Standing up for what's right

Sporting News, The, March 25, 1996 by Dave Kindred

Only twice have I felt uncomfortable at sports events. The first time came during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Athletes from the United States dominated Games weakened by a Soviet Union boycott. With every victory, however hollow, American spectators sent up chants of "USA ... USA."

Sometimes inspiring, as in 1980 when underdog Americans won a hockey gold medal, the chants in `84 were dispiriting to me. They were dispiriting because they came off as the boasts of a bully. Moreover, they expressed a nationalism so virulent as to be an insult to our visitors from around the world. It was patriotism deformed, honor mutated into jingoism.

The second time I felt uncomfortable was at the 1991 Super Bowl in Tampa. Because the Persian Gulf War was about to begin, the NFL used its championship game--and allowed it to be used -- as a stage for a nationalistic, militaristic demonstration of American power.

Those of us at that Super Bowl saw honor guards parade around the field. We heard martial music from each branch of our military services. Jet fighter planes streaked overhead. His image on a video screen in the stadium, President George Bush asked for our prayers. The 80,000 spectators sang "The Star-Spangled Banner." Most everyone seemed to love it.

And what was there for a patriot not to love?

You could love it all--unless you thought about it for a minute or so. If you thought about it instead of simply reacting to the call to patriotism, you might have asked yourself a disturbing question. You might have asked: What if the circumstances were reversed?

That is, what if Americans had seen a national championship soccer game from Iraq just before the Gulf War? What would we think if we had seen 80,000 Iraquis gathered in a stadium watching jet fighters streak overhead? What would we have thought of those folks cheering martial music? What would we have thought if they had prayed along with the video-screen image of Saddam Hussein and then stood to sing a hymn celebrating their country's survival against all odds?

Seeing all this done in a country such as Iraq, we might have thought: Those folks are whacko lunatics.

These moments in Los Angeles and Tampa persuaded me that the more we allow politics to be part of sports, the more absurd it is.

Consider the current contretemps sending the NBA against Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the Nuggets player who refused to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Abdul-Rauf says his religion, Islam, forbids nationalistic rituals. Besides, he says, the American flag is a symbol of tyranny and oppression.

In response, the NBA cited regulations calling for players to stand in a dignified position for the anthem. The league suspended Abdul-Rauf at a cost to him of almost $32,000 a game.

Abdul-Rauf first said he would never abandon his principle: "If I have to give up basketball, I will." But his defiance lasted only one game. He decided to stand for the anthem and during its playing engage in silent prayer for all oppressed people. The NBA said OK.

"After looking into what I did, I realize now there's a better approach and I am willing to take that approach," Abdul-Rauf says.

In sports rhubarbs, it's usually easy to take a side. Not this time. In practically every aspect of their behavior, the NBA and Abdul-Rauf come off as dumb and dumber.

Abdul-Rauf's explanation of his return reveals him as naive and foolish. Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon, also a Muslim, says Abdul-Rauf misstated tenets of Islam that he cited as reasons for not standing for the anthem all year long. As for the NBA, its suspension of Abdul-Rauf paints the league as a dictatorial bully misusing its power to impose on its employees political beliefs they do not share.

In each case the question is: Why do it?

Abdul-Rauf clearly had no idea why he wanted to ignore the anthem, or he long ago would have figured out a way to do it and keep his paycheck. The NBA no doubt insists on its misbegotten tradition of playing the anthem for the same reason every other sport does: It's a good marketing tool, especially useful in pandering to an audience that is politically conservative.

It's the cynical nature of the anthem's use that leaves me most dispirited. Basketball, baseball, hockey and football play the anthem not to celebrate patriotism. They just want customers to think the game somehow is proof of patriotism. They play it to connect the game and the country, as if to say, "Love the U.S., love the NBA! We're partners!"

In this, am I too harsh? Well, let's give the NBA the best of it. Let's say the league truly believes it does the nation a service by playing the anthem. Still, the suspension of Abdul-Rauf is a self-defeating act. Any organization dedicated to American ideals allows political dissent and even encourages it as proof of freedom.