Why is the House spending the afternoon congratulating football teams?

[Skidmore]

We don't have anything else more pressing than this? Why are these football games so worthy of all this time?

[walldude]

1. Free tickets, luxury boxes

campaign contributions.. the usual. I never understood the fasination with sports myself.

[LisaM]

2. Like it or not, sports are a shared national experience

I don't have a problem with it.

[Bill McBlueState]

6. good call

And since Congress represents the people, it's not surprising that they might participate in a shared national experience from time to time.

There's a strong tendency around here for people to look at the congressional day as a zero-sum game, where time spent on anything "frivolous" takes away from serious business. But Congress can both pass legislation and participate in ceremony.

[Captain Hilts]

16. Exactly right. Hi LisaM, haven't seen you in a while! nt

[LisaM]

21. Is it baseball season yet?

Go Tiges!

[SharonRB]

3. I thought they were going to take up the next item on the list

I believe it was cutting college loan interest rates?

Enough already with all the time spent on this stuff.

[bluewave]

4. People in Europe kill/riot over soccer games

Sports is serious business to many. I've heard people suggest it substitutes for our primal love of aggression and ritual violence.

[drm604]

11. I've never understood the fascination with it myself,

and I'd personally prefer that taxpayer's money wasn't spent on talking about it.

It's a form of entertainment, period. I doubt that many people would be happy if our legislatures spent taxpayer's time discussing the merits of a particular band or the latest antics of Homer Simpson or Dr. Gregory House.

But I know that I'm way outnumbered on this so there's no point in my tilting at this relatively minor windmill.

[Captain Hilts]

17. I need sports now more than ever to get my mind off the news. nt

[BlooInBloo]

5. If you're referring to Pelosi giving legislators time to read legislation...

... and mandatory seminars for freshmen, then one wonders why you're repeating republican bullshit spin.

EDIT: Forgot the "if" - my bad.

[Skidmore]

9. I suggest you take that "r...BS spin" comment back.

I personally see all the backslapping over this on the floor as a monumental waste of time, especially given how * upped the ante over the weekend. There's some serious discussion that could be taking place on the floor of the House today. I'm not hearing it. I've heard gushy Gators and Broncos comments for some time now.

[BlooInBloo]

13. Suggestion noted. I suggest you look up the meaning of "if... then...".

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. And many Muricans WATCH the games and FOLLOW

the season. It takes a minute to do that and it gives the illusion that they are connected

Look I DON'T follow the teams, but if I ran for office in the town I live, trust me, I'd have to have an aide
brief me so I can congratulate the teams and at least fake some knowledge

[WilliamPitt]

8. Because it's tradition.

[Rex]

10. Bush is all yuk, yuk with his legacy and the Cardnals.

To bad he thinks they are laughing WITH him! :rofl:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. Well, it's not like they have anything important to do...like fundraising.

“America is a nation without a distinct criminal class...with the possible exception of Congress." - Mark Twain

[Johonny]

14. Not unusual

lots of presidents have done it. Personally I wish Bush spent all his time meeting football teams and nothing else for 2 more years.

[LisaM]

15. I don't think there's much else in this country that transcend politics right now

I think that's why game shows and stuff like American Idol are so popular. We are splintered on almost everything else.

[Captain Hilts]

18. For a long time, the Redskins were all that held DC together. nt

[necso]

19. Sports are a huge part of our popular culture,

and this started millennia ago (this phenomenon is also just one face of a larger, more enduring and widespread phenomenon). The ancient Greeks made a big deal of their sports and sports "heroes" (winners at the Olympic Games were sometimes taken-care-of for life), as did the Romans (the gladiatorial "games" were sport to them) and the Byzantines (there were related riots, street-battles). (And there are older roots (I surmise) going back to a group's war-champions* -- and going even further back to pack-leaders and other alpha-types (cliques, power-groups are to be found within some packs).)

It's a complex phenomenon, and in it there are elements of self-gratification ("we won"), domination ("you lose"), social bonding (both of the fans (followers) with the players and with fellow fans, although often at some (great) remove and only in one direction, like the "bonding" of fans to players) and even peer/pair-bonding (where this occurs on the side of a fan to some player(s), it's typically rather artificial and one-sided; in extremis, pathological). (And going further back (to war-champions, pack-leaders, etc), survival and reproduction drives factor in -- and perhaps these roots (redirected, misdirected) are still strong drivers.)

"Identification" with, "idolization" of, and "bonding" to (typically at some (great) remove and only in one direction, although (often) nonetheless fervent for all that: "I shook so-and-so's hand -- the best day of my life.") various "heroes"/"leaders" is a historical (and current) commonplace -- and the effects can be seen very widely (the political arena being notable, as is "entertainment").

It's human nature (and culture).

*: Single combats between champions -- sometimes effecting (being) the outcome of various battles or conflicts -- have historically been common across cultures.

[Captain Hilts]

22. It was rowing, boxing, horse racing, track, baseball...it's always something. nt

[SoCalDem]

20. because every minute they are dedicating a post office, congratulating rich sweaty guys,

or re naming a state insect somewhere is a minute they don't have to go on the record regarding something important :grr: