This past weekend, I attended the Michigan State University vs. University of Michigan football game held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. While there, I couldn’t help but notice the obsessive pride aggressively portrayed by fans of both teams. Men ages 18 to 60 were fired up for their favorite team, and by the behavior of these individuals, you’d have thought these men themselves were suiting up to play football. It was hilarious, ridiculous and confusing.

Frankly, it reminded me of the intense competition in a two-party system that we’ve seen this election cycle. Both parties tell you to hate the guys supporting the opposing team– which felt exactly like my experience at the game.

I’d like to make it clear that I am a sports fan, and have played a variety of sports in my life. This take isn’t to hate on lovers of sports, it’s a confused fan interested in the complexities of pride within the athletic community. Why are fans, usually men in my experience, so serious about their favorite sports teams? 

We see extreme reactions to sports all the time. Old men getting into fights at NFL football games, social media wars against other teams’ fans and recently, we even witnessed two Yankees fans interfere with a World Series game to help their team out. While at MSU vs. U of M, the air was filled with curse words, obnoxious arguments and occasionally violent threats between the fan bases. I felt shocked, amused and to be honest, kind of threatened. 

What I’ve learned from sport fan bases is that people take a game, and form a false sense of ownership and passion for it. Some may call these people die-hards, super fans or extremists. 

While this can be an issue in sports, my critique of this behavior goes much further. I feel that the behavior of extreme sports fans is comparable to the themes we see in large, political movements. The same intense passion is reflected within our two-party system, where both sides have drastically different views.

Now, there is nothing wrong with fighting for a cause, feeling passionate about a football team or joining a political movement, especially when that movement is a fight for your freedom. But, in the midst of adversarial competitiveness that absorbs attention and passion, there is a political system pinning half the country up against the other half. This is to say, the system is keeping us from viewing our fellow humans as humans.

When it comes down to it, I don’t care mind a bit of competitive trash trash in sports. However, it is important to be aware of this type of mentality, and to be careful not to have this mindset when addressing the real world. When you meet people with different opinions, religious beliefs and social values, treat them like humans instead of the label our political system puts on them. People on opposing teams, or with opposing viewpoints are still people. It doesn’t have to be a rivalry.