With all the heated bickering about the NFL and our anthem – a claim politics has no place in sports and a counterclaim patriotism is also politics – ultimately the sports industry is in business to make money. The fans are the customers, and the American adage “the customer is always right” remains a firmly held belief by Americans, just one step down from our constitutional rights.

So, as this philosophical purity debate over how to treat the anthem at games festers on, the true determinant of “right” and “wrong” is in the hands of paying customers. The fans. And their willingness to spend money on a contrived opening game political protest. It’s the bottom line that decides.

And about the value of the professional athletes themselves. The miscalculation pro athletes make is believing fans wearing a souvenir facsimile of their jersey is anything more than fandom. It’s not fanaticism. The jersey is for funsies. It’s not a symbol of devotion. The error pro athletes delude themselves into believing is we need them more than they need us.

We’re made due without professional sports during the pandemic lockdown. And most of us didn’t even notice, just like new movies and new music and new entertainment. The question to ask ourselves is:

Who needs them?