The NFL: 110 out of 111

Update 9/29/2017

Saw this today on FB:

I am smart enough to recognize that I am not as smart as I would like to be. Many of you out there (especially liberals) are much smarter......so I am trying to figure something out. Maybe you can help me.  
Here's my question: If kneeling during the national anthem rather than standing before the flag (which represents the nation and the sacrifices people have made on behalf of this nation) is not about the flag, then why are these "people" choosing that brief two minute time to kneel?

Let me see if I can parse this out.  The contention seems to be that "about the flag" refers to some sort of recognized, laudable, mandatory civic duty.  It represents "the nation and the sacrifices people have made on behalf of this nation."  One assumes the reference to sacrifice refers to the many thousands who fought, suffered, and died in the armed services of the country to purchase that freedom.

The oath one takes when joining the military requires one to "swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."  There is no mention of a flag or a song, but the Constitution the oath refers to does enjoin the government from abridging the freedom of speech.

The flag of the United States went through several versions before the Stars and Stripes were adopted in 1776.  It was subsequently changed every time a state was added to the Union.  "Respect" for the flag was not codified until 1942, and the Federal Flag Code is a set of guidelines without enforcement or penalty provisions.  Interestingly, in 1943 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schoolchildren could not be compelled to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, because where free expression was concerned, 

the test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order. If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion.

(If you're keeping score, the Star Spangled Banner was written as a poem in 1814, adopted by the US Navy in 1889, and made the National Anthem by Congress in 1931.)

If we have forbidden the government from telling us what we may or may not say, doesn't it make sense that we extend the courtesy of free expression to our fellow citizens?

Update 9/28/2017

Perhaps it’s time for this country to re-think its relationship with pro football.

It’s not exactly a secret where I come down on this subject.  I haven’t followed or watched professional football in 22 years.  I had three major reasons:

• Teams have zero real relationship with the cities they are based in.  Any “rivalries” between teams are manufactured to manipulate people to watch television and buy tickets.

• Team owners are largely billionaires who still somehow manage to convince taxpayers to fund the stadia their teams play in.  City “pride” in a professional football facility is carefully manufactured to squeeze money out of people.

• The sport is extremely violent.  Distastefully so. 

The last reason, is, of course, a personal opinion, but there is a decent chance that during any particular 60 minute game a career-ending or even life-threatening injury will occur.  And that isn’t an opinion.  

The latest news, however, is nothing short of stunning.  It turns out that the constant, repeated insults to the brain that football players are subject to are the major factor in something called CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).

CTE has been in the news recently because of the Aaron Hernandez case, and the Will Smith movie Concussion.  CTE has been known under different names for decades, the present name becoming formalized in 1949 with research on boxers.  CTE symptoms are divided into  four stages ranging from mild ADD to damaging impulsive behaviors to dementia and suicide.  The tragedy of CTE is that it is progressive.  For years after participation in a sport, the CTE-affected brain will slowly strangle itself and atrophy.  The sufferer then will find him or herself facing changes in behavior and dementia—indeed CTE is categorized along with Alzheimer’s Disease as a tauopathy disorder.

A study in the Journal of the America Medical Association pulled together the data on brain tissue donated by football players.  Of the 202 brains studied, 111 of them were NFL players.  Of those, 110 showed CTE post-mortem.  110 out of 111.

Think about that the next time you’re watching football on the big screen with friends.  99% percent of those amazing athletes entertaining you are sentencing themselves to an agonizing future full of wonderful things like domestic violence and premature death.

Enjoy the game.

Update 1/12/2017

Looks like the Chargers are coming back to LA.  They moved to San Diego after one season in LA in 1961.  Anybody care?  Didn't think so.

Original 8/14/2016

Back in 2015 I got my “Complete Indifference to Professional Football” 20-year pin.  It seems the Rams played a game at the Coliseum yesterday.  Were they gone?  Oh, they left 22 years ago? Hadn't heard. 

Personal opinion: Olympic coverage has convinced me that elite-level volleyball, beach or indoor, is the most exciting team/ball sport for television coverage.  Athletes doing impossible things, fast pace, well-suited to a 16:9 screen.  Also a minimum of aggressive body contact, fouls, and concussions.  I can't look away.

Personal opinion 2: Enough with making women in beach volleyball wear bikinis.  Let them wear whatever they want.