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Sports, Not Politicians, Is The Great Unifier
Published by MoonDog on November 13, 2008
With last week’s presidential election behind us it gave me pause to consider how divided we remain as a nation. It’s never ceased to amaze me how we can sit in arenas, ball parks and stadiums around the country, watching our favorite teams and doing so in unity.
But raise the issue of politics or politicians and the chasm between people, just moments ago hugging each other with joy over the home team’s victory, becomes wide and deep.
Having some of the experiences in life that have afforded me some wisdom – that’s another way of saying I’m getting old – has taught me that politicians aren’t team builders. Coaches, teachers, parents, teammates and co-workers have created more inspirational moments in this nation than any politician.
But you don’t see the average person going about the business of team building because in the eyes of the national media, political figures have “greater responsibilities” than the rest of us.
But that isn’t true. The national media has always placed more emphasis on the sensational moment over the subtleties of everyday life. But on the practice fields of America, unity takes place on the grandest of scales, and does so with barely a mention.
Sports, often scoffed at as being nothing more than high-salaried men and women playing kids’ games, isn’t as some suggest, a microcosm of American society.
Our nation has become so divided on issues, even the most trivial subject can send two rational people into a frenzy. Perhaps that why sports have become the huge business they are, because it is in sports that Americans can cast aside their differences, finding solace in the simple pleasures of a game.
In my lifetime, the military was the greatest team I’ve been a part of. I’d like to share the words of my company commander during the first days of boot camp, because these are important words for all of us to heed.
I want to give notice that some of these words are direct, but aren’t meant to offend anyone. If you bear with me you’ll see the point I’m making.
The second day at boot camp, our recruit company was formed comprising 72 young men from all walks of life. Our group consisted of people from New York, Texas, California, West Virginia and many other states. There were whites, blacks, Latinos, orientals and even two foreign recruits, one from Columbia and the other from Ireland.
As the 72 of us stood at attention in the barracks very early one morning, all looking the same with our heads shaved and wearing the poorly-fitting first issue uniforms, our company commander addressed us.
“Listen up assholes,” he said. “Look around you. Look at the person next to you. Look at the person across the barracks.”
He continued, “There aren’t any wops, dagos, spics, wetbacks, kikes, spooks, niggers, crackers, honkies, chinks, pollacks, greasers or anything else in this barracks. All of you are the same in the eyes of the United States Navy.”
“Not all of you will make it, but if you do, you’ll become a part of the greatest team ever assembled and you’ll do it as shipmates in the world’s greatest Navy, and you will always be shipmates until the day you die.”
As you can surmise, I’ve never forgotten those words. Obviously, the military is a unique experience not shared by all, but it’s not so much different than any sports team that’s ever been built into a champion.
It all starts with team building, establishing a team-first mentality among the players and forming a cohesive unit among those members of the team.
Nation building isn’t so much different, but unfortunately, we’ve allowed politics and politicians to drive a wedge between us.
Referring back to my time in the service, my boots have touched the soil in 75 countries on five continents, and I can promise you that people around the globe are generally the same.
Sure, there are cultural differences among us, but people are people, and it’s governments that fuck everything up.
Just as people are the same, their love of sports around the world is the same, with soccer being the most popular of all sports. Sports have proven to be one of the greatest unifiers among citizens of planet earth, building relationships, teamwork and camaraderie where the achievement of common goals is the only objective.
We can all take a lesson from sports, and certainly so could the politicians around the globe. The next time someone scoffs at the relative unimportance of sports in our lives, remember, it is sports that bring us together, not politics or governments.
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Matt on Thu, 13th Nov 2008 03:05
Terrific article MoonDog. You’re absolutely right in my opinion.
NESW Sports Headlines 11/13/2008 | NESW Sports, Sports Videos on Thu, 13th Nov 2008 12:20
[...] Sports, the great unifier < Moondog Sports [...]
Sportsdawg on Thu, 13th Nov 2008 13:37
Great post, Moondog. And thanks for serving our country in the military!
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