Today is Juneteenth. I have written my thoughts about this “holiday” several times already and won’t delve into all that again. I did see a meme on Facebook asking whether “white people” should attend Juneteenth events or celebrations. I couldn’t help but respond with, why not, it was white people that brought you Juneteenth. That is, of course, just a sarcastic remark and what anyone that knows me would expect. Further down that Facebook page was a story about a minor league basebsll team forfeiting its’ game by the refusal to wear pride themed jereseys. Apparently the sleeves had been replaced with rainbows! I don’t blame the players that refused, I would have too, as I do not support all this pride stuff.

The uniform thing, in my opinion, shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place. Every team has its’ rules and every sport has its’ rule book. The uniform should be clearly described and prescribed. That’s the rule, no deviation to promote political agenda’s should be allowed. I’m old enough to remember Joe Namath and his white cleats and what was said about that. Quite the breach of etiquette! It was shocking. It wasn’t against the rules though, rules concerning that stuff would come later on. Wasn’t long ago you heard about players wearing slogans and things on their shoes and being fined for that. Some were even ejected from the game.

Should every member of a team be forced to promote a platform? That is to say, wear apparel to spread a message that goes contrary to their personal beliefs? Should I have to wear a Cross or a Star of David if the owner wishes that? For me, it’s the same thing as forcing we to wear rainbows on Pride night. At the very least, it should remain my choice without being punished for that choice. That’s why I say, delineate exactly what the uniform is to be and that’s it. You can have home and away uniforms, you could have “special” event uniforms but each uniform must be explicity described before you sign that contract. That should be your choice, not the owner of the team.