I’m as nationalistic about sports as the next guy. I can’t stand it when we lose the Ryder Cup, which is most of the time. I can’t abide the thought of losing in international basketball–ever. It bugs me when our sprinters aren’t competitive against the Jamaicans: all except Bolt, of course, because he belongs to the whole world.
Why? It isn’t because winning proves that America is somehow superior to any other country. It isn’t because I have any compelling desire to put anyone down. It’s simply because sports, like other forms of entertainment, result in the viewer identifying with some, but not all, of the participants, and I naturally identify with the people from my own country, not knowing the back stories of everyone in the field.
If the Olympics make me feel bonded with, say, African-American female sprinters with whom I have little in common except our citizenship, is that a bad thing? I don’t think so.