(no subject)

[shadowkat]

My mother and I were laughing our heads off over THIS.

Mother called this horrendously hilarious. She's not wrong.

During Sunday’s NFL games, scores of NFL players knelt during the national anthem, imitating the protest initiated by Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback who took a knee during the anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. The widespread protest was adopted after Donald Trump lashed out at Kaepernick’s actions in a campaign rally, saying, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now – He’s fired’?”

(Trump also doubled down and called for a boycott of the NFL until the protests stop, hilariously not realizing that there was already a left-wing call for a boycott against the league’s racism.)

There are a lot of football games on Sundays, and players protested at almost every single one. Even those players who didn’t kneel linked arms in a sign of unity with their teammates, and almost every football organization had issued a statement of support for protesting players before today’s games.

Apparently, or according to my mother who watched the game (I don't watch Football unless it's the superbowl and the Giants are playing), the Pittsburgh Steelers, outside of one player, refused to come out on the field during the playing of the national anthem.

Me:Uhm, what do they normally do?
Mother: They normally come out on the field, stand and put their hand over their chest. Lately they've been kneeling in protest. But the Steelers decided to not come out at all.
Me: Well, that does save the knees.

Mother: Owners of the Football teams and heads of the NFL who had supported Trump and contributed to his campaign, are now, standing shoulder to shoulder with their teammates in protest against him.
Me: Wow. Guess they are regretting that campaign contribution about now.

Mother: He's told Americans to stop watching football and said the sales are decreasing, and less people are attending games...meanwhile the stadiums are filled to capacity. He also told them to fire the people kneeling.
Me: Like they are really going to fire the guys scoring the goals. Come on. Also Americans don't stop watching football.
Mother: They don't care about the violence and the injuries...
Me: There's a boycott of it going from the left...
Mother: That's mainly about the injuries.
Me: No I think that's a separate boycott. Although, honestly I don't see how any of these boycotts will work, people who love football will continue to watch football and go to football games. Unless you give them a deeply personal reason not to.

Comments

[rebcake]

I was an occasional football watcher, but I'm definitely boycotting this year, and not because of the injuries, although those are bad enough. I don't really expect it to have an effect, but it enrages me to watch, so it's just not gonna happen. MiAmor just started watching more regularly last year, and he's not boycotting, but I'm hoping to maybe move him over to college ball, which he's never been too keen on. Oh well.

[shadowkat]

Just as long as you realize that not watching it on television isn't going to matter unless you have a Nielsen box. Because only those homes that have Nielsen boxes are counted. Otherwise no one will know or care that you are boycotting but you.

But if you go to the games, then yes, not going matters. However, there's three boycott's going on at the moment. Two (injuries and the anti-racism) that make sense, the third is simply ludicrous and petty (the national anthem bit).

I don't like the game, the appeal is mostly lost on me. ;-)

[conuly]

Does it count as boycotting if you just kinda aren't interested in sports BUT ALSO are dismayed and shocked at the prevalence and severity of CTE among football players?

[shadowkat]

Probably not. Although wish it did, because I feel exactly the same.

I think the sport should be overhauled or discontinued...because of the serious injuries and deaths related to it. But, considering Boxing is just as bad, as is Hockey, and Rugby...don't see that happening. Most people don't seem to care. ;-(

[conuly]

There was an article in the NYTimes about... some football player who killed himself in prison, where he was after murdering his wife. They showed pictures of his brain from his autopsy. I don't know shit about the brain, but it looked bad.

This is getting a lot of traction lately. I think it's going to have an effect within a generation or two.

[dlgood]

The player in Question was Aaron Hernandez - he was convicted of murdering a friend. It's understood that he likely committed suicide because doing so before his sentencing allowed his will to go to his girlfriend and children rather than be seized by the estate of his murder victim.

He was 26 and hadn't played for 3 years. His brain was said to resemble that of a 67-year old man.

[conuly]

Thanks. Got some of the details wrong, I see. No surprise - I was too busy staring in horror at the holey cauliflower slices that were his brain.

[dlgood]

Mother: Owners of the Football teams and heads of the NFL who had supported Trump and contributed to his campaign, are now, standing shoulder to shoulder with their teammates in protest against him.
Me: Wow. Guess they are regretting that campaign contribution about now.

Doubtful. This is a league full of extremely rich, extremely conservative and mostly old white men. They care mostly about Tax Breaks. And various other hardcore right-wing causes.

They didn't want Trump to be a member of their club - he's been trying to get into the NFL for over 30 years. But, they will always prefer any Republican. They just wish he was less vulgar. And when the next election rolls around, they're checkbooks will be open to him.

[shadowkat]

That's why a lot of people voted for Trump, because they preferred any Republican. Or they went third party -- like some of my family members.