Month: July 2020

Blog #2: College Sports and Kneeling During National Anthem

Probably one of the most controversial topics in college sports is: Should college athletes kneel for the National Anthem? This topic has popped up in the past, when Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the National Anthem four years ago during a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. His reasoning for doing so was to raise awareness of racial inequality and police brutality. With the recent events in the U.S. and the return of sports, it is likely that we are going to see most professional athletes taking a knee or sitting during the National Anthem. If college sports do return in the fall, we will also most likely see college athletes kneeling or sitting during the National Anthem.

While kneeling or sitting during the National Anthem is seen as “peacefully protesting,” this surprisingly frustrates a lot of people. A reasoning this frustrates some people is because they think they are disrespecting the flag. Athletes who have kneeled for the flag in the past have spoken out saying they are not kneeling out of disrespect for the flag. They are kneeling because they do not stand (get it) with what is going on in the U.S. and its current state. People who are not for athletes kneeling for the flag need to understand this. Since many people have died and put their life on the line for this country Not going to lie, when Colin Kaepernick took a knee four years ago, I was pretty upset and furious. Now that I am more knowledgeable on this subject, it does not bother me anymore. I get and understand why athletes and other people do it. So the next time I am watching a college or pro sports game and the athletes are kneeling during the National Anthem, I will not get upset.

Although this frustrates people, the solution to this controversial topic is to just let these pro and college athletes do what they want to do. If they kneel during the National Anthem, cool. If they stand for The National Anthem, cool. This is their way of protesting. If you do not like it, just simply change the channel or don’t watch sports at all. Since some of these athletes are well-known and have a huge following, they want to use their platform for good. They have a voice and want to use it. It is important that they bring light to these types of issues that are not only going on in the United States, but also all over the world as well.

What do you guys think about athletes kneeling or sitting during the National Anthem. Are you for it or against it? Sound off in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

Blog #1: College Sports and COVID-19

The big question that is on some peoples’ minds (including mine) is: Will college sports make a return this fall? As a huge college sports fan, I live and breathe for football season. It is my favorite time of year next to Summer. I am all for sports coming back and not being able to go sit and watch as long as they are on TV.

Even though sports are supposed to make a comeback, there are already some issues and concerns that are emerging. One obvious issue is the concern of COVID-19 infecting the players, coaches, athletic staff, and to the students. Another issue is the virus infecting people who have underlying medical conditions that attend and work at the universities where these college teams play. Over the last few weeks, players are actually getting the virus from working out with their teammates, which is no surprise. Just last week, the Ohio State Football team decided to pause workouts  for at least a week after COVID-19 testing results. For the 2020-21 football, season Penn State is only playing against BIG10 teams. The Ivy league announced last week the cancellation of fall sports, with the Patriot league shortly following in their footsteps.

With some leagues cancelling fall sports and other making adaptations because of COVID-19, this is definitely causing some frustrations. College sport fans are probably frustrated that they will not be able to tailgate before and after games, go to bars and restaurants with their friends to watch games, and overall attend the game. As a huge Penn State fan, I am frustrated as well that I will probably not be sitting in Beaver Stadium cheering for my favorite team. At the same time, I understand the health and safety of myself and others is way more important than attending the game and potentially getting the virus.

So that fans can attend and enjoy the game, one possible solution could be to have stadiums at half capacity and require fans to wear a mask. The only issue with this is are fans actually going to listen and wear a mask the whole time? Another solution I have been seeing is moving football season to Spring 2021. According to ESPN, the NJCAA is the first conference to move their football season to Spring 2021. It will be interesting to see if the NCAA does this within the next few weeks or month due to COVID-19 cases on the rise in many parts of the U.S. I am living for football being played in the spring rather than the fall. If football season is to commence in the spring, it is going to be a somewhat different atmosphere. Personally, I think it is not a bad idea to have football season in the spring rather than the fall because this virus is so unpredictable and no one really knows what is going to happen. It is better to be safe than sorry.

The most obvious solution, and it pains me to say this, is to not have college sports at all. It would be really upsetting to see all fall college sports to get cancelled throughout all divisions and leagues, but it is for the best. Watching college football with family and friends on Saturday’s is one of many favorite things I love to do in the fall. Not only is this going to hurt the hearts of many die-hard college fans, it is also going to hurt the many colleges and universities as well. Many of these colleges and universities use the revenue to fund other sports. It is also going to hurt many of the towns these colleges are in such as Penn State. State College is the third largest city in Pennsylvania when there is a home football game taking place. That will not be the case this year.

What do you guys think of this? Do you think we will have college sports in the fall? Sound off in the comments below! Don’t forget to share this post and blog to your friends and family!

Welcome!

If you are a huge college sports fan, this blog is definitely for you. On The Collegiate Sport, we will be discussing about the current issues that are happening in today’s college sports world. Blog posts coming soon!

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