A Sea Of Red

It's all over Facebook. But one thing is certain: Ballcoach stands for the National Anthem.

Trump is a narcissist, but he's no idea. His comments in Alabama were pandering to the audience. Also, it serves to distract from his current troubles with the legislative branch.

They have a Right to kneel
You have a right to disagree with them kneeling.
Just because you protest something doesn't mean you are right and they are wrong

I disagree with the reasoning for the protest, however everyone that served knows they served to protect the right of people to say stupid stuff.

The highlight of the previous administration was the Beer Summit. Grown men sitting and talking about an issue.

That is what we need. Dialogue. I have never been on the legitimate receiving end of racism other than the obvious lack of scholarships for middle class white kids. There are plenty of racists that think less of someone purely because of the color of their skin. Many have been the victim of racism. However, the discussion needs to happen on how to reconcile the disparity between those that have been the victim and those that haven't even seen real racism.

I was furious during Furgeson and Baltimore and every other riot. Peaceful protest is protected. This is peaceful protest. I'm glad these athletes recognize they have an opportunity to create dialogue through this protest and chose to do so.

Some teams are locking arms in unity. What a message! Regardless of skin color, they're arm in arm. I think unity is the right message here that we can get behind. Most of us countered Black Lives Matter with All Lives Matter. This unity sub-movement could be a resolution.

They obviously have the right to kneel

I was not the biggest fan when it started but sure as heck prefer it over violence.

The president has much larger things to worry about and should shut up about it. It has now given it much more fuel. So good job buddy.

Also can people please stop sharing singular posts from military members on social media and pretending all military members have the same opinions. We are a collection of Americans with differing opinions on political issues. It annoys me to no end when I see people , from the left and the right, try to use a singular opinion to make it look like we all feel a certain way. It is insulting on so many levels. It is way more insulting, in my opinion, than what some stupid football players do or don't do.

its all entirely stupid. on both sides. standing or kneeling for the anthem affects my life like .001%. so while i have an opinion on whether or not one should stand or kneel or if they have the right to or even if what they are kneeling for is a valid appeal, i don't care because yesterday will have absolutely 0 say in how my week goes.

The NFL should have suspended Klappernick last year the first time he disrespected the national anthem.
Also the media is more focused on the ____________ disrespecting the nation, than they are on the actual game, or even the final score.

EVERYONE needs to leave politics out of sports. Sports are about playing the game and trying to win.

When you say everyone needs to leave politics out of sports (which I agree with) do you also include the president in that remark?

thepostman wrote:When you say everyone needs to leave politics out of sports (which I agree with) do you also include the president in that remark?

That's sort of a loaded question. If someone asks him to fill out a bracket is that putting Politics in Sports?

Also, if Kaepernick doesn't kneel then Trump doesn't say anything. So it's a Catch 22
You also bring up a good point, which I'm sure was by accident Map was protesting Police Misconduct by kneeling for the Anthem. 99.9% of people equate The Anthem with the country as a whole and the Military, not so much the Police. So it doesn't compute to most people. As I have seen. It's like being mad at Wal Mart so you protest McDonalds (or Bruger King in ballcoach's case )

thepostman wrote:When you say everyone needs to leave politics out of sports (which I agree with) do you also include the president in that remark?

lets ask the president :

I'm sad to say that the one consistent take I've walked away from this weekend with, is that many people make an idol out of the flag and the national anthem. I say this as the guy who is named after Francis Scott Key (He's an uncle, and thankfully my first name isn't Francis).

RubberMallet wrote:

thepostman wrote:When you say everyone needs to leave politics out of sports (which I agree with) do you also include the president in that remark?

lets ask the president :

He probably changed his mind when he took on the office and solved all the "far bigger problems."

Purple Haize wrote:

thepostman wrote:When you say everyone needs to leave politics out of sports (which I agree with) do you also include the president in that remark?

That's sort of a loaded question. If someone asks him to fill out a bracket is that putting Politics in Sports?

Also, if Kaepernick doesn't kneel then Trump doesn't say anything. So it's a Catch 22
You also bring up a good point, which I'm sure was by accident Map was protesting Police Misconduct by kneeling for the Anthem. 99.9% of people equate The Anthem with the country as a whole and the Military, not so much the Police. So it doesn't compute to most people. As I have seen. It's like being mad at Wal Mart so you protest McDonalds (or Bruger King in ballcoach's case )

I'm not sure you can compare the president filling out a bracket to the president calling a bunch of football players SOB's for taking a political stand so I am not really sure how to respond except to say Trump did call out Obama for that back in the day on twitter so that doesn't really help your argument.

The president is, and should be, held to a higher standard than some idiotic football players. A player taking a knee to make some kind of statement has very little effect on me or my life. The president and how he operates day to day has a very real effect on my day to day life so I care much more what he does and what he says. With that position comes a great responsibility. Most seem to understand that but Trump has yet to wrap his mind around that fact.

I think a lot of the stuff over the weekend is less about following Kap, and more about telling the President to stay out their business.

For what it's worth I think it's a good discussion to have when it comes to the anthem. When we stand, is it for the country? Is it for the flag? Is it for the military? Are we showing respect for the country as it is? Are we showing respect for the ideas behind the United States, looking beyond all of our current failures?

I'm guessing the answer is different for everyone because the American experience looks different for different people and many people have different reasons for standing or not standing. Or course, all of a sudden, when someone doesn't stand, other people feel that it's disrespectful to the reasons they do stand. I.E., "I stand for the military, so if you don't stand, you're against the military."

I believe that protesting peacefully is its own form of honor to the country. I don't have a problem with the players doing it. I wouldn't personally. I would find another way to protest. But if pushed to it, maybe I would reconsider so as to boost the dialogue. I can't say.

YR, that's a REALLY GOOD point! A lot of it comes down to perspective. And as 20 said, I too have never personally experienced racism. So I can't say I understand the position of these protestors. I may never FULLY understand it. But I can come closer by listening. Listening to understand rather than just listening to respond. If these actions can spur a dialogue, let's go!

Kaep started this and didn't seem to have a real good clue what the next step was. The protest got the attention. Maybe it will invigorate dialogue. So, what's next?

JK37 wrote:I believe that protesting peacefully is its own form of honor to the country. I don't have a problem with the players doing it. I wouldn't personally. I would find another way to protest. But if pushed to it, maybe I would reconsider so as to boost the dialogue. I can't say.

YR, that's a REALLY GOOD point! A lot of it comes down to perspective. And as 20 said, I too have never personally experienced racism. So I can't say I understand the position of these protestors. I may never FULLY understand it. But I can come closer by listening. Listening to understand rather than just listening to respond. If these actions can spur a dialogue, let's go!

Kaep started this and didn't seem to have a real good clue what the next step was. The protest got the attention. Maybe it will invigorate dialogue. So, what's next?

Thanks, I wasn't a fan of Kap doing it, but it was what it was. And, over the last several months where we've been reminded of what violent protest looks like, I've softened my view on it and welcome it compared to some of the other nonsense. As a society, we want to encourage nonviolent protests, but then get upset when those nonviolent protests interrupt something a lot of society considered sacred.

We can't eat our cake and have it too.

I think you're 100% right that I hope this discussion should encourage dialogue. When someone kneels we should ask, "Why are you kneeling? What vision do you have of the future where you would stand again? How can you feel the same about this country that I feel?"

And maybe the answers to their questions leave us at a place where we say, "Well, that's not going to happen" but at least we have some understanding.

I think the biggest problem with the kneeling is that it's clear that they are not sending the message they have desired to send. I've seen so many people believe that players who kneel must hate America or the military, etc. I'm guessing they don't (for the record I'm speculating as I don't personally know anyone who knelt). Of course this is related to the earlier point of the act of standing meaning different things to different people. When you interrupt that, not everyone understands why and "what we have here is a failure to communicate."

I just pray that the dialogue happens and this doesn't become about kneeling/not kneeling.

JK37 wrote:I believe that protesting peacefully is its own form of honor to the country. I don't have a problem with the players doing it. I wouldn't personally. I would find another way to protest. But if pushed to it, maybe I would reconsider so as to boost the dialogue. I can't say.

YR, that's a REALLY GOOD point! A lot of it comes down to perspective. And as 20 said, I too have never personally experienced racism. So I can't say I understand the position of these protestors. I may never FULLY understand it. But I can come closer by listening. Listening to understand rather than just listening to respond. If these actions can spur a dialogue, let's go!

Kaep started this and didn't seem to have a real good clue what the next step was. The protest got the attention. Maybe it will invigorate dialogue. So, what's next?

I would hope you proactively have a policy on this. I know a small HS in VA came up with one over the weekend

Some many Snowflakes are protesting something these days, protests have mostly lost their power . Most of the snowflakes don't even know what they are protesting. Media should ignore them, and 99% would go away. But the liberal media is more focused on some jerk protesting than they are the final score of the game.

So if someone is getting upset about "snowflakes" getting upset and protesting something then does that make the person complaining a snowflake as well?

thepostman wrote:So if someone is getting upset about "snowflakes" getting upset and protesting something then does that make the person complaining a snowflake as well?

Yep. LOL

No

if you have time to whine and moan about something that doesn't directly affect you whatsoever, you are a so called "snowflake"

like if you were trying to walk past someone and couldn't because they were kneeling for the anthem and blocking your way and you complained about them? not a snowflake. Turning on the tv and seeing someone a thousand miles from you kneeling for the anthem not preventing you from anything and you complain about it? snowflake.

I spent 20 years in the U.S. Army. I know a little something about paying respect to the National Anthem.

I also spent enough time in Washington, DC and Northern Virginia to know a little about Snowflakes.

ballcoach15 wrote:I spent 20 years in the U.S. Army. I know a little something about paying respect to the National Anthem.

I also spent enough time in Washington, DC and Northern Virginia to know a little about Snowflakes.

It doesn't really snow in DC. Now in the Midwest....