American baseball player broke the tradition of the hymn in spite of the Trump
MOSCOW, 24 Sep — RIA Novosti. American baseball player Bruce Maxwell went down in history, violating one of the main traditions of Major League baseball (MLB), reports the Huffington Post.
Since the end of world war II, before every League match marks the anthem of the United States, that baseball players always listen standing. During a ceremony before the game against the Rangers from Texas, Maxwell, who plays for the “Oakland athletics”, got down on one knee.
Thus he expressed his protest to the President of the United States Donald Trump, who, according to Maxwell, “restricts freedom of speech and expression” athletes.
The Maxwell action is precedent in baseball, but not in all of American sports. A year earlier the soccer player Colin Kaepernick did the same, protesting against the “oppression of minorities”. So did a few players to the NFL, and trump accused the players of lack of patriotism.
“If the player wants the privilege to earn millions of dollars in the NFL or other leagues, he should not show disrespect to our Great American Flag (or Country) and it needs to stand for our National Anthem. If not, then you’re FIRED. Find yourself another hobby!” said trump.
These words provoked the conflict with the League (NFL) and well-known basketball players, including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Steph Curry. So, James called the President “a dick” and wrote on Twitter that the ride to the White house was an honor for him, until there came a trump.