I am not a fan of sports. I am not a big Black Lives Matter fanatic (although I do support it. It’s just one of the major issues that need to be addressed right now, and since I’m not black, it’s not at the top of my list. I am all behind those who go out there and rally for it though.). I am a big fan of being patriotic. I’m also a big fan of rules. And as a Discordian, I am a big fan of breaking those rules, in ways that cause discord and confusion.
So while looking at this issue with the NFL today, I was just thinking, “Wow okay now Trump is trying to distract us all from something massive, but it’s cool how he’s making everyone crazy.” It’s kind of neat in a way. I’m really looking forward to the fallout on this because it’s going to shake up things across every group of Americans. I may not like pro sports, but I am definitely in the minority.
So I let it go, no sense in responding to stuff on Facebook. This is pretty much a clear case of either you support the player’s freedom of speech, or you don’t. It seems pretty black and white. But then a friend of mine posts up a supposed section of the NFL rulebook that covers this and although it fully supports their beliefs that they the protesters are in violation of NFL rules.
First off according to the rules of operation 2017 by Roger Goodell, there are not any rules that state anything about the National Anthem. Nothing about it needing to be played. Nothing about anyone needing to be there. There is this strange Rule 5, Section 4, Article 8 spot that might make the NFL able to penalize teams for not being there, but that same rule could punish them for talking about their mother before the game. So this post of an “official rule” going around is just incorrect. Well, that is, if you base the rules on what the NFL has published at their site:
http://operations.nfl.com/media/2725/2017-playing-rules.pdf
But pretend, even suppose that the rules in that post are correct. Even those rules don’t flat out deny the protestors their ability to do what they are doing. The rules being posted state:
“The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem.
During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking.”
We don’t need to go any further than this to cry foul, so you can just discard the next two paragraphs of the post. I’m sure you can Google it if you want (if it hasn’t been shoved down your throat by someone yet.)
The fact that the “rules” listed here do not even remotely read like the rules from the official playing rules should be enough for you to notice these are simply someone trying to create problems. But the main point is two simple words, should and must. These rules state that the players “must” be on the sidelines. They state what the players “should” do when on those sidelines. If they could be penalized for anything, it would be not being on those sidelines. You can’t punish someone because you didn’t say they must do something and they decided they didn’t want to. This wouldn’t hold up in a court of law in any way if they pressed these people kneeling. In fact, they probably aren’t pushing for it because they don’t want a big court case brought up about that Article 8 which is what they could use to stop this behavior.
The NFL is about football. It’s about people smashing into each other and giving themselves irreparable brain damage for our amusement.It is not a political entity (despite them donating millions and millions of dollars to support the corrupt system of government we have in place. Similar to those supporting the Roman government by making the masses content while getting the victims from the people in charge of the state. How about we save that for another post though). Strangely enough, these sports are one area where we usually can put aside our differences in the political arena and just bash each other over what color of shirt you like. It’s unifying in a relatively barbaric way. Bringing politics into it is most likely going to tear the NFL apart, if not, at least cause serious issues for everyone who enjoys the sport for years to come.
I bet that, in the end, they will simply not let teams take the field until after the National Anthem has been played and will let those who want to stand for it, do it in the locker room.
But the timing of this is kind of interesting. On the verge of war with North Korea, Russia investigation is moving forward big time, and several other events give this the feeling of “look, look it’s the left hand.” while the right-hand toys with the button that can kill us all. He’s done this before, why not now. Oh, look the health care bill is coming up for a vote.
I am enjoying all this, mainly because I’m not a sports fan, but seriously people, let us do this correctly. Spreading discord and confusion is all fine, but making up poorly written fake rules and posting them to get people arguing is just lame. It’s trying to be clever but merely pointing out, in the same section, that you have no grasp on creating real chaos. If you want to build dangerous Chaos, you need an element of truth (small t there) to build on. The rules don’t say anything at all about the National Anthem so telling people rules regarding them is just a big Fail.
Now, Asking in a very public forum why there aren’t any rules about playing the National Anthem in the rule book, well that’s interesting. Does that mean the NFL isn’t patriotic and merely posing as it to cash in? There is a question that is genuine and I’m sure will cause certain people problems.