"All My Rowdy Friends"

"Democrats & Republicans getting along at the game!"

For twenty years we've enjoyed watching Monday Night Football and seeing Hank Williams Jr sing "All My Rowdy Friends" to open the program. On Monday morning the main rowdy friend was very disrespectful when he appeared on Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends show and made controversial comments about President Obama. He compared Obama to Adolph Hitler! What?? Where is Chris Carter and the gang when you need them? C’Mon man!!!!!

Williams told "Fox and Friends" that he thought Speaker of the House John Boehner playing golf with President Obama "would be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu ... In the shape this country is in?"

Told by anchor Brian Kilmeade that he didn't understand the analogy, Williams said: "I'm glad you don't, brother, because a lot of people do. They're the enemy." Asked who, Williams said: "Obama. And Biden. Are you kidding? The Three Stooges."

ESPN, in a statement, said: "While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast."

Williams issued a statement through his publicist, saying: "Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme -- but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me -- how ludicrous that pairing was. They're polar opposites and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the president."

C'Mon Man!!!!

Now while I completely respect the political opinions of people in this country. I believe that the Office of the President should be respected at all times regardless of who‘s in office. You can't compare Obama to one of the worse human beings that has ever lived and think that it‘s acceptable. Political viewpoints basically come down to money. The have's and the have not's. It really is that simple. People that have a lot of money want to protect it and those that don't, want to hold on to the little that they have. Simple! Depending upon where you fall in that equation determines what side of the fence you stand on for the most part. They just have party names for those two groups.

 What I can't understand is why people in this country can't seem to respect folks differences of opinion. I never heard George W. Bush, H.W. Bush or even Reagan disrespected at the level that Obama has been and there have always been people that haven‘t agreed with them standing on the other side of the fence.

In order for us to move forward in this country we've got to learn how to respectfully disagree. That's why the democratic process was put into place in 1776. It was set up so that the people would be able to have a say in the way government was run. It wasn't intended for people to be disrespectful to one another. 

So as a result of Williams' outburst and lack of respect for the Office of the President on Monday morning. He robbed so many sports fans of a football tradition, if you will, because the normal opening to Monday Night Football was altered.

The one thing that I love about sports is that it has a tendency to bring all kinds of people together from all different backgrounds that would never have crossed paths, otherwise. Have you ever been to a game and sat next to a complete stranger from what seemed like a completely different world but you talked and gave high five’s all night long? After the game you felt like good friends because sports was the common denominator? Time goes by and you’ve been sitting next to them for 20 years and your families have become good friends even though you belong to different parties. That’s the power of sports!

Just because you're different doesn't mean that you have to hate one another. Just because you've got different political views doesn't mean you can't share the same space. Let's use the power of sports to approach life in America to make it a better place to live. They say that “Fan” is short for Fanatic but it’s also short for Rodney King’s famous words, Can’t We All Just Get Along!”

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport