The biggest story in the sports world lately has been the silent protest from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, as he takes a knee during the national anthem.
Recently, former USWNT star and current Seattle Reign player Megan Rapinoe joined Kaepernick in solidarity, as she told CNN:
“I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.”
That’s certainly a reasoned take on the issue.
Wednesday night, as the Reign were set to take on the Washington Spirit, the Spirit ownership decided that the national anthem would be played ahead of schedule so she wouldn’t be “hijacking” the event.
Washington Spirit's statement on decision to play anthem before #NWSL players come out: pic.twitter.com/G0llKp0uMl
— Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) September 7, 2016
This perhaps shouldn’t be a huge surprise coming from the Spirit organization. As The Bent Musket pointed out last July, when the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage came down, all NWSL clubs tweeted in support, except the Spirit.
To add to the plot, whoever runs the social accounts for the Spirit didn’t like the use of the word hijacking, responding in a since-deleted tweet:
https://twitter.com/DannyPage/status/773677884053581825
Surely this is not the end of this story.
[CNN]
