The University of California women’s softball team traveled to Lamson Park in Lafayette, Louisiana, recently for a weekend series between the 21st-ranked Ragin Cajuns and the undefeated Golden Bears. 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.”
The stats don’t back up the narrative. According to USA Today data published in 2019, “As of the June 22 update, the Washington Post’s database of fatal police shootings showed 14 unarmed Black victims and 25 unarmed white victims in 2019.” The left-leaning outlet went as far as to say, “There is no epidemic of fatal police shootings against unarmed black Americans.”
Cal head coach Chelsea Spencer, who could prevent the political controversy and instead stick to sports, said: “I wanted our players to know that we fight together and that I got their back no matter what. These are my people. They go to war for me every day. I respect them for being courageous and standing up for what they believe in.”
Naturally, the leftist university stood behind its players. The school said: “We will always stand by our student-athletes for exercising their right to peaceful protest, as well as student-athletes from our opponents. We are thankful our softball team was able to play the rest of its games last weekend without any further incident.”
Hilariously, Cal was no-hit in the game by the Ragin Cajuns, handing the Bears their first loss of the season. Perhaps the young ladies on the Cal Bears softball team should focus on softball and save the political gestures for actual causes. Unlikely since schools like Cal indoctrinate more than they actually teach, but maybe they will leave the politics at home next time they come to Louisiana.
