I was watching ESPN’s Ryen Russillo on his sports talk radio
show earlier today before I left for work and he was talking about how he was
torn a new one on Twitter last night because he was tweeting about the Boston
Red Sox game and fans were letting into him for choosing a regular season
baseball game over watching the U.S. women’s soccer team compete against
Germany in the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup. Among the chief complaints
was that Russillo was being unpatriotic.
Russillo explained that he just can’t get into the sport of
soccer, which is perfectly fine. There’s not a section in the U.S. Constitution
dictating that sports fans must follow sports they don’t like simply because
their country has a team competing in it.
Fans giving Russillo hell for his not watching the U.S.
women’s soccer team reminds me of the time I first truly recognized the idiocy of
sports fans when it comes to what they perceive as a patriotic duty to root for
American sports teams, even going so far as demeaning someone for choosing to
watch anything else over those American teams.
In the last Women’s World Cup in 2009 the United States
women met up against Japan in the final match for the tournament title and
American sports fans could see nothing but red, white and blue. But, just a few
months before the beginning of the World Cup the country of Japan was struck by
a horrific earthquake that caused an even more horrific tsunami. More than
16,000 people were killed and it remains one of the worst tragedies of any kind
during my lifetime, if not all-time.
So in July of 2011, Japan needed something good to happen to
forget about the tragedy and death and heartbreak that had taken its toll on
the country for months even for just a brief moment in time. The Japanese
national soccer team beating the United States in the Women’s World Cup would
give the country something to cheer on and smile about for at least one day
during one of the nation’s worst years in its history.
And, so knowing the Japanese needed this more than any of us
Americans did I openly rooted for the Japanese women on social media. It was
something I have never once regretted, but I was ridiculed harshly for by fans
claiming that I was being unpatriotic (as if rooting for a sports team can
truly make someone patriotic or unpatriotic.)
I thought I was being humane by hoping the Japanese had
something to lift their spirits (and I was, there’s no doubt in my mind and
heart about it), but Americans will always care about American things
regardless of the pain felt elsewhere. Thankfully for the millions of hurt
Japanese their women’s team did give them something to smile about for at least
a brief moment in time defeating the U.S. women in a hard fought and
entertaining final.
The U.S. loss made it worse for me having openly rooted for
the Japanese women, but I didn’t care. I could stand being a little less
patriotic, because I’d rather care about an entire country’s pain than see the
United States dominate yet another thing.
