Odd.
Watching the Big 10 Men’s Basketball tournament (Michigan vs. Michigan State) — it was the game that was on, my best chance short of internet to get news of PAC-12 and Mountain West conference results — and I looked at the backboard.
Someone thought college basketball needed to make a patriotic display beyond the usual hoo-haw, I suppose. “Let’s put U.S. flag decals on the glass backboards.” Nice little touch. Every photograph of a ball going through the hoop, every shot of a fight for a rebound or to block a shot at the hoop, and there’s that little U.S. flag, reminding us of something.
In displaying the U.S. flag, the U.S. Flag Code notes that the flag should always be on its own right, or to the left of the audience facing it (See 4 U.S. Code § 7 (k)).
In that arena in Indianapolis, the flag is on the right. Here’s a still photo from USA Today from an earlier game.
Caption of AP photo: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports Mar 14, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines react as the Illinois Fighting Illini miss the potential winning shot at the buzzer in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten college basketball tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Michigan defeats Illinois 65-64. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Looking for an image of the Indianapolis backboard, I came across this image from the 2012 NBA finals.
AP caption: A ball is stuck between the backboard and basket during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA finals basketball series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat, Thursday, June 21, 2012, in Miami (AP Photo by Lynne Sladky) [Note flag decal on right.]
Those who advocate amending the Constitution to make it a crime to desecrate the flag probably don’t anticipate jailing the entire NCAA or NBA. Maybe we should revise the flag code, to be more reasonable.
More:
- Someone else noticed. At a forum at the US Flag Site, someone complained in 2011 about the NBA’s “disrespectful” display.
Posted by Ed Darrell 
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