Let Freedom Ring? Naw! It’s Let Cash Registers Cha-Ching!
The NFL’s and Major League Baseball’s Honor America tributes do not honor America on July 4th or any other day. Neither do other sports leagues that wrap themselves around the flag. Honoring America is a ploy to make people think leagues that promote harmful products are as American as apple pie.
In reality, the moguls who run the teams and leagues resemble the robber barons of American history, valuing money over everything despite knowing their business practices harmed Americans.
Soon, the true celebration all Americans should celebrate will take place. And it happens every year. That, of course, is the July 4th celebrations, which take place in big and small towns, and big and small cities across the United States and, of course, at hypocritical sporting events.
Graphic courtesy Enlisted
At one time, July 4th was known as Independence Day, but few people today refer to it by that name. Most people I know think of July 4th as a day they don’t have to go to the office or factory, go to a ballgame, or spend time with family and friends. In their own way, that also celebrates America’s independence because, unlike in so many countries around the world, Americans have a choice not only on July 4th but every day.
I guess I’m as patriotic as most Americans, probably more so than many, but not as patriotic as others, because I enlisted in the Army to serve America during the days when many people of my age were fleeing to Canada or becoming teachers to avoid military service, which I never faulted anyone for doing. I never thought my time in the military made me a better person than those who didn’t serve.
I guess I’m also as patriotic as most Americans who do not wrap their bodies in the American flag. Unlike sports leagues, I do not believe that playing the National Anthem before a ball game or honoring a veteran at a game equates patriotism, which I disagree with.
While all leagues are complicit, the National Football League’s patriotic displays, in my opinion, are the most hypocritical. Here’s why.
Hypocritical because a 2015 report released by former Sens. John Flake and John McCain revealed that America’s sports leagues charged the Pentagon almost $7-million to allow “paid patriotic” displays at games, with NFL teams receiving the largest chunk of the taxpayers’ pie — more than $6-million, according to a USA TODAY article on Nov. 4th, 2015.
The league itself returned $723,734, which it deemed an inappropriate use of the Pentagon’s money. Said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that an audit uncovered that over the course of four seasons, $723,734 “may have been mistakenly applied to appreciation activities rather than recruitment efforts.” Of course. Mistakes happen. Of course. Don’t they?
But, in my opinion, the tackiest patriotic promotion is one by Major League Baseball.
In 2016, with Lt. Thomas Dioguardi as the Veteran of the Game, with Curtis Granderson and U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (photo, MLB)
Major League Baseball teams try to demonstrate their patriotism by honoring a “Veteran of the Game.” That’s commendable. Our veterans should be honored for their service. But what makes the ceremony a laugher, in my opinion, is that teams present a flag that has flown over their stadium to the “Veteran of the Game.”
Baseball has a long history in the United States. But it never occurred to me that a stadium is a patriotic site, unless it’s the stadiums at the U.S. military academies. (According to MLB.com, “All 30 Major League Baseball teams honor military veterans and active-duty service members, with in-stadium game-day recognition being a standard practice across the league.”)
Also, not “honoring America” is NBCUniversal’s televising of the Olympic Games from totalitarian countries, with its Olympic broadcasting team “forgetting” to mention the human rights and atrocities committed by host states that are rivals of the United States.
t seems that the broadcasters believe that money, not people able to express opinions without being punished, is more important than free speech, which the current presidential administration is actively attempting to curtail in the U.S.
For me, sports leagues’ patriotic displays or playing the National Anthem before a ball game do not “honor America,” as the NFL says, but dishonor the flag. While the anthem is being sung, TV cameras show players not standing at attention but moving around, scratching themselves, or spitting, and people in the stands are so anxious for the game to begin that they cheer or whistle before the singer hits the final note.
In addition, the NFL, MLB, and other sports endorse sin products like alcoholic beverages and partner with legalized bookies, allowing these products to be televised during their games. In effect, they tell viewers of all ages that it’s okay to indulge.
Courtesy CBS News
It’s well known that drinking and gambling are problems on college campuses. And by sports leagues permitting TV commercials that promote gambling and drinking while pre-college-age children are watching, it only adds to the problem by conditioning them to do so as they age. That’s not my idea of “honoring America.”
I’m not a teetotaler, and I’m not against placing a wager at a racetrack, but inviting bookies into living rooms is not what I consider best for America. And I’m not against people going to Sin City to try their luck in a casino. (I’ve done so without success several times.)
What’s best for America, in my opinion, is to discourage (not outlaw) people from drinking alcoholic beverages, which science has proven can lead to serious health issues, including cancers. It is also to encourage people not to bet but instead to use that money for things like food, rent, education, and many other uses that can help a family, not harm it.
What’s worse for America, in my opinion, are sports leagues that promote products that harm people. Also, sports announcers who read gambling commercials during a televised ballgame are doing the same. If that’s not encouraging people to bet, what is?
July 4 should be celebrated as the day that gave Americans the right to decide for themselves without being brainwashed by sports leagues and sports marketers who spend millions of dollars a year trying to convince TV viewers that “sin” products equate to fun and are good for you.
That’s no way to “honor America” on July 4th or any other day.
