U.S. and Them

I'm not typically one for patriotism, especially these days. But long before I developed a healthy dose of political cynicism, I developed (around the age of 5) an exaggerated love for sport. And just as I have been a New York Mets fan for 17 years now, I've also been a fan of American athletes. Perhaps it's because I was born the day of the most famous victory ever by an American team in international competition, the Miracle on Ice. Perhaps it's because I learned to read with books about Jesse Owens and the 1972 men's basketball team during the waning years of the Cold War.

Whatever the cause, I fully admit that whenever the World Cup, or the Olympics, or even a simple golf tournament rolls around, I sink right into the us-and-them mentality that I scorn the rest of the year. This year, I figured, might be different. I've spent hours writing editorials, debating with friends (and enemies), and cursing my TV because of the overwhelming pro-American bias around me. It's not that I don't support America, or that I have a new favorite country per se — I just feel a little betrayed. I figured that I'd watch the Olympics purely to enjoy the competition, the skill, and the grace, with no rooting interest.

The most accurate analogy I can draw is to the New York Knicks. I started rooting for them when I was six. They were my hometown team, and for almost a decade thereafter, they were fun to watch. They had great personalities, a fun style, great coaches, good fans — I imagined that I'd be a fan even if I grew up in Milwaukee. These days, I can hardly bear to watch. They're dull and plodding. They have no heart or soul. The leadership by their president and his staff is directionless; here's where the analogy to America becomes more clear. At points this year, I've found myself rooting for teams from Dallas and Sacramento rather than New York, or watching without any partisan interest at all.

Thus, I figured the same thing would happen with the Olympics, specifically men's hockey. But did it? Not at all. Ever since the first puck dropped, it's been "U.S.A.! U.S.A!" for me. Maybe I'm caught up in the international good cheer that the Olympics fosters, or the traditional call to halt all ongoing wars that begins the ceremonies. Maybe it's because we're competing against Finland, Belarus, Russia and Germany, political allies these days. Perhaps if a combined "Axis of Evil" team were out on the ice — do they have ice there? — I'd be more reticent about what sort of statement my support for the Americans might make.

I still have my issues with the Olympics, of course. I wish that my rooting interests could be more easily divorced from my politics. I wish that the American media wasn't trying to restart the Cold War with their coverage of the ice skating judging fiasco. (Last night on TV, I think I heard Jay Leno tell Salé and Pelletier that he likes them because they're from "a nice country" — Canada.) And I hope that when this fortnight is over, the feeling left in this country is not one of American dominance, righteousness and superiority, no matter how many gold medals we win. I hope, rather, that it is one of mutual respect and understanding for our fellow citizens of the world, regardless of the fact that the international Olympians come mostly from Europe, Japan and China and not from India, Pakistan or the Middle East. That's worth rooting for. Dan Wachtell is a philosophy major from New York. He can be reached at wachtell@princeton.edu.