Sports & Old Glory
Being a casual football fan for a number of years, I have grown to accept the tremendous hype that is created prior to the kickoff of each Super Bowl. It is just one of those things that one must endure before the game is actually played. I turned on the television Sunday afternoon to watch some of that hype so that I could gain some insight about the teams and players involved in the game. Instead of seeing a pregame show that discussed football, there was some kind of endless patriotic tribute that went far beyond any Super Bowl hype. Even on those rare occasions when the subject of football did come up, it was inevitably tied to and wrapped in the Stars and Stripes.
Now I realize that there is this new love affair with all things red, white, and blue. And certainly there is nothing wrong about expressing love of country. But what does Nancy Reagan and Jimmy Carter reading the Getttysburg Address have to do with the Super Bowl pregame show? What does the reciting of the U.S. Constitution by Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford have to do with football? Are these patriotic productions to be expected at all major sporting events in the future? Will the coming Olympics turn into a nightly force feeding to remind me that everyone is a hero? I’m just as patriotic as the next person, and I am proud to be an American, but isn’t it possible to have a seperation of sport and state?