Two interesting things happened this weekend that led me to think a bit about sports, the need for identity, and conflict.
Part One: As we are on our way this weekend to a baseball game between the Nationals and Padres (neither of which is a particularly important team to my Brewers-Mets-Pirates family), my three sons are discussing for which team they are rooting. My youngest announces that he is not rooting for any team but rather just going to enjoy the game (and the ice cream, popcorn, hot dogs, etc.) My other two boys tell him, rather forcefully, that he has to pick a side, he has to root for a team. “But why?” he asks.
And he raises a good point. Why is it that we feel the need to identify with one side or the other? Why do we have to root for a team? And, is this innate need to be part of a team, part of what explains how conflicts are created and maintained? If we can’t just go to a baseball game and enjoy the weather, we have to root for someone in order to really enjoy it, can we observe conflicts and root for a good ending? A good or peaceful process? I don’t think so–I think we end up demonizing one side or the other–even when we might not be directly involved. This might not be all bad in those conflicts where we could argue it’s pretty clear who’s right and who’s wrong. For example, I am quite comfortable arguing that genocide, wherever it occurs, is a bad thing. On the other hand, assuming that Russia is the bad guy and Georgia is the good guy in the recent conflict between the two countries leads to overlooking a lot of nuances necessary to really understanding what is going on–and makes it much harder for the U.S. to play a positive role.
Part Two: Lest anyone think that I am above all of this identity politics, yesterday I had to remove the Steelers banner from my door where it has happily sat since the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2006. Why? Well, my new colleague and rabid Eagles fan Paul Secunda made me a bet. If the Steelers won on Sunday, he would have to put a Steelers banner up on his door. If the Eagles won, I have to take mine down. This was too good to pass up–and besides which, he really is from the wrong side of the state! Alas, the Steelers played horribly (apparently with little care for my bet and my pride) and so I removed the banner yesterday morning. My only consolation is that, as a Steelers fan, I am pretty sure that I will have reason to put it back up long before those Eagles fan get a reason to mount theirs!
I currently have Paul Secunda as a professor and I lived in Pittsburgh for a while so I feel obligated to respond. I see choosing a sports team as avenue for people to express their hometown pride.
Professor Secunda’s Philadelphia pride clearly extends beyond the football field. I often wear a Minnesota Twins hat to class and he feels obligated to point out that it was indeed the Phillies that won the World Series and not the Twins. While I don’t necessarily need the constant reminder of the Phillies’ success, I understand his obligation to broadcast his team’s achievement. It is almost part of his civic duty, especially following a championship.
Similarly, I was at a Pittsburgh Pirates game wearing the same Twins hat and that alone caused Pirates fans to show their town pride. It is no secret that the Pirates have not had much to gloat about recently, so the fans quickly turned the conversation from Pirates pride to Pittsburgh pride. They brought up the Steelers, then the Penguins, then a full blown comparison between Pittsburgh and Minneapolis. The Pittsburgh fans even made comments about the movie the Mighty Ducks, which was filmed in Minneapolis.
We have to “choose sides” so we have a foundation on which we can express our hometown pride. So, when your sons are attending a “neutral” game, I would encourage them not to choose one of the teams playing in the game, but rather take it as an opportunity to cheer for their favorite team against both teams.
What if the brown robed monks have awesome bo-staff fighting skills?
Ahh, yes. By choosing sides, your elder children are clearly missing out on all the nuances necessary to understanding which of these teams will pick first in the amateur draft next year. And for the record, you can’t really demonize a team that is named after brown robed monks, can you?