FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

PolarCat...formula to Coke!  Really!  Coke hasn't been the same since the company deleted "coke" from the formula...otherwise known as cocaine...about the late fifties, I guess.
More football info on Friday ...hopefully.

[westcoastDad]

http://www.gazettenet.com/Amherst-College-football-players-make-a-statement-during-national-anthem-5058925

[Mr. Ypsi]

PolarCat...formula to Coke!  Really!  Coke hasn't been the same since the company deleted "coke" from the formula...otherwise known as cocaine...about the late fifties, I guess.
More football info on Friday ...hopefully.

WOW!  Amh63 - you are older than we thought!   Coca Cola removed cocaine from the recipe in 1903!

I thought the ridiculous part of PolarCat's list was The Donald releasing his tax returns!  His ego could not survive the revelation that he is not nearly as rich as he claims, and his 'Trumpettes' might object to a combination of him paying NO taxes, giving NO charitable contributions, and being millions of dollars in debt to Russian oligarchs.  (Just speculation, but when he is the first candidate in over four decades to refuse to release his tax returns, he deserves as much negative speculation as possible.)

[frank uible]

Why not merely omit the playing of any nationalist tune at sporting events, thereby reducing the risk of emphasizing division of opinion among players, which division might adversely affect the quality of the contests?

[NESCAC.Football.Observer]

Frank U.... You sh*tting me?  Seriously..... we should placate the whining protesters?!?!?!?!?

[westcoastDad]

whining protesters?  N.F.O. really?  is that what you tell your kid when he takes a stand...."quit whining"?  tell me this...when is the last time you have been mistreated by a cop just because he profiled you?  seriously, think about it......when have you been pulled over by a cop and actually felt like, "damn, i better not screw up or my life could be over right here, right now"......over nothing but that you are of a certain ethnicity. 

over here in California a deaf kid was shot to death recently.  he couldn't hear the cops demands.  earlier this year a white kid in arizona begged and pleaded for his life as he crawled on his knees (at the request of the cop).  his shorts were sliding as he crawled.  he reached to pull up his pants.  shot 5 times.  dead.   and, we know all about the media hyped shootings.

cops have it tough.  no doubt.  i am so so glad that we have men and women who put their lives on the line every day to serve and protect our neighborhoods.  but, that doesn't mean that they can be above the law.

a cousin of mine told me a story over the weekend......he was driving to work early morning hours and got t-boned by a white lady who had her lights off and was speeding.  he got out the car, whoozy, but wondering if she was okay.  so, he went over to check on her.  when the cops arrived they put him on the ground face first.  called him the N word.  asked where he was going so early in the morning.  etc.  he was only 21 years old and driving his parents car.  he had several more stories.  he works for the Dept of Defense and has a college degree. 

whining eh?  cmon man.  get real.

Frank, I don't think we should NOT play the Anthem.  I was at the game versus Hamilton.  I didn't even notice the "silent" protest because I was too busy looking towards the flag.  I think it would be un-American to NOT have the Anthem.  Heck, how many times have we stood during the Anthem as people had their hats on, were having conversations or completing ignoring the Anthem?  To me......that is RUDE.  But, I don't worry about because to each their own. 

I don't like sports and politics.  Not at all.  But, I understand what's going on.  People are stressed and worried about things that should be much less complicated.

N.F.O. put yourselves in someone else's shoes before going to the whine card.  Go somewhere in this country where you are the "minority" and then do something that draws negative attention to yourself.  Anything.  Yell an obscenity or vulgar word directed at someone and then stand there without flinching.  Stand there knowing that the anger that could potentially come back at you is so aggressive that you could get hurt or be put to death.  You can't call 911 because THEY won't respond.  Put yourself in that type of situation man.  Where you have no assistance except fear. 

That's how a lot of people feel when faced with a cop with a gun pointed at them. 

These recent events may not be serious to you for one reason or another, but to label folks as whiners.....interesting.

Back in 1984, the students at my college took over the administration building for a night.  We slept in the admin bldg overnight to protest APARTHEID in South Africa.  Kids of all colors joined forces.  Were we whiners? 

Cmon man. 

Not sure how all of this "taking a knee" is going to end.  And, I wish it would end quickly.  But, as we observe the process of it all, I'm just proud to be in a country where we have the freedom to disagree and live amongst people with the gonads to take a stand in the face of scrutiny rather than just go with the flow. 

Peace and safety to ALL of the cops out there.  And, lets hope that innocent/unarmed civilians can get home alive just as well.

[frank uible]

Observer - Just trying to separate sporting events from politics. The alternative may be to turn games into actual or figurative shootouts.

[hamfan88]

Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion.

The ironic thing about the "time and place" argument is that the protest is meant to spark a dialogue. Look at the previous posts, it has served that purpose here. And I'd argue that it has done so in a manner better than a protest in a more appropriate "time or place," which may be more properly classified as "out of sight, out of mind."

[nescac1]

"Protests have a time and a place" ummm ... I think you are missing the point of protesting, which is to be public, visible, at least mildly disruptive and make some sort of impact. You can be on either side of the underlying argument, that's not the point.  I just think it's silly to object to a protest on those grounds. After all, if no one was talking about it, which I guess is what you'd prefer, it wouldn't be a very effective protest!  And listen, a lot of folks on this board like to bitch and moan about safe spaces (a complaint I'm actually sympathetic towards). Well, you should then applaud these kids for taking a stand about something tangible and critically important, for once, rather than silly slights. Or are you demanding that a football stadium be YOUR safe space where you need not confront ideas uncomfortable to you??  I wish the left and the right would BOTH stop whining about expression of ideas that we may find challenging or distasteful.  When did we all get so damn sensitive, and feel so aggrieved about everything???

[nescac1]

Hamfan, posted before I read your post, but amen.

[frank uible]

If the anthem's playing at sporting events is omitted, then at least for the moment the games can proceed uninterupted with the free speech ball being in the protesters' court.

[JEFFFAN]

http://www.gazettenet.com/Amherst-College-football-players-make-a-statement-during-national-anthem-5058925

[NESCAC.Football.Observer]

How about this, Mr Ferrara..... Do I feel they are whining??? Yes, I do.  And if a white kid said some of the things Jackson said in the article, there would be an UPROAR.

So let me rephrase my post.... how about "football is a team game... and individual politics has no place in a team event".

One can't come to work and protest one's political stance without repurcussions..... and it is that "repurcussion" piece that is lacking in all of these stands.....

And, frankly.... yea, they are whining. And if we ever meet, I'd tell you that to your face.

[PolarCat]

Sure sign the Apocalypse is nigh: westcoastdad and I agree 100% on this topic.

I remember how appalled my mom and dad were when Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics.  Mom and dad (bless their dear departed souls) never thought of themselves as racist.  But the idea that an American athlete would make a non-violent protest on the world stage was unthinkable.  A couple years later, there were riots in New Haven when they took me to visit Yale.  Suddenly Smith's and Carlos' actions didn't look so bad, and I wonder how racial tensions in this country would have played out if more folks had thoughtfully asked "Why are they protesting, and do they have a point?" instead just dismissing them as ungrateful malcontents.

Fast forward almost half a century.  My kid (who looks like a Vineyard Vines model in the annual Catalog for WASP's) best friend on the team is black.  If the two of them were pulled over independently for traffic violations, do I think they'd be treated the same?  9 times out of 10, I think the answer would be "no".  It's a multi-faceted problem, and not always the cops' fault.  (Like the guy in San Diego who pulled something out of his pocket and assumed a shooting stance yesterday).  But it's a real problem, and the more society talks about it, the more likely we will one day find a solution.

I wouldn't be okay with burning the flag.  I wouldn't be okay with BLM protestors having a sit-in at mid-field prior to the coin toss.  I wouldn't be okay with chants of "off the pig" and "off Whitey" like we heard in the '70's.  But taking a knee for something you believe in?  I'm good.

My two cents.

[westcoastDad]

Let's omit the referees as well.  That would really help the games to proceed uninterrupted. 

A silent protest is much better than looting and destruction of property.   "Time and place?"  As said above....that's code for out of sight out of mind.   

That Spike Lee movie "Do the Right Thing" ended with the phrase....Wake Up