Ron Martinelli, Ph.D.

Copyright © 09-14-17

I’m a guy. And like most guys, I enjoy watching sports on TV. I’m a “has-been” track and field and soccer athlete long past his prime. Every year I get faster in my own mind. In reality, my knees are shot, my back goes out of alignment from time to time, and every time I look into the mirror, a stranger asks me, “Hey, what happened to you?” Truth is, I’m getting older and I’m finally beginning to feel it.

Sports used to be a huge part of my life. In fact, it was everything. Sports got me through college and paid the bills. I ran with Olympians in the late 60’s and early 70’s. After my days of serious competition were over, I got my adrenalin “fix” by coaching and competing in the Police and Fire Games. I wasn’t as fast as before, but I could still bring it home, if you know what I mean. In the words of Toby Keith, “I was as good once, as I ever was.”

When my competition days passed, like a lot of other guys, I was relegated to being a weekend couch spectator where my sports venue was more often than not a 50” HDTV where I watched NFL football with the occasional ESPN sports medley thrown in. The visual dynamics mixed with sports commentary by old guys like me who knew and could analyze and discuss the sport.

Unfortunately, my days of watching professional sports like NFL football are done. The NFL and ESPN have chased me away. I would no sooner watch the ballet than the SF 49ers play the Atlanta Falcons these days. Why, you ask? Because professional sports and sports networks have demonstrably changed for the worse.

Old dog professionals like Terry Bradshaw are quickly being replaced by know-nothing, younger, more hip and more “political lip,” racially dividing millennials like ESPN’s Jemele Hill, who are on TV insinuating that our President, White Supremacy and racism are effecting the sport and our nation. What da “H”?

Under-educated, self-inflated, entitled and rich elitist fake ‘social justice’ warriors like Colin Kaepernick and others ‘take a knee,’ turn away and/or raise their hands in either black power salutes, or “hands up; don’t shoot” gestures during our National Anthem. It’s offensive, disgusting, unpatriotic, wrong and downright unamerican.

Every time I watch these offensive displays of disrespectful idiocy, I want to throw my worn-out track shoes at the TV and yell, “Hey, you a-holes, I served my country, I love this nation and its flag and I just want to watch football!”

The refrain from these “take-a-knee’ers,” their left-leaning supporters and the mainstream media is always the same “BS.” They are entitled to practice their 1^st Amendment rights of free speech. Well, you got me there, since I’m a big Bill of Rights guy. After all, that’s what our military, our vets and old worn out cops like me fought and have died for since this nation was founded.

But you know what ticks me off? After a career of risking my life, nearly losing it more times than I can count and crying at police funerals of my friends; I feel that I have earned the right to just relax with a beer and watch NFL football without disengaged, Black Lives Matter-loving, uneducated, self-absorbed cry-babies like Jemele Hill and hypocritical rich kid jerks like Colin Kaepernick, et al. spitting on my flag, and insulting my President, our military, our vets and old cops like me.

You see, they just don’t get it. Sports and national politics just don’t mix and they shouldn’t. We pay these mostly singularly-skilled ingrates a lot of money to entertain us and they are not. They are simply entertaining themselves. Most of them wouldn’t know the difference between the Bill of Rights and a restaurant bill if you read them to them.

Hello! Professional sports is entertainment, fellas. It’s not a venue for you to express your we-could-care-less political opinion. Do that stuff on your own time. When you step onto that field, you’re on our time and our dime. No one wants to pay $200 for a ticket, $25 for parking, $12 for a lousy 16-ounce beer and $12 for a fricking hot dog to watch you take a knee and insult our flag and patriotic Americans. If you don’t like our flag, our nation, our values and patriotic Americans, do us a big favor and stay in the locker room until we pay our respects to our country and our flag by signing the national anthem.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell’s whose net worth is something around $75 million is one of the weakest commissioners in professional sports franchise history. He and the equally cowardly NFL franchise owners could put a stop to this nonsense in a heartbeat if they wanted to, but don’t. They are a bunch of pantywaists. Maybe they should take a cue from Dallas Cowboys owner and American patriot Jerry Jones who has zero tolerance for political statements and tells his players, “If you pull that stuff, you’re out!” God bless Jerry and God Bless Texas!

The Especially Stupid Players Network ESPN management is so “PC” and uneducated that they recently pulled sportscaster Robert E. Lee from broadcasting the University of Virginia’s first season football game. Hey, you idiots, Mr. Lee is Asian; get it? He wouldn’t know General Lee from Uncle Ben.

So, I’m officially done with the NFL and any professional sport and network that does not show the proper honor and respect our nation, our flag and our patriots deserve. Many of my friends feel the same way. NFL ratings and revenues have fallen dramatically since all this knee-taking began. I hope it continues until the NFL and networks are broke. That’s all these hypocrites understand, the diminishing dollar.

We have the power of the pocketbook. If you believe as I do, I strongly encourage you to demonstrate your 1^st Amendment rights by turning off ESPN, turning off NFL football, selling off your season tickets, not attending games and not purchasing any NFL or other sports products. We can do this!

BTW, if you really want to watch a dynamic professional sport that honors America, the military, our vets, first responders and our nation’s core values of competition, switch the channel to Professional Bull Riding (PBR). I promise you that you’ll get hooked and will never go back!

About the author

Ron Martinelli, Ph.D., is a nationally renowned forensic criminologist and a retired San Jose (CA) detective. Dr. Martinelli was a two-time NCAA All-American track and field sprinter who wishes his knees still worked. He is the author of the book, “The Truth Behind the Black Lives Matter Movement and the War on Police,” (Amazon.com). He is a nationally syndicated columnist for AmericaOutLoud. His forensic site is found at www.DrRonMartinelli.com.             Dr. Martinelli and his wife reside in Texas where they raise and compete with bucking bulls at PBR.