UNSPORTSMANLIKE BEHAVIOR
I don't like sports, especially football.
To be more precise, I have no feelings one way or the other about football or any other sport. Athletes, however, are another thing entirely.
Before we get into the "not all athletes" argument, yes. I know. Not all. But certainly too many.
I dated football players in high school. They were jerks. One or two on the team were great. The rest? Rumors circulated that they were more than jerks to other girls I knew. We'll leave it at that.
I knew basketball players at college. The one I dated briefly was a drunk and in the relationship for only what he could get. Yeah...no.
Then there was a baseball player. He was a peach. And he talked way too much about things a gentleman never divulges. He even made a few things up just for fun. Boy bye.
And professional athletes? Rapists, committers of domestic violence, drug abusers, and criminals.
Not all. But far too many.
And yes, I know. Women do it too. But the numbers of women athletes misbehaving are astronomically less than the men. Period. End of argument.
I know it's not particularly Texan to hate sports. But I do. Not actually the sports themselves, really. I could learn to be interested in the sports if the men who play them were worthy of watching. But the sports culture is something I hate entirely and too many weak men give in to participating in the more unhealthy aspects of it. I can't lower myself to condone it by watching sports.
Ego kills talent. So does cruelty, immorality, and substance abuse. So does the toxic culture surrounding athletic talent.
I would love to post the myriad of Texas-related stories about this year's Super Bowl game on my Facebook page, but I won't. I can't. It's a stand I'm taking against the NFL and it's consistently blind eye that it turns for every rape, beating, drug scandal, or any other crime of moral turpitude committed by its players and occasionally its management.
It's David against Goliath, I know. And the NFL doesn't care about my opinion. I know that, too. But what if we all woke up and realized that a player kneeling during the National Anthem is far less harmful than men who continue to be rewarded with our sports fandom while beating the crap out of their wives and girlfriends, or raping someone in their hotel room, or driving drunk?
And let them kneel during the National Anthem. Frankly, this country hasn't been great to its non-white, non-male citizens. Lately, I've had a hard time standing up when it plays, too, though I stand up anyway. You want them to stand? Behave better towards those who don't look like you or believe like you. That's all that they are asking. That's all Jesus asked of us. Why is that so hard for the so-called patriotic Christians to understand?
I'm not asking you to stop being a man. I'm asking you to stop being a bona fide asshole. The two do not have to be synonymous, but so many, and I do mean MANY, think they do.
Boys will be boys. Until they man up and start acting like decent human beings. Which I hope they do soon. But then again, I'm one voice in the wilderness. Maybe it's not the athletes that deserve my disgust. Maybe...just maybe...it's the fans.
To be more precise, I have no feelings one way or the other about football or any other sport. Athletes, however, are another thing entirely.
Before we get into the "not all athletes" argument, yes. I know. Not all. But certainly too many.
I dated football players in high school. They were jerks. One or two on the team were great. The rest? Rumors circulated that they were more than jerks to other girls I knew. We'll leave it at that.
I knew basketball players at college. The one I dated briefly was a drunk and in the relationship for only what he could get. Yeah...no.
Then there was a baseball player. He was a peach. And he talked way too much about things a gentleman never divulges. He even made a few things up just for fun. Boy bye.
And professional athletes? Rapists, committers of domestic violence, drug abusers, and criminals.
Not all. But far too many.
And yes, I know. Women do it too. But the numbers of women athletes misbehaving are astronomically less than the men. Period. End of argument.
I know it's not particularly Texan to hate sports. But I do. Not actually the sports themselves, really. I could learn to be interested in the sports if the men who play them were worthy of watching. But the sports culture is something I hate entirely and too many weak men give in to participating in the more unhealthy aspects of it. I can't lower myself to condone it by watching sports.
Ego kills talent. So does cruelty, immorality, and substance abuse. So does the toxic culture surrounding athletic talent.
I would love to post the myriad of Texas-related stories about this year's Super Bowl game on my Facebook page, but I won't. I can't. It's a stand I'm taking against the NFL and it's consistently blind eye that it turns for every rape, beating, drug scandal, or any other crime of moral turpitude committed by its players and occasionally its management.
It's David against Goliath, I know. And the NFL doesn't care about my opinion. I know that, too. But what if we all woke up and realized that a player kneeling during the National Anthem is far less harmful than men who continue to be rewarded with our sports fandom while beating the crap out of their wives and girlfriends, or raping someone in their hotel room, or driving drunk?
And let them kneel during the National Anthem. Frankly, this country hasn't been great to its non-white, non-male citizens. Lately, I've had a hard time standing up when it plays, too, though I stand up anyway. You want them to stand? Behave better towards those who don't look like you or believe like you. That's all that they are asking. That's all Jesus asked of us. Why is that so hard for the so-called patriotic Christians to understand?
I'm not asking you to stop being a man. I'm asking you to stop being a bona fide asshole. The two do not have to be synonymous, but so many, and I do mean MANY, think they do.
Boys will be boys. Until they man up and start acting like decent human beings. Which I hope they do soon. But then again, I'm one voice in the wilderness. Maybe it's not the athletes that deserve my disgust. Maybe...just maybe...it's the fans.
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