Posted on 11/24/2021 11:02:43 AM PST by Kaslin
America loves college football, loves its flyovers and cheers and opportunities to show patriotic pride, and doesn't want it tainted by politics.
When college football came roaring back in September, sticking it to the Faucian fear porn that gathering with fellow fans in stadiums (or with anyone, anywhere) wasn’t “smart,” fans cheered the camaraderie of mass sports gatherings — as well as the lack of politicized messaging, in contrast to the wokeness of pro leagues like the NFL.
Fans made their disdain for the COVID establishment known with chants of “F-ck Joe Biden,” and later the more tactful euphemism “Let’s go, Brandon,” reminding everyone that America loves college football and doesn’t stand for being told not to celebrate with 50,000 of our fellow patriots.
As the college season nears a close, enjoying a game at the University of Central Florida in Orlando last weekend reminded me just how infectious the enthusiasm is — and why, as the NFL (and other pro sports groups like the NBA) lean into empty leftist signaling, I hope college ball never changes.
I had the good fortune of landing on the military appreciation game, which meant patriotism was on full display — perfectly sandwiched between Veterans’ Day and a holiday to remember our pilgrim roots. Red, white, and blue bunting lined the field, camouflage wraps adorned the goalposts, and stars and stripes decorated the home team’s helmets.
At halftime, the huge marching band played “America the Beautiful” before performing each military branch’s song while requesting members of each branch to stand and be recognized. A visiting Marine Corps Reserve band played “God Bless America,” and the Jumbotron displayed a slideshow of students in the Armed Forces.
Following all the anti-American sentiment of the last several years, it felt good to hear “Let’s hear it for … the United States of America!” roll over the loudspeakers, and then to hear a resounding cheer.
After wide receiver Brandon Johnson caught a pass, the corner of the stadium to my right showed its enthusiastic support by chanting “Let’s go, Brandon” — twice. Oh, and I think I saw two COVID masks in the 45,000-seat stadium. Fans ate hot dogs and pizza, and the kids a few rows in front of me tossed a miniature pigskin with their dad in between plays.
It’s no secret that America loves college football, loves its flyovers and cheers and opportunities to show patriotic pride, and doesn’t want all of this tainted by politics.
So far at least, college football has been a reliable old favorite while pro football has waded into political quagmires. After the national anthem protests instigated by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, some fans drifted away from the NFL. In 2017, the kneeling protests were the No. 1 reason fans watched fewer games, with 26 percent of people citing them as the reason they weren’t watching as much. The NFL’s net brand favorability plummeted from 30 percent to 17 percent shortly afterward.
When former Saints quarterback Drew Brees expressed that he would “never agree with anyone disrespecting” the American flag, the rest of the league quickly dogpiled him, leading to his apology for the patriotic statement.
The NFL also waded into politics and made enemies when it decided in September to play one anthem for black Americans and another for everyone else, and the year before when it turned end zones and helmets into billboards for Black Lives Matter-inspired slogans after banning the Dallas Cowboys from wearing helmet decals commemorating five murdered Dallas police officers. (Or when it decided to declare that “football is gay,” or to ditch the name of the Washington Redskins.)
Instead of pushing politics, the college football world understands that Americans want football from their football — and maybe (definitely) tailgating, halftime shows, military flyovers, and their team’s favorite sacred traditions like “The Wave” or “Jump Around” or “Country Roads.” We want to revel in the team spirit that gives us something in common with perfect strangers, instead of looking at everything through the lens of divisive identity politics. We want the chance, not just to gather, but to experience camaraderie with strangers after a year and a half of being told to avoid each other.
But absolutely, we don’t want politics from our football, and we don’t want lying, shifty bureaucrats telling us we’re not allowed to fill the stands, either. If they keep trying, they’ll be hearing plenty more “Let’s go, Brandon” cheers from the bleachers.
Colleges themselves are breeding grounds for communists and college football players most of whom are black like the NFL are thoroughly indoctrinated and complete libtards when they enter the NFL.
Let’s not pretend we don’t know what’s going on 🤪
AGREE. And well said.
I was really disappointed when OU committed to the SEC but not surprised.
Such a dick move but what can you expect from OU anymore.
They had it made in the Big 12, top of the heap and they’d get more invites with marginal talent than anyone else.
Yes it was a real dick move to join the SEC. They’ll be taking it up the ass for years to come.
The person who wrote this doesn’t know much about colleges.
I have always preferred college sports over the pros...Football and basketball....
Nebraska gave up their whole legacy by moving.
They have bigger problems than going to the SEC starting with their open political support of BLM and the black helmet stripe they sometimes sport to further the cause and push the Marxist agenda.
As a UF Gator Fan, all those claims you make might be true but they will have significantly more money for taking up the ass.
The new SEC TV contract means about 30 million per team each year regardless of record....
Let’s say Oklahoma goes into the SEC West, that means Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Miss State, Ole Miss, and Arkansas every year with maybe Georgia, Florida, Tennessee thrown in as well.....not exactly the Big 12 cake walk...
“Colleges themselves are breeding grounds for communists”
Yup. No matter how many times Stanford booster alumni ASK me for money I laugh, and tell them to get me off their contact list. They already got money from me via tuition what’s the other $ for?
SEC. The fans are top notch. Big 10 are good too. The rest of the country can GTH.
Don’t ever trust anyone who has a bully pulpit. College football and basketball have exactly that.
Don’t be so naive as to think the schools, coaches and players, certainly, are immune to the commie America-hatred spewed in our faces constantly.
We’ve already seen high schools and colleges demonstrate for BLM. I’m not going ra-ra for any of them.
I mean, if you can’t trust NASCAR, whom can you trust?
What does that have to do with the PC wokeness addressed here?
The schools will throw the fans and students a few crumbs because they know they have millions of their dollars for BLM, Antifa, Critical Race Theory, and useless “Studies” departments. When you’re buying tickets, merchandise, or watching on TV, that’s what you’re getting.
Hard to believe all those folk in the stand without masks on are “vaccinated”. Must be nice.
Exactly spot on.
Let’s go Brandon:-)
Over a hundred years of tradition going down the SEC Big Big Money juggernaut WOKE University toilet. All the good rivalries for me are completely gone in favor of TV revenues.
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