Patriotism and Sports

As an avid sports fan I can honestly say that one thing that has never appealed to me is the concept of international sporting events and competitions.  The true value of a country should never be found on playing field.    I have never felt a sense of patriotism when it comes to watching the Olympics, baseball (the new tournament) and especially now- soccer and the World Cup.  I will never understand how people who never watch a sport can suddenly turn on an interest merely based on national pride.  I really don't even understand the concept of national pride and sporting events.  If the United States were to have beaten Ghana on Saturday, would that somehow have improved the status of this country internationally?  Would I somehow have bragging rights over Ghanaians?  When do I run into Ghanaians?  And how do I suddenly take an interest in a sport that I pay no mind to for the last four years (more than that for most people who now claims to watch soccer)?  Is the only reason to have the ability to say "USA!"???  

Also I find it extraordinarily ironic that the same people who are the most bigoted or have extreme political beliefs are the ones who seem to get the most excited about things like this.  And as soon as its over, they go back to hating people based on their religious beliefs, sexual preference, skin color or political beliefs who coincidentally share the common nationality that they were so willing to embrace days before.  I find it all disingenuous and ridiculous by the people who get into these random sports that have no popularity except every four years when the World Cup and Olympics are on television.  They find an excuse to watch something and motivation is based on a patriotism.  Patriotism ended forty years ago in this country.  When the reality of corruption of our government came to the forefront after Nixon and the Vietnam War demonstrated that national pride has its limitations when those in power have agendas.  We can take pride in a lot of things.  But winning sporting competitions shouldn't be a source of patriotism.

It is an archaic concept that hopefully one day will end.  The belief in national borders and somehow playing out international rivalries through sports is moronic.  If you are watching out of respect for a sport you love, then I understand.  But national pride?  Come on its a myth and it always has been.  Sports are as meaningless as wars, and therefore nothing can be learned or gleamed from a victory in some kind of international competition.  

All these people who claim to watch it and say it has some kind of pure value as opposed to professional sports are delusional.  Athletes are a form of entertainment and somehow gaining national pride over a victory on a field in Africa is a joke.  Take pride in the fact that we have come to a point where the first black president was elected and he was as unlikely a candidate to succeed as anyone could have expected.  Take pride in the fact that this world is evolving and through internet and mass media, globalization is becoming more and more of a reality.  That should be the goal, not these polarizing meaningless sporting events that are vestiges of a world that is quickly fading.