California Softball Team Gets Brutal Reception When It Kneels for National Anthem During Game in the South
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
Iconic television character Tony Soprano issued one of his most quotable lines in the hit show “The Sopranos” in 2001 when dealing with an unbalanced relative who had been living out West and had forgotten how things were done in North Jersey.
“No, no, no. I don’t want any of that California bulls***,” actor James Gandolfino’s Tony sternly told his sister Janice, reminding her where she was and how things were done there.
Fans of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s women’s softball team offered a similar message to players of the University of California, Berkley — although they did so while representing better values than television’s acclaimed New Jersey mob boss.
During a Feb. 9 home game, every member of the Ragin’ Cajuns softball team stood to honor their country as the national anthem was played.
Most of Cal’s players also stood to honor their country, but six of them took a knee. The action didn’t go over so well in the South.
The outlet SF Gate actually attempted to portray the kneelers as victims of some sort of a hate campaign:
6 Cal softball players were verbally harassed while kneeling during the anthem on Friday in Louisiana.
Fans could be heard screaming “Stand up!” and “liberal wokeness!”@Grant_Marek‘s full story on the chaotic weekend that included multiple ejections 👇https://t.co/YosTKemLL5 pic.twitter.com/o0rvOqRNWs
— SFGATE (@SFGate) February 13, 2024
These ladies each made the decision to kneel in a deeply conservative part of the country — a place where Americans are more likely than not to honor God and country and respect their communities.
As the players knelt, fans began to shout at them.
“WOKE! WOKE! WOKE!” one man shouted, while another screamed, “Stand up!”
Another man shouted, “Stand up, California!” while another fan bellowed out the words, “Liberal wokeness!”
Eventually, the shouting became so widespread that most of the verbal grief the Cal ladies were receiving could not be made out.
But the booing was heard loud and clear. It appeared as if all or most of those in attendance eventually realized what was happening and didn’t hesitate to share their feelings.
The message was clear: We don’t want any California malarkey around here in Lafayette.
The Cal women who had decided to stand for the anthem approached their kneeling teammates and stood behind them in some apparent show of solidarity.
But the tone was set.
People with California values came into a place where people love their country and are proud of their flag and anthem.
The Ragin’ Cajuns ended up routing the Bears — shutting them out 8-0 and leading to game officials invoking the mercy rule, SFGate reported.
Cal’s players were entitled to their free speech, but so was everyone else in the stadium. Everyone involved in this spectacle was practicing their constitutional rights.
The anthem controversy arose in the first game of a two-game weekend series, according to SFGate. California won the second, which was played on Feb. 11. (The anthem wasn’t played before that game because it had already been played at the field for another game earlier in the day, according to SFGate.)
But it’s difficult to imagine the Bears weren’t relieved as a whole to leave the stadium. And their hosts were probably happy to see them go.
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