Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

I had written something about a high school football player who refused to stand for the national anthem years ago to protest the Iraq war.  So I thought that my view is known here already.  But now I think I had written to the local paper and not the blog.  So I will comment on Kaepernick.  I thought the high school player was going to become a better citizen than his buddies who may stand for the anthem but never thought about anything after the game other than finding their girl friends.  So I believe that Kaepernick would be a better citizen than most of the other players whether I agree with him or not.  The flag is a symbol of our freedom and maybe the most important thing it stands for is our freedom to speak our mind.  So Kaepernick has the absolute right to not stand.  Same with Gabby Douglas not holding her hand to her heart. 

But I also wrote that the flag did not send our army to Iraq.  Also today it is not the flag which cause the unjustifiable killing of innocent people by rogue cops.  The flag represents our desire to form a better union, with liberty and justice for all.  We are not there yet but the flag symbolizes our efforts to get there.  So if I were to council the high school kid and Kaepernick, I would tell them to respect the flag even if you don't have to.  Rather than refusing to stand up for the anthem, stand up to those who done wrong.  As an athlete, Kaepernick has a forum.  He can make a difference by contributing money, meeting with police leaders, politicians, community leaders etc. 

To those people who say that Kaepernick should be shut down.  I say that is exactly what the flag does not stand for.  Are we going to act like North Korea and Iran?  Those countries would make it a crime not to solute their flag.  You don't have to agree with Kaepernick but you should defend his right to say what he believes.

To a lighter note (although not much lighter), LBOAYM calls attention to his favorite show, DWTS again.  I did hear about Lochte going on the show but I did not know others until LBOAYM provided the info.  Well, I am going to root against Lochte, not only because his behavior in Rio.  I also saw a clip from 2008 where his sister went on some talk show and trashed the Chinese.  She must have used the word chink a dozen times!  Add that to some stupid comments his mother made about Lochte's sexual behavior, I think it is not an accident that this ugly American incident occurred.

I think Laurie Hernandez is great but too young to be on the show.  I think Shawn Johnson was even older when she went on and won.  I will be a homer and pick Calvin Johnson.

I am not going to make any prediction about college football before a game is played.  I don't think you should have preseason polls.  How can one judge when everybody had graduations and freshmen coming in?  If someone started outside of the poll and won every game, it may still not get into the playoffs.  But if someone started no.1, lose a game early, it probably still climb back into the playoffs.  It is unfair.  SI actually had Michigan finishing in the top 4.  That is absurd even if I hope that it is true.  Harbaugh is good but he is not a miracle worker.  It will take another three years for that to happen, I think.