Each World Cup I let slide and go into reactionary nationalism

[UTUSN]

1) I'm not a jock. I was in the band. That said, because of certain "gathering places" where t.v.(s) are dominant and sports are THE RULE, I've had to reach a minimal level of proficiency in knowledge of a few sports. (It's amazing how low the bar is for qualifying in proficiency.)

2) As a run-of-the-mill Democratic party partisan, I am somewhere in the Dem part of the WHOLE political spectrum, meaning accepting of almost anything from "moderate" Dem way over to O'LOOFAH's so-called "Far Left." So this means that in terms of BROAD Dem principles, I am totally for social justice, civil rights, butter over guns, and truly anti-ROYALISM/authoritarianism/colonialism. What this means specifically regarding sports or the World Cup is that I am generally anti-NATIONALIST.

Yet, when the Cup rolls around, I further suspend my anti-jock bias and go totally whackjob over the "national" competition, usually conflating my political prejudices completely irrationally into my choices of teams.


Anyway, what specifically brought this post on was the U.S.-Ghana game yesterday, and how noticeable it was how the Star Spangled Banner was performed. I usually tend to see it as warlike, but then, most of all of the countries' songs are. And in all the snippets of the hundreds of other sports events it's performed, it almost always seems half-hearted and many/most of the athletes look even disrespectful while it's performed.

Yesterday, that crowd was BELTING it OUT with a FERVOR I had never, ever witnessed before, nowhere, not in the military, nowhere. Totally stirring.

[SoxFan]

1. We will wait until after the tournament to stuff you in the locker

[UTUSN]

2. Ha-HAH (I think)!1 (What does it MEAN, what does it MEAN?!1) n/t

[SteppingRazor]

3. Heck, I don't even think our anthem is all that warlike, relatively speaking.

I mean, have you seen the French one? "Their impure blood will water our fields"? Yikes! :hide:

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. One of the reasons (perhaps THE reason) I lost interest in sports as a whole...

.
...was the amount of nationalism it seems to inspire.
.
MY neighborhood/city/state/country is better than
your neighborhood/city/state/country simply because
it's MINE vs yours.
.
My turf... plain and simple. (Got a gang problem where you are?)
.
.
.
My very first night in the Army, I was slapped upside the head
with ugly nationalism boiled down to its most extreme and absurd
elements when the first floor (none of whose inhabitants had met
until a few hours before on the bus) got into a SERIOUS rumble
with the second floor (same thing not knowing each other) about
WHOSE FUCKING FLOOR WAS BETTER THAN WHOSE!!!!!!!
.
The drill sergeants were still around the general area (it was about
1 AM and they warned us of a 5 AM wakeup) and came in and
broke it up post-haste.
.
They introduced us to the front leaning rest position.
.
.
They introduced us REAL GOOD.
.
.
No one had the strength in their arms to fight after that.
.
.
No dummies, drill sergeants.
.
.
Nationalism -- plain and simple.
.
.
.
If sports did cause positive reactions -- truly inspiring people
with the potential of the human mind, body and, certainly most
importantly, spirit (check out a T-ball game or the Special
Olympics sometime), I would love them.
.
But they really don't. They encourage an almost universal
"I'm better than you -- even if only vicariously from this
couch or barstool" type of attitude.
.

[miscsoc]

5. If you were a jock you wouldn't be interested in the world cup

Scotland being shit at football joke

Also, Go North Korea

[UTUSN]

6. Whoa, "Go N. Korea" really puts it all in perspective (seriesly). Well, I *did* say I "SLIP" ev 4yrs

[david13]

7. I wasn't a jock, just an athlete and a sportsman. But I never fall

for the flag waving crap. The jingoism.
I was rah rahing for Ghana. They were the better team.
dc

[UTUSN]

8. Wow. You're more steely than I. I'm that way regarding royalist feelings.

Even here at DU, once in awhile some sentimentality towards royalism or other form of caste-class system rears its head and I smack out at it.

This Cup thing exposes my little weak spot.

Well, I *did* say that my Cup loyalties were totally irrational.

[realisticphish]

9. I hate "USA! USA!"; I dislike the national anthem

and I hate american exceptionalism.

But I cheered for the team representing my country. What can I say :shrug:

[UTUSN]

10. Well, *there* you GO!1 n/t

[MadBadger]

12. I despise "USA, USA,." I hate the role that Nationalism plays in everyday sports

(National Anthem, God Bless America)

Yet when it comes to The Olympics, World Cup, Ryder Cup, etc...I just luv ma dern Country so much. Get Er Done Amurika!

[Unvanguard]

11. And we lost anyway. n/t

[KamaAina]

13. As do I.

Which is why I can't really post very much about it without getting myself banned. :grr: :banghead: :argh: :nuke:

[Odin2005]

14. Same here, and during the Olympics.

:blush:

[rabs]

15. Speaking of nationalism, my daughter

1. Was born in Vina del Mar, Chile.
2. She lived in Argentina during her tender years.
3. She lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil where she graduated the USP (Universidade de Sao Paulo).
4. She is a U.S. citizen because of me, a U.S. citizen.
5. She now lives in Mexico.

Today she suffered when the Argies eliminated the mejicanos and Saturday when the USA went down.

Tonight she was distraught because of tomorrow's Brasil-Chile; didn't know for which to cheer.

So two of her teams are gone, Mexico and the USA. Tomorrow either Brazil or Chile will be gone.

I told her to consider Uruguay !!

[Common Sense Party]

17. Tell her to root for Argentina

Especially since they'll be the winning team! (I hope)

[rabs]

18. She is more inclined to Brazil

Less than an hour before the start of the game and we are in contact with our family members in Chile. Everyone is on pins and needles, the entire country is at a standstill !!!!

Carbineros police on alert, because whatever happens, win or lose, the Chilean version of hooligans will be out to create mischief.

[KamaAina]

16. Guilty as charged

I even managed to piss off one of my very best cyberfriends with an anti-Ghana rant. :(