Sports As Political Factions?

[georgephillip]

From Wiki:

"The Latin word factio denoted originally either of the chariot teams that were organised professionally by private companies in ancient Rome, each recognizable by characteristic colour, and arousing supporter hysteria similar to that in modern sports fans..."

"In time, political currents could become associated with such a team, although precisely how this happened is unclear. In Byzantine Constantinople, two such chariot factions, blue and green, repeatedly made or broke the claims of candidates to the imperial throne."

Any ideas how that happened?

Are the same forces in play today?

Tebow in '28?

Political faction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[imbalance]

wat

 

[Mad Scientist]

OP, you mean something like this?

American League vs. National League

Is the same as;

Republican vs Democrat

Like that? Absolutely!

 

[georgephillip]

OP, you mean something like this?

American League vs. National League

Is the same as;

Republican vs Democrat

Like that? Absolutely!

Keeping in mind the American and National Leagues compete on a level playing field while politicians do everything they can to ensure an unfair advantage for their side, I think your comparison is where those mysterious political currents get started. Another possible example is the warfare between factions that we witnessed in the recent NBA lockout.

 

[georgephillip]

wat

"Wats" the connection between killing and sport?

"These (chariot) teams were not unlike gladiator schools, but the lethal nature of that entertainment meant few performers lasted long enough to build up similar crowd loyalty to the 'team'..."

Political faction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Did Pat Tillman represent a political faction?