Now it's members of a high school marching band. This was in Ames, IA, also home of the Iowa State Univ (where my daughter went) Cyclones. Ames never struck me as a liberal city, but what do I know...

http://www.amestrib.com/news/2...-for-national-anthem

Members of Ames High School marching band walk off field for national anthem

By Caitlin Ware, Staff Writer cware@amestrib.com
Posted Oct 14, 2017 at 9:22 PM
Updated Oct 14, 2017 at 9:53 PM
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As part of an ongoing national movement involving peaceful protests during the national anthem at sporting events, multiple members of the Ames High School marching band left the field together prior to the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the Little Cyclones’ Friday night football game against Des Moines Lincoln.

Director of School, Community and Media Relations for the district Eric Smidt said he is uncertain of the exact number of band members that chose not to participate in the anthem. However, he said some members of the approximately 300-member ensemble chose to exit the field and stand in the band section of the football stadium, rather than play their instruments on the field with the rest of the band.

According to Smidt, originally, students intended to take a knee during the national anthem, as has been done by multiple professional athletes after protests against racial injustices and police brutality were first started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. However, Ames High School Principal Spence Evans asked that they stay in the band section if they chose not to play.

As of Saturday evening, the Ames Tribune has been unable to contact any of the students who opted to leave the football field for the anthem to determine the specific cause their actions represented.

“I’ve thought about this a lot today, and clearly people have very strong opinions both ways,” Smidt said of the students’ decision to leave the field. “And I think when someone thinks about it, they can see both sides. I do know the students handled it the way I would expect them to.”

Controversy also sparked earlier in the week on Thursday, when the original theme for Friday night’s game was changed from USA to Pink Out. A tweet sent out by AHS Student Section on Thursday read, “It was brought to our attention that USA theme is too controversial and we are just trying to have good time. PINK OUT tomorrow. #rollclones.”

The school was notified of the student body’s decision to switch themes on Friday, and an announcement read over the intercom by Ames High School student leaders said, “No matter your position, we are all Ames. Wear your pink and come out and support the seniors [for] their last home game at AHS. Link arms, show love, and pack the stands. A house divided cannot stand. Roll ’Clones.”

The decision drew harsh criticism on Twitter, where commenters felt the theme change was unnecessary and unpatriotic.

Smidt said that the decision to change the theme was first and foremost the decision of the student body and multiple student organizations, and was not made because any one was against the theme. Rather, it was made because students did not want to have a divided student section.

“The student body was super impressive on Friday in terms of coming together, sharing what they’re feeling, sharing a solution,” Smidt said. “Frankly, I think we could all learn a lesson from that. [Evans] wants to have students have a voice as much as possible, and that’s exactly what happened in this situation.”

Look for a follow up to this story in Tuesday’s paper.

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sniveling pukes.

Something tells me if they decided to move to well let's say Syria or Turkey or maybe Iran, they could do some serious kneeling and flag disrespecting, and the soldiers there would not mind at all...

Now listen to a REAL American

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
Smidt said that the decision to change the theme was first and foremost the decision of the student body and multiple student organizations, and was not made because any one was against the theme. Rather, it was made because students did not want to have a divided student section.
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Not. One. More. Penny will I vote for our "education" system. Not one. Not ever again.

Saints keeping it classy today..

quote:

The players took a knee during a moment of silence for a murdered police officer named Marcus McNeil, who was a father of two and was slain while on duty just two days prior to the game

http://ijr.com/the-declaration...ed&utm_campaign=ods&

quote:

Originally posted by SR025:
Saints keeping it classy today..

quote:

The players took a knee during a moment of silence for a murdered police officer named Marcus McNeil, who was a father of two and was slain while on duty just two days prior to the game

http://ijr.com/the-declaration...ed&utm_campaign=ods&

Utter trash

colin kaepernick files grievance NFL owners for collusion to keep him out of the NFL.

Guess he thinks this will help him get on a team. My guess is he will never play pro ball again.

Someone pass the popcorn this just keeps getting better.

[URL= http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/...collusion]link[/URL]
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/...nfl-owners-collusion

I actually turned off last season when this crap started,

But didn't that a-hole have something like negative yardage in his last game? I thought he got sacked a few time and was picked off.

Do you think if we gave him a participation trophy he'd go the F away? Is that what he's looking for?

quote:

Originally posted by comet24:
colin kaepernick files grievance NFL owners for collusion to keep him out of the NFL.

Guess he thinks this will help him get on a team. My guess is he will never play pro ball again.

Someone pass the popcorn this just keeps getting better....

So Kaepernick is claiming racism and demands social justice, in the form of paying him big bucks to play (or maybe even if he doesn't play) football? Seems to me he voluntarily became a free agent. It also makes sense to me that each owner, not in any form of collusion, figured out they would lose money by signing the fellow.

And yet, fans still continue to attend NFL games. If they stayed home for a week or two, this would end quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by MRMATT:
And yet, fans still continue to attend NFL games. If they stayed home for a week or two, this would end quickly.

Which unfortunately tells you that the majority of fans don't care much about the protests. A sad commentary on our society.

The saints taking a knee during a moment of silence for a murdered NO Police Officer leads me to wonder if they understand what they are thinking. The murdered officer was black. Lost all respect for these nfl thugs.

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
Which unfortunately tells you that the majority of fans don't care much about the protests.

Perhaps they care, understand, and agree.
That would not be the only demonstration of the state of the nation today. The left has done an incredibly effective job of shaping the attitudes of American society, and consequently the ignorance and false beliefs of the vast majority of us knows no bounds.

All those fans may feel just enough uncertainty and embarrassment to not actively support the “protests,” but that doesn’t mean they don’t believe that our law enforcement officers actively seek out opportunities to oppress and even kill black men whenever they can. Before all the riots that started some time ago, I saw opinions expressed here that really weren’t all that different when some members tried to tar all LEOs with the brushes they picked up from a few of their own bad experiences. Things are not quite the same today, but many posts still reveal an undercurrent of fundamental mistrust of law enforcement and even a belief that LEOs are generally incompetent at best and corrupt as a minimum.

The NFL isn’t going away. As clumsy as its players (note that word) and management have been in handling this issue, in time they and the networks will figure out how to let this issue die a natural death. All the outraged fans of today will slowly drift back to yet another thing that allows them to fill their otherwise empty lives.
Get used to the idea now and avoid future disappointment.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/geo...-103405977--spt.html

Georgia cheerleaders to protest anthem in stadium tunnel

A group of Georgia cheerleaders say they'll take a knee in the stadium tunnel when the national anthem is played at Saturday's homecoming game since their university moved them off the field after an earlier demonstration.

Kennesaw State University cheerleader Shlondra Young tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the so-called "Kennesaw Five" will kneel until the U.S. flag "represents what it should."

The cheerleaders say they've paid attention to the nationwide debate over NFL players kneeling during the anthem, and they prayed before doing so at a Sept. 30 game.

Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren tells The Marietta Daily Journal he called the school president after that game and was assured the demonstration would not happen again.

School officials say they moved the cheerleaders off the field before games to "improve the fan experience."

Well now Hilary supports the NFL kneelers:

http://www.foxnews.com/politic...-anthem-or-flag.html

I'm sure they are happy for her support and the good will it will bring...

I'll give you one thing, Hilary is not nearly as politically astute as Bill - she certainly doesn't bend with public opinion as much as he did.

Thinking a little more, Hilary tolerated Monica taking a knee (or two for that matter) in front of Bill, so I suppose this is nothing new for her...

So, if they all sit for the National Anthem... will the new protest be standing?

quote:

Originally posted by SR025:
Saints keeping it classy today..

quote:

The players took a knee during a moment of silence for a murdered police officer named Marcus McNeil, who was a father of two and was slain while on duty just two days prior to the game

http://ijr.com/the-declaration...ed&utm_campaign=ods&

Were they protesting against the moment of silence?
Or supporting the murdered police officer, Marcus McNeil, by taking a knee?
If they take a knee (not during the National Anthem) it's not necessarily disrespectful of the officer.

Considering that this whole thing started with Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, I'd say there's a pretty obvious answer to that question. If the answer to that question was anything else, they'd need to say so clearly and out loud.

^^^ Taking a knee now seems to mean different things to different people. I think it was originally, according to Colon Crappernickle, to protest what some claim is rampant, racist, police brutality. Then I think it became, in the minds of some kneeling, to show team unity/support for teammates without necessarily supporting a particular cause. Now in some cases it seems to just be akin to bowing your head in a moment of silence.

I say we all just kneel anytime we agree with anything, or support anyone at anytime, to make a mockery of it all. For that reason, I'm kneeling as I write this.