Issue Date: 3/15/10
America's Team? What a joke
By Loghan Call
Almost everyone has heard the term America's Team, but not necessarily its origin, or even if it exists. Simply put, we don't have a football team that represents American consistently because we have the attention span of a 2-year-old who is more fair-weathered than a flock of geese.
The idea of America's Team first originated during a 1978 film about the Dallas Cowboys football team, in which they were dubbed "America's Team" - and the term stuck. The term was relevant because during that time, the Cowboys were extremely popular; 160 consecutive sold-out games, Super Bowl appearances as commonplace as nude photos of Paris Hilton and fans in the stands decked out in patriotic apparel.
Unfortunately the new millennium hit and the Cowboy's success wore off. Like many other fads, the Cowboys were stripped of their title. Then 9/11 occurred and America needed a new team. This team needed to be playing well, so naturally the New England Patriots picked up where the Cowboys left off.
Of course, after time the Patriots' appeal faded and the phrase "America's Team" was phased out until the New Orleans Saints came marching in. Once again we jumped on the bandwagon that was the Saints and cheered them on as they brought a Super Bowl ring to a town recently devastated by natural disaster.
Get the theme? The term "America's Team" is a publicity stunt to draw attention to a certain team during a time of crisis. But true sports fans generally refer to this as being a fair-weather fan.
I understand the concept of being a fair-weather fan; people want to be a part of something special. However the idea of giving any team the title America's Team at any point in history is downright unreasonable.
Just because a pro sports team does well in a time of national crisis doesn't mean that they magically become our national team.
It's not like these teams are made up of our armed forces or law enforcement officers. And it's not fair to select one team out of the hundreds of pro teams we have in America.
What about all the fans and players from the other teams? I'm a Giants fan so I don't think the Cowboys were or ever will be our national team. Besides that, it is not fair to take another team and cast them in a separate light than everyone else. We already have to deal with the Yankees.
We don't support one branch of our military more than the other and nor should we favor any one team. Sports are a great escape during a time of crisis, but let fans root for their favorite team. Showcasing one team is nothing short of close-minded and degrading to everyone else.
There will always be the fair-weather fans that jump onto the popular team in the moment, but let's not kid ourselves.
That's called band-wagoning, not patriotism.
The idea of America's Team first originated during a 1978 film about the Dallas Cowboys football team, in which they were dubbed "America's Team" - and the term stuck. The term was relevant because during that time, the Cowboys were extremely popular; 160 consecutive sold-out games, Super Bowl appearances as commonplace as nude photos of Paris Hilton and fans in the stands decked out in patriotic apparel.
Unfortunately the new millennium hit and the Cowboy's success wore off. Like many other fads, the Cowboys were stripped of their title. Then 9/11 occurred and America needed a new team. This team needed to be playing well, so naturally the New England Patriots picked up where the Cowboys left off.
Of course, after time the Patriots' appeal faded and the phrase "America's Team" was phased out until the New Orleans Saints came marching in. Once again we jumped on the bandwagon that was the Saints and cheered them on as they brought a Super Bowl ring to a town recently devastated by natural disaster.
Get the theme? The term "America's Team" is a publicity stunt to draw attention to a certain team during a time of crisis. But true sports fans generally refer to this as being a fair-weather fan.
I understand the concept of being a fair-weather fan; people want to be a part of something special. However the idea of giving any team the title America's Team at any point in history is downright unreasonable.
Just because a pro sports team does well in a time of national crisis doesn't mean that they magically become our national team.
It's not like these teams are made up of our armed forces or law enforcement officers. And it's not fair to select one team out of the hundreds of pro teams we have in America.
What about all the fans and players from the other teams? I'm a Giants fan so I don't think the Cowboys were or ever will be our national team. Besides that, it is not fair to take another team and cast them in a separate light than everyone else. We already have to deal with the Yankees.
We don't support one branch of our military more than the other and nor should we favor any one team. Sports are a great escape during a time of crisis, but let fans root for their favorite team. Showcasing one team is nothing short of close-minded and degrading to everyone else.
There will always be the fair-weather fans that jump onto the popular team in the moment, but let's not kid ourselves.
That's called band-wagoning, not patriotism.
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