Sport's Destructive Side

Sports foster many good characteristics in people. Sportsmanlike conduct, teamwork, perseverance, and competitive nature are all great characteristics to instill in people. There is a downside, however. Team sports can also create a sense of team pride that can have harmful affects similar to that of extreme nationalism. A dehumanization for opposing teams, blind support of team views and actions, and an unhealthy way of dealing with people of different cultures and nationalities.

Just like nations do in war, supporters of sports teams will dehumanize the enemy teams. This allows them to have strong feelings of hatred and inflexibility. I've seen it time and time again at a variety of games where a heroic feat achieved by the supporters team is considered a dirty foul if achieved by their enemy. The same can be said about calls made by the ref. When they favor the supporters team, it's a good call, but if not, then it is a bad one. Now, I'm not saying that fans should root for the other team, or like it when they play well. But there is some understanding that needs to be had when dealing with opponents.

Love for a team can lead to blind support of their actions. An extremely exaggerated example of this would be Germany and the Nazi's. The nationalism that Adolf brought to the country allowed him to get away with so much, because the people felt a love for their nation, and so were more willing to not be critical of their government, or examine what they were really doing. The same can be said of extreme supporters of a team. Many of their faults, or negative actions and viewpoints, are more willing to be overlooked.

Lastly, the way a fan treats the sport can have negative affects on how they interact with individuals of different cultures and nationalities. Again, this is in more extreme cases. If someone were to hate a team simply because that is what they are supposed to do, it creates bad habits. For example, of you live in Lexington, you are supposed to support UK, and if you support UK, you are supposed to hate Louisville. This mindset can carry over to national views. I live in the USA, therefore, I hate people living in the Middle East, I hate people living in the Middle East, therefore I hate anyone who is Muslim.

I'm not saying that sports shouldn't be competitive, or that a fan can't be a super fan. What I am saying, is that sports should be something that benefit society, not promote negative ways of dealing with confrontation, people, and cultures.