Football really is God in small Texas towns, like the one where I grew up. Everybody is expected to devote our lives and loyalty to “our” team. Priorities were our team, then Texas, and then the United States. Any lack of support for any of those three led to ostracism. I was one of the ostracized ones. Maybe that’s why I see politics as fandom gone wrong.
It’s no wonder Trump hosted a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn. Politics is nothing but a sport to him, where there are only winners and losers, blood and money. On June 14, there was lots of blood and lots of money.
International politics is also sport for him and autocrats of other major countries. For Trump and his ilk, it’s all about winners — in his book those are authoritarians — and losers, anybody he can invade or who doesn’t support him and his invasions.
His supporters even chant USA, USA, USA, during an alleged assassination attempt. A chant more appropriate to FIFA and the World Cup matches. So here we are.
It’s always been this way, though, particularly for Americans. By which I mean the U.S., with our Manifest Destiny.
Canada and Mexico were both colonized, but have never colonized another country. There is no concept of Manifest Destiny in either country. And for the most part, they love their countries, but patriotism for them isn’t the macho sport it is in the U.S.
I guess Manifest Destiny is why Trump thinks Greenland should belong to the U.S. And that Cuba should be “liberated” by starvation of its people. Go, Fight, Win! USA!
International authoritarians may not have the Manifest Destiny doctrine, but they believe they have the right to invade any country adjacent to theirs. Putin and Ukraine being the perfect example. Notice, The U.S. and Russia only invade countries with less fire power. Nobody really wants to take on any of the Big Boys. Or each other. They just bluster at one another the way boxers do before a match.
Invasions lead to the destruction and death of the citizenry of other countries. It is as if the winning team jumps into the stands and viciously attacks the fans. Athletes are in considerably better shape than the average fan, so such attacks would be unequal. This has actually occurred. Here are two of the infamous incidents:
The rumble at Wrigley (Dodgers at Chicago, 2000)
Cubs fans were showered the Dodgers’ bullpen with beer. They grabbed at catcher Chad Kreuter’s cap. “Dodgers coaches John Shelby and Rick Dempsey joined Kreuter and a slew of other Dodgers, going into the stands down the right-field line to retaliate.”
The Palace Brawl (Pacers at Pistons, November 2004)
A Piston’s fan threw a full cup of soda at Artest and hit him. “Artest charged into the stands, swinging wildly as he clambered over seats. Teammate Stephen Jackson joined him…Later, a fan in a Piston’s jersey walked up to Artest on the court, shouting, and Artest punched him in the face. Jermaine O’Neal joined the fray.”
War as sport
The invasion of other countries, where citizens are killed, is comparable to a professional football team turned loose against eleven fans on the field. The match-up is unbalanced. Still, we root for, and proudly proclaim dominance of, our respective countries, no matter the morality of the conflict. Or the imbalance of power between them. Just as we do for our sports’ teams.
When we treat our respective countries like we treat our sport’s teams, we stop seeing the humanity in every person, no matter their nationality. The doctrine and emotion of belonging, and a dangerous adherence to patriotism, makes us see the people of other countries as our opponents. Against whom we must win at all costs. Whether that cost be billions of dollars or millions of lives. Or, more likely, both.
I watched the Spurs vs. Knicks playoffs for the national finals. I am a sworn Spurs fan, who has seen Wemby, Victor Wembayama, play in person when he just started out. He was all gangly arms and legs, like the adolescent he was at nineteen. It was exciting to think of his future when he learned to control those long limbs.
Watching him, Champaigne, Fox, Harper, Vassel and Castle come together as a team was sheer joy. I rooted hard for them at every game. Others rooted hard for the Knicks.
After two of the games, fans of both teams attacked each other and inflicted injuries. In New York, one fan threw an egg and hit Wemby in the head.
On the other hand, when the Knicks won, after my son and I recovered from the stress of watching the games, we were both happy for the Knicks and for New York. This win was their first championship in 53 years. They deserved it, and deserved to celebrate.
Even when my son played basketball in college, I didn’t hate the other team. I did get mad sometimes, at flagrant fouls, bad referee calls, and coaches. Seldom at the kids on the other team, though, or their parents. I knew what they had been through and the sacrifices they made to get to this level. We shared experiences. Just as all humans on our planet share experiences and sacrifices peculiar to humanity.
If the autocratic leaders of countries stopped treating global politics like sports, with each country being a team to whom unquestioned loyalty is owed, the citizens themselves would learn to coexist. Maybe not the radical nationalists of every nation, but the rest of us. We might even be able to cooperate.
As R. Buckminster Fuller said,
The concepts of, and irrational allegiance to countries, borders and teams distract us from the necessity of seeing that we are all truly in this together. Regardless of the accident of place of birth. We are all on the same team. Team humanity.
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This post was previously published on New Choices.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
 White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism |
 Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box |
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