The ratings are in on the first NFL game of the season and the owners should be worried. Philadelphia's 18-12 victory over visiting Atlanta earned all time low television ratings and, I believe portends rough seas ahead for the tone deaf management of the league. While they dither fans are making up their minds and many, like me, are choosing to look elsewhere for entertainment.
No more wasted Sunday afternoons. I never watched the weekday games, so no great loss there. College football should be a sufficient pigskin fix for me from this point on. Baseball, with the anthem AND "God Bless America" will soon be in playoff and World Series mode making any pro football withdrawal easily palatable . Who needs the disrespect of a bunch of millionaire meat heads?
Oh, I get the "free speech" argument the D minus Parks & Recreation majors of the gridiron offer as their reason for kneeling during our national anthem, however flawed their execution of the message. Better men and women than they sacrificed their lives for them to say and do whatever they please.
Most of us, if we have a beef, can take our message to the street or commit it to paper (or a blog) anytime, anywhere, however few are afforded the opportunity to do it on company time. If these athletes are so certain of the statement they wish to make, why not hold rallies after the game or write Op/Ed pieces for newspapers? Why must they dishonor our nation and the sacrifice of so many men and women and their families who have served unselfishly to keep us safe and free? Sadly, I feel that the few in the NFL who choose to take a knee rather than stand respectfully during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner have given little or no consideration to the consequences of their actions.
Even more despicable than this tantrum of the gifted yet foolish few is the decision of the Nike company to capitalize on the faux bravery of the simpleton, Colin Kaepernick, who began this ill considered gambit. Shame on them. They are no longer in the shoe business, having forsaken it, with their Kaepernick advertising campaign, for the business of seeking attention.
No more Nikes for me! They hurt my feet when I stand for the anthem.
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