It was the Fourth of July today (yesterday now). I have never cared much about this holiday because I have very complicated feelings about my country, but now, my feelings are not as equivocal.
Let me be clear. I am not a patriot. I have never been a patriot. Much as I have no brand loyalty, I don’t understand why I should be passionate about America just because I was born in it. Let’s face it. I am not someone who cares about teams at all. I used to be a Vikings fan. I enjoyed the games and was happy when they won. But it didn’t ruin my life when they didn’t. I remember the year that the Vikings went 15-1, and the state was in a lather that maybe, just maybe they would win their first Super Bowl.
Instead, they shat the bed in the NFC Championship and lost to the Falcons 30-27. Fun fact: apparently they were the first team to go 15-1 and not make the Super Bowl. Great. Just great. The Vikings have also never won a Super Bowl. That much I still remember.
I was sad that they lost, but I got over it in a day or two. At the beginning of training camp for the next season, which, I may remind you, is roughly six months later, one of the local news stations interviewed a devoted Vikings fan. He was in full gear and makeup, and he was still devastated. He talked about how he couldn’t get over it and how crushed he was that ‘we’ had lost.
My dude.
Brah.
….
Look.
I admit that I am the last one to talk about being a part of a team or team loyalty. It is so not my thing, even when I was very into sports. I get the camaraderie and feeling like you’re part of something, but to be brutally honest, you (the viewer) had nothing to do with the win or lost. You’re not out there training every day. You didn’t throw the ball, catch it, or race into the end zone for a TD.
I do know that having fans that root for you can boost a team’s morale and mood, but I have to believe there’s a ceiling to that effect. In addition, apparently, now with the explosion of sports fantasy leagues, players are receiving death threats by people who have them on their fantasy sports league team if they don’t do well. Which, by the way, don’t do that. That shouldn’t need to be said, but here we are.
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