Raise that Flag, Ricky

Ricky Craven, a columnist for Yahoo! Sports, has written a thoroughly disgusting article about his recent trip through the Middle East visiting our troops. He visited soldiers in Afghanistan and Qatar over 10 days, and his experience resulted in a newly rejuvenated support for the United States.

These articles practically write themselves. Columnists don't need to travel outside their offices--much less outside the United States--to write about the conditions on the ground, how well the soldiers are eating, and the meager sleeping quarters provided. Craven laments taking down the American flag he so proudly hung after the 9/11 attacks, even going so far to criticize the lack of vocal support for the war. Craven's lame attempt to describe his coming-to-Jesus moment in the form of "new found" support for the troops is found in the article's final paragraph:

"Never again will I take them [the troops] for granted, and from now on you will always see the American flag waving proudly outside the Craven home."

Well done, Ricky. The State accepts your unabashed commitment to permanent war and unnecessary sacrifice of human life. Clearly the only way to support our soldiers is to engage in mindless flag-waving.

The article disturbs me on another level, though. All too often I am reminded of the parallels between sports and Nationalism, and the analogies seem to intensify every year. How often do you hear of a coach being compared to a "drill sergeant" because he or she is a strict disciplinarian? How about referring to football blocking schemes as the "war in the trenches?" The list goes on, from training exercises to game day tactics. Remember the Super Bowl? Specifically, FOX's shameless 20 minute mini-movie fusing sports legends and famous (and not so famous) soldiers from American history? Call me crazy, but with rumors of war with Iran swirling, Tom Petty's singing "I won't back down," combined with the flashing "We won't back down" behind him...well, that was just a little too eerie for my tastes.

The parallels can be drawn on a simpler level. Try supporting your favorite team in another team's stadium if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Hell, even wearing another team's colors is tantamount to treason, with some cities staking their reputations on being known for becoming violent with fans of the opposing team. The NFL, in particular, is increasingly becoming known for fistfights between fans in the stands...and for what? If the same guy were wearing a different colored sweatshirt you guys would be shotgunning beers together in the parking lot.

Perhaps I sound like an old man when bitching about stuff like this, I don't know. Maybe my problem is that I've never taken sports seriously enough to want to gouge out the eyeballs of another spectator because he insulted my team's recent free agent acquisition. It seems a game is not merely a game anymore, and that we're supposed to derive some deeper meaning out of a box score. Players are role models instead of entertainers, and coaches are inducted into the pantheon after winning a championship.

I know there are literally millions of people who enjoy following sports and have loyalties to teams that stretch further back in time than my family tree, and I think that's great. But at what point did war rhetoric become acceptable nomenclature when describing athletes and games? The parallels between Statism and sports run much deeper than the colors of a nation and the colors of a team. I think they are rooted in the spectator's (or citizen's) outright worship of non-entities, such as teams and nations. Perhaps that's why articles like Craven's are received so well--regardless of our individual team loyalties, we're all supposed to be "cheering" for the United States, right?