When did the Superbowl become an exercise in enforced patriotism?

[SheilaT]

15. No, I'm home alone, lucky me,

but the twenty minutes or so of singing the National Anthem, of a very strong military presence, the entire show of patriotism simply has no place in secular games like this. It's creepy, and completely out of place. Okay, so my core problem is that I only follow any sports rather casually. I don't consider them truly important, and so I am probably missing a lot of cultural cues here.

I not only believe in separation of Church and State, but I believe with equal ardor in the separation of Church, State, and Sport. Given that many fans honestly believe God is on the side of Their Team, I think a rereading of Mark Twain's "The War Prayer" might actually be appropriate here. http://warprayer.org/

As an added personal note, I have lived in several cities with major league teams, and have been around for my share of various championship games, and while I get civic pride, I honestly don't get the importance that many people place on the outcome of a game. One of the things I honestly like about living in New Mexico, a state with no major league ball teams at all, is that there's a very diminished attention paid to such things. Although I must admit, many people here are Broncos fans, understandably, and earlier today when I was out at the grocery store it was much like being in Denver when the Broncos are in a Superbowl.