Team Spirit Is Stupid

Don't be a rival retard. First let me say that "retard" refers to someone who's metal capacity is slowed down in some ways. I know there are people out there who want to "take back the "r" word" and that doesn't even make sense. The word "retard" is often applied to the mentally handicapped as a pejorative, or demeaning word and that should be stopped immediately, but you could also say that I am "socially retarded", meaning somewhere my ability to function in a group was not fully developed. Now that we have that settled, let's move on.

I saw this video recently of Texas Tech fans hassling Texas fans as they entered a football game. These are people who have had "school spirit" drummed into them so forcefully over the years that they act violently towards those who don't agree with them. We've also had more than a few situations at the High School level where groups from different schools fight. To all of this, let me ask you a question; what did your school do for you that is worth fighting for? For instance, you paid a college a very large sum of money for an education, they didn't "give" it to you as a favor, so why do you owe them anything? The same goes for public schools, why are you so proud of a state mandated, taxpayer funded education? You and your parents paid for it through taxes, and as a matter of fact, if you don't go, you'll be threatened by the district. The same goes for "school colors". You can't wear "gang colors" but they drum it into you to wear "school colors" at certain events. Doesn't choosing sides and everybody wearing certain colors make "school colors" another form of "gang colors".

We even as a radio station tried to institute a trophy for a cross-town school rivalry because we thought one of the schools never got the attention it deserved, and the opportunity was declined by the school district because students from the two schools were already prone to violence against each other.

Pro sports are even worse. Do you think your favorite team gives a crap of you as an individual? They could care less. They are their players care about their paychecks and what they can get you to buy and that's as far as it goes.

It's fun to cheer on a team or school, but it should stop at that. Why would you even yell in the face of an opponent or someone that comes from a different place? Take a lesson from the athletes themselves, they shake hands before and after every game. That's the irony here. Most of these idiotic behaviors are based on sports rivalries, and the sports teams themselves (usually) don't treat each other in a disrespectful way.

Let's start a new "civility" when it comes to school spirit. Of all the dumb things you could be fighting over, the address of where you got your education has to be one of the dumbest. Don't be a rival retard.