Monetized patriotism

By ‘nationalism’ I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled ‘good’ or ‘bad’(1). But secondly — and this is much more important — I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. Both words are normally used in so vague a way that any definition is liable to be challenged, but one must draw a distinction between them, since two different and even opposing ideas are involved. By ‘patriotism’ I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality. – George Orwell

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I don’t use words like “disgusting” very often because overusing strong adjectives tends to devalue their meaning, but when we find something that is genuinely repellent — say, when the U.S. Department of Defense provides more than $6 million to 16 NFL teams for advertising about supporting the troops and the teams accepting the cash — I think “disgusting” is apropos. I think pretty much the same when recalling the many examples of the exploitation of patriotism in the entertainment and sports industries and the borderline nationalism that purveys many sectors of public life. See Toby Keith. See the WWE’s Tribute to the Troops. See American Sniper. See virtually every American sports event after Sept. 11, 2001.

In that vein, Charles Pierce has given us an excellent play-by-play of the “messy business” of propaganda and how sports has not only cheapened the idea of patriotism by insisting that Americans can’t gather for an afternoon baseball or football game without obligatory rituals and renditions of the national anthem that have essentially become meaningless by repetition, but has now effectively “commodified” patriotism:

Most veterans you will see on the field in an NFL stadium, or standing on top of a dugout between innings, are genuinely worthy of the country’s admiration. They’ve earned every cheer they get. They also have earned decent health care and a chance at an education and whatever counseling they need to get beyond what they’ve experienced. What they don’t deserve to be are front people through whom the rich get richer, to be walking advertisements for the services that they already have paid back in full. This is a transaction grotesquely inappropriate for their sacrifices.

Woes for referees in NFL, MLB

Sports Illustrated, in its Nov. 2, 2009 edition, published an article titled “Harassment in The Workplace” by Joe Posnanski, which outlined some of the continued trouble refs have in trying to make good calls, but yet are still getting lambasted by fans, the media and sports administrators for , inevitably, and because they are human, periodically making incorrect calls.

Posnanski said,

When it comes to taking abuse, refs rival the Balloon Boy Dad and Bernie Madoff.

No argument there. Posnanski makes the case that MLB refs, perhaps, take the biggest verbal assault from fans in the face of the league’s seeming refusal to move into the 21st century and adopt more replay technology like the NFL.

Pic from the Waffle Fries Parfait blog

Pic from the Waffle Fries Parfait blog

But in the NFL, seeing a coach reach for his challenge flag or for a play to receive an “official” review is about as certain an occurrence as the tides coming in and out. But the NFL’s adoption of increased replay during games has its drawbacks. As Posnanski notes,

In the NFL, officials barely even count anymore — coaches have their own flags, television cameras are the final arbiters, and after overturned calls referees are forced to stand before the crowd and admit their mistakes, like guilt schoolchildren. Next, there will be a giant chalkboard on the field for them to write, I promise to watch more closely, 500 times.

Touché. The replays in the NFL do get to be too much at times. But it comes down to this question: do administrators in sports leagues want cold truth on every single play (Taken to the extreme, this would mean that every single play would be verified as accurate in yardage, ball spots and penalties before the next play got under way) or do they want to maintain the human element. I think they are attempting to tread somewhere in between, but if so, leave the refs alone. We expect the players on the field to be human and make mistakes. Why don’t we give the same leverage to refs? If we just want to watch a perfectly played and refereed ball game, we might as well shutter the NFL’s and the MLB’s doors (along with every other sports league) and all go play video games.

By the way, since we’re talking sports, as of 10:15 EDT on Wednesday night, the Yankees are leading 7-1 in the top of the sixth and are likely about to win their 27th World Series.

Derek Jeter, left, and Johnny Damon scored on Hideki Matsui’s two-run single off Pedro Martinez in the third. Damon injured his calf on the play, and was replaced by Jerry Hairston Jr.

Derek Jeter, left, and Johnny Damon scored on Hideki Matsui’s two-run single off Pedro Martinez in the third. Damon injured his calf on the play, and was replaced by Jerry Hairston Jr.

I’m not a big fan of the owner of that storied franchise, but I love the city. So, I can’t say that I’m too disappointed.

Top sports icons

I was listening to the Arnie Spanier show some tonight, and as he must have 75 percent of the three-hour show talking about it, he was seemingly fixated on the 10-year anniversary marking Michael Jordan’s retirement from basketball. He enumerated some sports figures, with Jordan topping the list, who had transcended their sports and who have become worldwide figures. From what I could gather, his list ran thusly:

  1. Michael Jordan
  2. Muhammad Ali
  3. Jack Nicholson
  4. (Honorable mentions: Jim Brown and Tiger Woods)

He also mentioned Wayne Gretsky, O.J. Simpson and a few others as possible candidates (some at the suggestion of call-ins).

I think Jordan is unquestionably the leader, but when talking about names who would be recognized all over the world and who transcend their sports, I think guys Hulk Hogan, O.J. Simpson, Pete Rose, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Dale Earnhardt and Hank Aaron should probably be in the discussion as well, though no name one could mention would approach Jordan’s influence, perhaps with the exception of Robinson. Of course, when placing Jordan in this position, one must limit oneself to modern times, say, the past 50 years or so. Going back any further, of course, we can name those pioneers in the negro leagues, Pele and others.

In the modern era, I can think of none other than the aforementioned. If anyone has ideas for more candidates who would fall into this category, feel free to comment and let us know …