Woke Games: Our Biggest Games Should Bring Us Together, Not Tear Us Apart

The biggest stages in sports are supposed to pull us together. This week we ask why the Super Bowl halftime and the Olympic spotlight feel more like battlegrounds than bonfires—and what it would take to get the joy back. We start with a straight-up reality check for New England fans: an improbable run deserves pride, even if the ending stung. Then we go deep on the halftime controversy, from a global-growth pitch that never met the moment to language and cultural signals that made families brace for debate instead of grabbing more chips.

When an alternative halftime drew millions, it didn’t “beat” the show so much as prove a point: there’s a huge audience that wants faith, country, and comfort without a lecture. A Kid Rock-led tribute became a reminder that music can actually lift a stadium instead of lighting a fuse. That same longing spills into the Olympic conversation. Athletes train a lifetime for a few minutes under the flag, and too often the story gets hijacked by political prompts that flatten real people into soundbites. We argue for better questions—about grit, setbacks, and belief—that invite anyone to care, even if they disagree on everything else.

If sports are our practice ground for courage and grace, broadcasts should help us find common ground, not force us into corners. Let performance lead. Let halftime heal. Let the anthem feel like relief. Join us as we lay out a simple path: choose programming that lowers the temperature, celebrate effort without culture-war traps, and make room for hope on the biggest stage. If that vision resonates, share the show, leave a review, and help us bring more people back to the same side of the field.

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Transcript

Setting The Stakes: Woke Games

SPEAKER_00 0:01

As two historical sporting events take place, it is yet another opportunity for the mainstream media to unite a country. But instead, they would rather push a woke agenda in your face. Today on Share the Struggle Podcast, we tackle the woke games. Let me tell you something. Everybody struggles. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life. What it do, what it do, what it ha did it do. Get aloud, almighty. Am I so excited to be back with you? Oh, it is true. It is damn true. Why? Because it is episode 292, and y'all already know I love you. Oh, it's true. It is damn true. Welcome to that podcast brought to you by the fine folks over the Loud Proud American, aka myself, my my baby, my baby mama, and my mama. Okay? It's a family run, owned, and operated business, Loud Proud American, providing you only made in USA gear, matching that American spirit that we love around here. And American spirit is gonna be an underlying tone of this year podcast today. This is episode 292 of Share the Truggle Podcast because everybody struggles, boys and girls, children and chipmunks and squirrels and turtles and orangutans. I don't know. I ran out I ran out of stuff to say there. But everybody struggles. The truth is, and we know it to be true because we've been coming back week after week proving it to be true. There is strength in your story. You just need to be bold and beautiful enough to share it. That's what we're doing. And today we are sharing the story of the woke games. I say games because there's a few big games that have just taken place. Let's start with America's biggest game, the Super Bowl. Okay? The Super Bowl just took place. I am uh recording from a home in New England, okay? I'm in Maine, and most people that don't know, if you're tuning in for the first time on the show, you might assume that I am a Patriots fan. I am not. I am one of the few that is not a Patriot fan living in New England. I'm actually a Cowboys fan. You can't call me a homer because it's been a hell of a long and long time since my boys brought it all home. So those days are over, okay? So can that. Now, I'm only bringing this up because with the Super Bowl, which is where we're headed today, the uh home team, New England Patriots, run the Super Bowl. And there's a lot of my loyal listeners out there that are from New England that are Patriot fans, and I'm not here to talk down. I am not here to to celebrate in a loss because my season was over long ago. Okay. I don't I don't get to uh partake in enjoyment here, all right? But there's a lot of you folks out there that are Patriots fans that I've seen online taking this loss pretty hard. I've seen people breaking TVs, I've seen people bawling and having freakouts, I've seen people talking about boycotting the NFL, I've seen it all, okay? And I just want to say to y'all, it's okay. And I need to just come in and sprinkle a little dose of reality up front. I'm just gonna hit you with some reality, and then by the end of this conversation, when we sprinkle a little time and distance on it, it's all gonna make sense and I hope it's gonna make you feel better. I'm gonna start with reality. Y'all didn't deserve to be there. I know they came off harsh, and you're upset right now. But I'm saying this in a positive light. Did any of you diehard Patriots fans really think at the start of this year you're gonna win the Super Bowl? No, you didn't. Mike Vrabel showed up, was was a true boss. I knew the moment you knuckleheads got Mike Vrabel that at some point he was gonna get you back. I thought it would be a couple of years. I thought for sure he was gonna speed up the rebuilding process, and in two, three, four, five years would see you guys competing for a Super Bowl again. Nobody thought you were gonna go from what four and twelve to being in the Super Bowl. Nobody thought that. Okay? Don't hate. I'm just gonna drop some knowledge. And by the end of this, when we sprinkle time and distance on it, I truly feel it's gonna make sense and you're gonna feel better, okay? Week one, fired coach. Week two, fired coach. Week three, that coach retired. Week four, NFC South. Week five, played another fired coach. Week six, NFC South. Week seven, played another fired coach. Week eight, fired coach. Week nine, fired coach. Week ten, NFC South. Week 11, the Jets, historically one of the worst teams ever. Week 12, the Bengals. Week 13, fired coach. By week week 15, played another fired coach. Week 16, played another fired coach. Week 17, Jets again, 18, fired coach. And by the time you played in the conference championships, you played against a backup quarterback. That never nobody ever gets that luck. Okay? I'm just putting it out there. I say all of this to say it was an easier path to get there, but y'all got there. When you got there, you got smacked in the mouth with reality by a team that anybody outside of New England knew was gonna house New England. Okay? When you live in New England, you gotta live off the hopium. We all do it for our home teams, for our own teams, for the ones we love. I don't fault you for it. I would have done the same thing. But anybody with a clear-eyed perspective that has nothing invested in the two teams would look at it and say, New England is gonna get housed. This is gonna be one of the worst Super Bowls in history. And it was. If Sam Darnold doesn't airmail and miss a few friggin' wide open throws, if if Christian Gonzalez doesn't make some some some phenomenal plays, that's like a 52 burger they put on New England. I'm saying this not to rub anything, I'm saying this not to make offense of anything. I'm saying this for y'all to realize celebrate. Be happy. You never nobody thought you were gonna get there. No matter what the schedule it was, you got there. Enjoy it, celebrate it. Nobody thought you guys had a chance in getting there. Here's the thing you built a foundation, you made tremendous progress. The rest of the NFL is gonna be scared of you next year. You make a few big moves, you get some great opportunities, y'all have plenty of money, you still have a rookie quarterback uh contract on your books, you're in great shape to compete. They built a tremendous foundation. Mike Vrabel's one of the best coaches, period. I'm the last guy to build up the Patriots, okay? I'm just saying I've seen a lot of people have meltdowns that are unnecessary. Unnecessary meltdowns. You don't need to have them. Be grateful, be thankful. You didn't you didn't really expect to be there, okay? I'm sorry I had to come out of the gate aggressive. But I hope that I smoothed it over by the end, okay? Be happy, be thankful, be grateful. Celebrate the season that was, because it was a season y'all never expected. Okay? Keep it on the up and up. We good. We stole we st we stole love, right? We still got the mutual love moo chacho, bro, chacho. Okay. Now I'm gonna stay right on the Super Bowl because I'm certain that a lot of you had been anticipating my conversation about the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl halftime show with one bad bunny. Okay? I've been asked by a lot of people when I see out in the streets when we roll around, bumping into each other. I get the question. Okay? So I know y'all want to hear it on the show. Here's the thing. I'm gonna lay the foundation first, baby. I'm gonna lay the foundation. I have actually liked Bad Bunny. I'm gonna peel back the onion a little bit. If y'all been listening, you know I am still, even at the old ass age of 43, a diehard wrestling fan. Okay? I love me some WWE, and a few years ago, Bad Bunny came to the WWE, he performed, and then he began to wrestle. And he actually trained for it and he took it serious. It wasn't just a marketing move or ploy. He actually took it serious and he showed passion for the sport, for the event, and he proved himself. And it was pretty awesome to see. He won me over with that. I never knew what he was saying when he was rapping, but I liked some of the beats, right? Here's the other thing: I'm also a DJ. I've um done many of gigs that are um where they're looking for regatone. I've done uh I've had some some great friends that uh love a lot of Latin music, so I'm familiar with um Regatone and a bunch of these different different artists, and I've played uh Bad Bunny and others, and um I've been a fan, okay? And he's been one of the biggest artists in the world, even though many people still don't know who he is. Even if you're asking people in the lead up to the Super Bowl, a lot of them had no clue who he is. So, with all of that, all of that said, what was being told to us by the NFL is that they're trying to grow the game globally. So we want to bring in one of the world's biggest stars. Now, for those of you that don't know, the person that handles all the entertainment for the halftimes of the Super Bowl is Jay-Z. Jay-Z has been known to bring in his clients. Why wouldn't he? He's gonna put his people on a pedestal. Over the past few years, I've come to not be a fan of Jay-Z just based off his wild, ridiculous, woke ideology and some of the creepy, freaky things in his background. Doesn't mean I don't like his music, just saying don't really respect the man. I'm saying all of this to say This is a time in this country when these big opportunities, and I and I started the show by saying woke games, spoiler alert, we're gonna talk about the Super Bowl and the Olympic Games. Two games. See what I did there? These are both opportunities to unify a country. These are both opportunities to establish common ground. That's what sports is supposed to do. Sports has always been a distraction from the nonsense. Sports has always been the great equalizer to what's going on in the world. I still think one of the greatest moments in American freaking history in my in my life growing up is after 9-11 when President George Bush came and threw out the opening pitch in a Yankees game and showed those terrorists that we will not live in fear. We will not stop the way we live. We are loud, proud Americans, and we are here. And we're going to continue America's pastime. Sports can unite a country. Sports are an opportunity for you to disconnect from your shitty life, from your stressful life, from your overanxious life, from the craziness that's going on in the world. You can be in a bad mood, turn into sports, and find the distraction. It's the great equalizer. For many people like myself, growing up as a young bach, not having a lot of friends. Sports were my friends. Sports became my role models. They became my inspirations. They mold my competitive nature. They have really kind of helped raise me and mold my character and my upbringing. Sports is a great equalizer. Sports should not care about the color of your skin. Sports should not care about who you voted for. Sports should not care about what you stand for, who you pray for. Sports should be the great equalizer. Okay? We've created sports into an opportunity to create a more divisive world, and that I'm not okay with. In this time, right now in America, when we need to be unified and united, and I've been talking week after week about the need to tone down the nonsense, about the need to tone down the hate, to stop breeding the violence. People are manifesting the violence, they're manifesting the ridiculousness, they're breeding it, they're fostering it because they keep regurgitating it. We don't need it right now. And we need to stop with all these political questions that are being asked to everybody at every turn. This is getting overdone. It's being ridiculous. And all these things that are happening, all this anti-ICE raids, all this craziness that's going on. The last thing we need to do in this situation is to hire a performer that refuses to sing in English. I'm okay with performers that don't want to sing in English. That's on them, right? Like what what who who am I? What do I give a shit, right? Does it mean I'm gonna buy your music? No, probably not. But if that's your culture and that's your belief, and that's your language, and that's how you're raised, then I don't care. But to take America's biggest game, one of America's greatest and largest events at a time when America needs to be American to remove all aspects of being American in the halftime show, to me, is just poking the bear. It's just stoking the fire, it's just another opportunity to piss some people off. Why? Why you can pick anybody that sings in English and people can sit back and talk shit and say they sucked or said they were great, but the moment that you know you hire somebody that is only gonna sing all of their songs without any translation to English. Why? Why would you do that? You know the outcome, you know what you're doing, and then you know the buildup that comes with it the whole way up to it. It's unnecessary, it's uncalled for, and it's provoking. You are poking the bear. There's no reason for this. You are opening up the atmosphere for more protest, you're opening up the atmosphere for more hate, for more discontent, and then now you are opening up the Super Bowl to more talk and conversation about ice, pro-ice, illegal alien, yada yada yada, the whole nonsense. Why? We're supposed to be tuning in for a distraction, not an attraction of a circus, of a sideshow, of some nonsense. To me, that's ridiculous. Now, we're being told the reason for Bad Bunny being chosen is that we are doing this for the global growing game. We want to grow this game, okay? And we feel like the Puerto Rican population is gonna be a big reason to grow in this game. Okay. The Puerto Rican population in the United States, do you know what it accounts for? About 1.8%. 1.8% of the population in the United States of America is made up by the Puerto Rican people. Okay. Now, here's the alarming fact. There are twice as many Puerto Rican people living in America as there is living in Puerto Rico. Did y'all hear that? Only 1.8% of the population in America is Puerto Rican, but that's twice as many people that actually live in Puerto Rico. If the culture is so amazing in Puerto Rico, then why are y'all coming to America? Well, that just doesn't make sense. And this flies in the face of what we're being told that we're growing the game. You're not growing the game, you're growing the hate. Now I feel bad for Bad Bunny, no pun intended, because you're not gonna say no to the money in this situation. You're gonna take it. But we're making you a symbol of argument. Okay? You are now becoming the centerpiece of a shit show. To me, you're putting him in a bad situation and in a bad place. Now, as I previously said, leading up to this, I actually liked Bad Bunny. Not saying that I hate the individual, but I have some disagreements with the individual because leading up to the Super Bowl, about four months away from the Super Bowl, he was on Saturday Night Live, and he told everybody on Saturday Live, you got four months to learn Spanish because I'm not singing in English. Wow, that's a smart move. That's a that's a bold decision there, Cotton. Good one. Now, I will say this. We should probably also take with a grain of salt here what those words are, what that sentence says, because he said it on Saturday nive, which tries to be a comedy parody show, which unfortunately I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in about 10 years because it can't make me laugh anymore because the show sucks. Why is it suck? Because it's all woke ideology nonsense, it's not even funny anymore. I grew up on Chris Farley, I grew up on on all these comedians molding my personality, and you couldn't pay me to sit through Saturday Night Live anymore. But they're trying to make jokes on that show. Maybe he was trying to be funny, but when you tell the people that are already just a bit sensitive to the fact that their halftime show is not going to be in English, well, you got four months to learn Spanish, okay? Unless you were trying to sell a bunch of copies of Rosetta Stone, that was a sponsorship opportunity. I don't really know what you were thinking. He digs a little bit deeper when as it gets closer to Super Bowl, he begins to threaten that he's going to come out and start the show wearing a dress in support of the LGBTQ community. Do we just want to light fire on the Super Bowl? Like, is that what we want to do? I mean, this is this is silly, right? In a time where everybody's protesting or freaking out or rioting over ICE, over immigration, over America, anti-America. We're now gonna hire somebody to perform at America's biggest event that will refuse to sp to sing in English and now wants to come out and wear a dress in support of LGBTQ. Now you can do and say whatever you want. I'm not here to shout out, to signal out, to criticize or talk bad about uh anybody in that community. That's not the point. But I will say, for all the little boys and girls that are idolizing these athletes, much like I did as a child, I don't need to be sitting around watching a football game for some of my heroes and at halftime have my parents try to explain to me why there's a grown-ass man wearing a dress starting a halftime when there's you're impressionable. These are impressionable kids. Do I want to then have a conversation with my eight-year-old as to why he can't wear a dress to school? No, he didn't do this, but he said this. Why say this? Why say these two things at all? That's part of the problem that I have. And then as it gets closer to Super Bowl, we go to another woke tragedy, and that's called the Grammys, which I have not watched the Grammys in probably ten years either. He comes out and says, Before I say thank you to God, I'm going to say ice out. He goes on to say, We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we're humans, and we're all Americans. And then he urged people to uh fight hate with love. Listen, nothing about this administration, nothing about President Trump, nothing about ICE is the removal of Americans. Separate what you said, because when you're saying We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we're Americans. Well, congratulations. If you are, then you can stay, sir. But we are hunting the savages. We are hunting the animals, and we are hunting the aliens, and we didn't come up with the term aliens. It's been around for a hell of a long time, okay? This is again breeding hate. This is again dividing a country. This is again drawing a line in the sand that doesn't need to be written in the sand for the distraction that should be the opportunity to unite you and me. I'm gonna hover on the Grammys for one section before I move on. Billy Eilish gets up and says, No one is illegal on stolen land. As she has her anti-ICE rant. No one is illegal on stolen land. Well, the very next day, the Tongan tribe of Southern California said her$14 million mansion is on their stolen ancestral land. Are you hearing this? This broad gets up and says no one is illegal in stolen land. And she has one of the most expensive pieces of stolen land. She has a, by some reports, a$14 million mansion on this tribe's stolen land. Hypocritical much? It blows me away. I want to counter the messages of Bad Bunny and Billy Iowish with an acceptance speech from the one and only Jelly Roll. Because this is an opportunity. This is a platform that is being utilized correctly.

SPEAKER_04 23:51

I know they're gonna try to kick me off here, so just let me try to get this out. First of all, Jesus, I hear you and I'm listening, Lord. I am listening, Lord. Second of all, I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would have never changed my life without you. I'd have ended up dead or in jail. I'd have killed myself if it wasn't for you and Jesus. I thank you for that. I thank you for my label broken bow to Country Radio, baby. What's up, y'all? Oh, Republic John O'Neill, we did it, baby. There was a time in my life, y'all, that I was broken. That's why I wrote this album. I didn't think I had a chance, y'all. There was days that I thought the darkest things, I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio the same size and a six by eight foot cell. And I believe that those two things can change my life. I believe that music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life. And I want to tell y'all right now, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus, and anybody can have a relationship with him. I love you, Lord.

Kid Rock’s Tribute And Hope

Turning To The Olympic Stage

Media Pressure And Athlete Politics

Closing Challenge: Choose Unity

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Jesus is for anyone. That's incredible. I have goosebumps. I'm nearly brought to tears playing that off of my iPhone over my microphone because I know the power that's coming to you. I know the message that's coming to you. That's hope for you. That's opportunity for you. That's what should be done with all platforms that are in front of you. This is an opportunity to unite a country. Jelly roll get up there and spoke his truth. I'm in tears listening to what the man said, and I've heard it over and over again because it's incredible to see him speak with passion and conviction and give all glory to God, and to say all he had was a Bible this big and a radio and a six by eight cell. That's opportunity. That's hope. That's what this world needs. That's what this country needs. We need hope. We need opportunity. We need a common ground. Jesus is that common ground. Jesus is that hope. Jesus is that opportunity. That platform, that trophy, that was the opportunity for Jelly Roll to deliver that message. Not for Billy Eilish to say, no one's illegal on stolen land when you're going home to your rich stolen land. It's not when when Bad Bunny's gonna get up there and say, We're not savages, we're all Americans, get the ice out, and I'm gonna say all that before I give any glory to God. No, that's not how this works. This leads me to where Turning Point did: creating an alternative halftime for the people that didn't want to risk having their children be subjected to woke ideology. They created an alternative halftime for the people in this country that believe in God first. They created a halftime for people that didn't want to be brainwashed, that didn't want to be manipulated, that wanted to continue to have the distraction of the sport and the opportunity to witness and appreciate talent. Turning Point said that their halftime stood for our country, our culture, and our faith. Yet people freaked out about the fact that Turning Point offered an alternative programming to the halftime show. They criticized it, they said it was cringe, all these stupid terms, they said that it was crybabies, it was a bunch of whiners. When you have a group saying that we are creating this for our country, our culture, and our faith, they freaked out about the alternative halftime. This isn't new. I remember as a young fella watching the alternative halftime of the Beavis and Butthead halftime show on MTV. Also one of the wokest channels that was ever assembled. It was okay when you were doing it. It's not okay now. How is that okay? The freaking puppy bowl is alternative programming, okay? What are we gonna do now? Protest puppies? I I don't I don't know, y'all. I don't know. They was in Butthead did this a long ass time ago. Then we have the people that are coming out saying, altering points halftime failed miserably because Bad Bunny, by all reports, had about 133 million people um viewing his halftime. I'm gonna start by saying this. I'm not here to compare numbers and give a shit about numbers. I'm going to do that to prove a point, and only to prove a point, but it's the path of least resistance. People just aren't gonna change the channel at halftime, even if they're curious about changing the channel for halftime, unless they're totally convicted into changing the channel at halftime. Because it's more work and people are lazy, first and foremost. Unless you were hell bent on alternative programming, which I was, then you're gonna change a channel, which I did. So I can't even speak directly about all of Bad Bunny's halftime performance because I don't even want to go back to watch any of it. I was told he didn't come out and address. I was told some of the things he did and didn't do. I don't care what he did and didn't do. You know why? I enjoyed the halftime of my choosing. But all the people that are saying, oh man, they destroyed turning points halftime, they didn't go out there to beat and defeat the halftime. They went out there to make a statement that we're doing this for our country, for our culture, for our faith. They're doing this to prove that America should still be represented and our faith and our value should still be represented. This is our great game, this is our great country. So to the millions of people that left the halftime on, that went up to take a dump, that got up to stir the queso, that went out to have a smoke, that took the dog for a walk, that did the chores, that did whatever they had to do, and then came back to watch the rest of the game, that doesn't count to me and you. And the truth to be said is that 130 million people watched that halftime performance. But when I see the videos in the stands, there's a lot of people standing in the stands, not even knowing what's happening, not understanding a word that is said, not even moving to the beat, which is part of the reason why Bad Bunny left the game as quickly as he did after his performance. And those reactions might be the reasons why I seen that he deleted his social media. I say all this to say that there's mixed reports about the results of the number of viewers for turning point. I know when I was watching the halftime, I was getting reports it was already at over 5 million viewers. I then read that turning point YouTube had over 10 million views, and across all social media it was at 25 million views, and right now, currently, it's in the 40 to 50 million views. 40 to 50 million people watched, consumed, and appreciated that alternative halftime program. That's a big old F you to the NFL, to the dollars that they're making when they sell your values and beliefs up the river because they don't care about your values and beliefs. They don't care about your your peaceful distraction because they wanted the non-English speaking performer who was gonna have the anti-ICE movement that was gonna support LGBTQ. Not unite, but again divide. There's losers like Jimmy Kimmel and his late night show coming out and talking trash about the small number of viewers that that Turning Points Halftime did and the fact that they only had 10 million viewers, which now has led to 40 or 50 million, but they don't want to talk about that. But what they should talk about is that Jimmy Kimmel's average viewer is only 1.7 million people. Jimmy. Way more people turned off the freaking Super Bowl to watch Turning Points Halftime than they do turn your garbage TV show on after the local news that they already have their TV programmed on. Come on, you absolute douchebag. That alternative halftime, the all-American halftime, that was put on by turning point, that was headlined by Kid Rock, ended with one of the most powerful song editions that I've ever heard. It ended with such a powerful, meaningful, spiritual message that moved me, that impacted me, that still resonates with me today. That's far greater than any halftime performance that I can remember viewing on the Super Bowl. If you've been listening to this podcast for the 292 friggin' episodes that we have here, there's one episode where I specifically highlighted the lyrics of a Cody Johnson song. Kid Rock covered that Cody Johnson song, and at the end of the song, he had asked Cody if it was okay to make a little edition and to write another verse to that song. I'm gonna keep that song. It's always meant something to me, and now it's even perfect, even more perfect that than possibly can be with the addition of that verse. That is the use of an opportunity. That is delivering hope with a platform and an opportunity. That's what a halftime should be about. That's unifying a country, that's giving hope to millions. That's what it's all about. That's what this has always been about. Thank you, Kid Rock, thank you, turning point, for highlighting our culture and our values, our freedoms. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And now to you. The Olympic Games. The woke ass Olympic Games. Here we are again, folks, with more left-wing wokeism nonsense happening on the world stage as there's athletes representing America that are saying they don't want to represent America. That they don't want to represent our country. They're not proud to represent this country. There's a figure skater voicing her LGBTQ support. I wonder if she wasn't a figure skater. I wonder if she was a boxer, and she had to get in the ring with a man who beat the living shit out of her, like what happened in the Olympics four years ago, if she would feel the same way versus being a figure skater. I'm not really sure. I just saw there was a curler tonight who's also doubles as a lawyer that wants to use his platform as an opportunity to talk about what's going on in Minnesota. Here's the thing, folks. If you're representing this great country, you're going over as Team America. If you don't bleed red, white, and blue like I do, then get off this damn team because it ain't for you. Because there is people out there that I'm guessing maybe weren't as good as you. Maybe just maybe maybe you caught them on your best day and it wasn't their best day. Or maybe you are in fact just a little bit better than them. But I'm willing to bet that they'd be so eager to represent the red, white, and blue that they would whoop your ass in the Olympics. Because when you go out there willy-nilly, not being proud to be here, to that person that worked their ass off, that spent their life working towards their dreams, that wants nothing more but the opportunity to represent the red, white, and blue, they would be in the Olympics kicking ass, taking names, and representing America in the Olympic Games the way they're supposed to. And I would appreciate a heck of a lot more of that than I do of what I'm getting from you. If you can't go over and bleed red, white, and blue, then we don't need you. The Olympic Games have always been an opportunity to unite this country. I remember as a kid buying all the freaking boxes of Wheaties with all my Olympians on them, like Michael Johnson, like all the all the magical freaking gymnasts on there, like Dominique Dawes and all the others. I remember I had my Olympic crushes as a young boy. I had my Olympic idols as a young boy. I remember the magic of the Olympics. I remember watching the Atlanta Games every single event, not blinking, not moving, living in the freaking living room of my parents' house, watching every single ounce of coverage for the Olympics. I remember the same thing for the Australia Games. I remember being so proud of the Olympics that not only was I buying the damn cereal to eat in the morning, but I was buying the windbreaker jackets that's a Team America. I was buying the t-shirts. I ate everything up that was Team America, that was pro-America, that was founded on the excitement of being an Olympian. I loved every friggin' second of it. You can say there's a reason why I have a business called Loud Proud America, because I might be the loudest, proudest American you ever damn met. And part of that reason, part of that foundation was growing up loving and idolizing the Olympic Games because people were there representing their country, loving their country. They were out there fighting for their country. You learned about those people, about their stories, about their sacrifice, about their heartache and their hard work, all that went into them getting to believe and achieve and attain their dreams and their goals, and you rooted for them and you cried for them and you hoped for them and you prayed for them. You saw them succumb to injuries, you saw them overcome injuries, and you rooted for them and you hung on to them and you supported them and you still do. And because of all of that, there was a pride in America. There was a common ground, a commonality for all Americans. Because when I was in the store and I was wearing my proud to be American Olympic freaking jacket, and somebody came up to me and talked about the Olympics, we established common ground. It wasn't like the Super Bowl where you had to pick the Patriots or the Seahawks. You picked America and you rooted for America. It's a unifying opportunity that comes every two years. This is the opportunity. People that chase their American dream have to wait for every four years because you have the alternating summer and winter Olympics. But this was an opportunity to highlight all that's great. The freedoms in this country where somebody can put all things on hold in this country. They can quit their job and just focus on their goals, their dreams, and their commitment to represent America in the Olympic Games, and they train and sacrifice their ass off. And they get there and they win and they cry and we cry and we celebrate and they play that national anthem, and each and every night we count how many gold, silvers, and bronze we are bringing home. Those days are over. I haven't watched the Olympic Games in years because of the woke ideology that has ruined and corrupted the Olympic Games. All this nonsense, all this pick negative talk, all this I'm not proud of America, all this bullshit. It's all happening on foreign land. It's not even happening here. It's happening on foreign land. We are airing out our dirty laundry on foreign land when people already have enough opportunity and reason to not like Americans. Now we're gonna go over there whine, bitch, moan, and complain at the same time. This would be like going to your husband's 20-year high school reunion where he's going to uh get his letterman jacket back, his maybe his you know best high school athlete freaking trophy award is gonna be given to him. Maybe they're gonna recognize him for some freaking peaceful, sweet opportunity, charitable gift he gave. Okay? You're going to this reunion where your husband's gonna be acknowledged, recognized, and awarded a freaking medal. And while you're there, you start to go around to all of his co-workers, his colleagues, his classmates, his family members, and you start saying, Well, I might be married to him, but I don't like the way he treats me. My husband's a bit of a racist and a homophobe. Are you are you kidding me? Why are you married to him? If he treats you like shit, he's a racist and he's a homophobe, why are you married to him? It's the same thing when these sorry sack of shit frickin' skiers and skaters and curlers and whatever else sport go over to a foreign land and say, you know what? I don't really love America. I'm not really proud of America. You know why? America's full of a bunch of racist, sexist, homophobic assholes. Oh, really? Then why don't you move? It's the same thing. Get the divorce, Rita. Hit the streeta. I'm done with ya. I truly, truly, wholeheartedly feel bad for all the US athletes that are loud proud Americans, that have sacrificed, that have put in the hard work, and they've suffered the heartache, and they love this country, and they bleed red, white, and blue. I feel sorry for them. You want to know why? Because of all the woke ideology nonsense, it's robbed them of their spotlight, it's robbed them of their opportunity, it's robbed them of the ability to show what they've worked for, to win and to celebrate, to enjoy the national anthem, to get the tears and to get the homecoming and the welcoming. Because the Olympics will never, ever again have the viewership and the support in this great country that it once had. I feel bad for those true loud, proud Americans. American athletes, and you want to know something else that's true? This is the media's fault yet. Again, every question is putting athletes on the spot. How do you feel about representing America during these challenging times? How do you feel about your president? How do you feel about representing America with these immigration issues? How do you feel about illegal aliens? What do you stand on ice? How do you feel representing America and your stance on LGBTQ? They're athletes. They're not politicians. Leave them alone. Do you see people representing uh media from Russia going up and asking Russian athletes, how do you feel about uh President Putin bombing the living shit out of Ukraine? How do you feel representing Russia with um you know all the death of Ukrainians on your hands? You don't see people going to all these other places and asking them about their dictator leadership and how they feel representing their country. No, you don't because you're not strearing the pot because you don't give a shit. This has happened for years. I remember when I was a kid seeing like some of the Russian, some of the Ukrainian, some of the the Japanese, Chinese athletes, when they would lose the heartache in their eyes. I remember seeing like I don't think they're safe when they go home. Like they might physically be hurt by leadership when they got home. I remember seeing those things and feeling those things. There was no questions about those things. There's jackass ski bombs when they can't come back. No one's gonna hurt them, okay? This is ridiculous. This is the media's fault. You don't put these athletes on the spot, you don't do it. It's the same shit you do at home every single freaking day. Now you're gonna go overseas, you're gonna go to that family freaking reunion, freaking high school reunion medal ceremony, and you're gonna ask about everybody's feelings that shouldn't be asked about. You're gonna go to the Olympics and you're gonna ask, how do you feel about ice? How do you feel? Are you okay representing the red, white, and blue? Do you feel okay about everything? It shouldn't even be the situation. Don't put these athletes on a spotlight that like they're politicians and make them make them answer political questions. It's not fair to them. You ruined their hopes, their dreams, and their aspirations. And the truth is, I don't give two shits about what the curler from Minnesota says about how he feels about ice. I don't care. But what I do care about is the fact that we had a clear opportunity to unite this country. We had an opportunity at the Super Bowl and an ongoing opportunity at the Olympics. And the truth is I changed the channel at halftime, and I won't even think about putting the channel on the Olympics at any time. That's the truth from me to you. You lost the opportunity to reunite the red, white, and blue. There's many glorious things happening all around each and every one of us. There's many glorious things happening to each and every one of us, but they ain't gonna talk about it because it doesn't fit the narrative. Welcome to the woke games, where they play games with you and your relationships, they play games with you and your anxiety, your hopes, your fears, and your dreams, because they're gonna stoke the fire on fear. That's what they do. Welcome to the woke games. Well, I ain't playing it. In America, you shouldn't play it either. Choose the alternative programming, choose faith, choose representing this great American dream the way we always have. Support this country, love thy neighbor, love Jesus, and enjoy your week. Thank you for supporting my American dream. Now go wash your friggin' hands, you filthy savage. That's it, and that's all, Biggie Smalls. If you're a loud proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud Proud American or the Facebook, as my mama calls it. If you're a fan of the Graham Kraken, you wanna find me on my Instagram for all the kids on Tickety Talkin on the TikTok. You can find me on both of those at loud underscore proud underscore American. Big old thank you to the boys from the gut truckers for the background beats and the theme song to Mr. Podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, track down the gut truckers on Facebook Just turn gut truckers.