Patriotism vs Supporting a Winning Team

So, I've finally decided to do this blog thing. Perhaps it might even keep me out the pubs and out of trouble... no wait, scrap that comment...

In light of the upcoming Soccer World Cup, for my first subject I've decided to touch on something that both infuriates me and gives me great satisfaction. Patriotism. Ah, the mere mention of the word sends images of Mel Gibson in Braveheart and also the Patriot flying through my brain. But this is South Africa, and what does being a patriot mean to us? Does it mean painting the flag on the roof of our 2 ton pick up truck? Does it mean wearing SA flag underwear and letting your country ''support'' you? Does it mean shouting ''R.S.A'' everytime we get a little excited? Oh no wait, it's just the yanks who do that...

For me, a South African's patriotism can be found in the way they support and love, well, anything South African really. South African foods, sports teams, actors, musicians etc. are the biggest beneficaries of our patriotism. Any Saffa who has lived overseas, or even been on an overseas holiday, can agree that coming across a South African store or even a mere piece of biltong can at times evoke emotions not seen since Kate let go of Leo's frozen hand in the Titanic. A sense of national pride is an emotion that cannot be explained, like watching the Boks lift the William Webb Ellis trophy in 1995 and 2007, or watching Graeme Smith and the boys wallop the pompous Wallabies on their own hometrack in 2008... Great memories those ain't it? So why is it then that as soon as race is brought into the equation, a person's patriotism gets split down the middle? Let me ellaborate...

Jabu supports Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana with all his heart and soul, however when it comes to supporting the Springboks, he says he would rather support the NZ All Blacks due to South Africa's tainted past. Dave thinks Jabu is a hypocrite and must stop living in the past and support his country. Dave is right. However, Dave is also a hypocrite. When you ask Dave which soccer team he supports, invariably his answer will be Liverpool/Man U/Chelsea or something of that sort. I ask him why does he not support Chiefs or Pirates or any other local team, and the answer is generally always the same... "I don't watch that crap". When asked which international soccer team he supports the answer is always England or France or whatever, but it's never South Africa. Why? "Because they're useless, there's like one white ou in the team, that's why they so shit. And SAFA is so corrupt, they don't care about the game, only themselves". So basically, Dave is telling me that he is a racist fairweather supporter. A bit controversial considering probably 90% of the people I know have that same view. But fact is fact, yes there are major problems within SAFA, but believe me, whatever goes on there goes on at rugby headquarters. Are there racists within SA Soccer? Sure. Are there racists within SA Rugby? Of course there are. But do we stop supporting the Boks because of this, or if they start losing too often? Hell no!!

So Jabu, get over yourself, it's 2010, support your damn country. Forget the All Blacks. And Dave, come china, support a team you actually have an emotional attachment to. Not some foreign team whose country you probably haven't even visited! I don't care what your heritage might be, you were born and raised as a South African, so whether it's jukskei, tiddlywinks, rugby or soccer, if it's South African, that means it's YOUR team. Let's get behind Bafana Bafana for this world cup, and regardless of how they perform, they'll still be fellow countrymen giving it their all to make us proud, let's give them the respect they deserve.

Oh and before I forget... STORMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Catch ya'll on the flipside...
Dazz

(For the record, I am not a soccer fan, but if SA plays, I support them first and foremost. My secondary team is Italy. If have to choose a club team, it'll be Kaizer Chiefs. I do not support an overseas based club team. I am quite possibly the biggest rugby fan I know and watch all the rugby I can. I'll hopefully be doing a lot of rugby posts in the future, as well posts on leadership, or any other random academic thing I might be interested in at the time!)