By Michael Brendan Dougherty
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
A few days ago, Devin Gordon wrote for the New York Times about the psychic pain he endures
rooting for sports figures, namely the Mets, who include among them many
pro-MAGA voices. He writes:
Then there’s the friend, a fellow
Mets fan, with whom I’ve developed a soothing routine. He’ll periodically text
me the name of a favorite player who he just discovered, to his horror, “is
MAGA.” I’ll text back with a reality check: “They’re all MAGA,” which isn’t
true but, if you follow major league baseball long enough, sure starts to feel
true. He’ll reply with a sad emoji. He’s in Los Angeles, I’m in Boston, and
this has become our bonding ritual, our bicoastal do-si-do. It’s also part of
how he processes the guilt required to go right back to rooting for those
particular players, at least while they’re in the uniform of the team he
adores.
He and I understand that none of
us need to surrender our convictions and clap like performing seals for someone
whose beliefs or behavior offends us. Nor should we require ourselves to root
for someone’s individual failure at the expense of our chosen team. Because
here’s the thing: It’s still just sports.
I don’t want to go over again the terrain I covered in this post a few months ago. But, I am worried
that progressives are getting so tuned up that they are alienating themselves
from athletics altogether, almost guaranteeing that a culture of athletes
remains conservative politically.
But I hope the author finds his way through. I’ve long
since accepted that most of the brilliant actors, screenwriters, and musicians
I love have progressive politics. My favorite pop-singer songwriter, Ben Folds,
resigned his work at the Kennedy Center when Trump returned to office. I don’t
even feel that I’m separating the art from the artist when I enjoy his work. I
just accept that he sees the world differently than I do.
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