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On this day of respect for our country and our veterans who are BRAVE so the rest of us can be FREE, I've been wondering about USA Basketball selection committee members and how they may/might/could be influenced while voting for high school, college, and/or professional athletes who will represent the USA in national, international, and Olympic competition. Could athletes who stand straight armed, lower their head, kneel, squat, sit, turn their back, don't show up, or fail in some other way to participate in the tradition national anthem process prior to athletic competition be saddled with a silent bias as an athlete when it comes to representing the USA. I don't fault or judge anyone for their beliefs or causes, this is part of what FREE means. However, being disrespectful (or harmful) to others in the process, whether it's intended or not, creates consequences, like it or not.
If you were a voting/selecting member would you be influenced? Of course it's unlikely a member would say that this had a bearing on their decision, but I'm just wondering what others think about this.
What brought this to the surface for me was a news report I saw that stated that Colin Kaepernick not only chose not to vote in the elections Tuesday, but also stated, "Didn't really matter to me if Trump or Clinton won." Are high school and college kids who choose this behavior out further on a limb that hey realize, as it pertains to their future in the sport?
I'll go on record and say that if I were on the selection committee, an athlete who routinely choose to reject the traditional USA anthem ceremony prior to their athletic competitions, would already (silently of course) have one strike against them as a representative of the United Sates of America.
If you were a voting/selecting member would you be influenced? Of course it's unlikely a member would say that this had a bearing on their decision, but I'm just wondering what others think about this.
What brought this to the surface for me was a news report I saw that stated that Colin Kaepernick not only chose not to vote in the elections Tuesday, but also stated, "Didn't really matter to me if Trump or Clinton won." Are high school and college kids who choose this behavior out further on a limb that hey realize, as it pertains to their future in the sport?
I'll go on record and say that if I were on the selection committee, an athlete who routinely choose to reject the traditional USA anthem ceremony prior to their athletic competitions, would already (silently of course) have one strike against them as a representative of the United Sates of America.
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