Devil's Advocate: Kneeling, Donald Trump, Visor Regulations

Since you haven't been living under a rock, I won't explain to you that there have been weekly protests during the National Anthem in the NFL, MLB and NBA. You know this. Unfortunately, it seems like many people don't understand why, and for that reason, they don't like it. OK, let's go...

Colin Kaepernick first sat during the National anthem in 2016, as a peaceful protest against the systematic abuse of power by police officers against African Americans. 

That's great, I'm all about that. 

Yeah, but what about the troops? That's disrespectful to the military. I'd like to see him take a knee while he's being robbed, guess what though, he'll call the cops. Maybe if black people would quit being criminals...

Wow, what a great point. The national anthem and flag absolutely represents the men and women who selflessly serve to protect the US against evils all around the world. However, it's important to remember that the flag also represents you, me, nurses, doctors, teachers, firemen, the homeless, and unarmed black teenagers. This is about that flag, and more importantly, the government that it is representative of, not willing to hold people accountable that are in power. Giving people a free pass that uphold the law, when they violently violate it. 

I don't think black people are criminals, but it has to be said that they are incarcerated at an ungodly rate. Why? Well, poverty is one. It's hard to make a dollar, it's even harder to keep it, and it's almost impossible to save it, and in the US, there has never been a culture of success in the African American community. That's not to say there aren't millions of successful black people, but only that they don't have the thousand year tradition of being a part of the middle or even lower-middle class. A lot of that is due to the inequality they faced before the civil rights movements, and that was only a second ago in terms of how human behavior, culture, societal norms progress and evolve. 

Wait, so it doesn't have anything to do with the troops? Well nevermind that, I don't want politics in my sports. Just stand for the anthem and shut up...

Ok, well there is some flawed logic here. You want to keep politics out of sport. Well, politics is a part of sports and has been for generations. Whether it is Jesse Owens running against the Nazis, or Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball, or Muhammad Ali dodging the draft and protesting the war in Vietnam, politics is sport. That's because politics is a part of everything. We are humans, effected endlessly by the whims of politicians, and we participate in and watch sports. It is a unifier and a divider.

We can not expect these athletes to ignore the indignities they face, or that their families face, or that complete strangers face. It is the platform that they are afforded by their fame that lets them contribute to the global discussion about human rights, equality, equity or anything else. You wouldn't say get politics off of my TV, because that's also where you watch soap operas. So why should athletes not be given a voice?

Yeah, tell that to the Pittsburgh Penguins you windbag liberal. They are going to visit the White House because that's what good Americans do. You support your President...

Jeeze, yeah you are right. The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to the White House again after winning the Stanley Cup. I can't explain it, I don't even want to try. But, that's the beauty in all of this. When the NBA champs have been disinvited (after saying they wouldn't go) and the entire NFL were called SOB's by the President...when the right thing to do would be to not go, the Penguins have decided to go against the grain. A protest of their own, you could call it. An attempt to - as hockey so often does - not stand out. An attempt that is counter culture, kind of like kneeling for the national anthem. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins, their management group, their ownership group, their players have their own voices and because of the stands that players like Colin Kaepernick have made, the Penguins are able to go against the grain, to be counter culture.

Oh...

Yeah, it's not always as simple as sit down (or stand up) and shut up. Thankfully, as far back as you go in our history, when the people in power have exercised it against the people they are meant to represent, the people have said no, and taken a stand in whatever way they can. 

To just stand by and chant U.S.A at a hockey game is kind of just...stupid.

.......

So is chanting "True North"

Leo Komarov got a 2 minute penalty for his visor...

Yeah, that's pretty fuckin' stupid too.