U.S. Soccer needs to leave the crest alone

The United States Men’s National Team has announced that they will be swapping out the colors of the team’s crest from the primary colors of the country – red, white and blue, and changing them to a rainbow color to show support for the LGBTQIA+ community, and to advocate for the issues with equality in the World Cup’s host country, Qatar.

First off, this has nothing to do with the LGBTQIA+ community. This concerns the people who lack severe intelligence and respect for this country. These people are the ones who made this decision to change the colors of the crest from anything other than red, white, and blue. While the USMNT is an entity of a private, the crest of the USMNT is a representation of the American flag, of our American flag.

For an excellent refresher, remember basic American history. The flag has 50 stars to represent the 50 states and 13 stripes to represent the original 13 colonies of America. The colors of the flag are red, white and blue. These colors are the colors chosen to represent our country to the whole world.

America is headed to the world’s second most impactful international stage, only second to the Olympics. Showing off this rainbow-colored crest is misinforming the whole world of what all Americans stand for. All humans should be treated equally with dignity and respect. Some Americans agree with the alignment of the LGBTQIA+ community and some do not. The crest of the USMNT is about to go out there and, in effect, say the world that all of America agrees with this idea. This is just not true. In order to respect both sides of the issue I submit that the crest needs to just remain American red white a blue. The USMNT is not wearing them on their game day kits, but everything else that has to do with the team overseas will have this crest. This is clearly misleading others to what America stands for, and it is deceiving the whole world.

I understand that Qatar has a lot of issues with its treatment of many groups, but a change in the logo for soccer is not going to do anything. Many teams and companies in the past have changed logos to show support to some group or to call for change. These do not work.

When did sports decide to become political? I get that sports are the most common viewership on TV in America, but sports are supposed to be a vacation-like get away for people. When you relax and reset and recharge for the week ahead, is talking and reading about the stress of politics a part of it? Of course, it isn’t. Why should sports teams ruin the peace of Americans by including politics in almost everything they do.

Let the American people enjoy their stress-free sports. This is why reviews and ratings of the NBA have enormously declined over the past couple of years. Politics are the reason, and it is the cited reason by many home-owning Americans. According to a poll done by NewsWeek, The NBA’s ratings dropped 12% overall during the 2021 season. The poll also showed that 34% of Americans watched less sports because of social justice messages. The NFL saw a significant decrease in viewership when it got invested in the corrupted world of politics. According to ABC, during the 2021 NFL season TV ratings in Republican households dropped 17% over the season. Democrat households dropped 4%. Both sides of the political spectrum saw ratings drop. However, this season, they have been hands-off in the political game, and the ratings are shooting back up. Why? Because people love to live in a nonpolitical world every Sunday and enjoy relaxation.

I am almost sure that if the 2022 FIFA World Cup becomes a worldwide political ad for something that all Americans do not stand for, the viewership of the World Cup will suck. The leaders of the USMNT are anti-American by stripping away the flag that represents the American people and our freedoms and replacing it with a statement that does not represent the whole of America. Do not fix what is not broken and come up with financial and physical ways to change the gruesome issues in Qatar. Do not lie to the world please and thank you.

The soldiers in the American Revolution and the Northern side of the Civil War fought for the values of that American Flag. They fought for the red, white, and blue American flag. They fought for the pride that flag shows, not the pride flag.

To each their own but leave the American Flag alone.

Sam Ojeda is a Lincoln, Neb., freshman studying journalism.

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