Tell me who you're rooting for, and I'll tell you who you are
Americans are huge sports fans. It doesn't matter if they actively play a sport themselves or just watch from their couch. Sports are ubiquitous in the US.
You turn on the TV in the morning and the announcers are discussing the upcoming evening game. During the day, social media is buzzing with "that moment" from yesterday that broke the whole game wide open. Newspapers run large headlines to tell you which player has traded to another team. Visitors at the gym immediately after greeting you ask if you watched the game last night and don't even specify which one, because it's so obvious since the city was abuzz with nothing else the week before. But one might ask, isn't that the norm in Europe too? Sure, but the American obsession with sports goes deeper. In the Czech Republic, if you bring up sports in a polite conversation at work, it's usually followed by a more or less polite exchange that ends after a few sentences. The moment you try something like that in America, chances are you'll be all set for the next quarter an hour in terms of conversational topics - even at a professional conference. Or you can go online to read opinions on current developments in energy security in Europe and in the very first paragraph of a news article, you will immediately come across a reference to last night's NFL game in which the author's favorite team "crushed" the opposing team in such a way that it earned a place of honor in the introduction of an otherwise completely unrelated bit of commentary.
ed bit of commentary.
The team you support is part of your identity in America. It's not uncommon to shake hands and after a few of the usual platitudes about your home institution and profession, you'll be presented with information (usually completely unsolicited) about which team your counterpart holds dear. Alternatively, this is followed by an assurance that although he/she may live in a particular city, his/her heart belongs to a different city, after which they’ll explain why it is important to root for that particular team. No wonder sports teams were and continue to be a unifying element in America, which relate to the history of the place and the area from which fans are drawn. Alternatively, they are a coat of arms that all residents of a place, regardless of their origin, stand behind. In the context of America’s relatively high mobility, sports teams can represent a link to home, even if you already live thousands of miles away. Sometimes the love of a sports team goes so far that it can even affect your work plans. For example, one well-known analyst at a prestigious think tank talked her way into a new position in a different city later that year because the Washington Nationals baseball team made it to the World Series, which she understandably couldn't miss.
Although the rivalry between the teams is sometimes really intense, in the vast majority of cases everything remains on a purely rhetorical level. For example, if you absent-mindedly put on a t-shirt in the morning only to find out later that it bears the logo of the previous Super Bowl winner, who just the day before had beaten the Washington team quite decisively, several bystanders will clearly (verbally) point it out to you. They’ll do this quite politely and often with a smile, but you'll still remember to be more careful about what you wear in the morning next time. Also, in case someone wants to discuss the match with you. You might have to admit that you didn't see it. And that would be an unforced error.
Sports fandom in America is a group activity and a big show, with something for everyone, whether during the game or at halftime. Whole families go to the games, often treating the game more like a picnic, chatting, eating, and just occasionally checking out what's happening on the field. This is especially true of baseball and football (that is the one we Europeans call "American"), which are played outdoors and dominate in popularity. In recent years, the latter has been leading in terms of popularity. Football, both at the national and college level, is a phenomenon and it doesn't matter if you are a woman or a man, blue collar or white collar, a young fan or a veteran. As the Super Bowl approaches, there's no way you can avoid it. For days and weeks beforehand, the lineups, players and halftime show (who's going to perform, who's going to make a scandal, and how much a minute of commercial time costs) are discussed, and then for days and weeks after that, what happened on and off the field is debated.
After all that, it's not surprising that there are social media accounts dedicated solely to reviewing NFL team jerseys with tens of thousands of followers. Indeed, team colors and logos are almost as important as on the field performance. After all, the sale of jerseys and merchandise is a significant revenue stream for teams. So, when the Washington team changed its name and logo, it inevitably became the number one topic for a few days. In 2020, the team abandoned the long-standing name the "Redskins", which was (quite rightly) considered to be insensitive to the Native Americans, and chose the temporary, bland, wishy-washy name the "Washington Football Team", with the somewhat tricky acronym WFT (that this became the butt of jokes in the months that followed probably goes without saying). After two years of playing under the temporary name, this February, after weeks of suspense, the team decided on a new name – the "Commanders." Which to Europeans has quite a pleasant ring and, given their hometown, seems appropriate, sparked such an excited debate that the main topic in the media and on the major networks were taken care of for at least a week. What was then the conversational topic when you arrived somewhere and said you were from Washington? Take a guess.
Martin Jirušek
Department of International Relations and European Studies, FSS MUNI
Currently a Fulbright Scholar at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
