country without loving its political side of it and thats what a flag represents.
 
The anthem controversy is heading into the third year. Why can't the NFL and the players association find some kind of solution or compromise? The players claim they are not disrespecting our flag or veterans who keep us free. However the perspective of many many people is they are. Either way they are hurting the game. Both sides should have many reasons to fix this. I'm just a dumbass C body lover but I have a couple of ideas. In return for no more kneeling the NFL could pay for some PSA commercials during games. Or instead of continuing to roll out old over the hill musical acts they could do some kind of Super bowl halftime show that could highlight the players cause. Right now the player's cause is getting lost because the debate has turned into being all about disrespect of our flag and not the treatment of African Americans in our country. Ok, I'm done ranting. I usually don't respond to anything political here but this time I couldn't help myself.
 
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to be fair, they signed up for it. or had the option to opt out. I see this as a job risk, sorry, if youre a logger and a tree falls on you is same risk. Also many husbands/fathers nowadays would still be alive if the government wouldnt send them some far away place to defend "freedom"
 
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i know that the kneeling is done as a protest, but as an act of protest it makes no sense. kneeling is an act of reverence. it's as if they're showing more respect than is necessary.

that'd be a turn about, make them do it!
 
to be fair, they signed up for it. or had the option to opt out. I see this as a job risk, sorry, if youre a logger and a tree falls on you is same risk. Also many husbands/fathers nowadays would still be alive if the government wouldnt send them some far away place to defend "freedom"

Also to be fair, we could have kept all the troops home and been speaking German or Japanese by now. Or maybe we could all be Russian style communists. Sorry I'll pass. Wars are a destructive, dirty and costly business but sometime necessary because the alternatives are worse.

Dave
 
i quit buying nikes back in the early ninties when i knew they were manufactured with child labor
 
Believe it or not, I "get" the posters who think the anthem shouldn't be played... I don't like the idea of compulsory loyalty tests either. But that's not what this is... Let's break it down.

1) Playing an anthem before the start of a sporting event (sometimes any large event) is not uniquely American. In the most cynical sense, it might just be a universal method to get 100k people to shut up and look in the same direction. ‎

2) The above having been said, it-is-what-it-is... To live in society, we agree to stop at red lights, we don't yell "fire" in theaters, ‎we don't walk around naked, or thousands of other social mores that we adhere to everyday.

3) For many people (including myself), the anthem is a reminder of the sacrifices ‎made by ordinary citizens in military service. When you consider the thousands who will never attend a sporting event, love their wives, hug their children, or grow old; in service to a larger cause. Without these people, we would not have the "luxury" of watching boring pro-sportz events.... OR doing things that WE enjoy. Now you may not think of it that way... you might also think it's unfair that "red" means stop, but individual freedoms have a limit in ANY society. Social mores dictate that you at least respect others by observing silently. If you were invited to a Catholic wedding, would you consider it appropriate behavior to stand up during communion and yell "This is bullshit! What about the altar boys!?" Not the time, nor the place.

4) You of course, as an individual fan have every right in the world not to stand. Just be silent and respectful. I attended an Hindu wedding a few years back. I quietly and respectfully sat out the religious parts... As a normal human being should do.

5) Kapernick on the other hand is on his employer's time. Standing respectfully during the anthem has been a part of the player's contract for decades... Not hi-jacking a portion of the game by doing something different. If you don't want to stand; quit. We won't put you in a Gulag. Start your own league. Buy a team and exclude anthem-standing from your player's contracts.

A group of Chrysler engineers were on the NBC Today Show (live) a decade ago to show off some hybrid smoke 'n mirrors. If one of those guys went rogue, grabbed a mic and started ranting about heart disease; do you think he'd have a job later that day? And heart disease awareness is a worthy cause. I'm pretty sure my company even helps in some way... But those guys weren't handed a live TV feed for their personal cause. ‎

‎6) His "cause" is undefined. What should happen? Should no black person ever be questioned by the police? The fact is, his cause is bullshit. Yes, you can point to anomalies that have grabbed headlines, but on the whole incidents of Police shootings (or other violence) against minorities is NOT on the rise. Quite the opposite. And what of those balck officers who've also been accused of brutality? Is it racism or does it get a pass? This is a circle-jerk that is designed to turn tribe A against tribe B (and maybe sell some shoes inbetween). If you're bright enough to question playing anthems, you're bright enough to see this

Once again, Kapernick has every right to protest on his own time. And we all have the right to decide if we're so annoyed by him that he becomes a poison to his backers.
 
to be fair, they signed up for it. or had the option to opt out. I see this as a job risk, sorry, if youre a logger and a tree falls on you is same risk. Also many husbands/fathers nowadays would still be alive if the government wouldnt send them some far away place to defend "freedom"
Yes they did sign up, I signed up, war broke out, but I got to come home. You should be overjoyed that people volunteer for our armed forces because if they didn't the government would have to step in and force people to serve.
 
Believe it or not, I "get" the posters who think the anthem shouldn't be played... I don't like the idea of compulsory loyalty tests either. But that's not what this is... Let's break it down.

1) Playing an anthem before the start of a sporting event (sometimes any large event) is not uniquely American. In the most cynical sense, it might just be a universal method to get 100k people to shut up and look in the same direction. ‎

2) The above having been said, it-is-what-it-is... To live in society, we agree to stop at red lights, we don't yell "fire" in theaters, ‎we don't walk around naked, or thousands of other social mores that we adhere to everyday.

3) For many people (including myself), the anthem is a reminder of the sacrifices ‎made by ordinary citizens in military service. When you consider the thousands who will never attend a sporting event, love their wives, hug their children, or grow old; in service to a larger cause. Without these people, we would not have the "luxury" of watching boring pro-sportz events.... OR doing things that WE enjoy. Now you may not think of it that way... you might also think it's unfair that "red" means stop, but individual freedoms have a limit in ANY society. Social mores dictate that you at least respect others by observing silently. If you were invited to a Catholic wedding, would you consider it appropriate behavior to stand up during communion and yell "This is bullshit! What about the altar boys!?" Not the time, nor the place.

4) You of course, as an individual fan have every right in the world not to stand. Just be silent and respectful. I attended an Hindu wedding a few years back. I quietly and respectfully sat out the religious parts... As a normal human being should do.

5) Kapernick on the other hand is on his employer's time. Standing respectfully during the anthem has been a part of the player's contract for decades... Not hi-jacking a portion of the game by doing something different. If you don't want to stand; quit. We won't put you in a Gulag. Start your own league. Buy a team and exclude anthem-standing from your player's contracts.

A group of Chrysler engineers were on the NBC Today Show (live) a decade ago to show off some hybrid smoke 'n mirrors. If one of those guys went rogue, grabbed a mic and started ranting about heart disease; do you think he'd have a job later that day? And heart disease awareness is a worthy cause. I'm pretty sure my company even helps in some way... But those guys weren't handed a live TV feed for their personal cause. ‎

‎6) His "cause" is undefined. What should happen? Should no black person ever be questioned by the police? The fact is, his cause is bullshit. Yes, you can point to anomalies that have grabbed headlines, but on the whole incidents of Police shootings (or other violence) against minorities is NOT on the rise. Quite the opposite. And what of those balck officers who've also been accused of brutality? Is it racism or does it get a pass? This is a circle-jerk that is designed to turn tribe A against tribe B (and maybe sell some shoes inbetween). If you're bright enough to question playing anthems, you're bright enough to see this

Once again, Kapernick has every right to protest on his own time. And we all have the right to decide if we're so annoyed by him that he becomes a poison to his backers.
Well put Carmine
 
The pic you posted Bob shows true sacrifice. Most of those poor souls were laid to rest on foreign soil after giving everything for their country so we have the freedoms we enjoy.

Selflessly during WWII and all the other conflicts too.

Most Americans don't know that LESS THAN 0.5 PERCENT of all Americans serve in the Armed Forces. 12 PERCENT During WWII.
 
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5) Kapernick on the other hand is on his employer's time. Standing respectfully during the anthem has been a part of the player's contract for decades... Not hi-jacking a portion of the game by doing something different. If you don't want to stand; quit. We won't put you in a Gulag. Start your own league. Buy a team and exclude anthem-standing from your player's contracts.

Sigh, another factual mistake that needs to be corrected.

In case you missed it back in July we have this where it becomes quite obvious that has never been part of the NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL. Not now and not in decades especially since the anthem at NFL is a far more recent happening that at baseball games. I do believe it became a true constant about 10 years ago when the NFL signed a deal with the Pentagon.

The NFL Players Association filed a non-injury grievance Tuesday challenging the legitimacy of the NFL's new national anthem policy on several grounds.

"The union's claim is that this new policy, imposed by the NFL's governing body without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on player rights," the NFLPA said in a statement.

The NFLPA, which was not consulted about the anthem policy change, argues in its grievance that peaceful demonstration during the anthem does not qualify as "conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League."

The league will need to rely on the broad powers afforded the commissioner through the personal conduct policy, including applying the phrase "conduct detrimental," to decide whether to fine teams whose players demonstrate on-field during the anthem. NFL fans are accustomed to hearing that phrase as justification for penalizing players accused of illegal or unethical behaviors.

The NFLPA argues that kneeling during the anthem does not qualify as detrimental conduct, evidenced by the fact that the league has said players have the right to use their platform to elevate issues important to them. The players' association believes that allowing peaceful demonstrations to be grounds for detrimental conduct discipline would set a terrible precedent, which teams could use to penalize players for other peaceful demonstrations, including prayer.

Seems like the NFL doesn't know what the hell it can do and what it can't.

Just wait for the end of the 2020 season as the NFLPA CBA expires. That contract is going to be brutal for the owners.
 
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