{"id":3145,"date":"2018-11-28T16:20:20","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T21:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=3145"},"modified":"2018-12-18T16:09:39","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T21:09:39","slug":"standing-up-kneeling-for-what-you-believe-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=3145","title":{"rendered":"Standing Up *Kneeling For What You Believe In"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Cammi Tirico
\n<\/strong>The Communicator Magazine
\nAnn Arbor Community HS
\n1st Place
\nDivision 4, News Writing
\nSports Feature Story<\/p>\n

A<\/span>s the stadium announcer asked for the parents, students, fans, and players to stand for the national anthem, Brandon Bedinger took a knee. Alongside him, three Skyline football players, Bedinger \u2014 known to all as Coach B \u2014 knelt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knelt with the players to show that I supported them and what they believed in,\u201d Coach B said. \u201cI wanted them to know I support them no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue of standing or kneeling has been in and out of the national news for the last year. Recently, tensions have been heightened and highlighted by President Trump\u2019s comments at a rally in Alabama: \u201cWouldn\u2019t you love to see one of these N.F.L. owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, \u2018Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He\u2019s fired. He\u2019s fired!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, there are no MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletics Association) rules or regulations on the national anthem protocol during high school games and matches. The rules on standing and placing a hand on his or her heart are \u2014 at the moment \u2014 on a school to school basis, with the decision in each school\u2019s Athletic Director\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

Currently, for most high schools throughout the state, the \u201cStar Spangled Banner\u201d plays before the varsity game. Often in high school, the junior varsity teams play preceding the varsity game, and thus before the national anthem.<\/p>\n

There are many arguments that the national anthem should be played before all games, no matter the level. According to MHSAA Director of Broadcast Priorities John Johnson, it is up to the schools, but a vast majority only perform the Star Spangled Banner before the varsity game, including all of the three main Ann Arbor high schools \u2014 Pioneer, Skyline, and Huron.<\/p>\n

\u201cLadies and gentlemen: The privilege of this event was made possible by those who have fought \u2013 and continue to fight for \u2014 the freedoms we enjoy,\u201d reads the Regulation for Introduction for the national anthem. \u201cLet us now honor and respect their efforts and our country. Civilian gentlemen, please remove your hats. All veterans \u2014 we encourage you to render the appropriate salute, and everyone able \u2014 please stand at attention, placing your hand over your heart, as we proudly sing our National Anthem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that not all players or spectators stand at attention and\/or place their hand over their hearts, the MHSAA script will not change, according to Johnson.<\/p>\n

What was once a forgetful act of patriotism now sparks debates. \u201cI welcome those debates, because at least it causes people to think,\u201d said MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts. \u201cMy biggest complaint for many years has been the lack of thought that goes into most occasions when the national anthem is a part of sporting events. How casual we often are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, there is no denying that more and more thought is going into the national anthem. Everyone from news outlets, entertainment TV, sports magazines, and everywhere in between have been talking about the nearly two minute song.<\/p>\n

But it was not always this way: \u201cThe national anthem is so frequent and routine at most high school events that sometimes, spectators barely notice,\u201d said Roberts in a 2016 blog post.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, not too many people noticed or cared, but we did not do it for a reaction, we did it for us,\u201d Coach B said.<\/p>\n

Colin Kaepernick \u2014 the first NFL player to protest during the national anthem \u2014 said he could not show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses people of color. \u201cTo me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way,\u201d Kaepernick said to NFL.com reporters. \u201cThere are bodies in the street, and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those in objection argue the national anthem pays tribute to the soldiers who have fought and continue to fight for the United States, and who have given us the protection to have freedom of speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect everyone\u2019s first amendment rights, but I am the son of a World War II veteran, and believe that soldiers lay down their lives for the country, and the least we can do is stand with our hands over our hearts,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBut, I also respect those who choose to kneel, and what they stand for.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Cammi Tirico The Communicator Magazine Ann Arbor Community HS 1st Place Division 4, News Writing Sports Feature Story As the stadium announcer asked for the parents, students, fans, and players to stand for the national anthem, Brandon Bedinger took a knee. Alongside him, three Skyline football players, Bedinger \u2014 known to all as Coach B […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,67],"tags":[151,23],"class_list":["post-3145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-nw","category-sportsfeaturestory","tag-2017-18","tag-division4","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jaimie Bozack","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=7"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-OJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}