Politics and Sports

I’d like to start by saying that I have some mixed feelings towards this topic.  More in particular the objections and negativity associated with it.  I understand that there is an appropriate time and place for the discussion and presence of politics; however, should we be so quick to bash the sports industry for this?

In the United States, it is a common practice to be extremely prideful towards our favorite sports teams, no matter how minuscule the sport.  Additionally, I feel that a major component of our culture is being patriotic, which in a sense is the same thing as pride.  Moreover, patriotism has strong ties to politics considering that it is a strong love for one’s country.  So should it be any surprise that our interactions with sports teams sometimes meddles with politics? 

I understand that some people get frustrated when they see interaction between sports and politics because in some cases, it can get out of hand.  An example in class showed the military and recruitment kiosks at a NASCAR race.  I get how overbearing and intrusive this may seem, but I don’t think that we should be so quick to bash the military for doing so.  Recruitment may be an underlying motive behind this, but at the same time I think their primary goal is to raise awareness of the efforts of our servicemen and more importantly, to thank them for doing so.

As a whole, I think the video in class was too combative towards this relationship.  I know that the military and politics go hand in hand, but I don’t think we should take away the much-deserved support from those who defend our country.