I do not watch sports. But I just watched the opening ceremony! Why the military associations? Marine Corps flag waver dudes? Introducing WW2 vets. America, America ? Then Pink singing our militaristic national anthem? What is the connection between militarism and millionaires bashing each other around for a couple of hours?

And then there is Fantasy Football:

Um most of those players ARE NOT millionaires. That is a myth. Your Brady types are the minority in that league. Most Most of the 1,140 players only make a a base salary of 300 or 400k per year and the average time in the NFL is 2- 5 years for MOST. And that money they earn as a base salary DOES NOT count all the abuse they take from pee wee league, to high shcool, to college, NOT GETTING PAID. Then there is the health care costs for the rest of their lives after they leave the league.

I am really tired of this crack because the real greed isn't the players but the billionaire owners whom blackmail cities if they don't pay for the stadiums.

Didn't watch it. Who won?

Brian, sounds like all of the players should quit then.

(February 5, 2018 at 7:31 am)mh.brewer Wrote: Didn't watch it. Who won?

Brian, sounds like all of the players should quit then.

I found out it was yesterday when the restaurant people asked if I wanted "to watch the game." Took me a minute.

(February 5, 2018 at 7:31 am)mh.brewer Wrote: Didn't watch it. Who won?

Brian, sounds like all of the players should quit then.

Yea because only Billionaires have the right to bargain even though they don't do the sweat. 

Our middle class came about because of UNION labor, our decline and exploding pay gap came as a result of Reagan's union busting and deregulation. 

No sorry, the players have every damned right in the world to collectively bargain. I think all industry labor should get back to telling the rich to value them instead of acting like labor are mere tools for the rich.

(February 5, 2018 at 7:58 am)Brian37 Wrote:

(February 5, 2018 at 7:31 am)mh.brewer Wrote: Didn't watch it. Who won?

Brian, sounds like all of the players should quit then.

Yea because only Billionaires have the right to bargain even though they don't do the sweat. 

Our middle class came about because of UNION labor, our decline and exploding pay gap came as a result of Reagan's union busting and deregulation. 

No sorry, the players have every damned right in the world to collectively bargain. I think all industry labor should get back to telling the rich to value them instead of acting like labor are mere tools for the rich.

I know that you're a tool.

(February 4, 2018 at 7:46 pm)chimp3 Wrote: I do not watch sports. But I just watched the opening ceremony! Why the military associations? Marine Corps flag waver dudes? Introducing WW2 vets. America, America ? Then Pink singing our militaristic national anthem? What is the connection between militarism and millionaires bashing each other around for a couple of hours?

The Department of Defense pays big money to the NFL for such things. Gotta keep the proles whipped up and supporting the oligarchy's military adventures, amirite?

Quote:Why the military associations?

The Pentagon pays them a shitload of money for that.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/pentag...atriotism/

Quote:How the Pentagon Paid for NFL Displays of Patriotism

Quote:That changed in 2009, as the Department of Defense poured millions of dollars into the NFL in exchange for displays of patriotism during games. “Until 2009, no NFL player stood for the national anthem because players actually stayed in the locker room as the anthem played,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith explained in 2016. “The players were moved to the field during the national anthem because it was seen as a marketing strategy to make the athletes look more patriotic. The United States Department of Defense paid the National Football League $5.4 million between 2011 and 2014, and the National Guard $6.7 million between 2013 and 2015 to stage onfield patriotic ceremonies as part of military-recruitment budget line items.”

Everything happens for a reason in this country and money is usually the reason.

(February 5, 2018 at 12:25 pm)mh.brewer Wrote:

(February 5, 2018 at 7:58 am)Brian37 Wrote: Yea because only Billionaires have the right to bargain even though they don't do the sweat. 

Our middle class came about because of UNION labor, our decline and exploding pay gap came as a result of Reagan's union busting and deregulation. 

No sorry, the players have every damned right in the world to collectively bargain. I think all industry labor should get back to telling the rich to value them instead of acting like labor are mere tools for the rich.

I know that you're a tool.

Why am I a "tool", because I don't think one class should get to dictate the laws everyone lives under? 

If that makes me a "tool" fine with me. I don't think workers are poker chips or property of one class.

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(February 5, 2018 at 12:29 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:

(February 4, 2018 at 7:46 pm)chimp3 Wrote: I do not watch sports. But I just watched the opening ceremony! Why the military associations? Marine Corps flag waver dudes? Introducing WW2 vets. America, America ? Then Pink singing our militaristic national anthem? What is the connection between militarism and millionaires bashing each other around for a couple of hours?

The Department of Defense pays big money to the NFL for such things.  Gotta keep the proles whipped up and supporting the oligarchy's military adventures, amirite?

I do think it is a bad thing to mix those things. It isn't that you should not support a military, we do need one, if we didn't have one, our enemies would run us over.

But this really is about money and business, for the NFL it is about marketing themes of patriotism to sell shirts and hats, for the military industrial complex, it is about making and selling more weapons.