I can recall having a one on one meeting with Governor Glendenning many years ago. At the time he agreed to provide $250,000,000.00 for EACH team. The Ravens were just coming to Maryland and the Redskins were attempting to build their new stadium.
In our discussion Mr. Glendenning asked me flat out, what's your thoughts on these investments. I immediately replied, are you busing people in from Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia to watch the games? He replied, no. I said, why are Maryland taxpayers subjected to footing the bill for each stadium. He replied, each stadium will bring in $35,000,000.00 a year in tax revenue. I said, that's my point. I can see if fans from other states were paying those taxes BUT the reality is, it's Maryland taxpayers footing the bill to build them and Maryland taxpayers subsidizing the taxes to keep them afloat, it makes no sense to me!
All that being said, ALL OF US, WE pay for these teams and WE have every right to be upset with their lack of respect. Let me also add, back when I spoke to Glendenning there was a NINE YEAR waiting list just to get season tickets with the Redskins. That means that if you and I, (taxpayers) wanted to get our own season tickets to see games WE PAID FOR, we cannot. So every Maryland taxpayer was screwed right out of the gate. Whether we paid for the stadium and or the infrastructure, the miles and miles of parking lots ultimately hurt our environment. Our waste water treatment plants are overwhelmed. There are numerous unforeseen impacts well above and beyond just the stadiums.
So IF YOU feel like YOU don't have a say in what the NFL and our local teams are doing, you are very wrong. In fact, you have more say then the very people holding season tickets because you paid for all of it, (at least half a billion dollars worth) yet you don't get to enjoy it.
My children were raised to respect the American Flag and our National Anthem. It's time we send a message by boycotting a very select few people smacking "We The People" in the face. I firmly believe in our First Amendment Rights. I respect the Pittsburgh Steelers for staying in the locker room and privately expressing their rights. However, the moment you go on national television and grandstand while smacking "We The People" who built the very house they play in, they can kiss my rear end.
I firmly believe this will crush the NFL. Let's see where this post takes us.
Watching college football where they respect the flag and don't set themselves on fire for making a play or a touchdown. Bye bye NFL.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree and I hope this truly is the end of all major league sports, and also all high school and college sports. An education is the only thing that should be offered at schools, not a pathway to be an entitled chump who has no education and only used the system to get to the pros. All the extra money for fields, stadiums, coaches, etc. should be used for books, and actually used for building upkeep, maintenance, technology, etc. School pride should come from graduation rates and actual learning, not cheering for sport teams. We wonder why athletes make so much money, yet ridicule teachers for wanting a fair salary. It's because education isn't the goal of school these days. Keeping people dumb and entertained so the populous is too ignorant to worry about real issues is key to keeping the establishment in place. Wake up people, and demand your schools actually use your tax dollars to teach your children, not coach them in sports they don't need and will do nothing for their future but lead to injury.
ReplyDeletebuh bye NFL - cut the CATV cord while you're at it!
ReplyDeleteBoycotting is a good form of protest. However I do believe that if there is a lack of attendance the ticket prices will go down and people will swoop in to go to a game affordably.
ReplyDeleteLet us not forget that the same flag code that says you should stand for the anthem prohibits the flag from being used for advertisement (Budweiser america cans), being used as a drape (how many people have we seen at games or Olympic champions wearing a flag as a cape?) it can't be made into a t shirt, body suit etc.
It'd be nice if we could focus our attention to the larger issues at hand such as Healthcare reform and all Americans affected by these recent natural disasters. The more publicity an issue like this gets the more power those players statements have.
time to remove nfl's antiturst status and target their sponsors! the dopes are fooling themselves. if it wasn't for the fans they would either be not working or in jail! rapists, murderers, drunk drivers, drug addicts, felons, wife beaters! yeah i want my kids to think of them as heroes! NOT!
ReplyDeleteFire all players that will not stand and respect the flag. Replace those players with players that do respect the flag.
ReplyDeleteI see damn few black people in the stands. The kneeling players not only disrespect our flag and anthem, but also the predominately white fans in the stands, at at home, and across this great nation. When this all plays out, the players will have killed the sport that has provided them with the greatest of opportunities. Eight years of our country's first black (maybe) president, and race relations are back to where they were in the sixties.
ReplyDeleteAmen 9:06!
ReplyDeleteTake away their "non-profit" (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) status.
ReplyDeleteMake them deal with the IRS.
Keep cheering.