That way, we don’t see who kneels, so the team owners won’t have to deal with the backlash.

If you go an NFL or NBA game in person, you will see the black national anthem. They don't show it on TV.

I think the point is the sporting events play the anthem, but the networks don't show it. The only sports organization I can think of which DOES show it is NASCAR.

In fact, I was just thinking about this yesterday: Are NFL players still kneeling before the anthem? Remember, that was the backlash against the NFL for showing the players doing just that. It almost ruined the league. I'm guessing that may be why the anthem is no longer shown before the game.

The tradition started during the Civil War and again during WWI. Why continue it if we are not at war? Except with ourselves!

Never Undersrtood
 

I never understood why the national anthem is played at sporting events, with the exception of international events. What do local and national sporting events have to do with the national anthem? Play ball I say and forget about this silliness. If I want to hear music I buy a ticket to a concert. If I cared about my country, I would show it in a way on how I treat every person I come across in my daily travels. It is easy to say we are patriotic, but it really much harder to act that we care for all Americans than just saying we are!

Brave soldiers fought and died for our right to kneel. While I don't kneel for anyone, and won't kneel for anyone until I meet god at the pearly gates - I don't begrudge anyone's right to do so at a sports event. It is their RIGHT - freedom of expression, freedom of speech. It's a kinda thing in the Constitution, something many people in America actually DO respect.

And in one post you write about those who disrespect our flag and our country should be summarily done away with and in the next post you write about we should not tear down statues of those who disrespected our flag and country by starting a civil war. Which is it? You can't have it both ways.

What are you talking about? "Black National Anthem"?

. That's totally not true. They very rarely put the anthem on the TV broadcast well before that. Only big games. I'm not sure how many games you went to live but they do not stay in the locker room

Didn’t you take a knee when you asked your wife to marry you?

Realy?

You think the Confederacy started the civil war to disrespect America???? I think someone might need to brush up on their 3rd grade history.

That being said, I'm a "Yankee", I do not approve of what the Confederacy stood for, nor what they did. But unfortunately, it IS OUR HISTORY, and we should not try to erase it, unless you support mass book burnings. Oceania was pretty good at rewriting history.

Why not? Do you have to have a reason, a specific reason to enjoy the National Anthem? Do you have to have a specific reason to show patriotism? Maybe some on here are just not as proud of this country as some of us. Like someone once said (something like...) "For those that fight for it, Freedom (or Liberty, or Life) has flavor that the protected will never know." And I would add, "..or appreciate."
Is the question really, why is showing our appreciation or patriotism "needed?" If one does not know the answer, ...........

Yes

You must be referring to games on TV. They rarely show the national anthems on TV because of the pre-game commentary...
All professional sporting events I've ever attended live play the national anthem, and I've never heard of a professional sporting event that didn't.

Have you????