The Bandwagon

This has been a very crazy year, to say the least. A lot of people can’t wait for the elections to be over, or for the calendar to turn over to 2021. I’m hoping to get to Thanksgiving in order to look back and really examine what I’m thankful for.

I’ve watched some of the burning down of American cities and have witnessed the movement to either defund the police or eliminate it all together. I’ve also heard talk on the campaign trail that one side would like to get rid of guns. Hmm…Let’s see about that, no police and no way to protect your home? That should work out well for the criminal element.

I’ve heard from many professional athletes that support a group that has helped in part to cause $2 billion in damage to property of small and large business. It seems like the right thing to do until law enforcement officers become the targets of groups that are influenced to hate cops.

Crimes are up in big cities that have started to defund police. If criminals are not afraid to shoot armed police officers, they certainly wouldn’t be afraid to shoot unarmed citizens. They also couldn’t care less if there is collateral damage as in the killing of innocent children. If you want to confiscate guns, I suggest you take the weapons out of the hands of the criminal element first. Good luck with that.

I’m disappointed with professional leagues and athletes in how they portray law enforcement. The NFL has put the names of those folks that have been killed or injured during an arrest. I think that it is interesting that the name of one guy who was injured was being arrested for sexual assault and resisting arrest and was trying to get in his car when he was shot. I think the NFL should look at the charges that were brought against him. Do you realize if an NFL player had done the same thing, he would have been suspended from the league prior to the court date?

I have an idea for the professional leagues that support defunding the police. Why not play your games without officials? Heck, let’s eliminate replay and get these game over early. For the NBA we either go back to two officials or we go to the street games of calling your own fouls. I really doubt that there will be less arguing or any fights. These guys are adults and know the rules of the game, so all should be just fine. Sarcasm here!

You’ve seen the rioters or peaceful protesters yelling at the police and screaming obscenities at them. Well why not let these people come to the games and stand court-side and scream and holler nasties at the players. That should go over real well. How long do you think it would take for one of these highly-paid athletes to go ballistic on a foul-mouthed peaceful protester who is less than five feet away from them? That would be a great highlight on ESPN.

Can you imagine an NFL game played with only four officials? Or how about three like you would have at a middle school game? Do you think there would be a few cheap shots thrown by linemen while they are pass-blocking or double-teaming a defensive tackle during a run play?

I guess having law enforcement as in officiating is important in sports as much as it is on the streets. We can’t fail those folks that are most affected by having a lack of police. If you are going to complain, go to the politicians and get angry about the laws that they have enacted. Have them explain why there are so many laws that forbid violence against another human being. Could the answer be that we are supposed to be a civilized society?

When an injustice is done to one person by a law enforcement official, the biggest mistake that is made is that all law enforcement is the problem instead of one or two individuals. I have several family members who have been in law enforcement and had exemplary careers. I also have several people that I consider friends that are either in law enforcement or have retired from the profession. They understood the risks of the job, but also understand that helping others is the reward. It’s not a lot, but it is very important.

It is easy to jump on the bandwagon for a cause, but we can soon be disappointed which direction the wagon is being led.