However, in typical fashion, the liberal group from California brought their misguided politics with them. What should have been a softball game on a sunny Louisiana afternoon turned into an ugly political display from entitled West Coast liberals.
As both teams lined up down the foul lines for the traditional singing of the National Anthem, six Cal Bear players took a knee, mimicking Colin Kaepernick and the other numerous athletes who have participated in protest for perceived police injustice and brutality towards black people. Despite the fact that statistics don’t back their claims, the players continued the political specter of kneeling and, in many eyes, disrespecting America.
Unfortunately for the Cal Bears, the folks in attendance at Lamson Park were none too appreciative of the display and let them know it with jeers and thunderous boos. The game was broadcast on ESPN+, and fans in attendance could be heard yelling, “Stand up, California!” and “Liberal wokeness” as the players knelt on the foul line.
This led to numerous members of the Cal team moving to stand behind the kneeling players while a staffer and another who wasn’t initially kneeling joined in the protest. Once the anthem ended, the staffer gestured wildly to the stands for more boos, and the fans were happy to oblige. One of the players said of the protest: “I’ve been kneeling during the national anthem with a handful of my teammates since last year in solidarity with people who’ve lost their lives to police brutality. It’s not really a trend or anything like that, it’s truly near and dear to my heart.”