News & Articles

LAKE VERMILION… The San Francisco Forty Niners, the National Football League and Niner QB Colin Kaepernick have continued forth in the analysis of Kaepernicks National Anthem protest. Since his original “sit down” protest occurred, he has now moved to kneeling upon one knee during the anthem of his last preseason game. The MFAN Jr. sent me a text this morning which basically read like this; Colin Kaepernick said America is not great and people tell him to leave. Donald Trump says America not great, and may become President. White privilege in a nutshell. Can’t add much to that I guess. I have noticed in my lifetime, and perhaps so have you, that there is a different standard applied when it comes to patriotism, or lack thereof, by people of color. It seems that they can never be “patriotic” enough and when they go against the grain they aren’t
afforded the same considerations that Caucasians might be. Whether you agree with that statement or not, I do not care. It is true and that’s a fact.

The Kaepernick saga has dragged on over the week just passed and it is the usual back and forth, and there is a lot of left versus right mixed in as well. Nothing has been settled, a lot of people got their opinions heard, and nothing will be settled or changed. My view is the same, Kaepernick is within his rights as an American to do what he is doing, and I can find nothing incorrect about his stance and why he is doing what he is doing. Unless something earthshaking occurs regarding this matter, I probably won’t dive into it any further, but as a final addendum to my thoughts on this, I would offer that whether or not you are patriotic has little to do with standing for an anthem. There are many factors that make up one’s patriotism or ability to be called one.

A true patriot knows the countries history thoroughly and understands it, and I speak not only of the sanitized version offered by many of our education systems here. That person is also familiar with the sacrifices that have been made by many to defend and continue the Union of States. A true patriot votes at election time and gets involved in our processes and helps to achieve positive outcomes that benefit the most citizens in the most effective way. I could go on because there are many other items that can determine patriotism, but I also came across this while reading opinion on the topic and it is interesting to me. I am going to quote directly from the article; “Most citizens today know there are things wrong in this country. They realize that tyranny has laid it’s grasp upon the people and the laws of the land and it has corrupted the entire landscape across our Nation.

They have learned these things slowly over the years as the evidence has become more and more prevalent. As they learn of the treacherous deeds of our Government and the corporate degenerates they have chosen to serve, they become angry and they seek to support the defense of our country in one way or another. The kind of support mechanisms they seek varies according to the variety of different protests that exist in our many different platforms that have risen against this tyrannical force”. Hmmmmm, like sitting during the playing of the National anthem?  

This singular thought hit me right between the eyes. There is so much crap to be upset about in this country right now, that I would offer that, why would ANYONE stand for the anthem at this point in time? Personally I am sick of the “bombs bursting in air”. I am a Korean War offspring. And for the better part of my life I have watched us drift from one mindless, profit-driven conflict to another. We don’t even protest anymore, and if we do the Media sure as hell will not cover it. From a domestic standpoint? We have a war on everything and we have lost or are losing damn near everyone of them. And for people of color? You are an after thought, if even that. Kaepernick is right and if you possess any sense of decency, fairness or justice within you, he should get your respect not scorn.


Why? Protest is one of the most valid and valuable forms of patriotism we have. It remains to be seen what will become of Kaepernick in the ultra-chic faux Patriotism world of the NFL. I mean, they have been using our Military as some sort of patriot props for how many years now? They are sort of accommodating him while the spotlight is still on them. How long will that last? In the end I am guessing that based on the definition I came across that few of us would qualify to be true patriots, Kaepernick included. But someone had to stand up right? And he was the one with the biggest stage. That act took some real courage. We all need to look at that and understand….

THE WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY is days away and I am looking most forward to it. Perhaps even more so then some players are. There have been many player “pull-outs” in recent days and the reasoning is that there are injuries under consideration. I am compelled to say that most of these are of a legitimate nature. But there are some that are being questioned over the true level of injury. Is it something that would keep them out of an NHL regular season tilt? How about a Stanley Cup tournament game? So the heat is on some of these guys.

As expected the Canadians are favored to win the tourney. I believe in one instance they were 10/11 favorites meaning you would have to bet $11k to win $10k. Right, that will get a lot of action eh?  Team Russia is at 9/2, Sweden 5/1, Team USA 13/2, Finland 14/1 and so on. I had an interesting thought today; which of these teams will be in the best condition when this tourney starts? There is a lot of talent all the way around, but wouldn’t the two U23 clubs have the most going from that youthful-fresh as a daisy view? Could one or both make this more interesting then the organizers intended? We shall see! PEACE