The first half of 2020 has been really eventful, mostly in bad ways. On January 26th, Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash, along with his daughter and six other people. Kobe had won 5 NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, and was a global superstar. As the world was mourning his passing, and millions were coping with this tragedy, another global problem started to rear its ugly head in the United States…COVID 19, the Coronavirus.
COVID 19 started in Wuhan, China and quickly spread to other countries, and became a global pandemic. It started hitting the United States hard in March, which caused all sports to end their seasons by the middle of that month.
Some sports like, NASCAR, UFC and the PGA have started back to competition now, without fans in attendance. The NHL and NBA are planning to resume their seasons, probably with extended playoffs starting soon, and ending right about when the next season would normally start. The reason for the extended playoffs are for the teams who were in contention for the final playoff spots when the season was stopped, that lost regular season games in which to catch up. The NHL will expand from 16 to 24 teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, and the NBA will go from 16 to 20 or 22 in the NBA playoffs.
Then on May 25th, George Floyd, who is black, was taken into police custody after being accused of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit 20 dollar bill. Several minutes later, Floyd died, as white police officer Derek Chauvin was kneeling on Floyd’s neck. Chauvin was later arrested for 3rd degree murder, which later was changed to the more serious 2nd degree murder charge.
The results of this incident started with outrage and protests, and of course, led to rioting. The rioting seemed to go on almost without response for a few days, then the police intervened, and the National Guard was also called in. (The rioters didn’t maintain social distancing of 6 feet from each other, which is required for safety from COVID-19). The verbal outrage from the black community has continued, and anything other than total agreement with whatever they say, is met with accusations of racism, and/or other name calling. I can’t even go on the ESPN app on my phone without being bombarded with videos of athletes shooting their mouths off.
Drew Brees, the white quarterback of the New Orleans Saints was roundly criticized for saying that he would never support someone who disrespects the flag. Amazingly, this patriotic comment from Brees, was roundly criticized by blacks, some even going as far as saying his reputation has been tarnished, that he will never live this down with his teammates, and even that he should retire. Brees apologized the next day, but that wasn’t enough. Apparently, when it comes to saying anything not 100% in lock step with the Black Lives Matter community, we as Americans are no longer entitled to freedom of speech, which is the First Amendment to the Constitution. By the way, how about “All Lives Matter”, instead of just Black Lives Matter; that seems less racist to me.
To sum up, an idiotic white cop, used extreme physical abuse on a black prisoner which caused his death. He has been arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder. Protests are fine, as long as they are peaceful, but rioting is never acceptable, to a so-called intelligent, civilized population. People who had nothing to do with what happened to George Floyd, are having their stores looted and property destroyed by these ignorant rioters. Their excuse is they are angry. What? That’s no excuse at all for their criminal behavior. Because of the rioting, cities around the country enforced a curfew, as early as 6 pm for several days. A lot of law-abiding citizens aren’t even home from work by that time.
By the way, I thought Colin Kaepernick and other players were taking care of this police brutality situation by kneeling during the National Anthem before NFL games. Games in which Kaepernick wouldn’t even play, as a back-up quarterback. This is what Brees was most likely referencing with his comment that he doesn’t condone disrespecting our flag, which is exactly what this behavior does. How has that worked out for you, Kaepernick?
I realize this post is not politically correct, but I don’t care. No matter what anyone says, I still believe in the First Amendment.
It’s time to move on… Let’s get back to normal life in the United States of America, and start playing and watching all the sports again, first without fans in attendance, and later with filled stadiums and arenas. We’ll get through all this, and hopefully end up better in the long run. God Bless America!
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