As IF Times

link:  https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/alysa-liu-champion-who-cant-stop-smiling

Image from Getty Images NBC

That people are tribal is not a new revelation; it’s a basic human condition which exists in our DNA for reasons likely linked originally to survival.  We can probably accept that when people were running around in loincloths and bearskins, it was a good idea to side with the people that looked like you and behaved similarly. It provided some degree of safety to be part of a supportive group in an otherwise hostile environment.  You identified with your group.  We all know of the mythic rivalry between the Hatfields and the McCoys, two rival Appalachian  families who feuded for decades just because their names were different.  The families of Romeo and Juliet; same thing.
On a much larger scale, we have always had divisions of populations based on such identifiers as religions, on ethnicity and race,  on regions and nations and also based on ideology. History shows that the consequences of belonging and identifying with one group over another one can be serious and even fatal.   Lots of wars have been fought based on the disputes both between and amongst such factions.

In today’s slightly more civilized world, these tribal instincts are manifest in less consequential but no less heated loyalties.  Much of these tribal urges are now focused on sports. We all know of the rabid fans in the soccer world during the World Cup when national pride is contested on the soccer pitch.  The activities of a nation can come to halt if a given nation’s team is a contender.  Most recently, the huge commercial event known as the Super Bowl was held and partisan supporters of both teams displayed their fanatical devotion by paying exorbitant sums just to be present at the event and to buy and wear the partisan colors.  This despite the fact that the lives of fans would not be affected in any meaningful way at all, regardless if their teams won or lost.  It was just a tribal thing.

At the moment the 2026 Winter Olympics are being held in Italy and this is the proto-typical occasion to show tribal support for your people, which means for the most part, your country.  People identify with these athletes only because they represent their tribe. If their athletes succeed, there is the notion of reflected glory for the fans of the nation, that they too are part of that athlete’s success.  While it’s natural to root for your country, the feats of the athletes have little to do with their nations.  It’s the result of years of dedicated effort to reach their level of competence. With that said, there can be no greater glory than to stand on the medal podium with your nation’s national anthem playing for everyone.  When the American women’s hockey team won their gold medal, they all collectively stood and sang their national anthem. On the other hand, you could see the heartbreak in the faces of the Canadian team who came up short.  It wasn’t just the loss, it was a loss for their nation. People vicariously live through these athletes representing their national pride.   Nationalism and patriotism is still a strong binding tie for most populations which is why we witness so much backlash against the talented skier Eileen Gu who elected to compete for China instead of her native United States.  The exact opposite was the affection for skater Alysa Liu who was unabashedly patriotic for the United States,  a story which is more compelling given that her father is a refugee from China.

Unfortunately this notionally non-partisan world class sporting event is being used more and more as a political billboard for many participants.  Certain among the American contingent have taken to use their 15 minutes of fame to criticize their own nation or to highlight issues that have nothing to do with competitive sports.  The dynamic of the “me me me” mindset has unfortunately made its way into the arena of sports, a venue which is meant only to showcase the best talents of dedicated athletes.  As the Dixie Chicks intoned years ago, ‘just shut up and sing’.

link This is Why Americans Don’t Like Soccer – Soccer – Boston.com.

We know it’s the world’s “most popular sport”.  We know that the world is consumed as if in an epileptic frenzy when the World Cup is staged every 4 years.  But it’s boring.  Soccer, or football as the game is known everywhere in the world outside of North America, is as interesting as watching Pong.

From its origins as a savage pastime when combatants kicked the heads around of their vanquished opponents, the game has really stayed fairly true to its roots.   At a certain level, we understand the game’s primitive charm.  Especially at the global level when the pride of nations are at stake during a match at the World Cup.  There are few sports which stir up nations’ national spirit like soccer does.  Entire countries will shut down while they watch their squad do battle with that of another.  Soccer is essentially a surrogate for armed battles and which purports to demonstrate the superiority of an entire nation over another; especially if they have nothing else to brag about.   It’s the one time that Cameroon can kick Britain’s ass and shame the Limey bastards on the world stage.

We can see the simple charm of the game, one which doesn’t have all the arcane rules of many professional sports.  Soccer is big business worldwide, like any major sport.  It is a game which small boys dream of playing in all corners of the globe and their heroes are godlike.  It is still a sport for the common folk.  It’s also a sport in which there is as much action in the audience as there is on the pitch.

Basketball is a sport that has evolved into a game populated by thyroid cases and freaks of nature that must be over 6 feet 6 inches in height or they’re considered too small to play.  The shoes on most players can double as kayaks for midgets.   The players’ hands are so large that the ball may as well be an onion.   Basketball is clearly not a game for regular people.

Baseball is hardly interesting anymore either, since much of the game is spent with players standing around and spitting.  The real hard core fans are statistics geeks who can rattle off ERA’s, saves, runs allowed, etcetera.  Clearly a game for accountants.   Cheering for a team is like rooting for Price Waterhouse to beat Ernst and Young.  If baseball is too much action, there’s always cricket.

Hockey is not really a world sport because a big ice surface is not readily found south of the 49th parallel.   That’s a sport for a very specialized audience.  Golf; well that’s the same as hockey; use a stick to put an object into a hole.  Only golf has is played in warm weather, has more rules than an IRS handbook and participants lack any fashion sense.  American football comes close to the rabid fanaticism shown by soccer fans, but like basketball, as specimens, the players are generally many standard deviations removed from an average guy.  They are essentially bred for the sport like racing hounds or thoroughbreds.

Soccer at least gives the pretense that the players are average people who happen to have finely honed ball skills. If only they could do away with the Oscar winning head holding and ground rolling, it would be a real man’s sport instead of a primary school recess game.