“Football is football.” Whoever says this does not know Vujadin Boskov – an unforgettable Serbian coach from when Real Madrid did not perform miracles in the Champions League – nor does he talk about the sport that is played with the ‘foot’, with the foot. It’s Jim Rieker, a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a leading NFL team, who talks to ABC with a beer in hand before his team’s game against another great classic, the Dallas Cowboys. He speaks, of course, about American football, a sport that within the United States loses its geographical surname. There is no more football here than that violent game of chess that is played mainly with the hands, in which human bags of muscle collide. Especially in the fall, when the season is played, which barely lasts four months and captures all the country’s attention. Every four years, American football intersects with the presidential elections. The final stretch of the campaign coincides with the first games of the season. The election, next Tuesday, is held in the middle of the league. The certification of the results – a process in which there will be trouble if Donald Trump does not win – will be combined with the playoffs. A few days after the next US president is sworn in on the steps of the Capitol at the end of January, the Super Bowl will be played, the very final. Rieker says that “football is football” to say that politics is not It must have room in it. “We come here to enjoy something together, to unite around our team, not to show our differences,” says Rieker, who warns that he cares a lot about politics, that he follows it closely and that even this year he has registered as an electoral employee to closely follow the process. He is going to vote for Kamala Harris. “But we’re not here for that,” he says from one of the parking lots outside the Steelers stadium in Pittsburgh, in the so-called ‘tailgate’, before the game, an experience that every sports fan should live once in la vida.News Related report Yes “I only trust the result if Trump wins”: the lie of electoral theft triggers tension in Georgia Javier Ansorena | Special envoy to Atlanta (Georgia) Only 28% of Republican voters – compared to 84% of Democrats – have confidence in the fidelity of the elections. Here you can feel the passion for the NFL up close. There are tens of thousands of people scattered in these parking lots, arriving from the morning point. Many have traveled from the four corners of the country. They spread the cheap beer, the tequila shots. The smoke rises from the grills, there is food for an army, the speakers cover each other. It is an ocean of black and gold, the colors of the ‘Steelers’, the ‘steelers’, the proud name of the great steel city, a sector that has been in decline for decades but is the pillar of Pittsburgh’s idiosyncrasy. And this is just a drop of the excessive love for this sport in the US, which dedicates its weekends to it: Friday for high school games, Saturday for university games – as passionate as those in the NFL -, on Sunday for the professionals. Of the hundred most watched television broadcasts last year, 97 were football games. “We come here to enjoy something together, to unite around our team, not to show our differences” Jim RiekerThe most relevant stateTranslate that exaggerated passion, although It is only a part, in political will it could be a decisive factor in such a tied election. Especially in places like this, in Pittsburgh, the second largest city in Pennsylvania, perhaps the most relevant state in the election. It is difficult for Harris or Trump to achieve victory if they do not win here. Trump lost this state in 2020 by 80,000 votes, slightly more than the capacity of the stadium in which the ‘Steelers’ play. And he won it in 2016 for 44,000. That’s why Trump appeared here a few days later, when the ‘Steelers’ played the New York Jets. That is why he also attended a college football classic, the game between the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia, which unleashed madness in the latter state, also decisive in the election. That is why he said that the new rules introduced this year are “soft, like our country has become soft.” Therefore, in response, the Democrats bought advertising on gigantic billboards in the ‘Steelers’ tailgate for that day and flew a small plane with a message about the university party: “Trump has punted in the second debate.” , a football reference to the former president’s refusal to debate Harris again. And they fill the intermissions at football games with advertising. The fans tolerate that. But not that the stars, the coaches or the owners embrace political positions. “There is an instinct in fans that leads them to prefer that football and politics be separated,” says Michael Oriard, a professor emeritus at Oregon State University who was a professional player with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1970s, by phone. “As soon as they mix, there are problems.” “There is an instinct in fans that leads them to prefer that football and politics be separated” Michael Oriard Former professional playerIt happened a few years ago with the protests of some black players, led by the ‘quaterback’ Colin Kaepernick, who bowed their knee during the performance of the national anthem as a gesture against police abuses against their racial minority. That unleashed a wave of indignation among fans and ended up kicking Kaepernick out of the league. Polls assure that fans of this sport are distributed almost equally between Democrats and Republicans. But there is an appearance that ideologically it is closer to the latter. The NBA, however, shares more with the Democrats. “Football is dominated by ideas of masculinity, patriotism and devotion to the US military, even though everyone likes it,” acknowledges Oriard. “Reappropriate” football In this campaign, Democrats are trying to ‘ re-appropriate’ football. Harris introduced his choice for vice president, Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, as ‘Coach Walz’, because he was the defensive coordinator of the high school team in his years as a teacher. Walz attended a game at the University of Michigan, a decisive state, which has the largest sports stadium – the so-called ‘Big House’ – in the country (the third largest in the world). In Pennsylvania, both the vice president and Trump have gained the support of several former ‘Steelers’ players. But active stars, like Patrick Mahomes, remain silent. «I’m sure it goes with Harris. But the players are now a commercial product and he does not want to lose half of his market,” says Oriard (a difference with Lebron James, the last great star of the NBA, who often exposes his positions). But it is difficult to shield oneself from politics. Mahomes’ great friend and teammate on the Chiefs is Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift’s partner, who gave his long-awaited support to Harris. And Mahomes got into trouble because his wife, Brittany, pressed the ‘like’ button on Trump’s social media messages. “Shut up and play,” says Chad Danner, back in the tailgate, big as a closet, covered of ‘Steelers’ beads. He doesn’t want his stars to support any political candidate, not even his own. “Football is an American treasure, I want it to be for everyone.”
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