Hitting ESPN Where It Hurts Most

a reply to: DBCowboy

Thing about sports is that they weren't just a great equalizer off field. Most athletes would tell you they were a great equalizer on field too. You can't afford to be picky about what your fellow athletes look like if you want to win. What matters is how they perform.

Now you have to wonder.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Same with Broadway musicals.
Time was, a bunch of guys could get together to enjoy a night of singing and dancing...WITHOUT getting into a ugly fracas.

I stopped watching ESPN years ago when it felt like every announcer or host was acting more like an over the top cartoon character than a neutral commentator. It was more about trying to out retard Berman and less about calling or reporting on the game.

Now when I want updates I just use my phone and go to my team's website.

a reply to: Metallicus

I agree with you that politics don't belong on any sports' fields.
It is suppose to be a game but it's not,it's a business.I stopped
watching football after Manning won his last Superbowl.

originally posted by: Lucidparadox
. the port treatment of minorities by law enforcement... you want to boycott?

That speaks to your true views

The problem is that "poor treatment of minorities by cops" is a lie. Sure there might be a few cops out there who just hate brown people and subject them to unfair treatment, but the fact is cops mistreat whites just as much if not more. In fact, more whites are shot by cops than black people. In fact, black people are killing black people are rates that dwarf every other group in the country including the majority. THAT is the reality, yet we have to respect some racist imbeciles because they twist the facts in order to further divide the country?

a reply to: Metallicus

I'd like to know, how many of you stand in your living room for the national anthem before the game?

It's a tribute to the NFL's ability to drape itself in the flag that nobody even realizes that – prior to 2009 – players being on the field for the national anthem wasn't even standard practice.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed this morning the practice began in 2009, adding, 'As you know, the NFL has a long tradition of patriotism. Players are encouraged but not required to stand for the anthem.'

link

The players were moved to the field during the national anthem because it was seen as a marketing strategy to make the athletes look more patriotic. The United States Department of Defense paid the National Football League $5.4 million between 2011 and 2014, and the National Guard [paid] $6.7 million between 2013 and 2015 to stage on-field patriotic ceremonies as part of military recruitment budget-line items.

The practice of “paid patriotism” came to light on 30 April 2015, when Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) released a statement chiding the New Jersey Army National Guard for paying between $97,000 and $115,000 to the New York Jets for a series of promotions involving military personnel. That November, Flake and fellow Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain issued a report stating that the Defense Department had been paying for patriotic displays in football and other sports between 2011 and 2014:

another link

originally posted by: MysticPearl
a reply to: Metallicus

Lol.

Why the hell would you watch the Softball World Series?

Because, dat ass.

originally posted by: redtic

originally posted by: Metallicus
Whether or not you support Jamele Hill's disrespectful remarks about the President I ask you to simply turn it around to be about Obama and you tell me if she would have survived her tirade.

Obama didn't divide the nation with ignorant and racist comments, so that's an irrelevant comparison.

Sure he did. He claimed that white people have a "built in" fear of black people. That we all lock our door or roll up our windows when a black person is near. That's not true. its a racial stereotype. He also claimed his mother was a "typical white person" in that she was racist. He also gave a speech to La Raza, a brown supremacist organization. He also openly supported BLM a group that organizes events where they raid an area and attack the whites with slurs and chants such as "F#ck you, filthy white f#cks".

FFS, ESPN, otherwise known as the Extra Special Political Network is RUINING my Sunday morning pre-NFL with all this Political Bull$h!t.

Just STFU and report on the NON political sports like you are supposed to do.

No wonder their rankings are tanking.

originally posted by: Lucidparadox
originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe

Thats Old School then. I work for a fortune 100 company with 40k + employees and in the office we can bedazzle our cubes with political everything if we want. Freedom of speech. At my workplace we also have employee organizations, we have ones for future women leaders, minorities, LGBT's, Millennials, etc. We also get corporate emails about legislation that can effect our work that encourages us to speak to our politicians.

Sure....I can see that and that was true where I worked for not-in-the-public work spaces.
But, being in the public.....being a spokesperson for the employer.....you could not wear political anything....totally different issue.

a reply to: ColoradoJens

This is gold.

The NFL, as a business, had patriotic displays turned into a commodity by our government. Once the demand for these displays ended, why would the NFL feel compelled to give away this commodity for free?

Sure...you can blame the NFL. But the real isue is our government running this propaganda on us using entertainment and media.

And we are stupud enough to pay to receive this propaganda.

LMAO!!!!

a reply to: stosh64


You're a fan/customer they don't give a fluck about you. Obey.........Okay!!!

originally posted by: Tarzan the apeman.
a reply to: stosh64


You're a fan/customer they don't give a fluck about you. Obey.........Okay!!!

Quoted for truth. Sadly.

I say F# them, pirated streaming works for me.

espn is garbage. so much pro-paganda. i saw a ten minute segment last night about how great it is to kneel during a national anthem.

imagine kneeling in england? kneeling in ireland? kneeling in russia? in japan?

no, but in the soleftitsright world of bonkers they welcome it.

part of the problem is the orginal plans in 1850 to eradicate all borders and set up a one country world. now with stef curry saying 'fokk the flag' little kids will be like, 'yeah, we do not need flags'

anything that deals with inter-nationalism is a scam. its being forced upon the peoples because of the original plans.

we need to do everything we can to stop the bad guys.

a reply to: ketsuko

Are you comparing the firing of an employee who made remarks that demeaned, and therefore offended, a subsection of the company and others, with players simply kneeling in solidarity and silent protest during the National Anthem?

A derogatory opinion aimed at co-workers and women in general, versus a silent, non-violent statement of protest against perceived injustice.

Wonder what the difference there could be.

a reply to: HeadCrunchMcRockGroin

Sure he did. He claimed that white people have a "built in" fear of black people.

I'm looking for that quote. Would you mind referencing it with a link?

Compare Trump's tweets and screeching with Obama: Hmmm. One sounds like a President, the other a child.

But we still have to close these opportunity gaps. And we have to close the justice gap -- how justice is applied, but also how it is perceived, how it is experienced. (Applause.) Eric Holder understands this. (Applause.) That’s what we saw in Ferguson this summer, when Michael Brown was killed and a community was divided. We know that the unrest continues. And Eric spent some time with the residents and police of Ferguson, and the Department of Justice has indicated that its civil rights investigation is ongoing.

Now, I won’t comment on the investigation. I know that Michael’s family is here tonight. (Applause.) I know that nothing any of us can say can ease the grief of losing a child so soon. But the anger and the emotion that followed his death awakened our nation once again to the reality that people in this room have long understood, which is, in too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement.

Too many young men of color feel targeted by law enforcement, guilty of walking while black, or driving while black, judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness. We know that, statistically, in everything from enforcing drug policy to applying the death penalty to pulling people over, there are significant racial disparities. That’s just the statistics. One recent poll showed that the majority of Americans think the criminal justice system doesn’t treat people of all races equally. Think about that. That’s not just blacks, not just Latinos or Asians or Native Americans saying things may not be unfair. That’s most Americans.

And that has a corrosive effect -- not just on the black community; it has a corrosive effect on America. It harms the communities that need law enforcement the most. It makes folks who are victimized by crime and need strong policing reluctant to go to the police because they may not trust them. And the worst part of it is it scars the hearts of our children. It scars the hearts of the white kids who grow unnecessarily fearful of somebody who doesn’t look like them. It stains the heart of black children who feel as if no matter what he does, he will always be under suspicion. That is not the society we want. It’s not the society that our children deserve. (Applause.) Whether you’re black or white, you don’t want that for America.

It was interesting -- Ferguson was used by some of America’s enemies and critics to deflect attention from their shortcomings overseas; to undermine our efforts to promote justice around the world. They said, well, look at what’s happened to you back home.

But as I said this week at the United Nations, America is special not because we’re perfect; America is special because we work to address our problems, to make our union more perfect. We fight for more justice. (Applause.) We fight to cure what ails us. We fight for our ideals, and we’re willing to criticize ourselves when we fall short. And we address our differences in the open space of democracy -- with respect for the rule of law; with a place for people of every race and religion; and with an unyielding belief that people who love their country can change it. That’s what makes us special -- not because we don’t have problems, but because we work to fix them. And we will continue to work to fix this.

Just a general example.

Obama

a reply to: Liquesence

I've been pretty supportive of players kneeling, tbh. That said....they are public facing employees in an industry that has been tasked by its users with creating role models. We know how bad professional sports fails at this, and im not shocked or shook by it. But if their consumers have an expectation that isn't being met, that company is not going to fare well economically.

Im a huge fan of football. I'd rather see the NFL capitulate, and then get us back to watching some good games. How many other leisure time hobbies are going to be ruined by this stupid political idiocy we have here in the US? I already don't like people...this sure isn't helping.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Yes, they are propped up as role models, and have a public platform. I would argue that their actions are admirable, and do not tarnish that role model image, since their silent actions are grounded in the the nation's principles. For those who get their panties in a wad that it's disrespectful, I wonder where the same outrage is over similar things.

True, if the commercial aspect is affected it, then it'll be a bigger issue for those who are losing money, so if advertisers start pulling ads, or if people truly stop watching or goings to games, it will become a business problem, but I don't see that happening to a large enough degree to be effective. Until then:

It's manufactured outrage; I don't understand how players simply kneeling—and only kneeling—during the National Anthem is so jarring and disruptive to the entire game that some people feel the need to make a huge deal about it.

If anything, it's a show of solidarity, not disrespect. But that's just my take.

a reply to: Liquesence

Im not disagreeing with you.

I don't think its disrespectful at all. My ancestors died fighting in various wars for this country, or were sent back home broken shells of who they used to be. They did this to defend what it means to be America. They did not do this to defend America (except maybe WWII...but that is debatable in the face of facts), but rather to defend the notion of America. Despite the reality of why we really go to war...that is what our veterans were fighting for.

The essence of what this is, is the right to speak your mind. Of course, there is the fallout from people who don't like what you have to say...but taking a knee during the national anthem is just one of those things that people have died to give you the right to do. And doing so is a celebration of their sacrifice. Like i keep alluding...you have to buy into the whole justifications used for our past wars for any of this to work without lying to yourself. But at the end of it all...that is what our soldiers were willing to die for, and we shouldn't discourage people from taking advantage of those rights.

What worries me the most is the surging nationalism in our country. I knew it was bound to happen soon (along with the protectionism that comes with it), as Strauss Howe Generational Theory had predicted it. So we have about 20 years, give or take, of putting up with this nonsense before it runs its course and we move on to the next phase in the generational model.