Part of my job here at askthebookie.com is writing one column a week explaining the goings on in the sports world and sportsbetting world, but it’s getting harder and harder to do so. The world in general is spinnin out of control and people are not concerned anymore with the bigger issues only tabloid “National Enquirer” nonsense.

Social media has made everyone an instant celebrity and getting their face noticed is all that matters anymore. In my day, celebrities were people who actually accomplished something. Nowadays you can make a porno tape or make a stupid political statement and you’re an instant celebrity. Look at the whole Kaepernick situation. There are high school kids taking knees during the National Anthem just trying to get attention directed at them. They have no idea why they are doing it, and neither does Kapernick for that matter. His jersey sales are up, and he’s getting notoriety, as are the clowns who kneel beside him, and get on camera and that’s all that matters.

In my day and certainly the generation before it, people stood for something that mattered. Now people are getting fame for things that really don’t matter at all. It’s becoming the “me first” generation. I know that Odell Beckham didn’t start the whole “diva wide receiver” generation, (there were guys like “85” and “TO” long before him), but he actually got down on one knee and proposed to the kicking net after his TD on Sunday, hasn’t this gone about a bit too far?

Coaches used to discipline their players for acts detrimental to their teams, but not anymore, cuz as long as you produce you can “get a pass.” Even Eli said about Odell, and I’m paraphrasing here, “If he stops producing this shit is gonna get old very quickly.” Did you notice how much bad press he got when they were losing, and how little this week he got when they won?

Where are guys like Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Gordie Howe, and Rocky Marciano, who “spoke softly but carried a big stick?” These were guys who kept their mouths shut, were roles models and did their jobs, and were respected for it, not because they had a lot of “twitter” followers.

Even a guy like Jim Brown who became politically active after his career was over, kept his mouth shut when he was playing and did his job. People think now that if you’re a celebrity like LeBron or even Obama and Kim Kardashian that you’re are just bit smarter than the rest of us, because you are famous and we need your advice. It’s quite the opposite, just because you can stuff a basketball, con the whole country and become POTUS, or have a big ass and can suck a good dick on camera, that doesn’t give you the right to tell other people how to act.

The saddest part about all of this, and I better choose my words carefully as to not step over the line here (although that hasn’t stopped me in the past), is that there is not free speech anymore unless it pertains to what is the most popular opinion at the time.

In my day we believed “sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me,” and freedom of speech, not the suppressing of it. Just look at what it is going on in the world right now. If you agree with one side like Kaepernick for instance, it’s his right to speak his mind, but if you on the other side of anything against the status quo, which is now being politically correct, it is considered “Hate Speech” and you must be vilified.

There was one instance last week in which the whole Millikan football team stayed in locker room as protest for the anthem, but one player said “Fuck this” and walked on the field alone and saluted the flag. Kudos to him for standing up to the “group think” nonsense that is going on in the world of sports and society as well. This is the way the world used to be, courageous, people standing up for tyranny not bunch of “Tree huggin, muff munchin, God hating, pansies” that can’t have an original thought to save their lives. There, how’s that for choosing my words carefully?!? I hope I didn’t “offend anyone,” because they may have to retreat to their “Safe Spaces” so they won’t get their feelings hurt. Man up everyone! Cut this shit out; elect a true leader as President and maybe we can get “EVERYTHING” going back on the right track.

Frankie the Fan