I don my team’s colors and make sure things are tucked in right.
It’s game day.
Off to meet with my fellow participants to strategize where to be to watch the game. We all compare our newest gear and are energized by the prospect of the past and future meetups of our team.
We all share how we can get other fans involved in our team’s efforts.
Our team had a dramatic midgame quarterback change. Frightening at first, but the change seemed to have galvanized the players along with the fans, and momentum shifted.
The fanaticism of the other team’s fans is well known. Frightening to us of a demurer, more peaceful team.
Some of the opposing team members were known for their violent streaks, and some were even jailed for their vicious reaction during games.
Name-calling, taunting, and divisiveness were a norm from the other team’s fans.
Lies about our team’s players were spread through social media in hopes of fermenting loss of belief in our team’s ability to carry the day.
Cheating on the field was another way they tried to break down our team and our resolve about the rules of the game. If the call was made against them, calls for unfair rulings were filed to sow doubt.
The press box was blamed for inaccurate reporting. Demands for better media coverage were issued to try and sway the undecided. Fact-checking was discouraged. Why bother when everything about the other team was always “correct”?
Fans who had changed sides during the off-season were castigated and made fun of during the season. Some were roughed-up because of their disloyalty.
And then the first kick was made, and the game began.
Team loyalty, love of the game, getting dressed up, and believing in a central theme or team are hallmarks of human belief. It does not seem to matter if its American football, international football (soccer to us Americans), rugby, cricket, wrestling, hockey, etc.
Passion, intensity, and fervor are just human traits. It is humanity looking for something larger than the individual to believe and participate in. The intensity of fan-love for their team transcends human societal bounds.
And so, to my point.
Politics is not a team sport, not a game to be won or lost.
Politics is not four hours of bone-crushing intensity and then “calm.”
At the end of a sports game, we all lick our proverbial wounds and spend the following week talking about the past game and hopes for the new weekend’s play.
Politics goes on, and the ramifications are for decades.
The “winner” gets to pick judges that lie during confirmation and then ignore precedence and remove a woman’s right to her own body.
The “winner” gets to change how our society operates and change fundamental rights to free speech, free press, and the right to assembly.
The “winner” gets to decide which religion takes precedence in our laws.
Our fundamental rights to race, religion, free speech, and tolerance are on the altar or chopping block.
And to my point, again.
I truly get it.
Something was allegedly given to someone else because of the color of their skin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or social standing.
And you did not get your fair share.
I get it.
You want what is “due you.”
This is what it is all about, right? The “libs” give away all types of stuff to “them” and you did not get your share?
So going back to the sports analogy, the “immaculate reception” did take place and it was real. The Minnesota Vikings did win in overtime against the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 17, 2022. The Buffalo Bills did beat the Houston Oilers in overtime in the 1993 playoff game. Belgium beat Japan in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, coming back from a huge margin (yes, I know, soccer). Michigan State beat Northwestern in a huge upset in 2006.
These were not fake news, even though the other teams’ fans were upset. There were no “alternative facts” to explain the change in fortunes of the teams. We all just had another beer and carried on until next weekend or next season.
Some won, some lost—it is the nature of sports games.
They were games.
Playing politics—where the outcome is a loss of rights—is not a game. Taking away the rights of women is not a game. Having a corrupt justice that sits on the highest court of our land taking graft is not a game. Threatening retribution for negative press coverage is not a game. Taking $10 million in cash from a foreign dictator and then having your attorney general kill the investigation is not a game.
Totalitarianism, fascism, and authoritarianism are not games.
I dream of a time when we can sit and talk, discuss policies over a drink, and not want to drop the gloves on the ice and duke it out. I want a return to civility where we can disagree and not be called childish names like we are back in third grade.
I want to talk and understand your position, I really do. I want to learn to communicate and collaborate without hate being shoved down my throat.
We live in one of the most beautiful places in the United States, the world. The people here are overall friendly, good natured, and honest—can we please, somehow, share our good fortune?
Scott Pickford writes to the Sun from San Luis Obispo. Send a response for publication to [email protected].
