It was suspected that the invitation the Super Bowl Champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, received was going to be used by the majority of those players to make a political statement. It’s reported that all but ten of the players planned to boycott the event and at least 2 among the 10 who did show up had planned to make some sort of protest. But at least as of this writing, the plot was foiled by a president, who beat them to the punch and disinvited the entire team anyway.
It was the talk of many in the South Boston community on Tuesday, when the news hit and listening to residents working out at the Boston Athletic Club, shoppers at Stop and Shop and enjoying lunch at Sully’s at Castle Island, the consensus seemed to lean heavily in favor of President Trump’s decision. It was apparent that many people, both current and former fans of NFL Football, have pretty much had enough of the antics of these players.
Among the words used that can be printed in a family friendly newspaper to describe these highly paid athletes were ‘pampered’, ‘spoiled’, ‘disrespectful’, ‘arrogant’, ‘overpaid’ and ‘ungrateful’. Readers can use their imaginations to figure out what other labels were used to describe them, words that as I said cannot be printed here. While some flustered newscasters stated that President Trump did a disservice to Sports fans, others see it differently and believe it was the players who abandoned their fans by announcing at the near last minute and through the media that many of them were not even going to show up. Others in the press and some disgruntled players said that Trump was just playing politics over the Anthem issue. However, when you look at how it all played out we have to ask just who was playing politics. 80 players RSVP’d well in advance and said that they would attend, and then as the day was just about here, said they would not. Then they wanted the event delayed a week, knowing full well that the president would be in Singapore meeting with the North Koreans. Nice try, but the Eagles organization is clearly out of its league (no pun intended) when trying to out maneuver Trump.
So, it seems that the controversy with the NFL won’t be going away anytime soon, despite new rules put in place by the league itself and will probably continue into next season. This won’t bode well for the league, as it continues to lose so much support because of the activities of some of the players, which they know are turning off and infuriating a once mighty and growing fan base – a base that just wants to enjoy a game and not be subjected to the personal grievances and the political statements of players and all the drama that is taking a heavy toll on a once great game. The words ‘Play Ball’ is good advice for the NFL, while it still has enough fans left to turn a profit.
Locally, the mystery of the woman caught on security camera footage carrying the baby, who broke into a South Boston home 2 weeks ago and then casually walked out, still has not been solved. Luckily for the home owner, no damage took place and she didn’t steal anything of value. But police sources have told us that other break-ins of homes and cars and the stealing of delivered packages from door step continues. We need to work together and catch these people. At this point it could be any resident who becomes the next victim. I know, some feel bad for them and have offered their sympathy and compassion. But what they really need is to be arrested and go to jail. Again, passing on the advice from our local police, lock your doors, lock your cars and keep an eye on your neighbor’s property and they will hopefully do the same for you. And certainly, pass any and all information you might have as to the identity of these thieves onto the police. No, it’s not being a ‘rat’. It’s helping put a stop to a crime wave that is victimizing our fellow residents.
