Hello and welcome back to the aggravated world of the Dogpound. We all have our days, and this is just a primer to the rest of this article. I am turning into the Wal-Mart parking lot and there pulling out is a young teen driver…probably barely old enough to drive…she has her window down and she is holding her iPhone halfway out the window…why? Maybe so she could see it better? I don’t know, but she has to make a left hand turn. Have you ever tried to make a turn to the left just using your right hand? Not easy! So I park my car, still aggravated by the past incident, when coming down the parking lane is a very senior white-haired lady driver. Her window is down, and she has her left arm hanging half out the window holding a big gulp drink, and she too has to make a left-hand turn. Ever heard of cup holders? I know it is only in a parking lot…but those bad habits easily translate into regular driving habits. I cannot wait for robot drivers! Now on to my main aggravation; spoiler alert: I am a red-white-and blue, God-fearing American veteran who is not afraid to say Merry Christmas. When I hear the national anthem, it still makes my heart beat a bit faster, and when those planes fly overhead, I admit to getting a bit emotional. Maybe I am just an old …fuddy-duddy; well, I will take the old part…but definitely not the fuddy-duddy part, and I will not apologize for being an American and for standing up for my…our …flag. Now speaking…just for me…I am personally offended by those that kneel when they raise Old Glory. I am sure some players have the best of intentions, however, if they really believe they are not disrespecting the flag, then they should hold their protest during a different part of the game. For example, have your protest during the pre-game exercises…you can all lie on the ground for five minutes; or at halftime…instead of going to your respective locker rooms…both teams can meet at the 50 yard line and spell out [in formation]whatever you are protesting…better yet…wait till the end of the game and hold a meet-and-greet with the fans where you can ask them to sign your petition against whatever you are protesting at the time. Despite these being good ideas, I have a better solution on how you should address your concerns. Now, I know some players do good work in their community, but in this scenario everyone on the team goes.
I mean everyone from the owner, down to coaches, trainers, and the fourth-string quarterback, go together as a team to a community that needs help, guidance, and financial assistance. However, since we are in the Dogpound, there are a few caveats. First, take off your $10,000 watches and all of your gold bling, put your $1,000 tennis shoes in the truck of your car, leave your $5,000 suits in the closet, and ditch your football jersey. Instead, head down to the local Wal-Mart where you can pick up a few plaid work shirts, a couple of blue jeans [yes…off the rack!], a good pair of work boots, and gloves. [Note..we will allow you to keep your special silk underwear from France…we are not completely unreasonable! ] Pack a small suitcase and kiss the family goodbye because this is not going to be one of those two-hour photo-ops…or a one-day event where at the end of the day when the cameras turn off, you return to your large house and king-size bed with a 100” TV hanging on the wall. Nope…you are going to be there a while…how about a week or two? You can stay at the local Motel 6 or better yet, take a sofa with one of the families that you are helping. As I said, you are all going to go as a team, which means you leave behind your Hummer, your BMW, or your GMC Sierra. You are going to take a bus to your destination, and we are not talking about a $200,000 air conditioned coach…no way…. we are talking about taking a standard school bus. Now, all of this will allow you to better fit in with the community that you want to help. Real actions speak louder than words or gestures…and remember, many individuals, through their real actions, made it possible for us to play football on Sunday, among many other things. Also…one last thing…make sure you bring your checkbooks…money still makes the wheels go round.
A bit wordy today, but we if do not stand for something, then we will fall for anything.
God bless America and everyone in the Dogpound. JR
