Return Of the Sports Nazis

They're back . . ..

They show up at every Olympiad. They are not athletes, or IOC officials, but they may be even more ubiquitous. They sure do make their presence known. I'm talking about. . .the Sports Nazis.

The who? The Sports Nazis - the American fans who appear in the stands carrying oversized flags and wearing floppy Uncle Sam hats chanting, "U-S-A! U-S-A!" every time an American athlete does spectacularly well. Unlike normal American fans or fans from other countries, who simply cheer and wave an appropriately sized flag in the air, the Sports Nazis always have to yell "U-S-A! U-S-A!" at top of their lungs. A British sports journalist, observing this in Atlanta eight years ago, lamented that it reminded him of the supernationalistic chant from the German Third Reich - "Sieg heil! Sieg heil!" Hence, I call these boors Sports Nazis.

The Sports Nazis give Olympic fandom a bad name. They throw their considerable weight around in the stands (many of them are fat and out of shape, and live vicariously through the athletes) and act like total boors, fortified with the attitude that the United States of America - "U-S-A!" - is the most athletically superior nation on earth (see my August 18 entry) and that other nations had better start liking it. Plus, they stand up and block people's views, probably spill their beer on other spectators, and think that just because an American athlete wins a gold medal , that makes them, the fans, even more superior for simply being Americans.

Let me make this clear. Most American sports fans are not Sports Nazis. Most of them are decent people who enjoy international competition and respect both our athletes and their foreign competitors. But the Sports Nazis - much like Sean Hannity - are always getting all the attention for their beyond-the-pale obnoxious behavior, leading many to believe that all Americans are that boorish and have such big supremacy complexes. As the official fan of the 2004 Olympics (you wanna disagree with that? I thought not!), I am appalled at the Sports Nazis and their disgraceful conduct. I urge all American sports fans to disavow them and dissociate themselves from their behavior.

I think George W. Bush might have done so in between his comments on soft-money campaign ads. :-D