Pac-12 Apostles Podcast: An Interview with Mario Cristobal, Thoughts on The Alliance, and QB Battle Observations

Mario Cristobal Interview

On this week’s episode of the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast, George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden start out by derailing the entire show to have a 30-minute argument over whether or not Nirvana was a band on the level of Bon Jovi or Red Hot Chili Peppers. After that, they discuss the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 Alliance, and the Pac-12’s decision to not add any other teams at this time. George Wrighster interviews Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal, and the guys analyze the interview. George and Ralph go thorough the Las Vegas Pac-12 win totals for every team, and give their predictions, and then preview this weekend’s Pac-12 opener of UCLA hosting Hawai’i. Finally, they give their thoughts on some of the Pac-12’s settled and unsettled QB battles. 

Apple Podcasts // Spotify // PocketCasts // Google Play // Stitcher // RadioPublic // iHeart

Have a take you’d like us to read and address on the show? Email us at immad@unafraidshow.com and we’ll read your take on a future podcast.

Make sure you like and subscribe to the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast with George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden on any podcasting app.

Who are the Pac-12 Apostles?

The Pac-12 Apostles is a podcast for fans who love the Pac-12 conference. George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden are committed to the honest and fair conversation about the conference. Join us by becoming a Pac-12 Apostle. Subscribe and share the podcast.

Please leave a rating and review of our podcast on iTunes! We record a podcast once a week with emergency episodes when necessary. Our podcasts are always heavy on Pac-12 football. But we make it a point to also try and cover the other notable Men’s and Women’s Pac-12 sports. We cover recruiting and any other major storyline in the Pac-12 universe.

George Wrighster is a former Pac-12 and long-time NFL tight end. As a television/radio host, opinionist, and analyst, who is UNAFRAID to speak the truth. Contrary to industry norms he uses, facts, stats, and common sense to win an argument. He has covered college football, basketball, NFL, NBA, MLB since 2014. Through years of playing college football, covering bowl games, coaching changes, and scandals, he has a great pulse for the conference and national perspective.

Ralph Amsden is a Wyoming-born sportswriter and podcaster who spends his days tweeting through the misadventures that come with shuttling four kids around the Arizona desert. Ralph is the publisher of Rivals’ ArizonaVarsity.com, the founder of ArizonaSportsCast.com, and was previously the managing editor of the Arizona State Rivals affiliate, DevilsDigest.com. He is also a professional hater of all things pineapple. Whether you’re talking food, movies, music, parenting, politics, sports, television, religion, or zoological factoids, Ralph has questions for you. He might be sub-.500 in spousal disputes and schoolyard fights, but he’s always UNAFRAID to square up.

The UnafraidShow Preseason NCAA Football Top 25

Welcome to the UnafraidShow.com NCAA Football Top 25, from George Wrighster. Each week, Wrighster will update his Top 25 according to the results and his opinion, and I’ll provide analysis of where I think he went right and wrong.

Since this is the preseason top 25, I’ll wait until the results start to come in before criticizing the boss man (Although he does have Arizona State criminally low, and Iowa State over Notre Dame is certainly eyebrow raising).

RankTeamRecord
1Alabama(0-0)
2Oklahoma(0-0)
3Ohio State(0-0)
4Clemson(0-0)
5Georgia(0-0)
6North Carolina(0-0)
7Iowa State(0-0)
8Oregon(0-0)
9Notre Dame(0-0)
10Texas A&M(0-0)
11Cincinnati(0-0)
12Wisconsin(0-0)
13Miami (FL)(0-0)
14Florida(0-0)
15Southern California(0-0)
16Louisiana State(0-0)
17Washington(0-0)
18Iowa(0-0)
19Penn State(0-0)
20Utah(0-0)
21Texas(0-0)
22Indiana(0-0)
23Arizona State(0-0)
24Memphis(0-0)
25Louisiana(0-0)

UnafraidShow Fearless Friday Picks: 8/27/2021

Welcome to the UnafraidShow.com 2021 Picks contest between George Wrigshter and Ralph Amsden.

Every week, George and Ralph will make five picks, either against the spread or the total, for the upcoming sports weekend. Each participant will start with $1000, and must risk a minimum of $20 on each pick, but can up each selection to a maximum of $100. Each winning pick pays 1:1, and we’ll keep the total throughout the season.

This week, college football kicks off with a limited slate of games, so the focus will primarily be on a couple of contests.

George Wrighster

Current total: $1000

Overall record: 0-0

This week’s picks:

Nebraska -7 at Illinois (risking $20)

UCLA -17.5 vs Hawaii (risking $50)

UCLA/Hawaii OVER 67.5 (risking $50)

Fresno State/UConn UNDER 62.5 (risking $20)

San Jose State/Southern Utah UNDER 57.5 (risking $20)

Ralph Amsden

Current total: $1000

Overall record: 0-0

This week’s picks:

Nebraska -7 at Illinois (risking $25)

Hawaii +17.5 at UCLA (risking $75)

UCLA/Hawaii UNDER 67.5 (risking $75)

Southern Utah +25.5 at San Jose State (risking $25)

UTEP/New Mexico State OVER 56.5 (risking $20)

Mario Cristobal Interview, The Alliance, Conference Expansion, Week 0 Betting/Predictions, Herm Edwards vs David Shaw, QB Battles

Mario Cristobal Interview

On this week’s episode of the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast, George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden start out by derailing the entire show to have a 30-minute argument over whether or not Nirvana was a band on the level of Bon Jovi or Red Hot Chili Peppers. After that, they discuss the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 Alliance, and the Pac-12’s decision to not add any other teams at this time. George Wrighster interviews Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal, and the guys analyze the interview. George and Ralph go thorough the Las Vegas Pac-12 win totals for every team, and give their predictions, and then preview this weekend’s Pac-12 opener of UCLA hosting Hawaii. Finally, they give their thoughts on some of the Pac-12’s settled and unsettled QB battles.

Apple Podcasts // Spotify // PocketCasts // Google Play // Stitcher // RadioPublic // iHeart

Make sure you like and subscribe to the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast with George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden on any podcasting app.

Who are the Pac-12 Apostles?

The Pac-12 Apostles is a podcast for fans who love the Pac-12 conference. George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden are committed to the honest and fair conversation about the conference. Join us by becoming a Pac-12 Apostle. Subscribe and share the podcast.

Please leave a rating and review of our podcast on iTunes! We record a podcast once a week with emergency episodes when necessary. Our podcasts are always heavy on Pac-12 football. But we make it a point to also try and cover the other notable Men’s and Women’s Pac-12 sports. We cover recruiting and any other major storyline in the Pac-12 universe.

George Wrighster is a former Pac-12 and long-time NFL tight end. As a television/radio host, opinionist, and analyst, who is UNAFRAID to speak the truth. Contrary to industry norms he uses, facts, stats, and common sense to win an argument. He has covered college football, basketball, NFL, NBA, MLB since 2014. Through years of playing college football, covering bowl games, coaching changes, and scandals, he has a great pulse for the conference and national perspective.

Ralph Amsden is a Wyoming-born sportswriter and podcaster who spends his days tweeting through the misadventures that come with shuttling four kids around the Arizona desert. Ralph is the publisher of Rivals’ ArizonaVarsity.com, the founder of ArizonaSportsCast.com, and was previously the managing editor of the Arizona State Rivals affiliate, DevilsDigest.com. He is also a professional hater of all things pineapple. Whether you’re talking food, movies, music, parenting, politics, sports, television, religion, or zoological factoids, Ralph has questions for you. He might be sub-.500 in spousal disputes and schoolyard fights, but he’s always UNAFRAID to square up.

Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer Officially Drops And It’s Spectacular

Spider-Man: No Way Home / Marvel

After leaking on Sunday night, Marvel officially released the first trailer for the highly-anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home, which arrives in theaters this December.

Inject all of this footage into my veins. After Marvel announced its schedule for Phase 4, Spider-Man: No Way Home was at the top of my list in terms of films I wanted to see. It’s time to find out what the multiverse is all about.

After the events of Far From Home, where Mysterio revealed Spider-Man’s identity, Peter Parker’s life has been flipped upside down. The trailer highlights Peter’s new life and how his secret has made life a lot harder for his family and friends. Peter wants people to forget that he’s Spider-Man, and he’ll do anything to make that happen.

Enter Doctor Strange. Before Doctor Strange can fully tackle the Multiverse of Madness in 2022, he’s going to open a multiverse in Queens. Peter seeks the help of our favorite medical practitioner to cast a spell in which the world will forget that Peter is Spider-Man. Despite better judgment, Strange casts the spell, and of course, it went haywire. The spell tampered with space and time. In other words, the multiverse is about to unleash hell and screw up the timeline. Thanks a lot, Sylvie.

The next two pictures are why I would pay $100 to watch Spider-Man right now.

Norman Osborn, also known as The Green Goblin, and Otto Octavius, also known as Doctor Octopus, are in the MCU. Somebody pinch me. The two best villains in the history of superhero movies (yes, I said it) will team up with Max Dillon, also known as Electro, to do what they do best, which is to make Spider-Man’s life a living hell. With the additions of the Green Goblin and Doc Oc, the multiverse is off and running.

But it won’t stop there because we all know what’s coming. This moment will probably be the second biggest moment in the MCU behind Thanos’s snap.

The three versions of Spider-Man will come together.

They’ve been denying it for months, but this is inevitable. Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland are going to team up in No Way Home. It’s going to happen, and when it does, the Internet will break. Another trailer should highlight this impending meetup, and I’m predicting it to happen on Monday Night Football. Without a Star Wars to showcase, revealing three Spider-Men during halftime of *insert game here* will set viewing records for a trailer.

I’m way too excited for a Monday night. I can’t wait for the next trailer.

Daredevil?

Are you excited about No Way Home? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us, @unafraidshow.

Pac-12 Apostles Podcast: An Interview with Chip Kelly, Recruiting Trends, And Baseline Expectations for Every Team

On this week’s episode of the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast, George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden get deep into the weeds on the recruiting of some of the Pac-12’s schools, especially University of Arizona (trending up!) and University of Washington (trending down!). Washington governor Jay Inslee has said that all state employees must be fully vaccinated by mid-October- what will Wazzu Head Coach Nick Rolovich do? George interviews UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly, and the guys go through every Pac-12 Team and set baseline expectations for the season.

Breakdown (2 hours, 23 minutes)

You can listen to Pac-12 Apostles on iTunes or Spotify, or by clicking play on the iHeartRadio widget below:

Some of Chip Kelly’s quotes from his interview with George Wrighster:

On Going From Under Armour to Jordan Brand:

“I think it’s the best sports footwear and apparel company out there… You can just see the silhouette of the Jordan brand and you know what you’re getting into. I know our players love it…”

On Recruiting Through the Pandemic:

“Our class that we signed in December of 2020, some of them enrolled early, but 11 of them showed up here on June 21st, and it was really the first time for most of those guys that we had ever seen them face to face because for the last 18 months everything had been done online… It was different. Usually you want to see kids in person, you want to see them practice, maybe play another sport… but all those things were out the window.

The whole camp circuit was off in the year of 2020 and we weren’t allowed to go to camps and see any kids either. It was all about off of film, a lot of schools played, but there are some high schools, New Mexico, Hawaii, they didn’t play football, so you don’t have any tape from a kid after his sophomore year, so you have to project him. In the NCAA, we gave everybody the year back, but in high school, they didn’t give them the year back… That was just part of the process you had to deal with.”

On Teams Offering Non-Committable Scholarships:

“Our word is our bond. So if we offer you, it’s committable. I don’t understand ‘we’re going to offer you but it’s not a committable offer.’ Then my answer would be, ‘then it’s not an offer.’

We’re not making reservations for dinner, you’re dealing with young men’s lives. I don’t think it’s fair to offer a young man, and then tell him it’s not a committable one, because I don’t know what message you’re sending them- ‘You can trust me, but not in everything I say,’ so our word is our bond.

The other thing for us is we have a great school here academically and not everybody can get in, so we wouldn’t offer a kid if we didn’t have a transcript in hand that we could show to our admissions office to see if… if this young man is an admit-able athlete… In most cases we need at least 5 or 6 semesters of high school work for our admissions office to be able to tell us if the kid’s an admit-able student athlete. In the rush of some people offering 8th graders and freshmen, my response all the time is ‘the kid doesn’t even have a transcript, how do you know if he’s an admit-able student?’

We want to make sure we get the right kids and the right fit here. Kids that are about books, and kids that are about ball… they understand that if they get an offer from us, it’s a committable offer, and it’s not a reservation for dinner, it’s actually a scholarship one.”

On How UCLA Evaluates Talent:

“We’re not governed by someone else’s opinion… we don’t offer a kid because of his ranking. Those guys work really hard at it, but I don’t know if recruiting rankings have all the information, the academics and the character background things that maybe schools have… I don’t think that’s any different than the NFL Draft… you always see a guy in the Draft that everybody thought is a sure first round pick and he drops to the sixth or the seventh, well it may have been medical, or it may have been a character issue that the public is unaware of...

There’s more to the evaluation and offer than ‘he has a really good highlight tape, there’s a lot more to it than that when you’re projecting who’s going to be a power five guy.”

On UCLA’s Chance to Win the Pac-12 South

“We don’t talk about that. It goes back to our mindset of ‘if we are talking about that, then we got too far ahead of ourselves.’ This team has to be good enough to have a really good Monday, and not get caught up in it, and it’s hard, it’s a lot easier said than done because of a lot of talk, and we do have a lot of players back, and a lot of depth, and a lot of returning experience. But I think if you get caught up in that, then you lose sight of what you need to do, and what you need to do is come to work every single day… it would be kind of disingenuous of me to answer questions like that and talk about predictions and things like that because that’s not something that governs how we work…”

Have a take you’d like us to read and address on the show? Email us at immad@unafraidshow.com and we’ll read your take on a future podcast.

New Trailer For Marvel Studios’ Eternals Looks Terrific

Marvel's Eternals / Disney

Eternals, assemble.

Wait, those aren’t the words. The next team-up movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe does not include Iron Man, Captain America, or Spider-Man. The assembled team is an immortal alien race that’s called upon to fight upon a new enemy after secretly living on Earth for over 7,000 years. The movie is Eternals, which arrives in theaters on November 5.

The little voice in my head just said, “Wait, this is a Marvel movie?” Eternals includes powerful aliens who fight to protect the fate of humanity so yes, this is a superhero movie. However, there’s something different about Eternals. It doesn’t look like your typical superhero film with an abundance of CGI and VFX. This clearly wasn’t all shot in a studio in front of a green screen.

Eternals has its own visual style, and that signature vision belongs to the director, ChloĂ© Zhao. Zhao is fresh off of the highly successful Nomadland, which won three Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. I am not saying that Nomadland and Eternals are in the same ballpark in terms of genre. However, watch Nomadland, and then watch this trailer, and it becomes clear they belong to the same director. The sweeping wide shots, the use of natural light, and the facial closeups are apparent in both films thanks to Zhao’s distinct style. In an interview with Variety, Kevin Feige couldn’t hold back his praise for Zhao, saying,” This is right out of a camera; there’s no VFX work to this at all! A beautiful sunset, with perfect waves and mist coming up from the shore on this giant cliffside… this is a signature style.”

The plot of the Eternals revolves around one question: Why now? If the Eternals have been around for over 7,000 years, why did they sit back and watch Thanos wipe out half the population? That’s a question they will have to answer once when they come out of hiding. The trailer also cites the arrival of the Deviants, the Eternals’ evil enemy, as one of the reasons why the powerful heroes must come together to defend humanity.

The MCU needs some new star power with the (alleged) departures of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson. Eternals includes big-name actors and actresses like Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek. The cast also includes emerging stars from popular franchises like Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians), Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), and the leaders from Game of Thrones, Richard Madden and Kit Harrington.

The tide is changing in the world of film and television. Superhero films and TV shows are starting to become more respected within their respective critical academies. Wandavision and The Falcon & Winter Soldier both received multiple Emmy nominations this year. Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix both won Oscars for their portrayal of the Joker. James Mangold received a screenwriting nomination for Logan. Black Panther was the first MCU film to be nominated for Best Picture. At some point, a superhero film is going to break through at the Oscars in non-technical categories. Under Zhao’s direction, perhaps Eternals will resonate with the Academy and result in multiple Oscar nominations.

In a post-Endgame world, world needs a new group of heroes. The Eternals might be the answer to the future of the MCU.

Are you excited about Eternals? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us, @unafraidshow.

NBA Christmas Schedule Takeaways: League Believes In Trae Young

Trae Young / NBA

Christmas Day calls for presents, eggnog, and basketball. As much as the NFL has tried to hijack Christmas Day in recent years, Santa Claus belongs to the NBA. December 25 is the most important day of the regular season.

Yesterday, the NBA revealed its Christmas Day slate. It will feature 5 games that include the faces of the league.

  • Hawks vs. Knicks
  • Celtics vs. Bucks
  • Warrios vs. Suns
  • Nets vs. Lakers
  • Mavs vs. Jazz

Some of these games feature blockbuster matchups and budding rivalries. Others leave me with more questions than answers. Here are my biggest takeaways.

The NBA Believes In Trae Young

Trae Young is a budding superstar. Yes, I said superstar. Before this season, Young was considered a “good stats, bad teams” player who elected to shoot 35-foot contested jumpers instead of getting his teammates more involved. An in-season fight with John Collins, the firing of Lloyd Pierce, and the addition of Bogdan Bogdanović made Young a completely different player in the second half of the season, catapulting the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals. Young averaged 28 ppg and 9 apg in his first three playoff series. Pretty good for a “chucker.”

Putting Young against the New York Knicks in MSG to kick off the Christmas Day slate is a strong statement from the NBA. The league (and I) believe Young can take his game to further heights and become one of the fifteen best players in the NBA. Young is now eleventh in jersey sales as of July, which is his highest ranking since he’s been in the league. Young became a true heel in the first round against the Knicks. I went to Games 1 and 2 against the Hawks, and Young was the most hated man in the Garden. The Mecca hasn’t generated heat like that since the days of Reggie Miller in the 90s. Don’t expect Knicks’ fans to show Young some Christmas compassion.

Nets vs. Lakers Is The Biggest Matchup Since 2016

As Stephen A. Smith likes to say, “This game is box office.” The Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers were supposed to be on a collision course to meet in the Finals last season. Injuries and Giannis got in the way from those two juggernauts facing off. The Nets and Lakers are the heavy favorites to win the championship so their showdown is the most anticipated matchup of the season. For Christmas, I’m wishing for good health so KD, Harden, Kyrie, LeBron, AD, and Russ can play in the game.

The Mavericks Vs. Jazz Is A Head-Scratcher

Luka Doncic playing on Christmas makes sense. He’s a future MVP and arguably one of the five best players in the game today. So why is Luka playing the Jazz? This doesn’t make sense. Christmas should be reserved for star power and rivalries. The Mavs bring the star power, and the Jazz bring the… what do they bring? I really like Donovan Mitchell. I respect Rudy Gobert more than most fans. However, the Jazz do not move the needle. The Mavs should be playing the Clippers because of their recent playoff history or the Nuggets because of Nikola Jokić. There’s still time to change the schedule, Mr. Silver!

Fantasy Booking Christmas Day

It’s time for me to be Vince McMahon and become a matchmaker. If I’m being honest, most of these games are solid matchups. I would make a few minor tweaks.

  • 12:00 PM – Hawks at Knicks – Keep this game. It’s a rilvary with a villain. That’s great television.
  • 2:30 PM – Mavs at Celtics – Luka has to play on Christmas. Luka vs. Tatum is a battle for the future face of the league.
  • 5:00 PM – Suns at Bucks -The two teams who meet in the Finals should run it back on Christmas.
  • 8:00 PM – Nets at Lakers – Box Office. Enough Said.
  • 10:30 PM – Clippers at Nuggets – This has some history with the Nuggets coming back from a 3-1 defecit to defeat the Clippers in the Bubble. Kawhi and PG vs. Joker is a fun, enjoyable matchup.

See you all on Christmas.

Do you like the Christmas Day matchups? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us, @unafraidshow.

Yes, it’s Hilarious, but Patrick Beverley Deserves Better

Is it funny to me, as a Suns fan, that Patrick Beverley keeps getting traded to teams with a worse and worse chance to compete for a 2022 NBA Championship? Absolutely. Does Patrick Beverley deserve better? Probably.

Just days after the Los Angeles Clippers decided that Eric Bledsoe would be better for furthering their championship hopes than backcourt defensive pest Patrick Beverley, the Memphis Grizzlies shipped Patrick Beverley to basketball Siberia (Minnesota) for Jarrett Culver, the so-far disappointing 6th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Just over six weeks after throwing a giant tantrum and shoving Chris Paul from behind (for which he still has a one-game suspension to serve), Patrick Beverley has gone from a key cog on a legitimate contender, to stuck in a locker room led by the collegiate teammates and off-court best friends of his now-crooked-nosed basketball nemesis, Devin Booker.

Undoubtedly there must exist a Karl Anthony-Towns and DeAngelo Russell groupchat with Booker that contains several of the following memes:

I have to reiterate that there’s not a lot of sympathy on my end for a guy who mocked Chris Paul while he laid on the ground with a busted wrist, or who was so triggered that the same guy, busted wrist and all, gave him a 40-piece that ended his season, that he went full toddler and shoved Paul from behind.

HOWEVER- I can’t say with a straight face that I don’t enjoy watching Patrick Beverley pretend to be an NBA legend after every half-decent defensive stop, while ultimately getting destroyed on the biggest stage as he contributes a career average of two points per playoff quarter. America has joyously watched Bevereley get knocked out of the playoffs seven different times now, and you’re telling us that we don’t get that privilege any more?

It’s not fair.

Sure, as Russell Westbrook pointed out, those of us that think Pat Bev is actually affecting the outcome of games have been tricked… but some of us like magicians, Russell. We don’t actually believe the rabbit existed in some other dimension before the magician reached into his hat, but it’s fun to see nonetheless.

I’ll put it bluntly, I don’t want Patrick Beverley on some 20-62 roster as the elder statesmen for a bunch of Zoomer-generation players more interested in their pregame fits making on some hypebeast fashion blog than they are winning games. I want to see Patrick Beverley give up seven buckets in a row on an ABC broadcast, and then wildly pound his chest after deflecting a pass out of bounds.

Patrick Beverley deserves better than exile in Minnesota, and as fans, we deserve better as well. Until then, let’s laugh at the tweets:

Have a take you’d like us to read and address in a future article or on a future show? Email us at immad@unafraidshow.com and we’ll address your take.

UnafraidShow Quick Take: Hope Solo Owes Explanation for Megan Rapinoe ‘Bully’ Comment

Hope Solo is no stranger to controversy, and neither is Megan Rapinoe. Both women have made it a point to use their platform to further the causes they care most about, and while it’s Megan Rapinoe’s social stances (or lack of stance, but we’ll get to that in a moment), the thing that seems to keep Hope Solo in the news is her choice of phrase.

This time, in the midst of attempting to make a nuanced point about the division that surrounds the activism of the US Women’s National Team, she used one of the biggest buzz words anyone can use- bully. And she used it in reference to her old friend and teammate…

“I’ve seen Megan Rapinoe almost bully players into kneeling because she really wants to stand up for something in her particular way. But it’s our right as Americans to do it whatever way we’re comfortable with and I think that’s really hard being on the main stage right now with so many political issues for athletes. There’s a lot of pressure and ultimately at the end of the day our number one focus should and has always been to win first.”

The context of the comments came in an interview with goal.com, and came on the heels of former president Donald Trump issuing a statement attributing the wokeness of the USWNT and Rapinoe as the reason for their bronze medal finish. 

Hope Solo was in the middle of a reasonable thought about the way the country as a whole reacts to athletes protesting during the national anthem, saying “Right now what I’ve seen is there’s been so much debate about the kneeling, about the not kneeling. I know most people stand against discrimination, and I live in the south, I live in a very conservative area here in North Carolina in the south. Obviously I have friends on both sides of the aisle, but I think the kneeling thing can be very divisive.”

She’s not wrong. Kneeling during the anthem is factually, objectively, palpably divisive… and that’s sort of the point of it. But, as legions of people have pointed out on social media, Hope Solo wasn’t exactly around for the kneeling. She’d been suspended from competition for six months just days before Megan Rapinoe first publicly protested. 

Her suspension came after calling the Swedish National Team “cowardly” for their style of play, and for raising the ire of the entire city of Rio for saying she was “begrudgingly” traveling to the Olympic games amidst Zika virus concerns. 
On both occasions, she was left to clarify seemingly reasonable intent due to less than stellar word choice.
So here we are, yet again. Not only is bully a word that is sure to get everyone riled up, the timeline of the accusation is undoubtedly going to lead to a need for further explanation.

UnafraidShow.com founder George Wrighster gets into all that and more here:

Have a take you’d like us to read and address in a future article or on a future show? Email us at immad@unafraidshow.com and we’ll address your take.