NBA - are you watching it?

[Coyote Fan]

protesting is also patriotic.

[sdyotefan]

I agree that peaceful protest is patriotic but just imagine the patriotic fervor that will sweep our country when our athletes knee during our national anthem at the Olympics, the men and women's World Cup, etc.

[Yotes]

Aug 13, 2020 22:17:58 GMT -6 sdyotefan said:

I agree that peaceful protest is patriotic but just imagine the patriotic fervor that will sweep our country when our athletes knee during our national anthem at the Olympics, the men and women's World Cup, etc.

Side tangent - I wish the events you listed were the only sporting events that feature the national anthem. I don't understand the marriage of domestic sports and nationalism. I encounter the anthem at no other point in my life. Why sports?

[coyote70]

I'm not open to banning the national anthem at sporting events but would reconsider if we got rid of that traditional "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" song during the seventh-inning stretch at baseball games. Personally, I find peanuts and Cracker Jacks outdated and offensive when compared to a cold beer and a good hot dog.

By the way, just who started the tradition of the seventh-inning stretch? I say do away with that, too. Seven innings is way too long to sit before a having a good stretch. I say this whole tradition is ripe for a protest movement. It is unhealthy and should be discontinued.

Just joking here. No offense intended; just a little injection of sarcasm!

[sdyotefan]

The national anthem is played at numerous military functions including the raising and lowering of the flag.

[kiyoat]

Personally, I find indifference to the anthem and flag far more disrespectful than kneeling in silent peaceful protest. Plenty of fans don't bother to take their hats off anymore, or stand, or even stop texting on their phones. Some talk over the anthem. Some duck into the bathroom. That's pretty rude and unpatriotic, in my opinion. And where is the outrage for that behavior?

Everyone is free to have their opinions, though. Be offended if you like. Show your disgust by refusing to go to games, or renewing tickets, or paying for cable packages. But don't ever say they don't have the right to protest. Forced patriotism is NOT an American value. Not by a long shot.

That having been said, I cringe a little at what the NBA is doing in support of BLM. Not because I'm anti-BLM (I'm not), but because it seems very corporate and forced. The point of protest is to make people uncomfortable, so that they re-evaluate norms. No matter how peaceful the protest, the purpose is to draw attention to some kind of injustice. The purpose is to be "inconvenient" and "jarring". When corporations push anything, I'm more distrustful. It's one thing to allow coaches and players to show support, it's another to facilitate it, and join in the message. Then the opposition can paint themselves as the victims against the mainstream.

JMO.

[kiyoat]

Aug 13, 2020 22:17:58 GMT -6 sdyotefan said:

I agree that peaceful protest is patriotic but just imagine the patriotic fervor that will sweep our country when our athletes knee during our national anthem at the Olympics, the men and women's World Cup, etc.

That happened in 1968.

Smith and Carlos were largely ostracized by the US sporting establishment and they were subject to criticism. Time magazine on October 25, 1968, wrote: "'Faster, Higher, Stronger' is the motto of the Olympic Games. 'Angrier, nastier, uglier' better describes the scene in Mexico City last week."[18][19] Back home, both Smith and Carlos were subject to abuse and they and their families received death threats.[20] Brent Musburger, a writer for the Chicago American before rising to prominence at CBS Sports and ESPN, described Smith and Carlos as "a couple of black-skinned storm troopers" who were "ignoble," "juvenile," and "unimaginative."[21]

[sdyotefan]

Historically it's interesting to note that the Star Spangled Banner was first used at retreat (lowering of the flag) for a military installation at Ft Meade, SD (near Sturgis) in 1892. It became the national anthem by act of Congress in 1931.

[kiyoat]

Aug 14, 2020 6:47:24 GMT -6 Yotes said:

Aug 13, 2020 22:17:58 GMT -6 sdyotefan said:

... I don't understand the marriage of domestic sports and nationalism. I encounter the anthem at no other point in my life. Why sports?

It's definitely an American phenomenon.  Here's a good article that explains the history briefly.

www.history.com/news/why-the-star-spangled-banner-is-played-at-sporting-events

TL/DR : both WWI and WWII played a role.  Mainly the post-WWII era.

[Yotes]

Aug 14, 2020 9:54:25 GMT -6 kiyoat said:

Personally, I find indifference to the anthem and flag far more disrespectful than kneeling in silent peaceful protest. Plenty of fans don't bother to take their hats off anymore, or stand, or even stop texting on their phones. Some talk over the anthem. Some duck into the bathroom. That's pretty rude and unpatriotic, in my opinion. And where is the outrage for that behavior?

Everyone is free to have their opinions, though. Be offended if you like. Show your disgust by refusing to go to games, or renewing tickets, or paying for cable packages. But don't ever say they don't have the right to protest. Forced patriotism is NOT an American value. Not by a long shot.

That having been said, I cringe a little at what the NBA is doing in support of BLM. Not because I'm anti-BLM (I'm not), but because it seems very corporate and forced. The point of protest is to make people uncomfortable, so that they re-evaluate norms. No matter how peaceful the protest, the purpose is to draw attention to some kind of injustice. The purpose is to be "inconvenient" and "jarring". When corporations push anything, I'm more distrustful. It's one thing to allow coaches and players to show support, it's another to facilitate it, and join in the message. Then the opposition can paint themselves as the victims against the mainstream.

JMO.

Agreed that the corporate co-opting of the movement is a bad look. I cringe every time I'm watching the Twins and they are advertising "center of the movement" shirts. Don't monetize social unrest.