Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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4 UCW JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 6, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Leslie Pyo leslie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erica Walls, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Paul Hall, Lauren Vanderveen SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly wel- comes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Cover art/Various ads with art graphics designed with various elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. Actions have consequences by STEPHANIE CRIDER A conversation with our publisher, Bill Bowman, prompted this week's publisher's pen. He told me about how he joined a football pool for the big game Feb. 4. Shortly after he bought into the pool, his money was returned. It was canceled due to lack of interest. Really? Lack of interest in the Super Bowl? at's when he learned several other popular pools were canceled for the same reason – the public has no interest in the NFL and the Super Bowl. People seem to be done with the NFL. Fans are angry and disappointed. It's time to move on. For generations, parents have warned their children that actions have conse- quences. It's good advice, as is "just be- cause you can doesn't mean you should." e craziness that's been happening in the NFL the past two seasons is a perfect example of how true and relevant these axioms still are. Who knows what Colin Kaepernick thought would happen when, in August 2016, he chose to sit, and a few games later, kneel, during the national anthem to pro- test police brutality against minorities? It probably wasn't this. Watching the last 18 months play out has been both interesting and disheartening. I grew up in a military home, as have my children. My family is steeped in military service and tradition going back genera- tions. I doubt anyone in my family could sit or kneel for the national anthem if our lives depended on it. So many of my loved ones have served, fought and even died for people to be able to make their own choices – including the choice to not stand for the national anthem. Sitting or kneeling for the anthem is a right that Americans do have. But when someone chooses to do this, it speaks volumes about them and their feelings toward the people who fought for their right to make that choice. On a personal level, it is hard not to hold it against peo- ple who protest in this way. In this case, it makes it easy to choose to stop watching games and buying tickets to support an organization that permits and encourages these actions. ere is no need to rehash the history and details of the kneel- ing protests, the pushback from fans and the NFL's refusal to reign in its players. What would be the point? Many of those who strongly oppose the NFL's stand have already quit watching the games, buying tickets and mer- chandise and cheering for their favorite teams in football pools. ose still watching may not come back next season. e NFL's recent decision to refuse to run an ad by Ameri- can Veterans, an organization founded in 1944 that's more than a quarter-million members strong, may be the last straw for fans trying to hang on to a game and tradition they love. e ad in question shows an American flag with the hashtag #PleaseStand. It includes information about how to sup- port AMVETS financially. AMVETS Nation- al Commander Marion Polk replied to the NFL's refusal to run the ad saying, "Freedom of speech works both ways. We respect the rights of those who choose to protest as these rights are precisely what our members have fought – and in many cases died – for. Please support our mission." Was the NFL within its rights to deny the ad? Sure. Will that decision bring conse- quences? Probably. It's disheartening that a great American tradition like football that usually brings people together has become be so divisive. What will you be doing during the NFL's Super Bowl Sunday? I'll be "taking a knee." HIGH 49 HIGH 64 HIGH 46 HIGH 54 HIGH 51 HIGH 47 FEBRUARY 1 FEBRUARY 2 FEBRUARY 3 FEBRUARY 4 FEBRUARY 5 FEBRUARY 6 Partly Cloudy AM Showers Mostly Sunny Showers AM Showers Mostly Sunny LOW 37 LOW 27 LOW 37 LOW 23 LOW 32 LOW 35 STEPHANIE CRIDER, Associate Publisher. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Who knows what Colin Kaepernick thought would happen when, in August 2016, he chose to sit, and a few games later, kneel, during the national anthem to protest police brutality against minorities? It probably wasn't this.