Very likely an unpopular opinion. I don’t care
Very likely an unpopular opinion. I don’t care.
5/13/2026
By Scott Lucas.
One of the reasons that I no longer closely follow sports, or get emotionally involved with a particular team, is that I’ve come to believe that blindly rooting and living and dying for any group, whether it be a school, a sports team, a country, a religion, etc., ultimately damages your ability to think clearly and critically.
I don’t know that anyone has done a study on this, but I suspect that the same people who wear Wild, or Viking, or Bears, Lions, etc. jerseys around in public, and put those logos on their coffee cups and computer desktops are the same people who will vote for the same political party every election no matter how horrific your candidate is, because you equate a political party with your “team,” no matter how much destruction that politician or party can wreak on the human population.
It’s become too easy for Americans to think that way. It’s considered a virtue to be loyal to your team no matter what, regardless of what you do or don’t know about them personally. We’ve seldom had to think about the damage this mindset, when applied to politics or religion, can do to billions of people if it doesn’t affect us personally. It’s loyalty to your team. A good thing, right?
Except that it’s not. Blind faith without context or understanding is never good. It allows for no growth, it allows for no perspective, no accountability.
I’m
not saying that it not okay to cheer on a group that you’ve found reasons to like, that you admire in a genuine way for how they carry themselves, how they respect people(or the game), or how they persevere in the face of adversity, but to carry blind loyalty to a point of not caring about those things is what causes people to think it’s okay to vote for a candidate or president that represents none of your values, then it becomes a detrimental mindset that destroys countries, rights, economies, and other things that we need as humans; things that keep us sane and maintain our self worth. Further, that unjustified loyalty to one team or side generally results in an equally unjustified dislike of the other “team” or “side.”
The result is, we have a country that is circling the drain in the world view, because millions of Americans voted for their “team,”
regardless of the candidate, and don’t feel the need to question the actions of that team or individual. Blind loyalty at its best can build an artificial sense of community, I guess, but at its worst is incredibly destructive.
5/13/2026
By Scott Lucas.
One of the reasons that I no longer closely follow sports, or get emotionally involved with a particular team, is that I’ve come to believe that blindly rooting and living and dying for any group, whether it be a school, a sports team, a country, a religion, etc., ultimately damages your ability to think clearly and critically.
I don’t know that anyone has done a study on this, but I suspect that the same people who wear Wild, or Viking, or Bears, Lions, etc. jerseys around in public, and put those logos on their coffee cups and computer desktops are the same people who will vote for the same political party every election no matter how horrific your candidate is, because you equate a political party with your “team,” no matter how much destruction that politician or party can wreak on the human population.
It’s become too easy for Americans to think that way. It’s considered a virtue to be loyal to your team no matter what, regardless of what you do or don’t know about them personally. We’ve seldom had to think about the damage this mindset, when applied to politics or religion, can do to billions of people if it doesn’t affect us personally. It’s loyalty to your team. A good thing, right?
Except that it’s not. Blind faith without context or understanding is never good. It allows for no growth, it allows for no perspective, no accountability.
I’m
not saying that it not okay to cheer on a group that you’ve found reasons to like, that you admire in a genuine way for how they carry themselves, how they respect people(or the game), or how they persevere in the face of adversity, but to carry blind loyalty to a point of not caring about those things is what causes people to think it’s okay to vote for a candidate or president that represents none of your values, then it becomes a detrimental mindset that destroys countries, rights, economies, and other things that we need as humans; things that keep us sane and maintain our self worth. Further, that unjustified loyalty to one team or side generally results in an equally unjustified dislike of the other “team” or “side.”
The result is, we have a country that is circling the drain in the world view, because millions of Americans voted for their “team,”
regardless of the candidate, and don’t feel the need to question the actions of that team or individual. Blind loyalty at its best can build an artificial sense of community, I guess, but at its worst is incredibly destructive.
