Quote:
Originally Posted by Purrybonker
I'm a US/Canada citizen with heavy family ties to a few European nations.
Lately I've been thinking about why I feel a visceral need to support this group or that group in watching the Olympics.
Why do we do this?
Why do we cheer for our "team"?
How does such behavior possibly advance the human condition?
Seems like there are more downsides possible here than upsides.
Just askin...
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I had the fortune of being in Germany, France and England during the World Cup in 2006. What an amazing experience. It was a national event. I have never experienced a event where the an entire country celebrates and cheers their national team. I was in France when the French team was playing in the tournament. That night, the streets, restaurants and shops were empty because everyone was home watching the game.
I traveled to the UK later that week and there were many national flags hanging from homes. I was staying at a hotel on a Saturday night the same time the English team was playing. There was a wedding going on in their banquet room. Men from the wedding came to the bar to watch the game. I chuckled to a colleague " do you think we could get away with that at home if there was a football game on, probably not". Soon after, woman and children from the wedding came to the bar to watch the game. I have never seen such national pride.
So as the Olympics are played, I understand the nationalism. Putting it closer to home, I'm old enough to remember the national pride to beat the Russians to the moon and the campaign to do just that. BTW, we did.