NFL Takes A Knee ....

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Wave of protests grip NFL after Trump urges fan boycott

More than 150 players could be seen kneeling or sitting in the 14 games that took place Sunday, easily the largest such demonstration since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first began protesting in 2016.

One of the biggest protests took place in the nation's capital, where almost the entire lineup of the Oakland Raiders team sat on their bench ahead of their game with the Washington Redskins.

A day of demonstrations began at the London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens at Wembley Stadium, where a large number of players from both teams knelt.

In Nashville, neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Tennessee Titans took to the field to observe the national anthem.

"We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of this color in this country," Seattle players said in a statement just prior to kickoff.


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Healthy democracies have ample room for politics but leave a larger space for civil society and culture that unites more than divides. With the politicization of the National Football League and the national anthem, the Divided States of America are exhibiting a very unhealthy level of polarization and mistrust.

The progressive forces of identity politics started this poisoning of America’s favorite spectator sport last year by making a hero of Colin Kaepernick for refusing to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games. They raised the stakes this year by turning him into a progressive martyr because no team had picked him up to play quarterback after he opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers.

The NFL is a meritocracy, and maybe coaches and general managers thought he wasn’t good enough for the divisions he might cause in a locker room or among fans. But the left said it was all about race and class.

All of this is cultural catnip for Donald Trump, who pounced on Friday night at a rally and on the weekend on Twitter with his familiar combination of gut political instinct, rhetorical excess, and ignorance. “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,’” Mr. Trump said Friday.

The Politicization of Everything
Everybody loses in the Trump-NFL brawl over the national anthem.
 
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Hijinx

Well-Known Member
Wave of protests grip NFL after Trump urges fan boycott



More than 150 players could be seen kneeling or sitting in the 14 games that took place Sunday, easily the largest such demonstration since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first began protesting in 2016.

One of the biggest protests took place in the nation's capital, where almost the entire lineup of the Oakland Raiders team sat on their bench ahead of their game with the Washington Redskins.

A day of demonstrations began at the London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens at Wembley Stadium, where a large number of players from both teams knelt.

In Nashville, neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Tennessee Titans took to the field to observe the national anthem.

"We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of this color in this country," Seattle players said in a statement just prior to kickoff.

That's cool. Let them sit in empty stadiums. See who pays their large salaries.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Sales Of Villanueva’s Football Jersey Skyrocket


Alejandro Villanueva, the lone football player on the Pittsburgh Steelers who stood during the national anthem Sunday while the rest of his team remained in the locker room, has become more popular than ever as sales of his jersey have skyrocketed.

Sales of the former Army Ranger’s jersey on Fanatics.com shot up to the highest-seller among Pittsburgh Steelers jersey as of just 10 PM Eastern time.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
That's cool. Let them sit in empty stadiums. See who pays their large salaries.

:yay:

Pretty Much .....

and when viewers tune out ...

Advertisers see a loss of viewers Push to Lower Advert Costs ....
Watch the Networks Scramble to Renegotiate Broadcasting Contracts ....

Cable Providers see a Drop in Viewers and Push for Lower Access Costs
 

Wishbone

New Member
Actually the stadiums won't empty. You won't have that many people vested in anything beyond the game.

Most damaging scenario is a slow bleed out by continuing shrinking revenues.
 

baxter

Active Member
DONE with the NFL. I would be willing to bet, 80 percent of the players have never even been out of the Country, other than playing a game in London. They have no idea how good they here it here in the USA. Yet they cant even stand for the National Anthem? Get the hell out. Boycott the NFL. After watching the Pittsburgh game where only the coach was standing for the Anthem while the little overpaid bitches stayed in the locker room, SICKENING
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Steelers Coach Didn’t Want Army Vet To Stand For Anthem [VIDEO]


ittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin indicated Sunday night that he did not want offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva to stand for the national anthem, instead of sitting it out with the rest of his teammates.

Villanueva, a former Army Ranger who served three tours in Afghanistan, was the only Steelers player to stand for the anthem. While Villanueva stood in the tunnel, hand over his heart, the rest of the team remained in the locker room in protest of President Trump’s comments that players who kneel during the national anthem should be fired.

Tomlin said in a post-game press conference that he was looking for “100 percent participation” in whatever course of action the team took during the national anthem.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
DONE with the NFL.


A third of Americans less likely to watch NFL games due to anthem protests

“Are football fans voting with their TVs?” asks a new Rasmussen Reports survey. “As the NFL struggles to explain this season’s downturn in viewer ratings, 34 percent of American adults say they are less likely to watch an NFL game because of the growing number of protests by players on the field,” the poll reports, noting that 12 percent say they are more likely to watch, while half say the protests have no effect on their viewing decisions.

“Interestingly, there’s little difference of opinion on the protests and NFL viewing habits among whites, blacks and other minority adults,” the poll said.

“These numbers are little changed from October of last year after Colin Kaepernick, then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, initiated the protests, citing racial and police brutality issues.”
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
If the really wanted to do something, they would spend some off field time in the ghettos, asking these thugs to quit killing each other over street corners
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
Tomlin said in a post-game press conference that he was looking for “100 percent participation” in whatever course of action the team took during the national anthem.

100% participation in standing for the national anthem - a way of saying to the rest of the protesters "we are committed to the United States first, and will fight our differences out in the proper venue" - should maybe have been his goal.

A team isn't a team unless it works together as a team. Villanueva made a mistake from a "team work" point of view. But, it appears the three-tours-in-Afghanistan veteran maybe put his love of country above his love of team, and that's ok in my book.




To be fair, I accept that it is these protesters' right to take a knee, and that no one would change their view by being forced to stand. They are non-violently making their voices heard, and that's ok. However, they are demonstrating immense lack of respect for the sport (see "teamwork" discussion above) and for their fellow citizens. There are far better ways for them to make their point, and this one is a problem for the sport they play in terms of sustainable revenue. If I'm not mistaken, baseball never came fully back from the strike, and I don't see people giving football much more of a chance.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
If the really wanted to do something, they would spend some off field time in the ghettos, asking these thugs to quit killing each other over street corners

Every damned one is a freakin' millionaire. There's dozens of ways they could ACTUALLY make a difference instead of this, which is childish in nature.
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
If the really wanted to do something, they would spend some off field time in the ghettos, asking these thugs to quit killing each other over street corners

That would imply that the issues are cultural, not the police. That goes against their narrative. While they are statistically blind to the realities of black people shot by cops vs. white people shot by cops:
Peter Moskos said:
Peter decided to use figures from the website Killed by Police.
Based on that data, Mr. Moskos reported that roughly 49 percent of those killed by officers from May 2013 to April 2015 were white, while 30 percent were black. He also found that 19 percent were Hispanic and 2 percent were Asian and other races.

Comment: So, that means that blacks make up approximately 50% of the violent crime rate, but only 30% of the "killed by cop" rate, and therefore are LESS likely to be shot statistically than white people.

You can't admit the problem is cultural. Every black person who has tried to do so has been attacked viciously.
 

transporter

Well-Known Member
baaaaa....baaaa....baaaa

The President of the United States publicly advised owners of private businesses to fire their employees for exercising their rights as Americans. (Do any of you "patriots" understand what that means?)

As disgusting as it is, every American in every stadium should have taken a knee. THAT is the America our military fights for. Our military exists to preserve our freedoms remember? It does not exist to create a monochrome, monotone citizenry that you people seem to want.

People should stand for the National Anthem because they want to not because they are forced to.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
To be fair, I accept that it is these protesters' right to take a knee .....



I do not ... players are PAID to do a JOB, take your politics off the field on YOUR OWN TIME ....
I would not PAY to see see you / hear your political rant / stunt

your boss would not put up with #### in the company front lobby, why are they putting up with it on the playing field
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
3. Trump Will Make Bank Off This Issue. President Trump can always count on the media and the Left to lose their minds over everything he does, to the point that their tactics backfire in spectacular fashion on them. This issue is no different. Trump overstepped by suggesting from the White House bully pulpit that NFL owners should fire players who protest the Anthem — that’s a particularly egregious position to take when the Trump administration is actively and rightly fighting for the rights of religious business owners to run their own businesses as they see fit. But that doesn’t matter. By turning the Anthem protests from a settled issue into a referendum on him, Trump pushed the Left’s buttons — and the Left responded in the stupidest possible fashion, by suggesting that everyone kneel for the Anthem. The Left thinks they’re protesting Trump’s overreach. The image that will hit the newspapers, however, is Leftists supporting protesting the Anthem itself, which is deeply and properly unpopular. If the Left believes they’re going to win hearts and minds by kneeling for the National Anthem, they’re insane. Even the New England Patriots were booed for protesting the Anthem on Sunday. The biggest winner of the day was Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle and former Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva, who bucked his team’s boycott of the Anthem to appear and stand for the Anthem (his jersey sales skyrocketed). The biggest loser was Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy, who stretched during the Anthem. Trump may have stepped in crap, but he’s the one who will come out smelling like a rose politically.

4. Democrats Will Make Bank Off This Issue. It’s not just Trump who will do well with this issue. Democrats will do well with their base, even if they suffer with the middle of the country. They may not win back the Rust Belt based on this issue — they’ll almost certainly push a lot of those people into Trump’s camp — but they’ll raise enormous sums of cash from celebrity backers, and increase their cultural dominance and cache. Trump may win Ohio, but Democrats will still be the cool kids hanging out with Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Stevie Wonder. That seems to matter to them.

5. Our Cultural Fabric Is Eroding. Quickly. In February 2017, I wrote a column titled, “Can The Super Bowl Save America?” The basis for the column was simple: America needs to take a breath from politics every so often. Football is one of those breaths. As I wrote:

Hollywood and pop culture would do well to remind themselves that if they don't want to alienate half their audience and exacerbate our differences, they can allow us room to breathe. The Super Bowl did that this year. For that, we should be just a little grateful, even if it didn't solve any true underlying problems. Those will require a bit more time and a bit more space.





http://www.dailywire.com/news/21472/trump-vs-nfl-6-things-you-need-know-about-ben-shapiro
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
I do not ... players are PAID to do a JOB, take your politics off the field on YOUR OWN TIME ....
I would not PAY to see see you / hear your political rant / stunt

your boss would not put up with #### in the company front lobby, why are they putting up with it on the playing field

You're making my point - they have the right to take a knee, you have a right to not pay them to do so.

As I say, I think they're making a mistake, I think they are being beyond disrespectful in doing this in this way, and they are tone-deaf to the fact they are making LESS people sympathetic to their cause, not more. But, that is their right.
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
baaaaa....baaaa....baaaa

The President of the United States publicly advised owners of private businesses to fire their employees for exercising their rights as Americans. (Do any of you "patriots" understand what that means?)

As disgusting as it is, every American in every stadium should have taken a knee. THAT is the America our military fights for. Our military exists to preserve our freedoms remember? It does not exist to create a monochrome, monotone citizenry that you people seem to want.

People should stand for the National Anthem because they want to not because they are forced to.

Every American "should have" taken a knee? Why? Do you believe every American in every stadium wanted to? Or, are you doing the same thing the president did and mouthing off without thinking through what you're actually saying?

The president is no longer a private citizen. He has the right to an opinion, but I actually agree with you it is inappropriate for him to call for a boycott of the NFL over it. As the representative of the executive branch of government, he is essentially suggesting people be punished in private life for private opinions. This is as stupid as saying that people, at some point, have made enough money, or that because they earn more they should be disproportionately punished through the taxation system, or any other stupid thing said by politicians. It is inappropriate for a president to suggest private punishment, because that is in effect having the government suggest a limit on free speech - a first amendment issue because he is the representative of the government.

People, I agree, should stand because they want to, not because they are forced to. And, as a private citizen, I believe every one of those players should want to. And, as a private citizen, I can choose to spend my time and money supporting them, or not.
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
Then make it an NFL rule to stand for the Anthem and then fire for cause those who do not.

Until then, quit your whining and puling.

I think they do have code of conduct clauses. It is very easy to suggest this would violate such a clause.
 
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