"A Nation Divided, Sports United" ~ The Equality & Other Issues Thread

[ryaningf]

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[truth18]

Shannon Sharpe making sense?

God help us all.

[sam_I_am]

My only partisan political commentary on this is that I am sorry for my conservative friends who love football. They are being played by their leader who has ruined Sunday football for a lot of them so he can divide this country with hateful rhetoric even further.

I find it very funny to see them having meltdowns on Facebook. A ton of my 'friends' through sports in HS and college seem to have similar politics and are in law enforcement in some capacity.

The pain is real. Most of my friends that live and die for football Sunday are out of their minds right now and claim they are boycotting NFL. My hunch is that most ticket holders feel the same. It will be interesting to see the ratings this Sunday. Won't stop me from DVRing the game and speeding through the 12 minutes of actual football.

[Shamrock]

The NFL is boycott proof, those people that say they will stop watching will be back tuning in soon enough.

[Froob]

Ravens fans want the Lewis statue taken down because he knelt, not because he’s a murderer. Pathetic.

[ryaningf]

My only partisan political commentary on this is that I am sorry for my conservative friends who love football. They are being played by their leader who has ruined Sunday football for a lot of them so he can divide this country with hateful rhetoric even further.

I find it very funny to see them having meltdowns on Facebook. A ton of my 'friends' through sports in HS and college seem to have similar politics and are in law enforcement in some capacity.

The pain is real. Most of my friends that live and die for football Sunday are out of their minds right now and claim they are boycotting NFL. My hunch is that most ticket holders feel the same. It will be interesting to see the ratings this Sunday. Won't stop me from DVRing the game and speeding through the 12 minutes of actual football.

Exposing hypocrisy and plunging into existential crisis IS painful. But these people are the equivalent of adults who still believe in Santa Clause. They're a bunch of Peter Pans who never grew up, never matured into nuanced, thinking people, and now a cultural moment 50 years in the making breaks them to pieces. Yeah, it is funny. And sad.

I actually stopped watching football a couple years ago. It might make me sound like a pussy but I couldn't stomach the real-time demise of guys I actually cared and rooted for, couldn't watch a big hit without mentally fastforwarding 20 years into the future to a breaking news report of that guy's CTE-related suicide. The sport is literally diseased and will be defunct (or radically altered) within our lifetimes. The research coming to light on CTE is just staggering right now. 1 season of football between the ages of 8-13 leads to diminished brain function. Guys who started playing tackle football before the age of 12 have 2 times the relative risk of problems with behavioral regulation, apathy and executive function and 3 times the relative risk of depression. And now they think they can test for CTE in living subjects:

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/26/16372088/boston-university-cte-test-for-the-living-football-impact

Guys are going to be quitting the game in record #s once the test becomes available. Not just pro guys, but high schoolers and college guys too.

[claycarver]

Last year at my daughter's swim meet, after the anthem, my wife told me she wanted the Star Spangled Banner played at her funeral. I laughed, thought she was kidding. She said, “No, I’m serious. When it's playing, we're all together and reverent. I love the National Anthem. For just a few minutes, we were all together.”

It's made me kind of sad that the anthem is being used for other things now. But maybe it's good. If those minutes of togetherness were a lie, at least now we aren't pretending anymore.

[ConstableGeneva]

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[Slartibartfast]

The NFL is boycott proof, those people that say they will stop watching will be back tuning in soon enough.

Doubt that - there are a lot of entertainment options.

I was a diehard NFL, NBA and MLB fan growing up. I completely lost interest in the MLB after the strike and I lost interest in the NFL after I discovered the nose candy that is RealGM.

And even my NBA affection has been dulled by the Warriors/Cavs monopoly on contention.

[Slartibartfast]

I find it very funny to see them having meltdowns on Facebook. A ton of my 'friends' through sports in HS and college seem to have similar politics and are in law enforcement in some capacity.

The pain is real. Most of my friends that live and die for football Sunday are out of their minds right now and claim they are boycotting NFL. My hunch is that most ticket holders feel the same. It will be interesting to see the ratings this Sunday. Won't stop me from DVRing the game and speeding through the 12 minutes of actual football.

Exposing hypocrisy and plunging into existential crisis IS painful. But these people are the equivalent of adults who still believe in Santa Clause. They're a bunch of Peter Pans who never grew up, never matured into nuanced, thinking people, and now a cultural moment 50 years in the making breaks them to pieces. Yeah, it is funny. And sad.

I actually stopped watching football a couple years ago. It might make me sound like a pussy but I couldn't stomach the real-time demise of guys I actually cared and rooted for, couldn't watch a big hit without mentally fastforwarding 20 years into the future to a breaking news report of that guy's CTE-related suicide. The sport is literally diseased and will be defunct (or radically altered) within our lifetimes. The research coming to light on CTE is just staggering right now. 1 season of football between the ages of 8-13 leads to diminished brain function. Guys who started playing tackle football before the age of 12 have 2 times the relative risk of problems with behavioral regulation, apathy and executive function and 3 times the relative risk of depression. And now they think they can test for CTE in living subjects:

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/26/16372088/boston-university-cte-test-for-the-living-football-impact

Guys are going to be quitting the game in record #s once the test becomes available. Not just pro guys, but high schoolers and college guys too.

Why are we calling NFL fans unnuanced, unthinking Santa Clause-believing Peter Pans? We're a bunch of dudes spending our free hours arguing about basketball and whether Kyrie Irving thinks the world is flat.

Some humility is in order!

[fallguy]

As a Canadian, it is really hard to process the American fetishizing of the flag/anthem.

[ryaningf]

The pain is real. Most of my friends that live and die for football Sunday are out of their minds right now and claim they are boycotting NFL. My hunch is that most ticket holders feel the same. It will be interesting to see the ratings this Sunday. Won't stop me from DVRing the game and speeding through the 12 minutes of actual football.

Exposing hypocrisy and plunging into existential crisis IS painful. But these people are the equivalent of adults who still believe in Santa Clause. They're a bunch of Peter Pans who never grew up, never matured into nuanced, thinking people, and now a cultural moment 50 years in the making breaks them to pieces. Yeah, it is funny. And sad.

I actually stopped watching football a couple years ago. It might make me sound like a pussy but I couldn't stomach the real-time demise of guys I actually cared and rooted for, couldn't watch a big hit without mentally fastforwarding 20 years into the future to a breaking news report of that guy's CTE-related suicide. The sport is literally diseased and will be defunct (or radically altered) within our lifetimes. The research coming to light on CTE is just staggering right now. 1 season of football between the ages of 8-13 leads to diminished brain function. Guys who started playing tackle football before the age of 12 have 2 times the relative risk of problems with behavioral regulation, apathy and executive function and 3 times the relative risk of depression. And now they think they can test for CTE in living subjects:

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/26/16372088/boston-university-cte-test-for-the-living-football-impact

Guys are going to be quitting the game in record #s once the test becomes available. Not just pro guys, but high schoolers and college guys too.

Why are we calling NFL fans unnuanced, unthinking Santa Clause-believing Peter Pans? We're a bunch of dudes spending our free hours arguing about basketball and whether Kyrie Irving thinks the world is flat.

Some humility is in order!

Right, humility is always in order, but the difference is we're well aware of the frivolity of what we do.

[Slartibartfast]

As a Canadian, it is really hard to process the American fetishizing of the flag/anthem.

I personally think our anthem sucks - not really all that stirring and mostly just an excuse for Mariah Carey wannabes to stretch out their vocal chords.

But the symbolism is powerful and shouldn't be all that hard to understand. Love of country is a natural extension of love of family and community.

Sports fans should know this better than anybody - why do we care about a bunch of banners hanging from rafters? Why do we put so much value into the logo and the jersey?

Tribalism, baby.

[threrf23]

I would have liked to see more players, if not whole teams, kneel on Sunday. Not that I cared much, not that it would have necessarily been worth the controversy.

After Trump's comments, this wasn't about supporting anybody's cause so much as it was about showing support for their right to protest, or to otherwise act how they saw fit. Freedom of political belief, freedom to oppose leadership, are vital to the core of what this country is supposed to stand for.

Kaep-haters are quick to point out that there are more effective ways to protest police/racism than to kneel for the national anthem. I am quick to point out that there are much better ways to show respect and appreciation for the country, it's present and past military, and it's people than to simply stand for the national anthem.

That isn't to put Kaep on a pedestal. He is a half black man, who potentially identifies as black, and who had been adopted by two white parents. It wouldn't surprise me if his whole ordeal has been about ironing out issues with his personal identity far more than it has been about societal change.

Although I also see nothing wrong with that. He is (was) exercising his personal freedom and constitutional right in a manner that does/did not interfere with his professional responsibilities, hopefully makes him happy, and likely does more good than bad. Good for him.

I tend to feel awkward about the pledge of allegiance and national anthem as is. Unity is great and all but it just kind of feels to me like the type of formulaic nationalism our country is supposed to be above. If you have to constantly glorify something, you are compensating for something.

[ZeroTolerance]

All I know is Cheeto head is still talking about the NFL and has still not helped Puerto Rico.

.....

The sad thing is that Puerto Rico needs a hell of a lot more help than just hurricane relief. The island is being decimated by an incredible debt burden and is losing its people to emigration at an alarming rate as they search for employment. Very sad situation that's been terribly under reported for years in the states.

Know this.....the guy is a jerk..plain and simple and he is only using the flag and sports to solidify his (IMO) ignorant voter base and give them something to hollar about....At the end of the day, "Cheeto" only exists to call attention to himself....

He in no way stands for the majority of white Americans....And he's not my president.....No way.... no how....

Texas and Florida house many of his supporters....Puerto Rico, not so many....

What a poor excuse for the leader of the free world....to discriminate on who gets aid and who can wait for theirs...

But that's the nature of this beast....Sooner or later, anyone who has a brain will see Cheeto for what he really is....

Thanks for letting me vent....

[leper-con]

As a Canadian, it is really hard to process the American fetishizing of the flag/anthem.

I personally think our anthem sucks - not really all that stirring and mostly just an excuse for Mariah Carey wannabes to stretch out their vocal chords.

But the symbolism is powerful and shouldn't be all that hard to understand. Love of country is a natural extension of love of family and community.

Sports fans should know this better than anybody - why do we care about a bunch of banners hanging from rafters? Why do we put so much value into the logo and the jersey?

Tribalism, baby.

What hasn't been said is that people are n't protesting the anthem, they are protesting the man in charge.

[sam_I_am]

I find it very funny to see them having meltdowns on Facebook. A ton of my 'friends' through sports in HS and college seem to have similar politics and are in law enforcement in some capacity.

The pain is real. Most of my friends that live and die for football Sunday are out of their minds right now and claim they are boycotting NFL. My hunch is that most ticket holders feel the same. It will be interesting to see the ratings this Sunday. Won't stop me from DVRing the game and speeding through the 12 minutes of actual football.

Exposing hypocrisy and plunging into existential crisis IS painful. But these people are the equivalent of adults who still believe in Santa Clause. They're a bunch of Peter Pans who never grew up, never matured into nuanced, thinking people, and now a cultural moment 50 years in the making breaks them to pieces. Yeah, it is funny. And sad.

I actually stopped watching football a couple years ago. It might make me sound like a pussy but I couldn't stomach the real-time demise of guys I actually cared and rooted for, couldn't watch a big hit without mentally fastforwarding 20 years into the future to a breaking news report of that guy's CTE-related suicide. The sport is literally diseased and will be defunct (or radically altered) within our lifetimes. The research coming to light on CTE is just staggering right now. 1 season of football between the ages of 8-13 leads to diminished brain function. Guys who started playing tackle football before the age of 12 have 2 times the relative risk of problems with behavioral regulation, apathy and executive function and 3 times the relative risk of depression. And now they think they can test for CTE in living subjects:

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/26/16372088/boston-university-cte-test-for-the-living-football-impact

Guys are going to be quitting the game in record #s once the test becomes available. Not just pro guys, but high schoolers and college guys too.

I too would like to stop watching but Tom Brady has made it damn near impossible. Players like him and Larry Bird just don't come around very often.

[ZeroTolerance]

As a Canadian, it is really hard to process the American fetishizing of the flag/anthem.

I personally think our anthem sucks - not really all that stirring and mostly just an excuse for Mariah Carey wannabes to stretch out their vocal chords.

But the symbolism is powerful and shouldn't be all that hard to understand. Love of country is a natural extension of love of family and community.

Sports fans should know this better than anybody - why do we care about a bunch of banners hanging from rafters? Why do we put so much value into the logo and the jersey?

Tribalism, baby.

What hasn't been said is that people are n't protesting the anthem, they are protesting the man in charge.

So true....But you know?....What I would really like to see is Cheeto lined up in the backfield and snap after snap, let each team take a shot at him...a full blitz.....then another then another until everyone....both player and fan had had his shot....

That would be too good for him....

I would like to see him hurt, the same way he hurts innocent people with his brand of insults and actions .....

[Captain_Caveman]

As a Canadian, it is really hard to process the American fetishizing of the flag/anthem.

I've spent a lot of time in Canada, and think it is just as ubiquitous up north. Maybe more in an identity context than pure nationalism, but you guys are just as into your flag, IMO.

[fallguy]

As a Canadian, it is really hard to process the American fetishizing of the flag/anthem.

I've spent a lot of time in Canada, and think it is just as ubiquitous up north. Maybe more in an identity context than pure nationalism, but you guys are just as into your flag, IMO.

I don't disagree with any of that. The nationalism is the distinction for me.

To the extent I hear it here, I have never understood the need to proclaim country X the best on Earth. It rankles me when anyone does that - particularly those that aren't well traveled.