Earlham Echo

February 25, 2025

By Todd Weber

I haven’t followed politics as closely as sports over the course of my life, but I’ve noticed a few similarities. (A) People support their teams no matter what, (B) have a general dislike for their opponents, and (C) tend to view everything through a biased lens.

I have many allegiances in almost every sport, but the one team I am most passionate about is the Green Bay Packers. Weekends during football season are centered around Packer games, and whether or not I’m in a good mood the day after is directly proportional to whether they won or not.

As I have gotten more mature (i.e. begun to enter old age), my approach to how I cheer for my team has transformed a little, and lately, in the attempt to become a slightly more stable fan, I have begun to analyze the ABCs of fandom.

• I’ll always be a fan of the Packers. I can’t imagine a scenario that would change that. But I do question them at times. Yeah, they’ve been good for a long time, but it really is past time to get to another Super Bowl. The bar is set high in Green Bay, but that’s what management signed up for. It’s time to deliver. And the coach is definitely smarter than me, but please stop running jet sweeps on 4^th and 1.
• I don’t like the Bears or the Lions or the Vikings and I want them to lose every week, but most of their fans seem okay. Many years ago when I found out my future in-laws were Vikings fans, I admit I had a brief moment of anxiety. I thought, “Are they going to buy Vikings’ gear for my future babies?” They actually did for a while, but my kids were so overwhelmed with Packers onesies and stuffed footballs that it didn’t matter. And I found out the Kresses were really wonderful people, with their NFL team loyalty the only thing that was remotely disagreeable about them.
• When fans are watching their team play, every call the officials make against their team—or don’t make against the other team—is a grievous offense worthy of foot stomps heavy enough to scare the dog or mild cursing at the television. ‘Bad calls’ that go in favor of your team? They go unnoticed. I like to think I am better about this kind of tunnel vision when it comes to the Packers, but the affliction can and does rear its ugly head on an almost weekly basis.

The ABCs as they pertain to politics are much easier for me to handle. I’m a Republican and probably always will be, but I know the right doesn’t have all the answers. I have a ton of Democrat friends. The fact that they are slightly misguided politically doesn’t phase that friendship. As in football, political ‘bad calls’ tend to even out. The 2020 presidential election, with mail-in ballots and late-night vote dumps, did seem a little sketchy. But how about the hanging chads in 2000?

Football is much more fun than politics, but politics—especially these days—is much more important. We have a new presidential administration making waves and a lot of things going on with the Madison County government. We have to pay attention—and be cognizant of our ABCs.

• Be loyal to your party—but guess what—they both screw up. Do you notice when yours does? If being a ‘good Democrat’ or ‘good Republican’ means ignoring your party’s missteps, no one should have any interest in being either one of those.
• We’re all in this together, folks. Your friends and neighbors are not defined by a ‘D’ or an ‘R.’ The guy across the street is probably not a Nazi or a Commie and whoever he voted for isn’t one, either. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, but most of us want the same things out of life, more or less. Let’s figure out a way to get there together.
• Do you have political tunnel vision or do you ‘call them both ways?’ Do you feel that a newly elected official deserves some grace? If so, did you show the last person to hold the job any, or did you drag their name through the mud? Do you shout for transparency in government, then go silent when your side appears to be covering their tracks once they gain power?

Hold your favorite sports team accountable. It’s their job to win. You pay the salaries of elected officials. Hold them to a high standard; especially the ones you voted for.