# O say can’t you see it’s time to stop playing the national anthem before sporting events?



## bippu_as_fuck_ls400 (Jun 16, 2020)

*O say can’t you see it’s time to stop playing the national anthem before sporting events?*
https://www.chicagotribune.com/colu...0200616-p5s23eaodzd7pa3y7zqktjkdc4-story.html (https://archive.vn/0vCCY)

Once major team sports resume, fans as well as players will face an uncomfortable decision just prior to the game when the stadium announcer asks everyone to rise for the national anthem.

Or refuse — remain seated or take a knee — to show solidarity with those protesting the systemic racism and police brutality that have long betrayed and undermined the values the anthem represents?

Until now, this hasn’t been much of a decision for most people. Conform. Doff your hat. Turn your mind toward all that’s wonderful about the United States. Sing along if you have the range. Maybe put your hand over your heart.

There have always been anthem resisters who’ve taken the opportunity to express their disappointment and anger at our nation’s failings. The handful of NFL players led by San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the 2016 season, for instance. But their gesture has felt so radical and been so widely misrepresented that even many of us who are ambivalent about rah-rah displays of national pride haven’t joined them.

It’s different now. The widespread revulsion over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis May 25 has led to demonstrations in nearly 150 cities that have changed the conversation about race. Taking a knee in the context of those protests has become a gesture that indicates sympathy with the Black Lives Matter movement and a determination to improve policing in ways that respect the rights and dignity of all.

And even though the anthem hasn’t been playing as protesters and cops have knelt, the action and all the dialogue around it has clarified for many just what Kaepernick was getting at.

He was widely vilified then as unpatriotic and anti-American. President Donald Trump referred to him as a “son of a bitch” and led cheers for the view that Kaepernick was disrespecting the flag and the brave soldiers who have died in wars defending our country’s interests.

“I am not going to stand up and show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said in one of his many patient explanations to reporters. “There are bodies in the street and (police officers) getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

Living in “the land of the free” that the last line of "The Star-Spangled Banner” boasts of did not evidently include the freedom to refrain from participating in a performative exercise highlighting what a free country we live in. Trump urged a boycott of the NFL if players continued taking a knee during the anthem, and team owners blackballed Kaepernick starting with the 2017 season.

It’s not clear if or when the NFL will return this fall given the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s quite clear that kneeling will be in vogue.

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien, who is white, told the Houston Chronicle last week that he’ll now take a knee during the playing of the national anthem during the 2020 season. His star defensive end J.J. Watt, who is also white, indicated he will be kneeling as well when he said on Twitter, “If you still think it’s about disrespecting the flag or our military, you clearly haven’t been listening.”

Washington running back Adrian Peterson, who is African American, said “we’re all getting ready to take a knee together going into this season, without a doubt.” Bears free-agent safety Jordan Lucas, who is also African American, recently said he “110%” plans to kneel during the anthem.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a video June 5 in which he said, “We were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier, and (we) encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter.” In a follow-up interview with ESPN Monday, he encouraged teams to offer Kaepernick a tryout and said, “We welcome him to (the) table and to help us … make better decisions about the kinds of things that need to be done in the communities.”

So in the pro, college and probably even high school ranks, a newly enlightened and energized cohort of football players is likely to use anthem time for the peaceful protest we all believe or claim to believe in. Baseball, basketball and other major sports as well, where fans, when they are allowed to attend, will also be tasked with indicating which side of this culture war they are on.

Those who don’t somehow signify their allegiance with the protesters are likely to be the conspicuous ones now, which leads even more emphatically to the same conclusion that was obvious four years ago:

Movies, plays, concerts, ceremonies and other large gatherings don’t start with semi-compulsory patriotic observances, so why sporting events? Much as I love group singing and political expression, there will remain plenty of opportunities for both without starting each contest with a controversy.


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## kcbbq (Jun 16, 2020)

The answer, if you're facing a team that takes a knee at a football game is to start playing the anthem during the game for a free win.


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## Homer J. Fong (Jun 16, 2020)

I'd prefer it if the National Anthem were reduced to just playoff games and during National Holiday Weekends. As a person who had season tickets to a sports team it got tiring to have to do the Anthem twice a week.


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## The Great Chandler (Jun 16, 2020)

I do agree that the National Anthem gets redundant in sports, but equating American pride with American injustice is not a good argument.


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## Sped Xing (Jun 16, 2020)

Stop going to spectator sports, you fat fucks.


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## Sexual Chocolate (Jun 16, 2020)

> Living in “the land of the free” that the last line of "The Star-Spangled Banner” boasts of did not evidently include the freedom to refrain from participating in a performative exercise highlighting what a free country we live in.



You're free to fuck off and be a faggot in some other country.


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## tehpope (Jun 16, 2020)

I don't like this. This is just slowly eroding American patriotism until they can call it racist and force people to get rid of the national anthem and flag for the mob's choice. Fuck these people.


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## Happy Fish (Jun 16, 2020)

Yes. We must replace it with the glorious anthem of China. Fucking pinkos.


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## From The Uncanny Valley (Jun 16, 2020)

Take the knee, _*break your knees*_


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## Marco Fucko (Jun 16, 2020)

Sports are dumb and so is playing the national anthem before them to further ingrain them into American "culture". Also I agree with the basic statement that shitheel cops should be prosecuted for wrongful deaths.

All that being said the article, the author and protesters are all faggots and I'm praying to Drumpf to make an American Tianamen square happen.


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## Oh Long Johnson (Jun 16, 2020)

Adrian Peterson beat his children with tree branches.

Why are they interviewing him?


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## CivilianOfTheFandomWars (Jun 16, 2020)

Oh Long Johnson said:


> Adrian Peterson beat his children with tree branches.
> 
> Why are they interviewing him?


That’s pretty based.


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## корона-тян (Jun 16, 2020)

O say can't you see you should fuck off and die screaming?


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## Dubu Kimchi (Jun 16, 2020)

I don't mind the singing of the anthem itself, but the pageantry that has been built up around it has gotten a bit ridiculous at sports games.


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## Immortal Technique (Jun 16, 2020)

Oh Long Johnson said:


> Adrian Peterson beat his children with tree branches.
> 
> Why are they interviewing him?


Don't write it in past tense, he admits he still does it. He just uses a belt now instead of a switch.


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## Pixy (Jun 16, 2020)

Marco Fucko said:


> Sports are dumb and so is playing the national anthem before them to further ingrain them into American "culture". Also I agree with the basic statement that shitheel cops should be prosecuted for wrongful deaths.
> 
> All that being said the article, the author and protesters are all faggots and I'm praying to Drumpf to make an American Tianamen square happen.


That's not just an American thing, either. It's done in countries all around the world for domestic sports events, albeit for ones that are "culturally significant" (bring in lots of money).


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## Marco Fucko (Jun 16, 2020)

Sackity said:


> That's not just an American thing, either. It's done in countries all around the world for domestic sports events, albeit for ones that are "culturally significant" (bring in lots of money).



For sure, my mind immediately goes to European and South American love for soccer/futbol. I'm just a nerd so sports are automatically a non-starter for me.


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## Red Hood (Jun 16, 2020)

Get out, play your own sports, play whatever damn music you want.


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## Billy "the Bot" Bobson (Jun 16, 2020)

An ounce of reverence a day goes a long way. Playing the national anthem is the absolute least anyone could do. Don't like it? Kick them from the country. It's literally the bare minimum you can do to show respect. If you're not willing to do that, then you're just demonstrating that you actively hate the country and shouldn't be allowed to reap the benefits of living in it.


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## Idiotron (Jun 16, 2020)

Is the anthem being played before every single game?
If so, I agree, that's dumb, not to mention a little bit cult like.
This is about big dudes running into each other, not going to war, ease up with the forced patriotism.


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## Dom Cruise (Jun 16, 2020)

I knew things were going to get really bad when football, truly the last thing in American culture that brought everyone together, now had yet another political schism of the woke verus un-woke, there was literally nothing left after that and it's no wonder almost 4 years later after Kaepernick first took the knee things are as bad as they are.

It didn't entirely start with him either, remember when Beyonce was dressed as a Black Panther at the 2016 super bowl? That was an early warning sign.


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## DecimatedFerret (Jun 16, 2020)

Billy "the Bot" Bobson said:


> An ounce of reverence a day goes a long way. Playing the national anthem is the absolute least anyone could do. Don't like it? Kick them from the country. It's literally the bare minimum you can do to show respect. If you're not willing to do that, then you're just demonstrating that you actively hate the country and shouldn't be allowed to reap the benefits of living in it.


Lmao "if you don't like arbitrarily listening to the national anthem before a bunch of men play with inflated balls you *must *hate your country!"


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## Dubu Kimchi (Jun 17, 2020)

Idiotron said:


> Is the anthem being played before every single game?
> If so, I agree, that's dumb, not to mention a little bit cult like.
> This is about big dudes running into each other, not going to war, ease up with the forced patriotism.



 It has played at most every organized  sporting event that I've attended or played in (back in high school), some of them times they had the anthem and the pledge of allegiance.


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## Drunk and Pour (Jun 17, 2020)

Looks like I'm not watching football this year.  They don't have to stand, and I don't have to tune in.  Also, cops should protest these sporting events by not working security detail.


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## Billy "the Bot" Bobson (Jun 17, 2020)

DecimatedFerret said:


> Lmao "if you don't like arbitrarily listening to the national anthem before a bunch of men play with inflated balls you *must *hate your country!"


When the teams are ostensibly representing states within the country, for the benefit of the people of the county, with a vast majority of the stadiums they play on being funded and promoted by the local governments, it's much more than arbitrary.


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## FaramirG (Jun 17, 2020)

Idiotron said:


> Is the anthem being played before every single game?
> If so, I agree, that's dumb, not to mention a little bit cult like.
> This is about big dudes running into each other, not going to war, ease up with the forced patriotism.


Yes. Every game, in every sport (and I think that for the Canadian teams they play the Canadian anthem too). Also in the NFL and some MLB games, they have the Air Force flying bombers over the stadium while soldiers in uniform hold a giant American flag.  It's all a little weird.


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## Midlife Sperglord (Jun 17, 2020)

Replace the National Anthem with a random Kendrick Lamar song.  That will send a message.

Or I could go full fedora and suggest replacing it with Deicide’s Fuck Your God.


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## Super-Chevy454 (Jun 17, 2020)

Dom Cruise said:


> It didn't entirely start with him either, remember when Beyonce was dressed as a Black Panther at the 2016 super bowl? That was an early warning sign.



We could go a bit further back in time, the first seeds was planted by Janet Jackson with the "nipplegate". Ironic to see Janet converting to Islam years later. 


Midlife Sperglord said:


> Replace the National Anthem with a random Kendrick Lamar song.  That will send a message.
> 
> Or I could go full fedora and suggest replacing it with Deicide’s Fuck Your God.



Let's see how they'll react if we play the national anthem of Haiti or South Africa pre-1994.


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## Dom Cruise (Jun 17, 2020)

Super-Chevy454 said:


> We could go a bit further back in time, the first seeds was planted by Janet Jackson with the "nipplegate". Ironic to see Janet converting to Islam years later.



Really though? I don't see her titty popping out as a political statement. 

What do you mean by that?


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## Super-Chevy454 (Jun 17, 2020)

Dom Cruise said:


> Really though? I don't see her titty popping out as a political statement.
> 
> What do you mean by that?



Maybe her titty popping might not be an accident and she wanted to tease the religious right.


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## The Gag Knuckle (Jun 17, 2020)

Billy "the Bot" Bobson said:


> An ounce of reverence a day goes a long way. Playing the national anthem is the absolute least anyone could do. Don't like it? Kick them from the country. It's literally the bare minimum you can do to show respect. If you're not willing to do that, then you're just demonstrating that you actively hate the country and shouldn't be allowed to reap the benefits of living in it.



Hey you might be the doofus to ask - when people do that blustery "well then throw 'em out!" rhetoric, where is it you actually envision them going to? What country is designated to happily accept planeloads of insuffienctly patriotic Americans?


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## Ughubughughughughughghlug (Jun 18, 2020)

Cardenio said:


> I'd prefer it if the National Anthem were reduced to just playoff games and during National Holiday Weekends. As a person who had season tickets to a sports team it got tiring to have to do the Anthem twice a week.



It gets tiring to have to love your country twice a week?


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## PS1gamenwatch (Jun 18, 2020)

They could do this:


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## Stoneheart (Jun 18, 2020)

Sackity said:


> That's not just an American thing, either. It's done in countries all around the world for domestic sports events, albeit for ones that are "culturally significant" (bring in lots of money).


most football teams have their own anthems.


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## Tour of Italy (Jun 18, 2020)

They played the national anthem before _fucking Woodstock_. What happened where the fragile woke masses of today believe less in America than the dirty unwashed hippies of the _fucking civil rights era?_


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## Mel Feasance (Jun 18, 2020)

Midlife Sperglord said:


> Replace the National Anthem with a random Kendrick Lamar song.  That will send a message.
> 
> Or I could go full fedora and suggest replacing it with Deicide’s Fuck Your God.



Or the hymn-like version of Aeon's "God Gives Head in Heaven" that was a hidden bonus track.


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## JosephStalin (Jun 19, 2020)

Billy "the Bot" Bobson said:


> An ounce of reverence a day goes a long way. Playing the national anthem is the absolute least anyone could do. Don't like it? Kick them from the country. It's literally the bare minimum you can do to show respect. If you're not willing to do that, then you're just demonstrating that you actively hate the country and shouldn't be allowed to reap the benefits of living in it.



Yup.   Believe the NFL will pay for their buttsnorkeling BLM.   Can see a LOT of pissed-off people screaming at the players. coaches and staff who kneel for the national anthem.  Can see even more people, like me, totally avoiding the National Fuckedup League.  And should Major League Baseball players/managers/staff kneel for the national anthem, you'll see an exodus from baseball.   

I don't give flying fuck one what the kneelers say.  Kneeling for the national anthem is highly disrespectful of the anthem, the flag, and the nation.   On base the national anthem is played in the base movie theater before each show.  Everyone, regardless of color, stands for the anthem.  People of all races have fought and died for our country, so some can kneel and disrespect our country.   The kneelers claim they have the "right" to express themselves in this manner, but fans also have the right to change the channel and find something else to watch.  

Once again, the kneelers just fuck themselves.   People who might otherwise support making changes to policing will just walk away.


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## The Grognard (Jun 19, 2020)

IMO national anthems should be reserved for inter-national matches and national championship matches. You don't need it to be played in every regular season game, reserve the anthem for matches with big stakes to them. Though, i'm of the opinion there needs to be more regional songs to be used in less important matches.


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## Mrs Paul (Jun 19, 2020)

Does it really mean anything though if people are forced to stand?  It's fake.  I do like the idea of only having it on special occassions, although as a Penguins fan, I'd miss Jeff Jimerson.  It's like when you're a kid and you say the Pledge -- were you really thinking about it?  Or were you thinking about the rest of your day, like did you do your homework, did you study enough for your math test, would your crush notice you, etc.  It becomes a habit.



Tour of Italy said:


> They played the national anthem before _fucking Woodstock_. What happened where the fragile woke masses of today believe less in America than the dirty unwashed hippies of the _fucking civil rights era?_



And in my opinion, Hendrix's version of it was the best EVER.  Metallica came close, but nobody can quite touch it.  You shouldn't be allowed to kneel for Metallica.


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## ProgKing of the North (Jun 23, 2020)

JosephStalin said:


> Yup.   Believe the NFL will pay for their buttsnorkeling BLM.   Can see a LOT of pissed-off people screaming at the players. coaches and staff who kneel for the national anthem.  Can see even more people, like me, totally avoiding the National Fuckedup League.  And should Major League Baseball players/managers/staff kneel for the national anthem, you'll see an exodus from baseball.
> 
> I don't give flying fuck one what the kneelers say.  Kneeling for the national anthem is highly disrespectful of the anthem, the flag, and the nation.   On base the national anthem is played in the base movie theater before each show.  Everyone, regardless of color, stands for the anthem.  People of all races have fought and died for our country, so some can kneel and disrespect our country.   The kneelers claim they have the "right" to express themselves in this manner, but fans also have the right to change the channel and find something else to watch.
> 
> Once again, the kneelers just fuck themselves.   People who might otherwise support making changes to policing will just walk away.


Why does a football game need to be a military rally in the first place though? What does it have to do with football?

Why are snowflake conservatives so obsessed with pushing patriotism into every damn thing? “You have the freedom to do it so you shouldn’t do it” is an incredibly weak argument.


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## Cyclonus (Oct 5, 2020)

I agree. Get politics out of sports.


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## Spastic Colon (Oct 5, 2020)

What's so wrong about loving your country?  Even a liberal like myself loves my country.  That's the problem.  People equate patriotism with UNCONDITIONAL love of country.  That's not how that works.  You can love your country and still want to make it better.  In fact, if you love your country, you want to make it better.  There's no place else on earth I'd rather live.  If there were, I'd move there -- not sit around and bitch and moan about it.

Playing the anthem is just a tradition.  Like half-time shows and cheerleaders.  Not necessary at all for the game, but important to some spectators.  No one should be forced to stand, but no one should be forced to kneel, either.  And you know there is a lot of political pressure to pick a side these days.  Maybe some of these players just want to play the damn game and some of the spectators just want to watch it.  Why can't a football game be just a football game?

Bring in politics and you ruin it.  Sports are escapism.  Sure would be a shame if the NFL -- which has predominantly black teams -- gets ruined by BLM politics.  When the NFL fixes their domestic abuse issues, maybe they can share the knowledge of how they did that to fix the problem of abusive cops.  Until then, clean your own house first.


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## tehpope (Oct 5, 2020)

Spastic Colon said:


> What's so wrong about loving your country?  Even a liberal like myself loves my country.  That's the problem.  People equate patriotism with UNCONDITIONAL love of country.  That's not how that works.  You can love your country and still want to make it better.  In fact, if you love your country, you want to make it better.  There's no place else on earth I'd rather live.  If there were, I'd move there -- not sit around and bitch and moan about it.
> 
> Playing the anthem is just a tradition.  Like half-time shows and cheerleaders.  Not necessary at all for the game, but important to some spectators.  No one should be forced to stand, but no one should be forced to kneel, either.  And you know there is a lot of political pressure to pick a side these days.  Maybe some of these players just want to play the damn game and some of the spectators just want to watch it.  Why can't a football game be just a football game?
> 
> Bring in politics and you ruin it.  Sports are escapism.  Sure would be a shame if the NFL -- which has predominantly black teams -- gets ruined by BLM politics.  When the NFL fixes their domestic abuse issues, maybe they can share the knowledge of how they did that to fix the problem of abusive cops.  Until then, clean your own house first.


The problem is that the left feels that America was never great and the sins of its past are too awful to ever be forgiven. So current america has to be destroyed at all cost and rebuild from the ground up.


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## Spastic Colon (Oct 5, 2020)

tehpope said:


> The problem is that the left feels that America was never great and the sins of its past are too awful to ever be forgiven. So current america has to be destroyed at all cost and rebuild from the ground up.


I know.  That's why I've drifted away from it.  This is also why you shouldn't give young people too much power.  Experience is the best teacher.  It is all well and good to be young and idealistic and think you can do better.  That can be a force for good change.  But, it can also be a recipe for disaster without the proper checks and balances.  With age comes wisdom and you realize that utopias are, even by its very definition, impossible.  Utopia literally means "no place" in Greek.  There is no place where perfect exists.  Only the young or dumb think a utopian society is possible.  It is the hubris of youth to think that previous generations didn't try to create a perfect society themselves.  Of course they did.  But they failed because human nature is what it is.


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## mr.moon1488 (Oct 5, 2020)

ProgKing of the North said:


> Why does a football game need to be a military rally in the first place though? What does it have to do with football?
> 
> Why are snowflake conservatives so obsessed with pushing patriotism into every damn thing? “You have the freedom to do it so you shouldn’t do it” is an incredibly weak argument.


>National sports league has nothing to do with the nation it's hosted in so get rid of the national anthem!
>Faggots fucking each other in the ass has to do with literally everything, so lets put a pride flag on EVERYTHING!

Edit:
I don't even give a flying fuck about this shithole, but that's one of the dumbest arguments I've seen in a while.


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## Jaimas (Oct 6, 2020)

tehpope said:


> The problem is that the left feels that America was never great and the sins of its past are too awful to ever be forgiven. So current america has to be destroyed at all cost and rebuild from the ground up.


Which is exactly why they're cruising for an electoral disaster according to most metrics in like three weeks.


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