Propagating Sports

It would seem that the DFW area is a mecca of sports. We have soccer (even if no one cares about it), hockey, baseball and football. The Cowboys are dubbed “America’s Team,” while the Rangers represent “America’s past-time.” Oh, and let’s not forget America’s other past-time: Nascar. We have that a few times a year as well clogging up 114 with “redneck traffic.”

All of these events can remind us, almost constantly, of a duty to America. Sporting events are likened to battles fought between two enemies. Lucky for me, I can root for America when I cheer on Tony Romo. I wonder what rational Eagle fans have?
This is all beside the point really- I’m interested in how the government uses an entire sporting event to propagate itself and its armies. Before important games, giant American flags are rolled out over entire fields. The national anthem is sung before all games. And if you’re really lucky, you can see Marines (Or Army or Navy) get sworn in before the game. Then jets fly over and really solidify the notion of war, nation and pride. Then you get peanuts and settle in for a long game of baseball.

By making baseball and the swearing in of Marines a joined event, we are being reminded that both are good. If you like baseball, then you also need to like the armed forces. The two are propagated to exist in harmony. Again, the national anthem is played, religiously, before sporting events- to again instill that pride.
One day a baseball, basketball or football game will happen and the anthem won’t be played and an American flag won’t be in sight. But that sense of pride will still manage to bubble up, because we’ve been indoctrinated to feel certain ways at certain events.

So perhaps DFW isn’t lucky. We have just that many more opportunities to be victims of propaganda.