File under: WTH?????

I have a mission for you all! Hard on the heels of America's newest President deciding to forgo the priviledge of attending a ball to honour our Medal of Honour heroes, it seems the NFL is now snubbing some of America's finest: our US Marines.

From Susan Katz Keating comes the following:

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Pitchfork Alert! NFL Disses Color Guard: Intends to Use 'Em and Lose 'Em

I just received a disturbing email from David Marron of The Thunder Run. David said he was contacted by a distraught Marine mom who wrote:

"My youngest Marine called me this morning. In the course of the conversation he made mention of being part of the Color Guard for the ceremonies at the Super Bowl. He has been part of other Color Guards at other games and has been able to enjoy the entire game after presenting the Colors. HOWEVER, this will not be the case this time. The 12 man/women color guard will be presenting the Colors and then will be escorted out of the stadium and therefore not allowed to see the game. Steven and the 11 others are quite upset about this and have asked that I see if I could contact someone and have that changed."

David M. immediately called the Tampa Bay host committee and learned that the outrage is true, and that lots of other mil-moms are making clear their displeasure. The decision is not Tampa's; it comes straight from the NFL.

Wrote David: What has become a common yet gracious act of allowing a military color guard to stay and watch the game from the side lines, in honor of their service to our country, this time has them being treated as if they are the unwelcome guests, common servants to be whisked away as soon as their task is completed.

David has emailed the NFL for an explanation. I have, too; and so has milblogger C.J. Grisham. If you want to make your own voice heard, send an email to Mallory.Steinberg@NFL.com.

UPDATE: I have not received a response from Ms. Steinberg

(here)

Excuuuuuuuuse me? Seems to me that SOMEbody has some 'splaining to do - and FAST! I am going to email them right now, and see if they can explain this one to me.

Your mission? I am *sure* Mallory Steinberg would just love the opporttunity to explain this nonsense to many of us. You know what needs to be done here. Get 'er done!