National Flag League

NFL is coming into it's own after a shaky start on the field for offenses over the first 3 weeks. The quality of the games is now again where it needs to be. The Packers-Cowboys game this weekend was even better than advertised. Watching Aaron Rodger play QB is a unique experience. Nobody quite conducts himself in the field with his confidence and swagger, not even Brady or Manning. But let's get back to the play on the field later. First, the topic thats sweeping the league. For a couple of weeks, the league has been all about the anthem protests as Trump stirred the pot in the deep south. The issue is still lingering on. As most of you know by now, he called the protesting players "SOBs" and asked the owners to fire them on the spot. He also asked the fans in the stadium to walkout and boycott these games if players kneeled and protested. VP Mike Pence actually walked out of the Niners @ Colts game yesterday in his home state of Indiana in what appears now to be a well-orchestrated stunt. But then again, thats what politicians do best!

There is no question what Trump did was unacceptable and offensive. First off, you don't use that kind of language as the president of the United States. That's not leadership nor is it classy. Secondly, it was a divisive ploy at a time when the country is already dangerously divided. And he was being totally insensitive to a part of our citizenry he is supposed to represent. The predominantly Black athletes who are protesting are not fighting for more sugar in their coffee for God's sake! They are concerned about a serious life-or-death issue in our country and their community. For the President to be so flippant about it tells them that he just doesn't care. Thats really the last message our President should be sending to anybody in our country, let alone an entire race. What he did is all bad and that's even before we get in to whether his message is right or wrong. His stand is clearly wrong in my opinion, but he shouldn't have inserted himself into this issue in this manner regardless. Sometimes in life, right and wrong are overrated and perception is reality. Thats the most interesting part of this for me.

That last part is also why I am not a big fan of the flag protests themselves in the first place. You maybe surprised to hear that after reading the first 2 paragraphs. Colin Kaepernick's actions do not upset me one bit and I am totally onboard with the social cause he is espousing. I couldn't agree with him more on issues of systemic racism and criminal justice reform, which is what these protests are supposed to be about. And I respect and want to protect his constitutional right to protest peacefully. None of this offends me personally, not one bit. With all that said, I think disrespecting the flag and the national anthem is just bad strategy for a protest. Socio-political change in a democracy is fundamentally a fight for people's hearts and minds. I don't see how you win over people by disrespecting the anthem and the flag. Lets also be clear on one thing. The players who kneel are of course disrespecting the flag and the anthem. They have the right to do it and I do get where they are coming from. It doesn't upset me personally, but let's go ahead and call a spade a spade. I stand for the anthem only out of respect and not because I want to stretch my legs or anything like that. So, when I don't stand for the anthem, I am refusing to respect it, if not outright disrespecting it.

By the same token, Kap and these athletes are absolutely NOT disrespecting the military. I have no doubt about that. There is a straight line from the idea of us standing for the anthem to respect for the anthem. There is also a straight line in my mind from us standing for the anthem to the flag just because the anthem is not a physical entity and the flag is always around to be that physical representation of nationhood. But the line people draw from respecting the anthem to respect and love for the military is more of an implicit and imagined relationship. It's convenient for some politicians on the right to draw that line and paint the Kaps of the world as anti-military, but even for some normal people, the flag and the anthem have a symbiotic relationship, if not a symbolic representation of the nation's military. We can sit here and debate whether that connection is logical and real or not, but like I mentioned already, sometimes in life, perception is reality. Thats exactly why I think this is not the best form of protest. Instead of debating the fundamental issues it's supposed to highlight, we are all caught up in these philosophical nuances and emotional interpretations about our flag and the military.  None of this is coming anywhere close to solving the original issue at hand.

Call me an optimist or call me naive, but I do believe the criminal justice issues at hand can be solved from within the system. It's not going to be easy or simple, but we can achieve the progress we want if we have the right leadership and work tirelessly. Thats why I don't like protesting the flag for it. To me, going after the flag is an extreme form of protest. You do it if you are running a separatist movement, which clearly is not the goal here, or if you just want to shock the system and shake things up. This protest clearly has shaken things up and of course the President's comments has resurrected it and made it worse. But I would rather work within the system for these types of issues. Of course, I am not a Black man in America and I have no idea what it means to walk a mile in those shoes. If Black America feels completely disappointed in the system and betrayed by it, I totally get it and who am I to argue against those sentiments? But I am just not there myself yet in terms of shocking the system. If that was the goal, this protest has definitely achieved that.  But it has also made a lot of enemies and distracted us from the core issues. Thats to be expected when you go after symbols of nationalism and thats why I am not a big fan of this form of protest. This protest is starting interesting conversations about individual rights and first amendment etc., but it's not hitting the sweet spot in my opinion.

There is also this argument that these protests are always unpopular when they happen, but they start a movement that wins people over eventually and America embraces the protestors and their ideas later. Mohammad Ali, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos are examples of this phenomenon, though they lived in a different time and place. To that I say it's too simplistic to assume that this is what is going to happen to Kap and these protests as well. Also, we are the best marketing people in the World and nobody keeps up appearances like America. I can totally imagine us as a nation celebrating Kap as a hero and placing his picture in a stamp 30 years from now while also not giving an inch on the criminal justice or racial reform. Lets not assume that respecting and recognizing Kap 30 years from now is progress. Social change and progress is typically engineered by smart and strategic leaders and movements. Leaders like Gandhi and MLK Jr were not great just because they were on the right side of history and morality, but they also knew how to fight, when to protest, when to lie low, who to go after, etc. etc. They were brilliant and strategic leaders.

Of course, it's a totally unfair comparison to put Kap along with those giants, but my point is, not all protests are made equal and what we have on our hands now may not be effective. When Trump brought this issue back into focus, many owners ripped him and supported their players. This brought the players and the owners closer than ever for a moment. There was a lot of show of solidarity and holding hands, though I never understood what holding hands actually meant. I did like Jerry Jones and the Cowboys kneeling together as a team before the anthem to show solidarity for the cause and the standing during the anthem to show respect to the anthem. I thought that made sense. But now, Jones has come out and said he won't let players who don't stand for the anthem play for him and is bossing them around. All of that so-called camaraderie between the owners and players is out the door just like that. The Dolphins are also instituting some form of "no kneeling" rules. These developments must warm the cockles of Trump's heart. Basically, things are now beginning to move sideways. Where actually are we headed and are these protests being effective? I have no idea and I have serious doubts. Only time will tell. In the meantime, let's hope for the best and keep working towards eliminating systemic racism.

Football is rolling already.

The NFL season kicked off in style and is off and running in full force already. We got some great games, fantastic finishes, and good story lines as always. The Carolina at Denver game on Thursday night kicked things off  with a close finish. Despite my reduced expectation for that game, it gave us fans exactly what we wanted. Trevor Siemian's play and Cam Newton's beating were the headlines from that game. Cam is an absolute baller. He had a great game despite the monster hits he suffered. Both the man and his game are large and the zebras are having problems officiating him appropriately. Some of the hits were brutal, especially for a QB, and the flags were nowhere to be found. This may change how the Panthers play Cam in the near future. They need to protect him. They should cut down on his scrambles and runs, though a lot of his hits in this game happened in the pocket. But why increase his exposure anyways? He is too important for the reigning NFC champions. Big win for Denver and Siemian. The Broncos have a good team with that defense and a running game centered around C.J.Anderson.

It's been a while since the Raiders were the top story of the week. They sure were the headliner this week as coach Jack Del Rio went for 2 and a win at the end of regulation instead of a tie and overtime. I have never seen that in the NFL. Definitely not in week 1 with a young team trying to make the playoffs for a franchise coming of several horrible years. You see such calls once in a while in college but only towards the end of the season in the NFL with real bad teams that have nothing to play for. Del Rio nailed it here and this win should give the Raiders a tonne of confidence and self-belief. Saints D is horrible and the Raiders D didn't play much better either, but the Raiders are going to truly believe they are playoff-bound after this road win. It's about time for the silver and black. Packers, Chiefs, Giants, Lions, Cowboys, and the Patriots won close and exciting games on this fun NFL Sunday.

That last game in that list between the Patriots and the Cardinals was a heart-breaker for us Cards fans. Kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed what should have been a game winning field goal. The Super Bowl dreaming Cards lost to Hoodie who came in without his pretty boy QB, super star TE, and couple of other key players and still stole a win. Tough loss for the Cards who have to be now satisfied with a good week for David Johnson coupled with a decent performance by Carson Palmer and live to fight another day. They better win next week against Tampa Bay. Dolphins almost knocked off the Seahawks, but "almost" doesn't get you a "w" in the standings. The Monday night games were duds as  Pittsburgh crushed Washington and the Rams looked so horrible that the LA fans probably want them to move back to St. Louis after just one game. The Rams made the 49ers look like world beaters. Blaine Gabbert and the Niners offense were turrible as Chales Barkley would say, but they still won 28-0. Kaep's protest is spreading as many NFL players either kneeled, locked arms, or raised their fist during the anthem even on 9/11. Peaceful protests continue. As always, injuries in the NFL blows and Keenan Allen's season-ending ACL tear was unfortunate. Poor guy can't catch a break.

No more Honey-dues!

There is a funny radio AD playing these days. I think it's on Fox Sports radio and is a promotion for the upcoming NFL season. It warns all women that they should be ready to "lose" their boyfriends and husbands to football. The implication being that men are going to be glued to their TVs watching football starting soon. No time for honey-dues rest of the year! It's a funny AD, but also a fairly accurate depiction of the American reality. Most Blue-blooded American males and some females are so in love with football, both college and pro, that weekends will be exclusively reserved for appointment TV watching if left to their own devices. Thats the power of football and fantasy and gambling only help turbo-charge football's popularity. Every year, the pain of summer's exit is offset by the pleasure of football's arrival. College ball started last weekend and served as a nice appetizer before the main course, the National Football League.

Week one in college football usually features a bunch of cupcake games. It was a pleasant surprise this season as we had a whole bunch of stellar non-conference matchups last weekend. We can all thank three major reasons for this positive development. One, the increase in neutral site games and the financial ramifications of this ensured these sites got some meaty matchups. The 4-team playoff also means one loss does not completely destroy a team's season like in the old days. Superpowers are more willing to take on great challenges, especially early in the season. Also, the playoff committee looks at strength of schedule. This means teams are better off playing some real games instead of scheduling North East Appalachian state at home during the pre-season. With all that said, most teams are back to playing North East Appalachian state in week 2 coming up here. But week 1 was truly awesome and they will all be jumping into their conference contests soon anyways.

We got to see fun non-conference games like Stanford-V-Kansas State, LSU-V-Wisconsin, Notre Dame-V-Texas, Florida State-V-Ole Miss, Texas A&M-V-UCLA, and USC-V-Alabama. Most of the games were close contests with a couple of them even requiring overtime. It reminded us right away why we love football and what we have been missing for the last 7 months. Only the most hyped game of them all, Alabama-USC, disappointed as Alabama annihilated USC. Alabama seems to be on a planet of its own and even it's SEC counterparts didn't look too great in week 1. Neither did Pac-12, though Pac-12 might still be a deep and dangerous place. These games also featured amazing freshmen QBs. Quarterbacks are coming into the NFL more and more prepared and it turns out, the high school QBs are coming into college well-rounded as well. Just another sign of how professional and well-organized the entire sports pipeline has become.

That was fun, but the main event starts tomorrow. Super Bowl rematch on Thursday night kicks off the NFL season. The excitement of NFL being back is undeniable, but I have to admit, this season opener is a little less exciting than usual. Peyton Manning's retirement and the unknown Trevor Siemian working under center are the main reasons for it. However, in real football terms, there is probably not much missing for Denver from last year as Manning was just a name and a shell of his former self. But he was still Peyton and must-see TV every week for the fans. Tom Brady will be missing in action too due to his suspension and that takes a lot of excitement out of the Pats-Cards Sunday Night matchup. I am still excited for it as this is a very important season for Arizona. The Kaepernick story is still out there and I am happy and proud of him. He has really started something interesting here and the story is going much better than I expected for him personally. He is talking well on the issues, making some adjustments like kneeling instead of sitting during the anthem, attracting support from fellow athletes, and is raising general awareness on a tricky topic. Kudos and good luck to Kaep.

Kaepital Punishment!

Colin Kaepernick is being put through the wringer this week over the national anthem and flag controversy. He refused to stand up during the anthem in protest over the racial and social injustices happening in the great nation of ours. Every time some athlete refuses to salute the flag or refuses to stand for the anthem, he or she is asking for a lot of criticism and attention and Kaep should have expected this. He sounds like he is comfortable about making this statement and seems prepared to face the wrath of the general public. I commend him for his courage and for standing up for what he believes in. It's not easy to be the rebellious outsider and he is being one here despite his on-field and injury troubles. In general, most people, even his critics, seem to agree that this country bestows on him the right and freedom to protest in peaceful ways and they don't have a problem with that. I am on that boat as well. I am glad he is doing what he feels is right and I will never be the one to argue to take that right away from him. However, many people don't agree with his opinion and his approach here. Disrespecting the flag or the anthem is an emotional issue for most people and they are going to spew a lot of venom towards him.

A topic like this also becomes a political topic, especially in an election year, and is not confined to just sports talk shows. In any country, flag, anthem, nationhood, and military are all related concepts, but it's an even direct straight line from the anthem to the military in America. This is probably due to the fact that the country is pretty much in one war or the other at all times. So a lot of people look at any perceived slight to the anthem as disrespecting the military. In reality, the flag and the anthem stands for nationhood and is all encompassing. It is actually even bigger than the military, but many people see the military and veterans when they see the flag or hear the anthem. While insulting the concept of America and our nationhood is far more controversial in spirit, it goes after some abstract concepts and people are not that offended. But any criticism of the military is personal and directly offensive to many Americans. Military is too real and close to heart for people as they may have sons or daughters or cousins or neighbors serving right now. Or they may have lost their granddad or uncle to wars of the past. What Kaep is questioning here is certain fundamental concepts of our nationhood and how our culture works today. I don't think he is anti-military, but thats the perception he has to fight and the angle he has to explain whether he wants it or not.

Nothing changes without protests and major social ills are not easily reformed without disruptive and controversial movements. Aside from Kaep having the right to do this, I do relate to the issue and his cause as well. So, it's hard for me to criticize Kaep at a moral, ethical, or political level. But I am still going to criticize him for sports reasons. As sports fans, we all know his career has been in a downward spiral and is just returning from an injury which seems to have physically weakened him quite a bit. He does not need this distraction right now and the last thing he needs is for the league or teams to blackball him. It's also a huge distraction for his teammates at the start of a season which is probably going to be rough on them anyways. I always ask myself and others "is the juice worth the squeeze" when certain decisions has to be made. Basically you need to do a cost-benefit analysis at every turn in life. The juice is definitely not worth the squeeze for Kaep. He thinks he has a platform and is using it for the grater good of the society. He is, but his platform is not as big as he thinks it is. America loves winners and stars and he is neither right now. NFL will have no problem casting him side in a heartbeat. The platform is a lot bigger for Cam Newton or Tom Brady, not for Colin Kaepernick right now. Thats the sad truth.

At the end of the day, the flag is purely symbolic. Respecting or disrespecting the flag has very little effect on real life. He is going through all these pains for making a largely symbolic gesture while also risking his future. Instead, he would be better off continuing to tweet about it, join the "Black Lives Matter" movement, go on marches, or donate money to the cause. All those actions are a lot more impactful and much less controversial. It will have zero impact on his teammates or his future and achieve better results for the cause. You may ask if I am asking him to compromise his values or his beliefs for some peace or  a better career or more money. Isn't that spineless? Yes and no. Life is all about compromises. One of the reasons we like sports is that you either win or lose at the end of every game. There is a finality and clarity to it that our everyday lives rarely offer. Real life, unlike sports, is not binary and doesn't happen in black and white. It usually happens exclusively in the grey area. So compromises and finding an amicable way forward is often the most effective approach in life. I am all for disruptive movements, but 2016 Kaep with these niners is neither the right person, time, nor the place for this. If I were him, I would have found other ways to contribute to the movement in question. Thats just me and of course Kaep is his own man.

Kaep chose to do what he believes is the right thing to do.  I am OK with it, but I am afraid the country may not be. The supposedly liberal Bay Area will criticize him, but may not be that rough on him. His situation on the road will be much worse. Then again, he may not be in the team long enough to even get on the field either at home or away. He did not look good on the field last week and there are rumors that the niners might cut him. That can be another tricky situation for coach Chip Kelly because any action against Kaep will now be perceived as a reaction to this controversy even if the team just makes a purely football decision. Thats not good for Kelly who came in with some racial accusations leveled against him and did not cut Riley Cooper in Philadelphia after Cooper was caught using the N word. Now, a Kaepernick punishment will be compared to that and might even cause some resentment in the locker room. The other interesting aspect here is how racially divided the support or opposition for Kaep has been among his peers. Breaking news folks - race matters in America! Almost to the exclusion of everything else. Going after the flag or the anthem is always a ultra touchy subject and we may not have heard the last of this controversy. I will bottom line this as follows. I like athletes making socio-political statements. I support Kaep's right to protest peacefully and I even support this particular cause. But his particular method of protest is not smart and might end up distracting his team and hurting his own future. Also, the reaction he is facing is to be expected. I wish him good luck and he is going to need every bit of it.