NFL Bleeds Greenbacks

Not surprisingly, the NFL is bleeding cash as a result of dissing the national anthem.

Remember the axiom, he who defines the issue, wins the debate. Kneeling was originally ill defined as a full throated support of killing police because a few of them may have done “the wrong thing” while on duty. Much of this was based on lies that were popularized without vetting the evidence. Yet another example of not letting facts get in the way of a good narrative. Yes, there are examples of police wrongdoing but they are few compared to the number of people wearing a badge and protecting our communities. Few of these are motivated by race contrary to what Kap and BLM said.

Tying the NFL to a race issue in this way is stupid because the overwhelming majority of players are minorities in privileged positions. I don’t think most even know why they are kneeling except because they don’t like Trump. Trump called them out and a hell broke loose. As Merle Haggard once said:

“When they’re runnin’ down our country, man
They’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.”

This is what Trump saw and he also saw that the NFL refused to police their own and said what he thought. Their problem is how to get back on track and not look like President Trump is right. Whether you like him or not, Trump is on the right side of this issue and so, thankfully are many Americans.

The field of play in a sport is not the forum for individual expression. In fact on a team, you should expect to have to watch what you say and how you behave. You represent the team 24/7. The NFL has refused to hold players to account for many years, some of us have finally had enough.

Hey NFL, if you respected anything other than money, this never would have happened. First rule of holes is quit digging. Anyway, the fallout has started to hit the broadcast networks.

CBS earnings to disappoint due to weak NFL ratings, Credit Suisse says

The analyst said CBS’ Sunday NFL ratings are down 17 percent year over year during the first several weeks of the football season, according to the report. Sheikh released a similar report last week on Twenty-First Century Fox’s earnings, which he also expects to disappoint thanks to weaker ratings by the NFL.

NFL on its Knees

Lest you thought fielding players with multiple felonies, dissing the national anthem, and concussions are the only issues facing the NFL try again.

Here are two stories that you might have missed:

1 The NFL is facing strong headwinds trying to sell tickets in California. None of the four NFL teams in California is prospering.

California’s Breakup With the NFL

The 49ers have ceded Bay Area primacy to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. The average ticket price on the secondary market for 49ers home games has dropped 32.5% since they moved to Levi’s Stadium in 2014, according to Jesse Lawrence, founder of TicketIQ, a search engine that aggregates ticket listings.

This year, attendance has cratered. Through the Rams’ first three home games, they have averaged just 59,162 fans per game—which leaves a vast emptiness in the NFL’s largest stadium, which can hold more than 93,000.

2 In addition to all this, the Raiders have apparently been caught throwing a game because their white quarterback stood for the national anthem.

Dereck Carr, the QB for the Oakland Raiders, Is said To Have Been Punished By Black Teammates For Standing For Anthem — Makes Stunning Admission Of What Else They Did To Him

Last week, it was revealed that the Oakland Raiders offensive line, who are all African-American, may have intentionally allowed their star quarterback, Derek Carr, their white teammate, to get sacked multiple times because he would not to take a knee during the national anthem prior to the Oakland Raiders playing the Washington Redskins.

It was even reported that an unidentified Oakland Raiders player said of Derek Carr, “If he wants to stand alone for the national anthem, he can stand alone on the field.”
Did the Oakland Raiders Throw Games to Punish Their White QB — Derek Carr for Standing For Anthem?

NFL = ESPN = The CRA

First of all to let our loyal readers know your humble blogger has returned as internet and power have been restored to the underground bunker here at the X residence.  No word about a hurricane at a local tavern taking place, but a hurricane at a commode did take place; but on to the point of this post. 

The NFL has had a disastrous first couple of weeks and it has only gotten worse from there.  The games have been entertaining—even decent I would say—but the shenanigans surrounding the national anthem are a disgrace.  Ratings are down over 10% from last year; this sounds like a fledging cable channel (ESPN) right?  This past weekend over 100 players refused to stand for the national anthem, and in my opinion that’s ok I guess, because we believe in freedom of speech.  Taking a knee is very disrespectful do not get me wrong; but even worse is holding a fist in the air a la the Black Panther symbol, or sitting on a bench eating.  Both of which have been demonstrated last couple weeks.

Perhaps even more disturbing, the NFL plays a couple games in London a year apparently, and the players continued to kneel for the national anthem, yet stood for God Save the Queen!  So let me get this straight, protest a democracy, respect a monarchy?  Just for the information of many, these protesting players make more money in one year than most Americans will ever earn over the course of their entire lifetimes!  Also anyone take notice that they have never said what they are protesting, also notice the time that protests started?  Both coincide with the rise on one Donald J Trump as both a candidate and nominee for President.  Protesting President Trump, I think that’s okay, but totally contradictory to the stance many of you took when Barack Obama was President!  Remember if anyone said anything bad about him we were racists, etc.  Interesting, we were told to fall in line under Obama, under Trump we are told we have to co-exist!

The NFL is just beginning to feel the brunt of this protesting, and it’s going to get far worse before it gets any better!  Did anyone see the fans demonstrating during and after the games, as well as throughout the week?  Fans ripped up their season tickets (These are not cheap I may add) torched their jerseys (Just like the CRA torched their principles) and have stopped tuning in to the games themselves.  AT&T subsidiary DirecTV is offering a full refund to anyone who purchased their product NFL Sunday Ticket due to the protests.  This is unheard of from a cable company!  Two sponsors of the NFL have pulled their ads from appearing during the games and more are likely on the way.  One of X’s spies, let’s call her a FOX (Friend of X) has even told me the NFL owners are panicking to the point they wanted players to wear a patch that said “Team America” on their jerseys last weekend!

NFL Team America: Putting the F in you

This shows a ship with no captain heading straight for the proverbial iceberg; much like the CRA (Which I left 3 years ago, because I knew this meltdown was coming).

This became a problem with the NFL—just like it has with ESPN—because neither know the temperament of either their audience or fans.  NFL fans tend to be more conservative; which is why I am not sure why the NFL didn’t do more to address these protests before they became an issue.  The fans booed the protesting players and the NFL and the players came back saying they were praying… sounds bogus to me.  One former NFL player was given a segment on ESPN saying how standing for the national anthem is not any different from wearing the flag as a shirt or bikini.  My rebuttal to that player is I don’t think anyone considers a shirt or a swimsuit an act of disrespecting the flag, kneeling is.

Anyone notice the players never defined their protest?  Was in police brutality?  Black Lives Matter?  Donald Trump? Inequality?  The problem when you do not define your movement, the public, or the powers that be; will do that for you.  Donald Trump did, after it appear the owners and the commissioner had become squishy, Trump labeled the protest as disrespecting the flag and the country—which it does.  Since Trump’s comments, the tables started to turn, the players never reacted and now Jerry Jones and Stephen Ross, two powerful owners; have said to their players “Stand for the anthem or you won’t play.”  The players didn’t define their movement, so others did it for them!

Maybe the CRA should consult with these players since they hate Donald “the dictator” Trump as well.  Trust me I was at the endorsing convention, Cruz had no chance to be nominated, yet was overwhelmingly endorsed. Also, concerning two members from the local Sacramento chapter, I would love to debate anything I have written on this blog with you, but I’m sure you’re still busy working on your “resolution to admonish the cap and traitors.”

Phone Calls You Don’t Want To Get: Your Doctor

Friday, I got another call that you never want to get. This is the second one this year. The last one was from my son’s school saying he was injured. This one was from Kaiser. Kaiser never calls with good news, they send that via email or snail mail. The person on the other end of the phone was from the dermatology department. She was calling to give me the news that my biopsy came back positive for cancer. Yeah, I have melanoma which is a type of skin cancer. About half an hour later I’m on the phone with another person scheduling surgery for later this week.

This is all a bit of a shock but I’m trying to get a handle on the news. Not surprisingly, Kaiser won’t make this easy to research. They will not email me anything about the results nor send it to me via snail mail. In fact, there is no trace of the results anywhere on their secure patient website. No, instead I must go there in person during regular business hours to get a copy of the lab results. They are saying it’s because of HIPAA laws but that’s BS as best as I can determine. I think it’s to cover their exposure to liability by not giving me anything in writing; if the communication stays verbal it’s my word against theirs. Also, Kaiser is actuarial driven. They are run by bean-counters not motivated by patient care. Look at their business model, their staff is paid the same whether they see me or not so what’s the incentive to treat me? Ditto for tests, they will always choose the cheap test before the conclusive one if the price variance is great enough.

Oh, thus far, I have yet to see a doctor during the process of being diagnosed with cancer, everyone thus far is a PA (physician’s assistant) including the guy giving me the surgery later this week. The people there are nice but if they invoke the “C” word, don’t you think that merits seeing the M.D.? If patient care means proving to the patient that you care, I’m still waiting.

NFL Meltdown Continues

Here’s the headline that should scare the you know what out of the NFL ownership:
Shock poll: NFL now least liked sport, core fans down 31%

Over just one month of player, coach, and owner protests of the flag and National Anthem, the National Football League has gone from America’s sport to the least liked of top professional and college sports , according to a new poll.

And still the NFL won’t take back the game.

Then today, Vice President Mike Pence leaves Colts-49ers game after players kneel during anthem

“I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem,” Pence tweeted.

Folks, the NFL needs to do more than enforce their rule that players must stand for the national anthem—which it does say but is clearly not enforced—they own the American people and especially veterans an apology.

Here’s more from the NFL:

Jerry Jones: Cowboys will bench any player who ‘disrespects’ flag

Kaepernick willing to go anywhere for a job
Colin Kaepernick details desire to play, workout regimen

Hey, Kap, I think Chick-fil-A is hiring

GOP Civil War: It begins…

Remember that political realignment that many of us have been waiting for?

It has begun.

Republican voters and donors are at war with the Congressional leadership or lack thereof.

Here are two samples to prove my point. Folks, the heat is on and the GOP may lose their majority and I really don’t care. Ya’ll have done nothing so its time to get some new people in Washington.

For Republican Leaders in Congress, the Headaches Keep Mounting

An audiotape surfaced of Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, lambasting Republican leaders and urging conservative donors to close their wallets to lawmakers who are disloyal to President Trump.

Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are making no attempt to mask their fear, predicting that failure to pass a tax overhaul in the coming months will lead to a wipeout in next year’s midterm elections. For the first time, some senators are contemplating whether their advantages on the electoral map next year could crumble amid a wave of primary challenges and other departures, putting their two-seat majority in jeopardy next year.

Mr. Trump is not helping. Speaking at a high-dollar fund-raiser for his re-election at Le Cirque restaurant in New York last week, Mr. Trump asked contributors what they would think if he worked with Democrats on health care, should Republicans prove unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act, according to a dinner attendee.

“I might very well end up making a deal with the Democrats,” he said, drawing applause.

GOP Donors Grow Skittish Over Lack of Legislative Progress

At a gathering of Koch network donors at a luxury resort nestled in the Rocky Mountains over the weekend, major Texas-based GOP donor Doug Deason announced that he and roughly 10 other Dallas donors have chosen to withhold funds until the White House and Republican-led Congress notch some significant legislative victories.

“Get Obamacare repealed and replaced, get tax reform passed,” Deason said, according to the Associated Press. “You control the Senate. You control the House. You have the presidency. There’s no reason you can’t get this done. Get it done and we’ll open it back up.”

NFL Thru the Eyes of Others

Dear readers, I keep hoping that Mr. X will chime in on this issue but I’ve heard that he has been having hurricane issues; whether that means the kind in Puerto Rico or the local tavern, I’m not sure. Anyway, I saw a few things on Facebook and elsewhere that reflect how I feel so I thought I would post them.

Those who make the decisions in on Madison Avenue are giving the powers that be in the NFL’s crystal palace an opportunity to rectify the situation, but if things don’t change and the advertisers start feeling the impact on their bottom line, there will be some changes made in how a few key players in the marketing world shell out their revenue. That is one thing that will get the attention of the NFL.

Advertisers To NFL And Its Players: Clean Up Your Act. Or Else…

The National Football League’s more muted approach in recent days to responding to attacks from President Donald Trump followed a tense meeting last week in which several owners argued the league’s combative stance was unproductive, according to three people familiar with the meeting.

However, multiple owners at the meeting said they needed to avoid the likely repercussions of a lingering feud with the president over an issue that resonated with many fans. While the league didn’t issue a directive and there were no reports of owners forbidding players from protesting, several clubs took steps to reduce tensions in the days that followed the meeting.

NFL Owners Clashed in Private Over Protests

In poll after poll, Americans have expressed their disapproval of NFL players who refuse to stand for the national anthem as a form of protest.

In a CBS poll, 52 percent of respondents said they strongly or somewhat disapprove of players kneeling during the anthem. Thirty-eight percent said they strongly or somewhat approve, and nine percent wouldn’t say.

And an ESPN poll showed Americans disapprove of the protests by 51 to 39 percent.

A full 55 percent of Fox News poll respondents said it was inappropriate, compared with 41 percent who said it’s appropriate.

CNN asked, “Do you think athletes who protest by kneeling during the national anthem are doing the right thing or the wrong thing to express their political opinion?” Forty-nine percent of respondents said players are doing the wrong thing. Just 43 percent said they’re doing the right thing, and eight percent said they didn’t know.

Hot Air reports that NFL owners have seen a surge in requests for ticket refunds due to the national anthem controversy.

Should ‘King of Beers’ dump NFL?

“The National Football League and its owners have shown their fans and marketing partners that they do not have a comprehensive policy to ensure that players stand and show respect for America and our flag during the playing of the national anthem,” Steve Kalafer said in a statement. “We have cancelled all of our NFL advertising on the Optimum and Infinity (cable) networks.”

N.J. mega car dealer pulls TV ads over NFL protests

 

I’ll get to Las Vegas in a day or two but know that my prayers are with the folks dealing with injury and loss.

How to Make EGUSD Eat Their Words

In our last installment, we quoted the email from the Elk Grove Joint Unified School District which is presented again for your reference:

…I would expect that some students and staff members will elect to exercise their right to freedom of expression in a variety of manners. Such expressions could include sitting or kneeling during patriotic observances, including the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem. While these are two of the most common ways people express themselves, I always marvel at the creativity of our students and staff and would not be surprised if they came up with other methods to express themselves.

Please do not overact or take disciplinary actions in response to such expressions. Site leaders should confirm this with staff, including off campus coaches, to ensure all staff understand that no punitive actions are to be taken against students or staff participating in an act of expression that does not interfere with the safe and orderly running of our schools or school sponsored events.

OK, so we have established the following from the school district:
• The District expects students and staff to “exercise their right to freedom of expression”
• Kneeling is permissible before school events
• District employees are not to interfere
• District employees may also participate
• No punitive action shall be taken against staff or students as long as it “does not interfere with the safe and orderly running of our schools or school sponsored events.”
• Other as yet unanticipated methods may be used for people to express themselves

Ladies and gentlemen of the audience let’s put the district to the test, from now on both coaches and players have been given a blank check to pray on the field before any school sponsored event and furthermore, they have been promised that the district will take no retribution against them as long as it does not interfere with event safety.

NFL Hell

The cancer that began propagating in the NFL last year by currently unemployed San Francisco Forty-niner Colin Kaepernick has become a plague upon the nation because the National Football League failed to act in a proper manner. Sorry but when an employee is at work and wearing the uniform of his company, he is not free to say and do whatever he wants.  This myth of an unrestricted right to free speech is a bald-faced lie.

Examples:

• Can a theater worker (we are limiting this discussion to speech by employees) shout “Fire” in the middle of the movie?
• Can you call the White House and say “I want to kill the President” and nothing will happen to you?
• Can you call your local school and threaten to shoot all the dumb (insert racial or ethnic group here) and not get paid a visit by the SWAT Team?
• Can your doctor tell you that you have six months to live and you aren’t really sick?
• While at work can I call a retired person and tell them to pay their bill or we will garnish their bank account and retirement because they owe us money? (FYI we can’t do either.)
• Can an NFL player celebrate in the end zone by mooning the crowd and not be fined?

Clearly, a right of speech is not unlimited. When you—as an employee or representative of a group—say or do something, it reflects not just upon your conduct but that of your employer.

Don’t believe me, try it. I doubt any of the above examples would be defended by an employer anywhere. However, even if the employee lost their job as a result, the employer would likely still be writing a check to someone once the lawyers got done with him.

So why is it OK to have a stupid protest during the National Anthem to defend the rights of people that say it’s ok to kill policemen because they are bad and only want to kill people?

Kaepernick started to protest the National Anthem for this very reason. He wants black people to have a special right to not have to obey policemen when police have drawn their weapons in the performance of their duties. Sorry, Kap but that’s what lawyers are for. If you won’t obey an order from a policeman, especially when their weapon is drawn, then you deserve to be shot like a mad dog.

This isn’t a racial issue, its common sense that law abiding people are expected to behave this way; period.

On Friday, President Trump said what most of us feel about this issue,
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘get that son of a bitch off the field now. Out. Out. He’s fired!’”
Link: Trump SOB quote

My answer is “hell yes” that should have happened to Kaepernick a year and a half ago.

Because the NFL failed to act responsibly, this has been politicized by the Left as another front of their “Operation Chaos” to try to bring down Trump. Sorry dudes but Trump is right.

The movement is now spreading to other sports venues.

In the spirit of the times and not content to keep their mouths shut or do the right thing, the Elk Grove Join Unified School District has waded into the fray as well. This email was sent to employees of the District earlier today.

The purpose of this communication is twofold. First, thank you for all you do to support our students and your fellow colleagues. Your efforts are recognized and appreciated. Second, given recent events, I would expect that some students and staff members will elect to exercise their right to freedom of expression in a variety of manners. Such expressions could include sitting or kneeling during patriotic observances, including the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem. While these are two of the most common ways people express themselves, I always marvel at the creativity of our students and staff and would not be surprised if they came up with other methods to express themselves.

Please do not overact or take disciplinary actions in response to such expressions. Site leaders should confirm this with staff, including off campus coaches, to ensure all staff understand that no punitive actions are to be taken against students or staff participating in an act of expression that does not interfere with the safe and orderly running of our schools or school sponsored events.

Related Press Release is Here

Please note what a crock of crap this is. What the District should have said was:

We respect our country and what it stands for. Our nation is not perfect but it’s the best country on the planet. When a student is representing our school at any activity, they shall not politicize the event by disrespecting our flag or anthem. Many millions have fought and died so that you could be here today. The things that united us are bigger that those issues that divide us. Lasting change is made by working thru the system not advocating its overthrow. We do not condone any course of action that advocates the murder of law enforcement in the performance of their duties. We have a zero tolerance for interjecting politics into patriotic expressions. School activities—including athletic events—are political free zones.

Please note that the District employs their own police force, I could argue that the District’s position endangers both staff and students in an effort to score cheap political points.  This is the second time in recent months that the District has waded into high profile political issues to score cheap points to prove they are politically correct enough for California.

Hey EGUSD, just so you know, I now have a reason not to give money to any of your schools for fundraisers—especially for the support of athletic teams.

Laura Ingraham wrote a book that fits this situation; “Shut up and sing”.

Or if you rather, Tim Hawkins did a version of Imagine:

Imagine all the actors
the musicians too
would stick to acting and singing
with no political views.

Bottom line is athletes should shut up and play ball. If America is so bad try moving to Iraq (or some other third world cesspool) and being on their soccer team. In the good ole days, their players were tortured when they lost.

Footballers who paid the penalty for failure: How Uday’s terror made the game a matter of life or death

Saddam’s son tortured defeated footballers

I’m sure North Korea is no different so I checked:
North Korea to Olympians: No Medals Means Labor Camp

Our guys get paid millions for playing a stupid game. The ungrateful snowflakes should respect the opportunity given to them just because they live in this country. If they want to do something meaningful how about cancelling a practice and going to Texas, Florida, or Puerto Rico and helping folks that appreciate it? Try uniting us and not dividing, you might be surprised how many folks will support you.

Flood Insurance=Government Insanity

For us in the real world, the pop culture definition of insanity comes to mind when we look at articles like on that recently appeared in the free side of the Wall Street Journal.

The headline says it all:

One House, 22 Floods: Repeated Claims Drain Federal Insurance Program

Brian Harmon had just finished spending over $300,000 to fix his home in Kingwood, Texas, when Hurricane Harvey sent floodwaters “completely over the roof.”

The six-bedroom house, which has an indoor swimming pool, sits along the San Jacinto River. It has flooded 22 times since 1979, making it one of the most flood damaged properties in the country.

Between 1979 and 2015, government records show the federal flood insurance program paid out more than $1.8 million to rebuild the house—a property that Mr. Harmon figured was worth $600,000 to $800,000 before Harvey hit late last month.

Homes and other properties with repetitive flood losses account for just 2% of the roughly 1.5 million properties that currently have flood insurance, according to government estimates. But such properties have accounted for about 30% of flood claims paid over the program’s history.

The article goes on to describe government’s unwillingness and inability to purchase such properties and prevent them from being rebuilt. It does mention that folks are reluctant to sell instead of rebuild. You may have a right to build on your own property but why do folks have an absolute right to be repeatedly bailed-out of subsequent problems by other taxpayers? What happened to fool me once…?

Oh, the government flood insurance program was 25 billion in the hole before the hurricanes this month. Yet another example of why big government doesn’t work.

Dear readers, please take these hurricanes and other such disasters very sober mindedly because when our turn comes in California, what you’ve seen elsewhere could be a picnic compared to what we will experience here. If you thought that no rebar in the Oroville dam spillway was the only shortcut government has allowed in California then you are a fool. I think our turn is coming soon.