I have always found it to be somewhat of an odd occurrence, when those who proclaim themselves to be “Patriotic Americans” and conservative or “republican” get completely up in arms at every little thing that they claim shows disrespect to the American Flag, while they themselves display the “rebel flag” or alternate colorizations and depictions of Old Glory.

Many of the same people who claim to be patriots “disrespect” the flag on a daily basis.

From the US Flag Code:

The flag of the United States shall be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; and the union of the flag shall be fifty stars, white in a blue field.

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free.

Bunting of blue, white, and red always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

…

(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

(h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.

(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkin or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.

By every measure of the United States Flag code, waiving a “thin blue line” flag, wearing a single color patch of the American flag on your leather vest or eating off of red, white & blue plates and then wiping the potato salad and drool from your mouth with a stars & stripes napkin is open disrespect for the flag.

What is even crazier, is the same person who get’s upset when a pro athlete chooses not to stand during the national anthem, is often times wearing a “rebel flag” on his tee shirt while he’s wiping the mustard off his lips with an Old Glory napkin.

The same people who say “America love it or leave it” when it comes to things they perceive as un-American, support a flag of a movement that was trying to leave it because they didn’t love it.

Hypocrisy at its finest.

This past Monday Night, my hometown Cleveland Browns took on the New York Giants in a nationally televised pre-season game. Nine days after the racially charged events of Charlottesville and a year after the Colin Kaepernick anthem controversy began, about a dozen players knelt and prayed during the playing of the national anthem, a handful of teammates stood by in support placing a hand on a teammate’s shoulder.

Of course the reaction of Cleveland’s self proclaimed patriots was fierce, via News 5 Cleveland:

CLEVELAND – Angry fans took to the Cleveland Browns Facebook page overnight and into Tuesday morning to voice their frustration with the players who kneeled during the national anthem Monday night.

…

The Browns Facebook page lit up after the game, with people calling the team “disgraceful.”

“Pray before or pray after. Taking a knee during the National Anthem these days screams disrespect for our Flag, Our Country and our troops. My son and the entire armed forces deserve better than that,” wrote one person.

“Cleveland Browns needed all the fans they can get!” wrote another. “They have one less now! How pathetic! You are not paid to protest! I for one am done with any professional team that act’s this way! Lost any money from me for life! For years I have protested as to why you are so bad and never win any more, now I see it’s your Teams values! Good luck but you lost this fan for life and all my spending$$. This country needs heroes and patriots not millionaire crybaby’s who disrespect this country and our flag!” Read More…

So according to the internet patriots, you can’t kneel and pray to the Lord during the National Anthem because “our soldiers fought for freedom” and “you better stand up an pledge that oath to a piece of cloth or else you ain’t free”.

My own personal view, when attending a sporting event, is that I stand for the national anthem. I too personally am personally offended and believe that it is somewhat disrespectful to refuse to stand for the national anthem. However, I don’t get all raging angry about it and want to shuffle off to my safe space, because I am a grown up who knows that the right to not get offended is not one of my god-given unalienable rights.

Furthermore, while I believe it to be disrespectful to not stand for the anthem, I believe it is infinitely more disrespectful to characterize what that flag stands for.

As I wrote last November after President Trump posted his “there must be consequences…” tweet about people who burn the flag. No man died for a piece of cloth, they died for the idea that that piece of cloth represented. Amongst those ideas, as our founding fathers so eloquently put it is that we “… are endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Part of that includes the right to partake in activities that others don’t agree with, as long as in doing so you are not depriving another of their rights. Wanting to force another free person to stand up for a song is the polar opposite of the freedoms that our republic represents.

Go America, Go Browns but most importantly Go Liberty!

This past Friday evening, prior to his team’s preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided, in an act of protest, not to stand for the traditional playing of the national anthem prior to kickoff. Kaepernick defended his actions with the following statement:

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

I won’t go into the details of the type of responses towards his actions Kaepernick has received, but if you check out the comments section of any pro-Trump website or almost any twitter user that has the hashtag #TrumpTrain in their bio, you’ll be subject to some stuff that might even make the most hardcore Klansman blush.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with Kaepernick’s actions one bit, furthermore, I disagree with his reasoning behind his refusal to stand for the anthem. The idea that the Unites States of America, in 2016, is a country that “oppresses black people and people of color,” is a flat-out ignorant belief to hold.

That being said I find it somewhat ironic that many of those who are the most vocal in their disdain of Kaepernick’s stance are those who consider themselves conservative. What is so conservative about blind devotion to the State?

Had our Founders wanted a national anthem at the creation of our republic, would they have not taken the time to adopt one? It wasn’t until the 20th Century, thanks to the father of the modern progressive movement, Woodrow Wilson, that we even had an “official” national anthem.

Woodrow Wilson, the man who pretty much spent his entire life trying to destroy the dedication to natural rights and limited government that the framers put into our republic through our founding documents, is the man who spearheaded the effort to make The Star Spangled Banner our national anthem. Let that sink in for a moment.

Patriotism and love of country are not bad things, as a matter of fact American conservatism has always included a strong sense of both. What is alarming in recent years, particularly in this most recent election cycle, is the confusion of patriotism and nationalism, the latter of which goes against the heart of the conservative principles of individual liberty and limited government of which our republic was founded.

The 49ers organization issues the following response to their quarterback’s actions:

The National Anthem is and always will be a special part of the pre-game ceremony. It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem.

They are absolutely right

If you disagree with Colin Kaepernick and want to show your displeasure with the 49ers and the NFL for not taking stiff action against his act of defiance by boycotting the team, the league or their sponsors that is also your right as well.

While I don’t hold the somewhat radical view that suggests that standing for the national anthem or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is designed to deprive one of individuality while instilling blind nationalism — I can’t in good conscience deny someone the freedom to refuse to stand, even if I find his reasoning repulsive.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Tuesday seized 361 counterfeit NFL-related merchandise at the Denver Broncos Super Bowl 50 Parade and Rally. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

The American people can rest easy this week, because apparently our borders are secure, ISIS has been defeated and all grave threats to our nation’s security have been eliminated. Now the fine folks at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security can focus on the real grave threats to our freedom… counterfeit NFL merchandise.

Via The Denver Post:

Homeland Security agents seized more than 350 counterfeit NFL-related merchandise items at Tuesday’s Broncos parade and rally, officials said Friday.

No arrests have been made following the seizure from 15 vendors who were hawking counterfeit T-shirts, jerseys and beanies with Broncos and Super Bowl 50 trademarks, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release.

ICE special agents seized 361 items in total from salespeople in Civic Center park with the expertise of two NFL-brand security experts who could spot the fake items. Read More…

Isn’t it reassuring to know the our Federal Government has its priorities in order and is using our tax money to protect us from the real dangerous threats to our liberty, like knock of Broncos Super Bowl gear?

Mr. Fuck

I don’t know, if my last name was Fuck, I would totally own that shit.

Via Medicine Hat News:

What’s in a name?

For Medicine Hat College Rattlers men’s basketball forward Guilherme Carbagiale Fuck, the answer is simple: pride.

While the Brazilian basketball star’s name may stand out on paper, it’s pronounced “Foo-key” and is of German origin.

“It doesn’t mean what people think it means,” said Fuck. “In German it means fox.”

Given the fact that Fuck’s name could bring about unwanted confusion, the college initially opted to use his middle, or first-last name, Carbagiale.

“In a lot of ways, at the beginning we were just going to avoid any confusion or any potential issues, whereas now we’re at the point of, this is the guy’s name, he’s an all-Canadian. We shouldn’t be avoiding it, he’s proud of being a Rattler and we want to support him,” said Rattlers head coach Craig Price. “I think he takes great pride in his heritage, in where he comes from, and technically in what his name is.” Read More…

Except I thought “Fuchs” was the German word for fox, this guys name is just fuck. Own it dude.

Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, sentenced to one year in an Iranian jail for ‘propaganda against the state.’

Here in the U.S. so called “feminist’s” like comedian Chelsea Handler are fighting for the right to post topless pictures of themselves on social media, meanwhile in Iran a woman gets a jail sentence for attending a sporting event.

Via The UK Daily Mail:

A British woman arrested in Iran after attending a men’s volleyball match has been jailed for a year.

Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, was accused of ‘propaganda against the regime’. The London graduate was detained as she and women’s rights campaigners tried to enter the Azadi Stadium in Tehran to watch a volleyball game.

Under Iran’s strict Islamic laws, women are forbidden from mixing with male spectators at sporting events.

She was thrown into solitary confinement in Iran’s notorious Evin political prison and was held for more than 100 days, including 41 days in solitary.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: ‘This is an appalling verdict.

‘It’s an outrage that a young woman is being locked up simply for peacefully having her say about how women are discriminated against in Iran.

‘Ghoncheh is a prisoner of conscience and the Iranian authorities should quash the sentence and release her immediately and unconditionally. Read More…

I hope that one day the youth of Iran can break free from the evil that controls their country.

Former NBA player Mookie Blaylock, whose name was actually the original name of 90’s Seattle grunge band Pearl Jam, before they changed it for legal reasons, was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for vehicular homicide.

On the afternoon of May 31, 2013, the former Atlanta Hawk was involved in a head-on collision in Clayton County, Georgia as his vehicle traveled left-of-center. Blalock was himself initially placed on life support following the accident. The accident seriously injured the other vehicles driver Frank Murphy, and caused the later death of his wife Monica due to her injuries.

Via ESPN:

According to the plea deal, the term was reduced to seven years — suspended after three — and eight years’ probation.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution initially reported the terms of Blaylock’s sentencing.

At the time of the wreck, Blaylock, 47, had been under treatment for seizures, the Journal-Constitution reported, citing a family member. Before the crash, a doctor had ordered Blaylock not to drive, prosecutors said. Read More…

Pearl Jam’s debut album “Ten” was named in honor of Blaylock’s jersey number.

Peregrine Honig, owner of Honig’s Birdies Panties shop, says her store was raided by Homeland Security agents Monday morning.

It seems that the Department Of Homeland Security has a lot of time on its hands, with the border nice and secure and all possible terrorist threats neutralized, since they took the time this week to raid a Kansas City lingerie shop.

Via KSHB:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Department of Homeland Security executed a cease-and-desist order and confiscated “Take the Crown” underwear Tuesday afternoon.

The garments were not licensed by Major League Baseball.

Agents told the artist and the owner of the boutique in the Crossroads that the K and C were connected on the underwear which meant she couldn’t sell them. They also briefly handcuffed the man who printed the underwear.

The owner thought it was a little unfair.

“It’s a lot to co-own a small lingerie store and feel like a criminal for printing crowns and KC on blue, cotton, American-made underwear,” Birdies owner Peregrine Honig said. “It seems like a lot.” Read More…

It sure is nice to know that the Federal Government is keeping us safe from counterfeit underwear.

46-year-old Victor Thompson first became internet famous back in 2008 just before the lead up to Super Bowl XLII where the New York Giants stunned the undefeated New England Patriots.

Victor Thompson, 46, arrested for possession of Spice, the synthetic marijuana.

Thompson, formerly of Laconia, New Hampshire, a huge Patriots fan got tattooed a replica (not very good quality) of a his favorite team’s helmet permanently etched into his skull a week before the Super Bowl loss.

His 15 minutes of fame weren’t up just yet, as in July of 2008 he was back in the news, having had launched a website where he planned to collect $200.00 and in return he would grant the purchaser one square inch on his body to have whatever they wanted tattooed on him.

“I’m getting paid to do what I like to do best,” said Victor Thompson, who is charging $200 per square inch of tattooed advertisement. “It’s a one-time fee and it’s a lifetime advertisement.”

Now 6 years later it seems that Thompson’s fifteen minutes of fame is still not over as he’s back in the news for a drug arrest.

Last September 10th, in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he recently moved to, police arrested Thompson for possession of Spice, the synthetic marijuana. Thompson told cops that he did not know that the synthetic ganja was illegal in Florida, claiming that it was “still legal in New Hampshire,” his home state.

Thompson was charged with felony drug possession and trespassing, a misdemeanor. He is being held in the Pinellas County jail in lieu of $1500 bond.

no comment

So a rookie defensive player for the St. Louis Rams has an interesting story, and no I’m not talking about Michael Sam. It’s the guy who may be the reason that Sam got cut.

In 2011 while playing football at Sacramento City Junior College, new Rams defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks was working at a Toys ‘R’ Us. He hated his job, hated his life at the time and quit deciding that he never wanted to work a “normal job” ever again.

What did he do to drive up the motivation to achieve that goal you ask? He decided to go all Mike Tyson and get some ink permanently emblazoned across his face.

Via ESPN:

“I was just like I might as well go ahead and get it on the face because if nothing else, it will help motivate me to either be a guy that has a tattoo on his face looking for another job or hopefully I make it in the NFL and don’t have to work too hard to do something (else),” Westbrooks said. “I don’t feel it’s a bad thing now. I don’t regret it. It speaks for itself.” Read More…

Westbrooks went on to play at West Texas A&M and then signed with the St. Louis Rams in May as a free agent after not being selected in the 2014 NFL collegiate draft. His time in training camp impressed the coaching staff so much that he made the teams 53 man roster on cut down day ahead of the much more hyped 7th round pick Michael Sam.

So this is a real thing. There is a new animated television program coming this fall to Adult Swim, starring Mike Tyson.

Drawn in 1970’s Hanna-Barbera style, Mike Tyson Mysteries features a crime-solving team lead by Mike Tyson, the ghost of The Marquis of Queensberry, Tyson’s adopted Korean Daughter, and a foul mouthed Pigeon (voiced by Norm Macdonald).

In Mike Tyson Mysteries, a new half-hour animated adult comedy series, Mike Tyson is taking the fight from the boxing ring to the streets … by solving mysteries! Aided by the Mike Tyson Mystery Team – the Ghost of the Marquess of Queensbury, Mike’s adopted Korean daughter, and a pigeon who was once a man – Mike Tyson will answer any plea sent to him. If you have a problem that needs solving, Iron Mike is in your corner. The series incorporates live-action appearances featuring Mighty Mike himself, and the gloves come off as the former heavyweight champ and his team gear up for weekly adventures as they put unsolved mysteries down for the count. The series stars Mike Tyson, Norm Macdonald (Saturday Night Live), Rachel Ramras (MAD), and Jim Rash (The Way Way Back, Community). Mike Tyson Mysteries is produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

This looks like its going to be awesome.

On July 8, 2010 I was stabbed in the back. Not physically of course, no blade pierced my skin, no blood came pouring out of any open wound. The pain and agony of that metaphorical stab wound was very real however, or at least as real as sports fan emotions can get.

LeBron James, Northeast Ohio’s own chosen one, the kid who grew up in Akron and played his High School ball at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s and then jumped straight to the pros to play for his hometown team had left us. He had promised to bring us championships while lighting the city up like Las Vegas — instead he left us standing at the doorway in our prom dress, waiting for that limo to take us to the dance. It would never come, because he stiffed us for the hotter girl… and did it on National TV.

In the days and weeks leading up to what would become known as “the decision,” I had become convinced that James would be leaving. I had just thought that it was going to be to New York, where Knick fans had spent most of LeBron’s first 7 season’s in Cleveland calling it a forgone conclusion that “King James” would go play in the basketball “Mecca” of Madison Square Garden or possibly Chicago who had a real good young team, battled LeBron’s Cavaliers in the playoffs and were just a piece away.

I had made my peace with it, it would suck and I would be pissed at him, but hey he was a free agent and here in Cleveland we are already used to losing big-time free agents (Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez…). Then came word that LeBron had decided that he was going to go on National TV on ESPN and announce his decision in front of the whole wide sports world.

What had previously been a guaranteed lock in my mind, the peace that I had made in knowing that he was leaving has disappeared. I mean what kind of person would book a 1-hour long special on prime time television, to tell not just the team that he played for but the team he played for in the region that he grew up in, his HOMETOWN team — that he was leaving. Who would do that, what kind of arrogance does that take?

I couldn’t believe it, Cleveland had finally won, our hometown hero was staying here to fulfill his promise to us. Then I turned on ESPN, saw Jim Gray ask the question and then heard LeBron James say those infamous words, “..I’m gonna take my talents to South Beach.”

What? What the fuck even?

In one fell swoop all of Northeast OH felt that warm blood pour out of that metaphorical stab wound — that we received with the entire world watching.

To add insult to injury in the days, weeks and even years after “the Decision” national media figures in the sports world talked down on Cleveland for the way we reacted. Really? How the fuck did you expect us to react? “Thanks for leaving us hanging LeBron and fucking us over on National Television, good luck in Miami, we love you.”

That’s not how sports work, and EVERYONE KNOWS IT. If it had been any other city any other fanbase that was stabbed in the back by their HOMETOWN HERO in the manner that LeBron stabbed us in the back, the reaction WOULD HAVE BEEN THE SAME. Not only that but everyone would agree that the fans were right in their response.

But hey, we’re Cleveland, you’ve got to be tough to be from Northeast Ohio.

Flash forward to four years later, time heals all wound, including metaphorical sports stab wounds. Cleveland has had, Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Move, The Shot, The Jose mesa choke job, The Decision and now… “The Letter.”

Via Sports Illustrated:

Remember when I was sitting up there at the Boys & Girls Club in 2010? I was thinking, This is really tough. I could feel it. I was leaving something I had spent a long time creating. If I had to do it all over again, I’d obviously do things differently, but I’d still have left. Miami, for me, has been almost like college for other kids. These past four years helped raise me into who I am. I became a better player and a better man. I learned from a franchise that had been where I wanted to go. I will always think of Miami as my second home. Without the experiences I had there, I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing today.

…

When I left Cleveland, I was on a mission. I was seeking championships, and we won two. But Miami already knew that feeling. Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio.

I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland and finish my career there. I just didn’t know when. After the season, free agency wasn’t even a thought. But I have two boys and my wife, Savannah, is pregnant with a girl. I started thinking about what it would be like to raise my family in my hometown. I looked at other teams, but I wasn’t going to leave Miami for anywhere except Cleveland. The more time passed, the more it felt right. This is what makes me happy.

To make the move I needed the support of my wife and my mom, who can be very tough. The letter from Dan Gilbert, the booing of the Cleveland fans, the jerseys being burned — seeing all that was hard for them. My emotions were more mixed. It was easy to say, “OK, I don’t want to deal with these people ever again.” But then you think about the other side. What if I were a kid who looked up to an athlete, and that athlete made me want to do better in my own life, and then he left? How would I react? I’ve met with Dan, face-to-face, man-to-man. We’ve talked it out. Everybody makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes as well. Who am I to hold a grudge?

LeBron James was a free agent in 2010, he had every right in the world to leave Cleveland, Northeast Ohio and the Cavaliers organization. We in turn as fans had EVERY RIGHT to be pissed off and angry about it.

The WAY he went about leaving us put a whole lot of extra sting into that metaphorical stab wound. This letter that LeBron James wrote even without the part about “coming home,” is everything I have wanted to hear from him since he left.

He has truly realized that he was a douchebag in the manner he left, but is not sorry for leaving, nor should he be that was his right as a free agent.

He also admitted that us as fans had the right to feel pissed off about it.

This is NOT about the money, he WOULD have made a WHOLE LOT MORE in MIA or elsewhere.

I think he realized what most of us in Northeast, OH know, but many refuse to admit.

There’s no place like home.

Who am I to hold a grudge?

People will sue for anything these days.

Via The New York Post:

A fan who dozed off during a game at Yankee Stadium hopes to score a huge windfall over the merciless ribbing he got from two ESPN announcers.

Andrew Robert Rector filed a $10 million defamation suit against Dan Shulman and John Kruk for allegedly unleashing an “avalanche of disparaging words” against him that include “stupor, fatty, unintelligent, stupid.”

The Bronx Supreme Court filing also says the play-by-play team made the taunts “knowing and intending the same to be heard and listened to by millions of people all over the world.”

Rector admits he “briefly slept” while attending an April 13 matchup between the Bronx Bombers and their longtime rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

When an ESPN camera caught him napping, Shulman and Kruk allegedly began an “unending verbal crusade” against him, with their “vituperative utterances” repeated the next day on the Major League Baseball website.

“These unmitigated verbal onslaughts crossed the line between reporting on sport and abuse against the plaintiff without reasonable cause or restraint,” Rector’s suit says. READ MORE...

As a Cleveland Indians fan I hope he sues the Yankees for everything they’ve got and then wins, causing the Evil Empire forever to be broke.

But as a sensible person with common sense, suck it up tubby. (I say this as a bigger guy myself who has been known to doze off at a boring baseball game.) Getting caught on camera snoozing is a risk you take, just like getting pegged in the face with a fly ball.

It’s sue happy morons like this guy that bring up the price of everything.

May 16th, 2014 was Metallica Night at AT&T Park.  Here is James & Kirk playing The Star Spangled Banner.