Monthly Archives: September 2017

President Trump’s NFL Comments; “Right On The Mark” …….by, Michael Hawke

25 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by in Political Science, Sports

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I was beginning to feel happy to be done with the NFL this season having let my thoughts on the issue be defined with my recent article, “I Quit the NFL”. I have quite a few other things I want to write about and was feeling good about putting this NFL “take a knee” chaos off my writing plate. I also am realizing, after three weeks of “not watching NFL Sunday football”, that I do not even miss it!

Then the President’s NFL owner comments came out this past week and I am once again dutifully compelled to respond, in the hope of bringing some logic and clarity to what has evolved into nothing less than a complete mess.

Football and politics can never be good together. The absolute bottom line here is that fans watch football to escape real life stresses and pressures. They do not want to watch player protests during our National Anthem at the beginning of the game. If it’s politics they want they tune into Fox News or CNN. The NFL has chosen not only to allow these protests, but to defend them as somehow the players rights, even suggesting the knee takers are social justice heroes….doing the NFL equivalent of the Rosa Parks bus protest.

As a retired Army veteran of 29 plus years, and the son of a WWII Navy War Veteran who served in the Pacific, I have wondered just how long the NFL player protests could continue before the average citizen fan starts getting as upset with these pseudo social warriors as I have been. Well, the dung hit the fan this week, no doubt about it. As for me, and my family, the National Anthem is not about America being “a perfect nation”, rather it is about it being a place where people can strive to make it “a more perfect union”.  The men and women, of all ethnic groups and races, who have fought and died to keep it free are the heroes who deserve our full respect and honor.

This is Roger Goodell’s response to President Trump’s remarks;

“divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities”. USA Today

My response to Roger Goodell’s comment;

” divisive actions like players taking a knee during the National Anthem demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for our Nation, our great diversity, and all of our veterans who have paid the ultimate price for our freedoms, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our military soldiers, sailors, marines, and coast guard represent in our communities”.

Commissioner Goodell’s comments ring self serving. We are somehow to equate the players contributions with those sacrifices of our military men and women who have served defending our freedoms and the American way of life.

The NFL that Roger Goodell states deserves such great respect is a tax free, $10 billion dollar a year entity, that has “non profit” status. It also holds cities and communities hostage to build stadiums and provide venues in order to gain, or maintain an NFL franchise.

NFL owners and players make obscene profits. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual salary to mange this so called “non-profit” is reported to be over $35 million dollars a year. I wonder if any of these NFL players understand that most kids today never even get the opportunity to go to an NFL game simply due to the high ticket costs set by the NFL.

There is just so much hypocrisy here it makes you want to scream. Yet, in all of it, we are somehow supposed to be sympathetic to Roger Goodell’s indignity over President Trump’s “right on the mark” comments about the NFL, it’s mega rich players, and gutless owners. The liberal media feeds this farce….mostly driven by Trump hating, and fails to even ask one player the following questions;

  1. Please tell specifically the concerns that are driving you to disrespect our flag, our nation, and the many heroes who have given their all by taking a knee during the National Anthem
  2. Could you still express your protest toward these issues but do so in a different venue or time?

These rich NFL players can exercise their right to protest in so many other ways than during the National Anthem. They choose to ignore how their protest affects others and also refuse to find more appropriate venues for their concerns. These players also fail to think about how their actions affect young people who look to them as role models.

So, as I have previously declared, I Quit the NFL!

 

Michael Hawke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Daily Mix….. by, Michael Hawke

04 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by in Motivation, Political Science, Uncategorized

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See a Problem….Solve a Problem:  J.J. Watt, defensive tight end, Houston Texans, did a fund raiser for Hurricane Harvey relief and raised over $18 million dollars… and counting. I kind of like this type of NFL player who realizes he is a role model.

See a problem….solve a problem. Quite different from taking a knee and disrespecting the flag, anthem, and all who sacrificed for our freedoms in order to draw attention to a problem. The Cleveland players should talk to JJ. He knows the importance of being a positive role model out to fix problems, and not a whiney, sniveling, dolt trying to bring others down.

I still Quit the NFL but I feel better being reminded there are players who care with action and not show.

Home of the Free….Land of the Brave:  Clearly these last two words of the National Anthem were displayed in Houston and all the regions hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. Police, Fire, National Guard, citizen volunteers, medical professionals and many others as well as the victims displayed these two words loudly and proudly. I did not see anyone take a knee…did you?

Storm Stilettos: I have a female friend who asked me what they were. She said she heard the tail end of a news report where they were negatively discussing the First Lady’s shoes calling them “Storm Stilettos”.  My friend, who loves shoes more than food, wanted to know where she could buy them. I suggested she try the Ivanka site but she should hurry as they are selling fast.

Early To Bed: Benjamin Franklin has been credited with the saying, “Early to bed, early to rise, will make a fellow healthy, happy, and wise”. Likely Ben heard it from some other source but kudos to him none the less for helping to establish this sage wisdom.

When asked by Barbara Walters “Ted, what is the secret to your success?” He responded: “The secret to my success Barbara is simple: early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise”. Classic Ted Turner… a modern improvement on Ben’s version. Thanks for saving the Buffalo Ted!   

Buffalo vs.Truth: Ted Turner did not invent the internet but he should be credited with the saving of the Buffalo and for being a great environmentalist, in the most positive sense. By the way, just in case you are confused, Al Gore did not invent the internet, but he did write the book “An Inconvenient Truth”, which ended up being more of a convenient lie, than anything else. I give Mr. Gore due credit for being an environmentalist…..in the most negative sense.

The Patriots: I listened to the audible version of Bill O’ Reilly’s book, “The Patriots”. I experienced the most enjoyable drive times this past week learning about our “Founding Fathers” and how this nation was born. Some of the history I knew, some I  remembered vaguely, and much more of it was new. The accounts of sacrifice and heroism of these people are captivating and awe inspiring . The book is read by Holter Graham, who does a wonderful job conveying a feel and the emotion of the times.

You can listen to this book with your high school kids. It is available on Audible, order it from BILLOREILLY.COM, or from the Public Library, as I did. You will be blessed and so will your kids who will, when done listening, be far more educated on our founding history than most of their peers.