I have always always argued that there's a really disturbing connection between blind jingoism and irrational sports allegiances. It's not an original notion. I believe it was Noam Chomsky who said that we, as Americans, learn chauvenism at an early age--screaming at the TV when an 18-year-old kid misses a three-pointer, painting our faces with our team's colors, spewing invectively when talking about a rival team. Because our dad maybe grew up in Riverdale liking Joe DiMaggio, we come to accept as truth that the Red Sox are the devil's minions--literally, an evil wrought upon this earth. Considering we get totally worked up about something as trivial as professional or college sports, it's easy to see how presumably professional people in our government can say to the Pakistani head of state: "We are going to bomb you back into the stone age," unless you cooperate with us. Our team is better; your team is made up of an indistinguishable mass of terrorists. There is no gray area.Now, that said, to know me is to know how much I love watching college basketball, and how much I adore my team--the vilified Duke Blue Devils. And as unsettled as I am by this fact of my character, I too experience an unnatural joy when they win--which they haven't been doing a lot of this year. It's how I'm conditioned. But one thing I've never felt when thinking of Duke's rivals--Maryland, North Carolina--is disdain. That's something I just don't get. I mean irrational love is one thing, but irrational hate, well, that should give us pause; no matter what the form. Now, my Duke friends might say that to love Duke is to hate Carolina. But I don't see it. I want Duke to beat Carolina when they play, but when Carolina plays other teams I wish them well. They're Michael Jordan's Tar Heels. What's to hate?
Okay, okay. Maybe it's all in good fun. Those of us who have a connection to Duke or Carolina can talk smack about one another, but here's a real headscratcher: What is up with the random-ass people who detest Duke and love Carolina, but have absolutely no connection to either? What is that about? Homey, you went to Tufts or Santa Clara or wherever. You ain't gotta horse in this race. You couldn't find Franklin Street on a map of Chapel Hill. But yet, you do things like this: send vituperative emails to the Michigan Law School listserv denouncing Duke, address me with homophobic slurs at sports bars when I cheer for Duke, and post videos on YouTube, like this one--from my friend Nick's brother, which, my lecture aside, is actually pretty funny--though the "you even suck at rape" line is stunningly uncool:
4 comments:
A couple of points.
First, it's not surprising that you haven't felt as much contempt for Duke's rivals as fans of Duke's rivals feel for Duke. That's pretty standard. You route for the guys that win all the time. Winners don't need to hate--losers do. Yankees fans didn't start getting all hatey until the Red Sox beat them and won the World Series.
Second--while people are fanatical about sports in the US, I think its far worse in Europe. Ultimately, people don't get killed or injured in the course of supporting their teams in the States. In Europe, it's par for the course. You think, the "you even suck at rape line is bad?" The Premiere League at one point had to ban Man U's fans from singing a song making fun of how their plane crashed on the runway killing the entire team. And that sort of hatred is par for the course in the soccer world. Tottenham is considered a "Jewish" club because they are in North London and their rivals chant anti-semitic slogans. My point is that we are really not that bad here. We take it seriously, but not so seriously as to hurt people or really hurt their feelings bad....
oh no... i guess march ended early this year. Shaw and I send our condolences.
Fuck UNC and Duke. Long live the Chanticleers!
So, yes, Duke went down. It was a bizarre team this year. Complete headcases. In every loss this year, but three--Marquette, Maryland, UNC--Duke had pretty sizable leads at some point, often in the second half, stopped scoring, and then lost just barely. They hewed to that pattern again yesterday. Sigh. Someone told me our problem is a lack of tattoos this year. No tattoos = no toughness, and we were as soft as cottage cheese all year.
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