Politics in Football, Sports in General

[Kirby Jackson]

14 minutes ago, OutOfBubbleGum said:

It is football, not a platform for politically correct viewpoints. End of story.

It's not a defining moment in history, just a day in our lives. I don't care what the players say or do six days a week, or even in the offseason. On gameday while fans are in attendance they should man up and be professional. If any player supports a rioter and looter, that player should be kicked off the team.

LOL

 

I’ve had a really lousy day and this just cheered me up. I can see the headline tomorrow, “Brady supports looter and Bucs cut ties. Coach Bruce Arians is excited to see what Blaine Gabbert can bring to the table”

[OutOfBubbleGum]

Lol

[LB48]

8 hours ago, OutOfBubbleGum said:

What is everyone's opinion? Should politics be kept out of the NFL? My opinion is yes, keep it out. For starters, after a long week of working and seeing the news, I personally want to escape from all of that outside influence and relax watching football. I do not care who is sitting next to me at a football game, from any walk of life, I just want to watch the game and high five. Yet when things become political, the game isn't as enjoyable. My opinion is sports and sports teams should be like Switzerland and be neutral.

 

AGREE!  It's an entertainment business and not a way of life.

[WickedGame]

Calling something “politics” is an easy way to dismiss it. For some people, the hard conversations you’re being forced to listen to aren’t “politics”...they’re inescapable realities.

 

I’m guilty of wanting people whose views I dislike to go away sometimes. I admit it. Not my finer moments, but I’ve felt those feelings. Even said it out loud.

 

Still...there’s a lot of people suffering in this world, and who am I to tell someone who’s suffering when and where they’re allowed to have a voice? I oughtta try to truly understand them, but even if I’m not willing to go that far, the least I can do is to not declare myself the gatekeeper of the appropriate time and venue to ask to be heard. 

Edited June 10, 2020 by WickedGame

[Billl]

5 hours ago, OutOfBubbleGum said:

The biggest point of this came from kneeling a few years ago. I think it is great the players have a cause they feel so much about. Their choice of kneeling gametime alienated many people. After their work hours have at it, but not when the fans that pay to see the game and relax (get away from it all) are there. If people want to enjoy the game but gameday the NFL and players are pushing it, where is the enjoyment for the fans?

The same crybabies who couldn’t stay away last time won’t stay away this time either.  The NFL has already accounted for the fact that the boomer generation loves to shake their fists, but they can’t throw a punch.  For every fixed income snowflake they lose due to this, they stand to gain a millennial who has actual purchasing power for the next 40 years.  
 

Best get used to the new reality.  People in nursing homes don’t buy season tickets.  They’re now the target demographic for reverse mortgages, copper healing bracelets, “tactical” sunglasses, and cashing in IRAs for gold coins.

1 hour ago, OutOfBubbleGum said:

It is football, not a platform for politically correct viewpoints. End of story.

It's not a defining moment in history, just a day in our lives. I don't care what the players say or do six days a week, or even in the offseason. On gameday while fans are in attendance they should man up and be professional. If any player supports a rioter and looter, that player should be kicked off the team.

And the players don’t care what you say or do seven days a week.

[Billl]

42 minutes ago, WickedGame said:

Calling something “politics” is an easy way to dismiss it. For some people, the hard conversations you’re being forced to listen to aren’t “politics”...they’re inescapable realities.

 

I’m guilty of wanting people whose views I dislike to go away sometimes. I admit it. Not my finer moments, but I’ve felt those feelings. Even said it out loud.

 

Still...there’s a lot of people suffering in this world, and who am I to tell someone who’s suffering when and where they’re allowed to have a voice? I oughtta try to truly understand them, but even if I’m not willing to go that far, the least I can do is to not declare myself the gatekeeper of the appropriate time and venue to ask to be heard. 

I’m sure people thought Branch Rickey was too political when he signed Jackie.  The same types have sung the same song since the beginning of time.  The dustbin of history is filled with them, but there’s always room for more.  In the end, they always lose.  Always

[nedboy7]

Bringing politics into football should be punished with some police brutality. 

[Kirby Jackson]

Timely: https://theundefeated.com/features/for-the-nfl-issues-have-to-outweigh-the-optics-this-time-around/

[Rocbillsfan1]

10 hours ago, OutOfBubbleGum said:

What is everyone's opinion? Should politics be kept out of the NFL? My opinion is yes, keep it out. For starters, after a long week of working and seeing the news, I personally want to escape from all of that outside influence and relax watching football. I do not care who is sitting next to me at a football game, from any walk of life, I just want to watch the game and high five. Yet when things become political, the game isn't as enjoyable. My opinion is sports and sports teams should be like Switzerland and be neutral.

 

You are right and the nfl should remedy this by removing the national anthem and using the players as pawns to do their little military party at every game to make sure everyone is worshiping the flag the same way conservatives do. The nfl and conservatives have been running this ***** down everyone’s throats for long enough. Enough with the bull#### just play the ***** game. 

[Ralonzo]

Would rather not see these public events turned into purity tests for one side or the other. Don't care to see people kneeling for the purpose of disrespect, nor see (for instance) veterans or responders brought in for seal-clapping praise.

 

The easiest appeal to make, is to the reason people came there to patronize your product to begin with. If the NFL had maintained a neutral stance where protestant deviance is the responsibility of the individual, who could hold them to fault? But by choosing a stance, first on one side, now on another, they predictably anger all sides. It's bad business and a lack of leadership from Goodell to "bend the knee" as it were, to outside forces.

Edited June 10, 2020 by Ralonzo

[JoPoy88]

11 hours ago, OutOfBubbleGum said:

What is everyone's opinion? Should politics be kept out of the NFL? My opinion is yes, keep it out. For starters, after a long week of working and seeing the news, I personally want to escape from all of that outside influence and relax watching football. I do not care who is sitting next to me at a football game, from any walk of life, I just want to watch the game and high five. Yet when things become political, the game isn't as enjoyable. My opinion is sports and sports teams should be like Switzerland and be neutral.

 

So many things wrong with this, but I’ll just point this one thing out: Switzerland is, in modern times, militarily neutral. That does not mean the country is apolitical. So you capped this whining post off with a false analogy. Congratulations ? 

[JoPoy88]

13 hours ago, OutOfBubbleGum said:

What is everyone's opinion? Should politics be kept out of the NFL? My opinion is yes, keep it out. For starters, after a long week of working and seeing the news, I personally want to escape from all of that outside influence and relax watching football. I do not care who is sitting next to me at a football game, from any walk of life, I just want to watch the game and high five. Yet when things become political, the game isn't as enjoyable. My opinion is sports and sports teams should be like Switzerland and be neutral.

 

can we also talk about the fact that your screen name is a partial quote from a movie (i.e., a piece of entertainment, like a football game) with an overt political message about conformity, elite control and anti-consumerism? My goodness the irony is thick as molasses. 

Edited June 10, 2020 by JoPoy88

[GunnerBill]

5 hours ago, Putin said:

I had no idea that saluting our military had anything to do with politics , is it ok to thank them for their service or that might offend someone? 

 

I never said it wasn't okay to salute them. Of course it is okay. But it is also political. That service that they have carried out is at the political direction of politicians. They are an organ of the state. 

5 hours ago, Brueggs said:

It is complicated, but something tells me that with those kind of salaries, a full scale revolt isn't likely.  

 

Maybe. I am not as convinced. 

[JoPoy88]

53 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I never said it wasn't okay to salute them. Of course it is okay. But it is also political. That service that they have carried out is at the political direction of politicians. They are an organ of the state. 

 

Maybe. I am not as convinced. 

it only becomes “political” for some when someone does something that diverges from their own personal politics. 
 

So you’re exactly right Gun.

[GregPersons]

17 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:

it only becomes “political” for some when someone does something that diverges from their own personal politics. 
 

So you’re exactly right Gun.

 

Right on. "Political" is pejorative. It's weird because really it just means conversation and discussion aiming to solve a social issue. "Politically correct" is the F-bomb of the political family of pejoratives. Which is also weird because all "politically correct" means is just being respectful of other people's identities when discussing social issues. 

 

So common phrases like "let's not talk about politics" = "let's not talk about solving anything, ignoring it will do for now"

 

"I'm anti-PC" = "I'm anti-basic respect for your identity" 

 

Ironically, people who tend to spout such phrases are often insistent on you accepting and respecting their identities and solutions, as a given. Military presence in NFL games is just one example. They would never think that insisting on standing, clapping, calling people by titles and sir, all those shows of respect we give to cops / military — that's not "political correctness" to them. Even though, that is exactly what it is. 

 

I'm sure NFL and NBA and all leagues will do a ton of in-game salutes to doctors. I wonder if people will call that politically correct or not. If it's a black doctor they will.

Edited June 10, 2020 by GregPersons

[Hermes]

10 hours ago, Brueggs said:

You realize that NFL players are just people, right?  You are missing the point completely.  Maybe someone doing their political grandstanding on their employers platform might not bother you as an individual, but if it causes a problem for the business, its not fair to the employer.  There is a time and a place for everything, especially when you are representing a business for compensation.

 

I'm not missing the point in the least we just have different perspectives on it. The NFL as an employer gives it's employees the opportunity to express opinions by grandstanding themselves and making a spectacle of the whole ordeal. People would still watch if there were no anthem or flyovers. 

 

The NFL, in particular, and major league sports, in general are completely different beasts than your average employers. The NFL as an organization isn't a fair model for it's employees where players are treated like cattle and drafted by teams they might not want to play for, all for the 'privilege' to continue their employment. 

 

The visibility of the platform that these athletes perform on is absolutely astronomical.  So yes, while they are still people, the impact they have due to their  profession is much greater than almost all other people around the world. 

[Dirtyd415]

15 hours ago, Billl said:

Tom has a political science degree from Harvard.  Rush Limbaugh dropped out of college after two semesters at Southeast Missouri State.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs never went to college...are/were they less intelligent than your pal Tom? 

[JoPoy88]

3 minutes ago, Dirtyd415 said:

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs never went to college...are/were they less intelligent than your pal Tom? 

both attended college.

[GregPersons]

6 minutes ago, Hermes said:

The visibility of the platform that these athletes perform on is absolutely astronomical.  So yes, while they are still people, the impact they have due to their  profession is much greater than almost all other people around the world. 

 

Well put. 

 

Kaepernick understood this. He understood he had Celebrity Privilege. He used it. "With great power comes great responsibility." That's what he was doing. He knew he was making a sacrifice and taking a risk to make a statement and start the conversation. It worked. It was effective. Even in spite of the NFL's deliberate interference. (And also the NFL could've easily just supported him from the beginning, supported the cause -- they already do Breast Cancer Awareness month, why not do something like BLM Month? Black lives matter outside of February) 

 

Just in the way that -- let's be honest, we've been to the games -- Bills fans is a community that is probably close to 70% white people. Maybe higher. Even though Buffalo as a city is a lot more diverse than that. And the team is obviously majority Black athletes. 

 

So, in the way that Kaep used his Celeb Privilege, it's important to understand that everybody has some form of privilege. It's not the same for everybody. White Privilege is obviously very common, and prevalent. It also means that White people helping the cause means a lot; it encourages their fellow White people to perhaps do the same and challenge racism in the fight for freedom & equality as ideals we actually believe in. We can make them actually ideals that are lived up to.

 

But that's just one form of privilege. There's all kinds of ways people have different advantages. Attractive Privilege or Tall Privilege or Rich Privilege or ... on and on and on. There's all kinds of ways people have influence they can wield, and use it for the force of good!

[JoPoy88]

9 hours ago, OutOfBubbleGum said:

It is football, not a platform for politically correct viewpoints. End of story.

It's not a defining moment in history, just a day in our lives. I don't care what the players say or do six days a week, or even in the offseason. On gameday while fans are in attendance they should man up and be professional. If any player supports a rioter and looter, that player should be kicked off the team.

famous last words. Next step: yelling at clouds.