Professional sports in USA - no thank you

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: ketsuko

The rest of us need not apply. That sort of destroys anything else found in the lines.

We can just take it. Rebrand it. Make it ours. Like all of us.

It strikes me as odd:
"Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave,
'or the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
was written in a time when only some were free. So some were necessarily excluded. That sort of destroys anything else found in the lines.

So I can say the same about this.

It is being pushed at a time and in a way that makes it clear that it's only intended to be a song for some and not others because those others don't want to do what you're suggesting about the song we already have.

a reply to: ketsuko

Augustus is watching so let us pay tribute to our Mediterranean teacher of Western Civilization by referring to a bit of Latin.

Patriotism - yes that misunderstood word from the Latin Patriota "fellow-countryman".

So the people sitting in the sport's bars cussing the players for not standing, and the kneelers, and stay at homers and all those Americans are patriots. Nothing we can do about it. A nice inclusive anthem would be nice.

a reply to: pthena

Then it seems we're looking for a different song altogether. Neither of them is "inclusive", and under the definition of the word, nothing will ever serve because someone, some group will always find a reason why any song you come up with will be offensive.

originally posted by: DeathSlayer
I use to love the NBA, NFL, Olympics, MLB etc.... not anymore. Stopped watching professional sports due to professional athletes wanting to voice their political opinion on the courts and field. Between "wokeism", cancel culture, CRT, BLM, kneeling/protesting and now this NEW national anthem. They have destroyed professional sports and not only players but their organizations as well.

Jersey's burned last year, cancelled all pay per view including NFL pass.....sold all sports memorbillia.

IMO spectators who continue to buy tickets at these sporting events support this type don't care, they only want to watch the game even though they are at the heart of the problem. Stop buying anything that has to do with professional sports and once their revenue drops to critical levels or hopefully bankruptcy maybe....just maybe these corporations will wake and rein in these racists looking for their 15 minutes of fame.

Sports is politics and I have had enough of both.

Missed the ncaaf championship. Cancelled the NBA. Can't cancel football ...yet. I'll cancel pro before college. I've always left channel off until kickoff anyways, but will do so with more purpose now.

I was a sports nut, but SJWs have almost completely ruined it for me. I no longer watch the NFL, NBA or MLB. I can barely stand college sports. I'm still interested in the Olympics, though I refuse to watch or root for the women's soccer team or either basketball team. I even hope they lose, which I've never done before.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

I can understand your position, but there are still some sports I'll watch. Even if they go "woke"

I gave up on all of the pro sports, too.

I used to enjoy a number of these sports but they became so political and not about sport that I just don’t have an interest any longer.

It’s too bad, really.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: DeathSlayer

That sort of beats the idea of singing about one flag lasting through one battle in one war that the U.S. started by trying to steal land from Canada.

You're so obsessed with vilifying the United States you just make # up about our history. Maybe you'd be happier elsewhere, in some place where nothing bad ever happens or happened?

The war of 1812 was not started by the USA "by trying to steal land from Canada." It was started by Britain, which was stopping our merchant ships in international waters and shanghaiing crew members they considered British, hanging any they thought were Royal Navy deserters. The Royal Navy was notorious for "impressing" men to serve in their ships, in conditions not much better than slavery, or worse. This was a common practice in Britain itself. You could be walking the streets and kidnapped by "press gangs," using any force necessary to ensure your compliance. Too bad if you had a family you could barely manage to feed and a bed-ridden wife at home. You didn't even get to tell them goodbye or why you seemingly deserted them.

Wikipedia excerpt: "By some estimates, from 1793 to 1812 over 15,000 men were forced into British service in this way. Another concern was over the British aid to the various Indian tribes helping them maintain their hold on the US Northwest Territory and prevent westward settlement east of the Mississippi River that Britain had ceded in the Anglo-American 1783 Treaty of Paris. As the impressment of U.S. citizens continued, American sentiment toward Britain grew increasingly hostile, exacerbated by flashpoint incidents such as the 1807 Chesapeake–Leopard affair. Meanwhile, the British were outraged by the 1811 Little Belt affair."

a reply to: Scapegrace

You're so obsessed with vilifying the United States you just make # up about our history.

Not obsessed, it's more a matter of realism versus mythology. American exceptionalism is myth. Sure the U.S. political system may be slightly better thought out than France's at the time but that's pretty much it for exceptionalism. The rest follows the same patterns of conquest and expansion and treaties and treaty violations like any other nation.

As for the emphasis on U.S. vs Canadian territories as opposed to British impressment of U.S. people; my 5th grade teacher was Canadian. He told some very interesting blow by blow stories about U.S. encroachment into the Great Lakes areas which became the Northwest Territories.

Sure there was a treaty, but treaties were made to be broken. They were like something to end hostilities of the moment and reconsidered later.

Maybe you'd be happier elsewhere, in some place where nothing bad ever happens or happened?

If I were to leave then I would be an unwanted burden on some other country. I would be an ex-pat rather than a patriot.

I read a rather interesting article about how The Star-Spangled Banner came to be the national anthem in 1931.
Star-Spangled Confederates: How Southern Sympathizers Decided Our National Anthem

The story of how “The Star-Spangled Banner” became the national anthem in 1931 is the story of a red-white-and-blue culture war. The patriotic song, written by Washington attorney Francis Scott Key, had been popular ever since it was written in August 1814. But it was only 117 years later, in March 1931, that Congress designated the song as the national anthem, thanks to a nationwide lobbying campaign by veterans organizations and Confederate sympathizers who prevailed over the objections of pacifists and educators. In a struggle for the meaning of American patriotism, the red prevailed over the blue.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

I can remember being glued to the TV during the 80 winter Olympics and watching the hockey vs USSR. Think that was my last Olympics I actually watched. Maybe it makes me unAmerican, I don't care. Didn't like the "Dream Team" of NBA stars dominating play during the summer games. Yet American sports have failed in my book. 1995 did me in with the MLB after the strike, never came back. NFL has continued to go downhill for many years. NBA, NHL, never really cared for either of them since there were not teams in our city growing up. As the OP says, too many politics entering the games, players wanting to use their elevated position for individual gain and push their agenda. Never wanted it, don't need it now. Haven't been to a sporting event in nearly 30 years and honestly, don't miss it.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: Scapegrace

You're so obsessed with vilifying the United States you just make # up about our history.

Not obsessed, it's more a matter of realism versus mythology. American exceptionalism is myth. Sure the U.S. political system may be slightly better thought out than France's at the time but that's pretty much it for exceptionalism. The rest follows the same patterns of conquest and expansion and treaties and treaty violations like any other nation.

As for the emphasis on U.S. vs Canadian territories as opposed to British impressment of U.S. people; my 5th grade teacher was Canadian. He told some very interesting blow by blow stories about U.S. encroachment into the Great Lakes areas which became the Northwest Territories.

Sure there was a treaty, but treaties were made to be broken. They were like something to end hostilities of the moment and reconsidered later.

Maybe you'd be happier elsewhere, in some place where nothing bad ever happens or happened?

If I were to leave then I would be an unwanted burden on some other country. I would be an ex-pat rather than a patriot.
I read a rather interesting article about how The Star-Spangled Banner came to be the national anthem in 1931.
Star-Spangled Confederates: How Southern Sympathizers Decided Our National Anthem

The story of how “The Star-Spangled Banner” became the national anthem in 1931 is the story of a red-white-and-blue culture war. The patriotic song, written by Washington attorney Francis Scott Key, had been popular ever since it was written in August 1814. But it was only 117 years later, in March 1931, that Congress designated the song as the national anthem, thanks to a nationwide lobbying campaign by veterans organizations and Confederate sympathizers who prevailed over the objections of pacifists and educators. In a struggle for the meaning of American patriotism, the red prevailed over the blue.

You think American exceptionalism is a myth? Tell me, please, what do you think this world would be like right now if the United States of America had never existed? You and I might not be alive, but aside from that, would it be better?

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: ketsuko

The rest of us need not apply. That sort of destroys anything else found in the lines.

We can just take it. Rebrand it. Make it ours. Like all of us.

It strikes me as odd:
"Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave,
'or the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
was written in a time when only some were free. So some were necessarily excluded. That sort of destroys anything else found in the lines.

It might be a rewritten British bar song from a dull era in American history (American history is BORING AF), but it's only marginally less vapid and stupid than a race-based (i.e racist) one that focuses on skin.

a reply to: Nyiah

When it comes right down to it:
since the U.S. existed as an independent country with a constitution (1789) without the benefit of an anthem (142 years), maybe the lack of an anthem isn't a fatal condition.

When I listen to this song that starts at 1:33, I think "yep, I sure wish the U.S. had a song like that."





Of course a U.S. version would have a slightly different list of people.

The way to handle this is to stop voting and tell everyone to stop voting for a country that has become so corrupt...That way you won't be part of their division anymore.

African Americans fought segregation back in the day....now they want to be segregated.

It's a #ing clown world and it's all part of the Political Propaganda.