Independence Day is the time to reflect on the things that make America great. And there’s nothing more American than sports and giving the middle finger. Want proof? Pictured below is Charles Radbourn of the 1886 Boston Beaneaters, the world’s first person ever photographed giving the middle finger.
People might say the middle finger has been around for several hundred years before this but here in America we also coined the phrase “pics or it didn’t happen” and ole Charlie understood the assignment. Point America. Side note: safe to say, bottom-middle guy just realized in that moment he left his kerosene lamps on at home.
The context of this picture is that it’s really a crop out of opposing teams standing together before a game which Charlie wanted none of. If this doesn’t represent America, I don’t know what does. “Old Hoss” Radbourn was so American he drank tons and tons of American whiskey in order to unwind after a long day of playing baseball where he also drank a ton of whiskey.
I’d like to think this photograph was the fork in the road for true American sports. We could have followed the lead of the Brits and continued incorporating classy norms like golf and tennis. Could you imagine fans in Boston Garden or the Black Hole of Oakland respectfully staying silent when the ball is in play and respect clapping opponent scores? That would be some kind of hell. But this piece of history paved the way for our adolescent country to grow into the crotchety old geezer it is today. And it’s no secret many professional athletes have been showing their American spirit recently as a wave of this bird flu has been going around lately. It all seemed to start from none other than the super spreader himself, Kyrie Irving:
April 17, 2022
It quickly spread to Draymond Green before making it’s way across sports borders to baseball.
June 8, 2022
June 26, 2022
Even soccer became a close contact that ended up testing positive for it’s own crowd mooning variant:
June 29, 2022:
I’m sure there’s more and I’m undercounting but I think this is all great and proves athletes today still care about more than just the money at some level. Sure, there’s sometimes going to be that racist ass hole fan who deservedly gets his ass kicked out, but clever shit talking should be supported and so should athletes flipping fans off in return. This is literally an American made tradition. If nothing else, I need more anecdotes from parents bringing their kids to the Boston Garden for a playoff game and complaining that a player giving the bird was the most offensive thing their kids were exposed to. If we’re being honest here, that’s pretty damn American too.
So the next time you’re in the stands and a professional athlete flips you off (or the mooning variant), remember that if no one ever did, you might not have your Old Hoss given right to jeer back.
Happy 4th of July America.
