The Debate and Our Gaping Disparity of Attention
How professional sports steal time from the issues that matter most, and why our political discourse has become so vacuous
“… I sometimes turn on the radio and I find very often that what I’m listening to is a discussion of sports…. People call in and have long and intricate discussions, and it’s plain that quite a high degree of thought and analysis is going into that. People know a tremendous amount. They know all sorts of complicated details and enter into far-reaching discussion about whether the coach made the right decision yesterday and so on. These are ordinary people, not professionals, who are applying their intelligence and analytic skills in these areas and accumulating quite a lot of knowledge and, for all I know, understanding. On the other hand, when I hear people talk about, say, international affairs or domestic problems, it’s at a level of superficiality that’s beyond belief.” — Noam Chomsky
When I was in high school, I got into an argument at the lunch table with a few of my sports-focused friends. We sat on opposing sides of the table debating whether politics or sports were more important. It was a 3 on 1 argument in which I found myself a lone minority arguing valiantly in favor of politics.
As time has gone on and we’ve begun navigating our ways through a complicated adult world, I don’t think it’s a debate that would go quite the same way today. I’d be hard-pressed to learn that each one of them hadn’t come around to the understanding that the affairs of our nation weren’t of infinitely greater consequence than “the game.” Even with one of them boasting a proud career on the sidelines of professional sports teams, I’m sure he’d admit today that the high school argument is one he’d struggle to champion still. He’d no longer contend that the score of our game means more than the law of our land. Not in this political climate.
A continual frustration of my adult life is just how great the disparity of our knowledge is between the issues that matter and the issues that don’t. Of course, it might not be a surprise when we consider how long we’ve kept up with the Kardashians that we care so little about politics. To look at what political debate within this country has devolved into, maybe I shouldn’t be shocked that much of us treat what was once an opportunity for reasoned conversation between candidates as an excuse for full-throttled spectacle.
There’s likely no greater glimpse into our skewed priorities than in the societal obsession with sports. And the chaos that surrounds our presidential debates shines a glaring light on this disparity.
Each time I go to my local gym I find a crowd that follows the averages of ten sports teams to an unremitting T, yet flounders in almost any conversation that forays into politics or issues of any real import. Even in an election year, there’s a concerning superficiality to these talks. Thought-stopping cliches checker the conversations. People lament that “Politicians are all the same,” and “nothing ever changes anyway,” and that the possible rise of a tyrant “is what it is.”
At best, these deeper topics will bring out a meat-headed hostility. People become their most tribal, sports-obsessed selves. But at worst, the subjects elicit bald-faced indifference.
The extent of disengagement speaks to our strange political moment. While much of the country has been torn asunder by tensions, huge swaths of the nation are still so woefully uninformed that they see an equivalency between a serial felon and a prosecutor. They think the nation will remain the same regardless of whether or not our next leader believes in the system of government they represent.
And so many of the same people that are earnestly on the fence about these two candidates watched the last ten games, from the first quarter, period, or inning into overtime. Ask them who’s in their state senate and they’ll shrug without shame.
I won’t pretend that following what’s going on around us is always fun, or that one interest can simply be traded for another. And I wouldn’t advocate for a world without sports or leisure. But there’s a great danger in how radically the scales are tipped in favor of the issues of inconsequence. It’s a miscarriage of attention that’s helped to set the stage for aspiring despots like Trump to take power. It’s created conditions where politicians can stand on a debate stage, spend their entire time there uttering lies, and still retain a base of support.
Whether celebrities and their relationships, each new reality show that emerges, or the constantly changing stat pages of each NFL season, it can be objectively stated that there are more important things happening — and that if more were aware of those things, we’d be better equipped to deal with them. We’d be more prepared to elect leaders that work in our best interest. That respect us enough to tell the truth when it matters most.
But next to religion, there’s likely no greater opiate of the masses than professional sports. And in the family that watches ESPN ad infinitum, I can’t help but see a certain religious appreciation.
One of the aspects of sports that fans are quickest to point toward is how they bring people together. Having hopped on a couple of bandwagons in my life to celebrate the occasional Eagles or Phillies win, I won’t deny that there can be a uniting component to professional athletics.
But the other side of that coin is that— at times — people express real animosity and vitriol toward all the sports teams that aren’t their own. An Eagles fan in a cheesesteak line might feel a connection to all his fellow compatriots in green, but there’s a very real aggression that Eagles fans have toward supporters of The Patriots. When it comes to 98% of the teams that fall outside of state limits, people see a reason for acrimony rather than a call for community.
When fandom is high enough and alcohol is consumed enough, the hatred between cities is palpable. Real acts of violence and destruction are routinely excused in the name of sports pride. When the Eagles won the Super Bowl, even cops could be seen participating in the greased-pole-climbing, car-tipping chaos. And while there’s something to be said for pro-pandemonium-police, it’s perplexing how many denounce Black Lives Matter protests and turn a blind eye to whatever chaos unfolds when fans of certain teams either win or lose their big games.
As with religion, sports is an issue that needs to be treaded around lightly. It’s a pastime that means a lot to people. Whatever calamity unfolds because of Super Bowl results doesn’t negate the generational value that “the game” can hold for certain families. A love for a weekly sports match can be a uniting force in a broken home and a glue between discordant communities.
But there are no 20,000 games that are a substitute for current events. And knowing the names of your local politicians doesn’t mean you can’t still watch the game. But in the diehard attention that it takes to know the ins and outs of this complicated network of plays and stats and ever-changing rosters, so often I see someone who’s neglected their due diligence to know which laws are being passed in their state. I see someone who’s got a diet full of meats without the first interest in the greens.
Balance is important in life. More interested minds spread their knowledge between a wide array of subjects. They don’t put all of their eggs into the same basket. But sports can sometimes have a domineering effect on personality. The results of the game become peoples’ most staple trait of character. And when people can name the starting lineup to their favorite three teams and don’t know what’s happening with their own country’s politics, it’s problematic.
And we’re watching the results play out.
Yes, watching sports is a national pastime. I have to place a bet to care who wins. Beer, wings, football. Stay quiet / maybe they’ll forget to vote.