Like many other men, I am a sports fan(atic), I don't sit and watch many games anymore, but when we lived in Omaha I doted on the Big Red. I followed them religiously and their performance on the field really did affect me emotionally. Years before I fell in love with the Cornhuskers, I experienced the same emotional highs and lows from the Iowa Hawkeyes. I would sit in our recreation room by myself and listen to Jim Zabel's call, as Don Nelson made a key basket or Alex Karras sacked an opposing quarterback. I loved the Hawkeyes, but I also loved the Milwaukee Braves and I can still recall the joy I felt when I saw Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews play in the old County Stadium. Sports has played a big part in my life, although I didn't have much talent myself, and I've never quit watching highlights and checking stats.
In any event, because my love for sports still calls to me, I find myself listening to Sports Talk radio from time to time. I know that I am well beyond their targeted age group and sometimes I cringe at the shallowness of the dialogue and commentary. Sometimes I wonder why I am listening to nearly mindless chatter, but for the most part I like it (and even get caught up in it). However, as I was listening to one of my regular shows last week, a listener called in and said that he (virtually all sports talk listeners are testosterone bound) was really pleased to see more emphasis on our national anthem at ballgames now. He wondered if the anthem itself would be telecast more frequently, in light of Newtown and Boston, and noted that he had been a marine. I waited for one of the talk show hosts to speak, and finally the younger one did. He said that the singing of our national anthem was "jingoism," of the highest order, and that as far as he was concerned, our anthem should not be included in sports venues at all. Now, as a reformed liberal, I will confess that there is a part of me that resists orchestrated patriotism. But when I think of those who've given their lives for our nation, I find it hard to believe that standing together, in gratitude, is somehow "over the top." According to Wikipedia, jingoism is "excessive bias in believing that one's own country is superior to others." Jingoism is an "extreme type" of nationalism, Wikipedia goes on to say, and we all understand "extremism." There are all sorts of extreme behaviors and many of them can be traced to someone's misguided faith or crazy view of things. Blowing up a Federal Building because you don't like what's going on in Washington, DC, is extreme. Blowing up an 8 year old boy because you don't agree with our war in Afghanistan... is extreme. Sending poisoned letters to elected officials, instead of protesting with a sign... is definitely extreme!
But standing as a people and acknowledging our principles and our heroes for a moment or two, even if someone else asked you to do it, is hardly extreme. Nor is it indicative of "excessive bias" for our side against those who would do us harm. If my father was still alive, he would be pleased with my drift toward "the right" in recent years. The talk show host I listened to is an articulate man- who else would use the word "jingoism" on a sports talk show- and I know that there are very real dangers with orchestrated behavior and group mentality... but patriotic songs and symbols are deeply cherished and they are forever connected to the men and women who died so that we can sing them, or hold them, or touch them, or call them "jingoistic." Indeed, I've become so hopelessly old-fashioned these days that, sometimes, when our anthem is sung, I am forced to fight off a tear or two.
Maybe I've become drunk on my country's wine. Maybe I am just a fool for slogans and gimmicks. Maybe I've finally seen the light. You decide,
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