Proposition: Thinking people should renounce their allegiance to the New England Patriots because of Brady’s, Belichick’s, and Kraft’s support for Donald Trump.
Discuss.
Patriots and Trump
by Sean Roche | Feb 2, 2017 | Newton, Sports | 36 comments
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First, “Allegiance” implies that football is something more than just entertainment, but it is not. Buying game tickets is like buying tickets to a Broadway show or a rock concert. More to the point, should we boycott anyone who expresses support for Trump, or generally says something we don’t like? In my opinion, no. It only serves to further poison the air and is counterproductive. It hardens the shell that people build around themselves. Remember that today you may be the one boycotting, but tomorrow you’ll be target and will have no one to blame but yourself.
As far as I know, all 3 have said that they’ve been personal friends for many years, but none actually endorsed or campaigned for him.
The Red Sox curse-ending 2004 World Series win is no less sweet for me because Curt Schilling’s a big blowhard.
I don’t agree, but in this case, if you don’t agree, you simply boycott the product;
Don’t watch the games, don’t buy the tickets, don’t buy the gear. Whatever support the trio have
shown for Trump seems to be of a personal and not overtly political nature. I’m sure all three
are aware of how they are perceived politically and i bet they don’t care. Good for them. Thats
not what they are paid to worry about. Anything outside of focusing on winning games is a
distraction. I continue to be fascinated by hollywood and music stars that bash their
red state-flyer over fans over the head every opportunity they get. A motivated, organized
group or individual could make a significant financial impact on the careers if not the entire industry of these artists
by boycotting their movies, cable and network shows, books and musical releases.
It actually might be fun to watch, and my guess a boycott would have more of a “chilling” affect
than trying to silence any dissenting or odious opinions. That having been said,
the Patriots have a years long waiting list for tickets, a multi -Super Bowl winning team,
a popular well liked quarterback and an owner with a long history of generously supporting
charitable organizations, so honestly, whats the point? Most people wont be boycotting
either the Patriots or the Super Bowl this weekend
I have been a long time Patriots fan but have not watched a game since the election. I doubt I will ever watch again. I was completely peeved when Tom walked away from the “locker room” sexual predator talk question. As the campaign grew more derogatory to POC, imagining the hurt of black players since we all know MAGA is about putting POC back. I really hated the letter from Bill to Trump read days prior to the election in NH praising Trump’s excellent management, I must have missed the class in business school telling me to be a good manager I should cheat small businesses, refuse to pay taxes and if all else fails declare bankruptcy. My husband has asked me if I would still be watching if Hillary had won. This not watching the Patriots anymore doesn’t have to do with politics. It has to do with now having a misogynistic, sexual predator, zenophobe for president. So if Hillary had won, I probably would be watching, but with far less enthusiasm. That had been waning since the election began. I lost that feeling of pride in the Patriots. Maybe I just need a new team whose management and players I can respect. I am open to suggestions. Maybe the Seahawks? I like Pete Carroll.
I yearn for the old days when we knew only how good a player was and nothing about his personal life. That’s what really matters in sports, entertainment, an even where we shop. Keep politics out of it. When did we become the thought police, punishing everyone who doesn’t toe the line in a way that we approve?
And, with that in mind, should your boss punish you by firing you if you don’t follow his political ideas, and on and on?
“He that is without sin among you……….”
Definition of a bigot:a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions.
Don’t want to associate with anyone who supports him, or even worse, has just acknowledged knowing and being friends with him? Seems quite small and bigoted.
I saw you talking to ___ people. (Fill in the blank.Trump people, Jewish people, Catholic people, Socialists, etc.)
Can’t really claim tolerance for others’ views when you espouse this.
In the end you are free to do anything you like, including being a bigot. But understand what you preach.
The amount of hatred and retribution against opposing views is really really sad. And this coming from the left is even sadder as I felt the left always championed free speech and dialogue.
This kind of proposition is ridiculous. Might was well ask if people should walk around branded with their ‘group’ so that we can decide if we will be nice to them or do business with them.
We live in a society with people that have differing political views. Let’s have constructive debates and dialogues. TV stations should be promoting longer and more in depth debates. Newspapers should be doing the same. Let’s find a way to hear each other.
With all due respect to Shawn; Half of New England could boycott the Superbowl and it wouldn’t do one damned thing to change the political balance in Massachusetts or anywhere else. In fact, it would probably only serve to make the “other side” dig in their heels more deeply. Focus on the issues and forget side shows like the Super Bowl. We’ve in the process of Congressional hearings for billionaire candidates including a proposed Education Secretary that doesn’t believe in public schools, a Labor Secretary, who doesn’t believe in a minimum wage or unemployment insurance and who would like to have robots replace humans in the companies he owns, an EPA Administrator who is essentially a climate change denier and an Energy Secretary who wanted to abolish the Department just 4 years ago. I don’t know how all of this will sort out, but I do know from working in DC that appointees who come to office with hostile and condescending attitudes towards government and government professionals always, but always, wind up making big mistakes. I saw a few of them go away to prison. They are oblivious to the rule of law or the fact that even billionaires have to abide by laws, rules and regulations. Monitoring things like these disasters waiting to happen, is where our focus should be and not on the Superbowl, other trivia or anything Trump tweets. We have only to keep our eye on the ball.
Oh, Neal. Really? A bigot his someone who is intolerant of others’ opinions?
No. No. A hundred times no.
Historically, in this country, bigots are those who judge people or worse — like denying basic civil rights — based on skin color, gender, and sexual orientation. The bigotry of Jim Crow is not intolerance of opinions. The denial of women’s basic right to autonomy of their bodies is not intolerance of opinion. Violence against LGBTQ folks is not intolerance of opinion.
Religion is a little trickier, because your religious beliefs look a little like opinion than your race, gender or sexual orientation.
But, to equate the deep historical record of hateful bigotry in this country with the left’s current intolerance of the anti-women, anti-LGBTQ, white nationalism that has surfaced with the Trump candidacy and now presidency is to literally whitewash that history of hateful bigotry and reduce it to just some inconvenient opinions.
That’s shameful.
The left is rising up against hard evidence of the normalization of bigotry. Not intolerance of the left’s ideas, but bigotry based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. If you, Brady, Belichick, and Kraft want to ignore what’s happening in this country, your prerogatives. But, we are going to call you out and reject your silence. You are complicit.
They came for the Muslims.
And, I said, not this time, mother*$!@er.
Congratulations Sean. Your goal was to stir the pot and you did so successfully.
Hooray for you. The conversation you want to have is really not about the Patriots is it?
Whatever minor or major issues people have about Trump will eventually evaporate if our government remains gridlocked. “Elections have consequences and i won, so we are going to do things my way” – thats what Obama said and was entitled to, and whether people like it or not, thats
what Trump is entitled to also – Hillary Clinton is not going to be walking through that door anytime soon. The gridlocking, hating and judging will only lead to a second Trump term-
I guarantee it- even moderates are fed up. Destroying college and business properties and threatening to blow up the white house are bad audio/visual images for progressives and the smart ones know it. I spoke to many people on the campaign trail as part of my work travels, and
the abuse that was heaped on supporters of both candidates was atrocious and unacceptable.
The smart people kept their mouths shut about who they supported and what views they had about issues and quietly worked behind the scenes to enact change, mostly because they knew that they would be abused by someone like yourself for speaking out. Silence does not mean people aren’t working to enact change or that they are complicit, they just aren’t doing so from a soapbox. Our attorney general is very big on insisting others speak out, but you’ll notice she is more than a little silent when it comes to issues others want her to voice her opinion on.
You are welcome to speak your piece, but please aware that insisting there is only one way to skin a cat(thats all i can think of, i do love cats) will drive people further underground and alienate you from people who agree with you. This is a very risky and dangerous time to have a
public opinion about anything.
In a word, no. Don’t be silly. There are a wide range of folks supporting Trump. I disagree with all of them. But that has no bearing on who I root for in football. Go Pats.
For the record, the tougher question is whether I continue to watch football at all, knowing that I’m watching people take years off their lives for my entertainment. I watch less football now.
Greg – So profanity posted on this Blog by Sean Roche is OK ?? Are the rules for everyone or just some of the people who post here?
Joanne,
Fixed it.
The only thing Sean has stirred is his blood pressure, Sean, you need to turn it down. It isn’t healthy.
Sean, I thought cursing isn’t permitted?
I am complicit? You accusing me of being complicit,by silence. You and I know that is very funny. Unfortunately, the others wouldn’t know the joke. Care to tell them?
Besides, cursing, you also seem to violate your own rules by accusing me of being complicit. You don’t even know my politics.
The definition of bigotry was a quote from a dictionary, not my own concoction. Being a bigot need not require act, only a state of mind. To be intolerant of other’s in your mind can be bigotry.
To be intolerant of others political position is not the same as disagreeing. It means being disagreeable about it.
We aren’t talking extreme cases here. We are talking about every day issues.
Women’s right of their bodies,is not a simple equation, and to disagree doesn’t require bigotry.
Very presumptive of you to assume what anyone thinks, me, Brady, Kraft. You aren’t that smart that you know. So you really should stop acting as if you do.
The left is rising? Well that is your opinion, currently I see the left in disarray, with no leadership, other than failed leadership. Getting together in a park to talk about how together you are, isn’t going to accomplish a thing, in my opinion.
Neither is trying to spread hate of your fellow citizens, just because they are friends of the president.
So, Sean gets to edit his violations of posting, but the rest have to have theirs taken down? I thought the entire post needs to go? Where is the fairness in that? then everyone gets to edit
Neil Flesher – Any time a specific comment gets pulled due to violatING V14 policies they are always invited to repost without the offendING comments.
Chill man 😉
Hey Jerry- I’m chill’in.
Just wondering why the rules only apply to some. So I want to get this straight, from now, everyone will be able to just edit their posts. Because the rules specifically say the entire post will be pulled.
(Sean’s wasn’t pulled and reposted later, he went in and edited it)
..and it is ok to post a “curse” so long as it is misspelled? Really, that is going to be ok?
As a Village 14 blogger, Sean has access to our back end and therefore he has the technical ability to edit his own comments. Other participants do not have this ability but are able to republish their edited comments. It’s a matter of mechanics. But the end result is the same. I really don’t understand why that irritates Neal so much.
For those who feel conflicted, you can join the many fine Patriots fans pledging to match Patriots touchdowns with donations. See here: http://www.wbur.org/news/2017/02/03/conflicted-patriots-fans-trump-donations
I’ve seen enough shows of masculine power & chest thumping lately, so I’m going to pass.
Greg -Because if any of us used a curse word in a blog or made a comment that you interpreted to be offensive – we are put on moderation and not given access to the Back End or the Front End.
What is the saying – Do as we say not as we do!
Great post Sean!!
I have loved football since I was a kid – more college ball that the NFL. In recent years I haven’t been able to watch a game without cringing over a tough tackle or helmets crashing into each other. I stopped watching a couple of years ago. I miss the crowds and getting together to watch the games but don’t feel I can support it anymore.
As for associating with and being tolerant of others whose opinions are not my own, I generally have no problem doing so. I do have a problem with the new administration and anyone who supports it.
We have a president who referred to a federal judge appointed by Bush and confirmed by the Senate 99-0, as a “so-called judge,” because he didn’t like his ruling which is pretty much the definition of trying to delegitimize the judicial branch.
He and his spokespeople spread lies that are believed by their base and call legitimate, accurate reporting “fake news” if it doesn’t agree with them, evoking distrust in mainstream media when their lies are called out, and taunt our allies, among many, many other things. He’s signing executive orders that put lives in danger, saying protestors are paid to further an agenda. The list goes on and on.
So yes, I’m intolerant of the acts of this administration and anyone who supports it and I don’t intend to stay silent.
I’m not sure why Sean has limited the scope of his proposition to only “Thinking people,” but in any case, I think ALL people should heed the words of Bob Burke’s comment above.
Thanks Bruce. I meant to mention Bob’s comment. It is most definitely essential that we monitor (and intervene in anyway we can) the actions of this administration. I agree that there is the potential to lose sight of the main issues and get caught up in squabbling with others over trivialities. I try to avoid the minutia such as DT’s boasting, exaggerated tweets except to determine if he actually knows he is lying or if he lives in an internal world where everything he wishes were true is true.
It’s really telling that most of the ways you characterize Trump can be applied to Obama: lying, taunting the opposition, fomenting hatred between economic strata, between racial groups or between religious groups, etc. He also created foreign policy messes and totally destabilized the Middle East while ruining our relationships with traditional trusted allies like the U.K. And Israel and building relationships with barbarians like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The list is so long that it’s frightening.
Where was all your outrage then? No protests in the streets. No cries of “he’s not my president”. No insistence on “monitoring” him.
What a bunch of hypocrites.
@Barry Cohen – You’re right. These same people were not saying those things about Obama. It was a different very vocal group saying those same things and worse about Obama. That’s what we’ve got in recent years – an extremely divided populace.
@Greg: I’m not irritated. I just hate preferential treatment for a select few. Here are what your rules state:”Please note: We do not edit comments; either we allow the full comment or we remove it.”
I mean it is right there Greg. You guys wrote it. You don’t say except for a special few. And yet, that is exactly what you, Sean, Jerry then do.
It’s just an example of how those with power take advantage. It is an admittedly small one, but real none the less. If there was no difference in the end as Greg suggests, then it would be just as easy to follow the rules. But those of us who know the blogs, understand there is difference. Not worth breaking it down here, but rest assured, those who have suffered discretionary pulling down of their post (it has not happened to me), they would have very much preferred the option of editing their post.
@Neal: You certainly sound irritated.
Yes the people who are bloggers here can edit their comments because it’s technologically possible. Participants can’t because it’s not. If you ever start your own blog, then you can enjoy this “power” too.
@Joanne and Neal: The great news is that we don’t charge anyone extra to have their comments moderated. Commenting here is the same price for everyone! And we happily offer anyone who wants to stop commenting a 100 percent refund.
Greg – are you trying to tell me you don’t want me to continue to post messages on the Village 14 blog? I thought you liked my honest posts – especially my comments about certain meetings. Which you know they were honest because you were present too! Maybe you just didn’t like me posting about them! But that is OK – because if I don’t want to keep on being Moderated – I can just do like Alex B and start changing my name and email address 🙂
You should be HAPPY today – The Patriots WON!!! Or were you part of the group that didn’t watch the MOST exciting Super Bowl Game because Tom, Bob and Bill are Friends of Donald!
@Joanne and Neal: You are welcome to continue commenting here if you so choose. Totally up to you.
The bottom line is this is a free blog, moderated by people who do this in their spare time, without compensation and we don’t charge people to participate either. Yes, our enforcement of our moderating rules is imperfect but we do our best.
And, yes, if that makes you sad or irritated, allow me to remind you that (a) no one is forcing you to contribute and (b) you can always start you own blog if you don’t like the way the volunteers here run this one.
No, Greg, not at all irritated. I know what I am dealing with. I expect only so much.
No reason to get irritated.
It sounds like you are not so subtly suggesting Joanne and I not participate on “your” blog. Because I don’t know why you would mention to stop commenting. Is that the case? I certainly wouldn’t want to be somewhere I wasn’t welcome.
Were you one of those kids that brought the ball to the playground, saying you can only play if I say its OK.
Sounds like your rationale for breaking your own rules is “because I have the power to”, that’s why I ask.
Sounds more Trump like, than Trump.
You really ought to change the wording of the rules, be be truthful, or let people edit their posts.
Actually I am pretty HAPPY and Not irritated at all! After all – The Patriots pulled off the Win last night against all odds! It is always great when the underdog actually wins!
Have a great Day Greg!
Neil Fleisher – Hmm. So say you posted a comment with a curse. We might delete it and inform you that you could repost it without the curse … or reword it or change it anyway you like when you posted again. You can’t edit the original comment because the web site doesn’t provide a technical mechanism for that. But the result is the same, your edited post would appear with whatever changes you like.
In this case, because Sean is one of the V14 posters he had the means to remove the curse without typing it in again. The result is exactly the same. So what you’re saying is that Sean should be forced to delete his comment and type it again for equity’s sake though the result would be identical.
Well you certainly are one stickler. We’ll take your suggestion up for consideration at the next Village 14 board meeting.
@Jerry: Great idea! And I’m going to ask all our directors to read this first as a guideline to help us process Neal’s concerns.
I continue to commit to not commenting on this blog..
You know, it *has* been a little while since the last board meeting.