by Ray Keating
The Keating Files – January 10, 2020
Sports always beats politics. I had another experience proving just that when stopping in for a caffeine hit at a Starbucks this week.
I entered the coffee house wearing a “Defend the North” hat and a Kirk Cousins jersey. Yes, I’m a long-suffering fan of the Minnesota Vikings. And despite the fact that this Starbucks was on Long Island and I happen to be a lifelong New Yorker, Fran Tarkenton made me a Vikes fan many years ago when I was a kid. And this is playoff time, so I’m donning the Vikings gear. Also, by the way, don’t be hating on Cousins – Captain Kirk got the job done against the Saints this past Sunday.
Anyway, as I walked toward the counter, a woman waiting for her drink spotted my attire, and proceeded to engage in the SKOL clap made famous by Vikings fans at each home game. This brightened my day. We did a high five, and she mentioned that she had worn her Vikings socks earlier in the day. We spoke about how pleased we were that the Vikings had beaten the Saints, albeit in heart-skipping, nail-biting fashion.
As this lady went to leave, we exchanged a “SKOL!” and another high five, and expressed mutual hope that our team would somehow beat the 49ers this coming Saturday.
That’s what it’s like being a sports fan. Heck, I’ve even had positive engagements with Green Bay Packer fans over the years.
Now, compare that to politics, especially in recent years. Republicans and Democrats largely detest each other. Conservatives and liberals view victories by their opponents in apocalyptic terms. It all can be so exhausting, and I’ve been doing political commentary and policy work for thirty years.
My meeting with a fellow Vikings fan in Starbucks was blissfully ignorant of party registration or our respective positions on the hot button issues of the day. We were just two Vikings fans hoping that our team would win the next game.
I’ve always been a big sports fan, but I appreciate sports fandom now more than ever before given the growing incivility in our nation. And I don’t like when politics soils the game. I’d prefer that the likes of Colin Kaepernick and Donald Trump, for example, simply shut up, along with the dupes who fall in behind each and the ESPN talking heads who find it necessary to weigh in, when it comes to politicizing football, or any other sport.
Sports beats politics, and I support a policy of strict separation of sports and politics.
Oh, yeah, and SKOL! Go Vikes!
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Ray Keating is a columnist, a novelist (his latest novel is The Traitor: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, which is the 12th book in the series), an economist, a nonfiction author (among his recent works is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know), a podcaster, and an entrepreneur. The views expressed here are his own.
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