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Controversy has plagued the NFL for several years now, following former quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem in 2016 in protest of police brutality and racial injustice throughout the country. Kaepernick became a free agent after that season and was not re-signed, which many took as a reaction to his political protest. The kneeling incident sparked a lasting controversy that resulted in boycotts of the NFL on both sides of the issue.
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Can’t say I saw this one coming, but it is true that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. As you’ll recall earlier this year Meghan Markle, who made a Brexit from the British Royal Family, pointed out just how epidemic racism is in the United Kingdom.
Markle opened up about the racism that is omni-present within the Palace itself, and as you might have guessed, the royals were in denial about it. As Italy took on England in the Euro 2020 they embraced Markle as one of their own, and if watched the match yesterday with Italy fans, it was not uncommon to hear one of them dedicate their victory to Meghan Markle.
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Make no mistake about it, my favorite color is a three way tie between red, white and blue. Just look at the colors of this website. Take a look at the photo below to see how I dressed to attend the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500. See the American flag emoji in my Twitter profile too.
However, there is patriotism, and then there is nationalism, and then there is patriotism and nationalism combined, on steroids and multiplied to the 10th power, which we usually call jingoism. This is a very hot topic right now, as the NFL decided last week to take the Star Spangled Banner issue and go full on #MAGA #AmericaFirst with it. The National Football League decided to completely pander to the lowest common denominator.
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As has been well documented, especially so on this site, the patriotism gets ramped up to jingoism and then some at the Indianapolis 500 every year. Actually take that jingoism and square it, no wait- take it to the tenth power. On one hand, we get it- this site’s colors are red, white and blue for a reason.
It is the nation’s biggest Memorial Day weekend gathering, as it draws over 300,000 people each year. On the other hand, come on- spare us the native advertising for the armed services; sponsored by Chevrolet. People showed up for an auto race, not a recruiting pitch, and certainly not for more Chevy ads.
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A decade ago, I attended my first Indy 500, and it was in the infield.
My people watching that day became an essay which is among the site’s most popular posts of all time. A decade later, I returned to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, ready once again to regale you with tales of auto racing’s zaniest fans, on racing’s biggest weekend.
This time we added two more settings- the Little 500 in Anderson (about an hour from the speedway) and Broadripple, the neighborhood boasting the hippest nightlife in all of nap town.
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The Norway national team has stood up and made their voice heard, advocating for greater human rights in the leadup World Cup 2022 Qatar.
Ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar last night, the Norwegian team, including Arsenal (on loan from Real Madrid) attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard and Borussia Dortmund scoring sensation Erling Haaland, lined up before kickoff wearing T-shirts over their national-team jerseys that had the message “HUMAN RIGHTS” followed by “Respect on and off the pitch.”
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You knew Lebron James wasn’t going to take a “stick to sports” or “just shut up and dribble” from Zlatan Ibrahmovic lying down. On Thursday, Ibrahimovic said in an interview that James should stay out of politics and not use his very large platform for social issues like he has been doing repeatedly, and beautifully.
Ibrahmiovic said that people should only do what they’re good at it, and Friday saw Lebron answer to these accusations, and in the process call out Zlatan for his hypocrisy. James also said he’ll also never stop fighting for social justice., and against systemic racism.
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Social justice, or more importantly, the fight against social injustice, was a major theme in the opening weekend of the National Football League. Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh made comments on the issue that were as powerful as anything anybody has said anywhere.
Harbaugh, whose Ravens have arguably the best overall roster in the NFL this fall, said that the struggle African-Americans are enduring right now will ultimately go down, far ahead in the future, as “the greatest freedom story in the history of the world.’”
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In the words of the famous Elvis Presley song, “a little less conversation, a little more action.” Nate Burleson, Co-host of Good Morning Football and CBS’ “NFL Today” echoed that statement today. He sees and hears a lot of people in this country saying all the right things about social justice, but declared those statements pointless if it doesn’t then lead to actual substantive action against systemic racism.
The former NFL 11 year veteran wide receiver, now an analyst for CBS, discussed the Black Lives Matter movement and all that it stands on the pregame shows this morning.
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In a media zoom call scheduled specifically for a discussion on the hiring of Bruiser Flint as a new Assistant Coach, John Calipari covered a vast array of topics. The University of Kentucky head coach was asked about:
COVID-19, the chances of having a season amidst it, backlash for his tweet about getting getting his team registered to vote, the on-campus conversation about potentially re-naming Rupp Arena, former UK Associate Athletic Director DeWayne Peevy taking the A.D. job at DePaul, a potential series with the Blue Demons) and what his thoughts would be if his players wanted to stage a protest against social injustice.
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Believe it or not, the Soviet Union once had a national baseball team. They weren’t exceptional or anything, but they did try to go toe to toe with the United States. Yes, the East vs West, communist vs capitalist clash of civilizations battle carried over to the baseball diamond.
Much has been made of CCCP vs USA in ice hockey, to a lesser extent basketball and of course the Ivan Drago vs Rocky Balboa prize fight that effectively ended the Cold War.
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American football is as much a contact sport as his humanly possible. Whereas in other sports, contact is sometimes encouraged and/or advantageous in regards to the situation, football sees at least a dozen guys getting to know each other, up close and personal on every single play.
Contact sports and social distancing go together like a Trump press conference and the absence of embarassing, clueless stupidity. Football will have safe social distancing when Quentin Taratino makes a movie without anything extremely disturbing or bloody in it.
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