Where is Sports & America going in My Opinion
Where is Sports & America going in My Opinion
Wow has
sports changed in the last year! Really
think about it just about six months ago I was writing about how sports had
gone into the “bubble” and how some sports had come to a stop. We were season ticket holders for the Arizona
Diamondbacks and enjoyed it. Right up
until Covid hit.
Everything Stopped…
Then
baseball stopped, the NBA stopped the play-offs, and the entire sports world
just went a bit crazy in my opinion. The
NBA came back and finished their season, football kind of played a season, it
seemed as if there were a lot of game changes, fines, and cancellations because
of covid. Even golf was affected, think
about that, a nearly zero contact sport, affected by covid. Eleven major events, I believe were cancelled
and all four majors were either cancelled or delayed because of it. I know the Phoenix Open, wasn’t open in 2020,
I for one missed it.
So everyone seems to believe that for the most
part, that is all that is affecting or will affect sports in the future. Not just this year, but for some time.
But first, let me go to the not-so-distant past…
First let me state that I for one started
losing my love for the pro-sports over a few things. The first was overpaid athletes that seemed
to think they had some sort of privilege.
A privilege that a lot of Hollywood seems to believe they have also. Things like break the law and get a slap on
the wrist. Whereas any average person
would do time, the privileged do not or do very little because they pay their
way out of it. Sports figures have joined
that club, maybe they already were in it and I did not notice it so much. I am not sure which is true, but it is true
now.
So I first
began losing my enjoyment of professional sports from the privilege they seemed
to think they deserved. So many assholes
out there, so little patience for it in my soul. The other reason I lost some love for sports
and particularly the NFL, was when Colin Kaepernick began protesting the
National Anthem and the American Flag. I
am a U.S. Army Veteran and it got under my skin. Other vet’s feel differently, many feel the
same as I, but that is another story.
Here is what was said, at the time it first happened.
And I Quote:
“Kaepernick took a knee during the anthem before the final exhibition,
on Sept. 1, 2016, in San Diego, with teammate Eric Reid joining him in protest.
Kaepernick went from sitting (previous game’s, not in uniform) to kneeling
after a conversation with Nate Boyer, a former Green Beret and NFL player. “We
sort of came to a middle ground where he would take a knee alongside his
teammates,” Boyer told HBO’s “Real Sports.” “Soldiers take a knee in front of a
fallen brother’s grave, you know, to show respect.” (credit the Washington
Post)
Like many American’s,
All I saw
was a man kneeling when he should have been standing and showing respect to our
American flag, the symbol of our Nation.
I at the time didn’t care to hear his message then and there. I felt he was sending the right message but
at the wrong place and time. I just
wanted my favorite sport to be a sport, not a message, not an outlet, not
political, not about race, religion, human rights, just a sport that I could
sit and watch and enjoy. One that would
take me away from the “real news” of today, however, Colin Kaepernick brought
the real news, the real world into my Sunday afternoon sports. Thanks Colin.
That was the
beginning of my disenchantment with sports.
But then that is also when real life as I will call it here, and sports
intertwined. What Colin was saying was
about basic human rights, the right to life, equal life. The right to be treated equally, no matter
how you look. That message should be
loud and clear, but somehow it is still foggy.
My opinion (and that is what you are getting here) is that the message
has been drug through the mud and good people who are not harming or hating
anyone are being harmed by the delivery of that message.
Basic Human Rights
And this
basic human rights message needs to be addressed on the level of sports. I do not believe that uniform changes or
kneeling or raising a fist during the anthem is how we change it. I think it must be started by the owners, the
coaches, the trainers, by every single person involved on every single team
from little league to pro.
They need to
start treating people equally and paying better attention. Does it matter if the person you are hiring
is different than the one you look in the mirror at every day? They need to recognize that there are race,
gender, and LGBT+ inequality and injustices happening on a regular basis. When we begin the recognition at a local
level with children being taught by more open-minded Adults working with them,
we will be raising a future generation of Americans that has gotten past what
we are dealing with in our country right now.
Wake Up America
What I am
talking about is parents going home to their kids and explaining how police officers
(of all races) are beating up, even killing unarmed citizens. How we are once again having mass shootings across
the nation in a sudden rash that is spreading as quickly as covid did a year
ago. How neighbors no longer look at the
neighbor and know their name and are friends with them. They are sadly just the stranger next door.
Sports must
look at all of this, why you may ask.
Because athletes come from all walks of life and if they are no longer
being taught humanity and kindness and teamwork at home, then the future of
sports and our Beautiful, Colorful Nation is at risk right along with the
future of sports.
Millionaire Owners
Owners of all the teams need to be proactive
not just with their team, but active with their community. Don’t just authorize a check to be written,
lead by example, get out there and show the community that you care. Come out from behind your golden gated
neighborhood and see the real community that loves the teams you own.
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