On Saturday, ESPN’s College GameDay was in Philadelphia for the annual Army-Navy Game and in the background behind Rece Davis, cadets and midshipmen played the popular circle game, sparking absolute mayhem in the Twitter world.
For those with small children, I’d advise moving them away from whatever device you’re using because of the graphic video you’re about to see.
As a former ROTC cadet, this display of white supremacy is inexcusable. It contradicts the Army & Navy core values.
It’s indicative of toxic leadership & lack there of, which is another reason I support @PeteButtigieg to bring integrity back to leadership.pic.twitter.com/Z7K6gRreDu— Winston Orozco (@WinstonOrozco_1) December 15, 2019
Crazy, right?!?
This moment created such a firestorm on Twitter that an investigation was launched by the U.S. Military Academy. In the end, common sense prevailed, as it was announced on Friday the investigation is over and they were just playing the circle game. They were not announcing their racism for a national TV audience. Shocker.
The academy said there will still be disciplinary action for this, so for the people that were upset on Twitter, congrats I guess? You took a nothing story, turned it into a major story in an attempt ruin the lives of United States military members. Incredible job. Not all heroes wear capes.
I continue to be confused as to why people automatically assume the worst of people. For you to believe the worst about these military men, this is the thought process:
“Hey look at that, I’m on TV in my military uniform! Perfect time to show my belief in white supremacy!”
How ridiculous does that sound?
And what if I just decided tomorrow that actually the “thumbs up” symbol means I hate fat dudes. Speaking for the fat guy community, no way am I going to go quietly when that type of hate is thrown at my people.
Saturday featured a 304-yard rushing performance from Malcolm Perry as Donald Trump watched from the stands, but the circle game controversy stood out as the biggest fallout from this year’s Army-Navy Game.
What’s the circle game?
If you’re not familiar with this, here’s how the circle game, performed by highly intelligent individuals, is played:
One person, typically a male as girls don’t play this game because they’re much smarter than us, puts his hand below his waist and creates a circle with his thumb and pointer finger with his three other fingers up. If somebody else looks down at it, naturally it is permissible and I believe required by law to punch the looker in the shoulder without consequence.
It’s similar to the A-OK sign somebody might give you or if a basketball player makes a 3-pointer. If you attended high school in the past 30 years, you’re likely familiar with the circle game.
Why the controversy?
A group of people made a joke saying, hey let’s mock the outrage culture by saying this popular sign is actually a symbol for white power and see if people run with it.
And apparently people did because this is the second time this has come up in the past seven months. You may recall this spring a Cubs fan was banned from Wrigley Field for life for this very situation.
Crazy people out here are trying to take away the right for friends to punch friends and quite frankly, I’m pretty offended by it. I’ve been protesting by punching strangers on the street over the past week.
I’m due in court next Wednesday.
Keep the conversation going by reaching out to Erik Buchinger on Twitter or email erik@deceptivespeed.com.