When one thinks of international sports competitions, such as the World Cup, what comes to mind? Millions of fans proudly wearing their countries’ colors, athletes pushing themselves past the brink of exhaustion, drunken fans celebrating in the streets, and an overall sense of nationalism and pride in one’s country. This sounds great, doesn’t it? But what about the unexamined aspect of sports events, residual feelings of hatred and rage from war? As presented on Bloggingheads, international sports competitions have come to represent war between competing countries.
International sports competitions should not be representative of war, but residual emotions from previous wars make this to be the inevitable. It seems ridiculous that the two events are so closely linked. For example, even though WWII ended quite some time ago, many Americans found themselves hating the German soccer team during World Cup. One blogger even went as far to comment on the fact that he couldn’t overcome the urge to view the German soccer players as soldiers in a tank. One can be sure that thousands of Americans were cheering as soon as Germany was eliminated from the World Cup Games. Although most would not admit it, there are still many residual emotions from war and it does, indeed, affect the way fans view opposing teams. To watch the German team lose must have been satisfactory to many.
Is this a good thing? Should sports represent war? Most definitely not. Will it ever change to the point where the two events are not affiliated? It’s doubtful. Even terms used in war have made their way into the world of sports. A football game can be won by “dropping a bomb” or “surgical strikes.” Before many a game, teams perform a war dance in the hopes of intimidating the other team. War and sports will always be intertwined.
However, the connection between war and sport does create a strong sense of nationality and pride in one’s country. Giving a country a common enemy unites the country and provides for a strong sense of patriotism. An issue such as war is one of the few things that can drive an entire nation together. When war is incorporated into sports events, the event possesses the same pull that war normally has. Hating the enemy gives strangers a reason to band together and become one united entity. If international sports events did not possess such intensity, the amount of nationalism would be much less significant.
War and sporting events are entirely different and really have no place among one another. War deals with serious issues whereas sports are for fun. War accounts for murder and misery and sporting events are supposed to bring joy to those playing or even watching. It seems like quite the contradiction to combine the two events. Realistically speaking, residual emotions leftover from war will always carry out into the world of sports for as long as countries oppose each other. It isn’t an ideal situation, but it does create a strong sense of nationality from within the country.
Great image. Reminds me of the dance the All Blacks of New Zealand perform.
ReplyDeleteVery logical progression. Easy to read and understand, yet you're making good points as well.
I like the linguistic focus.
2nd paragraph from bottom -- suggested idea: perhaps by catharsis, exhaling the emotions created by war, inside the world of sports, we can help avoid war.
I think conclusion just repeats points.