The Power of Firsts (pt. 1)

Why Americans are Obsessed with Winning

“When was the first time you….”

We’ve all been asked that question. My Facebook feed is often crowded with lists of firsts sent to other friends for comparison: first job, first car, first kiss, first date. Even when we retrieve forgotten passwords we are asked about our firsts: first city you lived in, first pet, etc.

Firsts are memorable. They are novel. They excite us.

Firsts have a strange grip on us Americans. Our love and near-deification of those who have done something first, is deeply engrained in our national psyche.

Even though I’ve never seen this list sent around Facebook, I’m sure you can name at least a few of the following:

• First European explorer to reach the Americas*
• First person to fly an aircraft*
• First person to summit Everest*
• First person to descend the Marianas Trench*
• First person to reach the North Pole *
• First person to pilot a transatlantic flight*
• First person to step on the moon*
• Your first friend on Myspace.*

These are all achievements in their own right, but why is it that Neil Armstrong is held so much higher in our esteem than Buzz Aldrin, for instance?

You know what? Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.

Let me say that again: Buzz. Aldrin. Walked. On. The. Effing. Moon.

You are, most likely, never going to do that. But if you are being honest with yourself…if you saw Buzz Aldrin in a bar, and you were a little drunk, and maybe Buzz was talking shit about your cardigan, or how much you could bench, you would consider, even for the briefest moment….firing back to a bona fide American hero, “I don’t know what you’re talking about Buzz, this cardigan is fresh, you always seem to be ONE STEP behind the times” or if you’re really drunk (and without a shred of dignity) you might say, “How’d Neil’s sloppy seconds taste, Buzz?”

But even if he were still alive, you would never say any of that to Neil Armstrong. No matter what.

That’s how strong the power of firsts is.

Why our fetish with firsts? Simple: We love winning. And winners. We love being winners. We love cheering on winners. We love to be first. We love to say there was no one before us. How many times have we had some form of this conversation?:

A: Dude…I love (that new band that just blew up)

B: Yeah totally…I’ve been listening to them since (that one album a few years back).

or…

A: The OA? Am I right?

B: Yeah, I binge watched it the first night it came out and tweeted it out with the hashtags…. #OAmIright #gottalovethosemoves

Maybe part of our brains are just stuck in Junior High. Where being first was equivalent to being king or queen, even for the briefest moment. If someone told you about something cool, you definitely needed to catch up and felt anxiety about why you didn’t know about that cool new thing first. Nowhere is this Jr. High “thirst for first” more apparent than in our national obsession with sport. When “our team” wins, we feel like “we win” as well.

North American professional sports leagues generated over $31 billion dollars in 2016, more than the next 16 professional leagues around the world combined. Some of that revenue is from outside the North America, sure, but most of it comes from the “Sweet Land of Liberty” and our neighbors to the north.

Perhaps we love sport because it’s very simple to judge. In sport, there is always a winner and loser. There is no grey area. There is no subjectivity. It’s the perfect diversion for the win worshippers. You can always point to an individual athlete and say, “he lost that (big game that one time)” or “she won that (championship with a broken hand).” Unlike virtually any other profession, athletes have a record, and that record is posted in the newspaper. There are no rotisserie hedge fund manager fantasy leagues. No section in the business section that shows the win/ loss record of a CEO. American sports fans spend hours mulling over big questions like: what is the difference in legacy between a quarterback who has won 1 Super Bowl vs a quarterback who has won 2? As if our talking about it means a damn to the HOF nominating committee. Imagine we flip the script and Peyton Manning could come into your office, and do the same to you?

Peyton: You know Bob, you’re one of the greatest Outside Sales Managers of all time, top 5 at least, but you gotta get one more major wholesale account in order to be considered top 2 all time. Three accounts would be better, honestly…. I’m sorry man…you’re a disappointment if you don’t. Everyone agrees. No Bob…it doesn’t matter what you think. Bob, I would like to give you a chance to respond.

Bob: That’s not fair Peyton. You signed up for this. I didn’t. Criticism and ridicule all goes along with being a public figure. So do the free dinners and endorsement deals. I’m just an Outside Sales Manager making peanuts a year, you are a professional athlete making millions. Of course I deserve my hot take on whether or not you are the GOAT.

Why is it that when the best athletes succeed, we feel a part of that success, yet when they fail, we feel entitled to eviscerate their performance, as if we could’ve done better. The athlete/fan relationship has never sat well with me.

If you consume sports somewhat seriously, you must admit that you feel a tangible swelling of pride when your “winner” wins a game. You maybe even feel a sense of power when a “loser” falls in defeat. If fans of the losing team are around, you immediately feel a superiority. Whether you act on it or not…you FEEL it. People who feel superior often act on it: gloating, bragging, and otherwise trying their best to make the other team’s fans feel as awful as possible. This can lead to fights (even deaths), at worst. Alcohol is often a factor in the most violent incidences. But perhaps even more disturbing is the tendency to lord “your teams” victory over friends, colleagues, perfect strangers, or God forbid, Buzz Aldrin. Even though you had precisely zero to do with the final score, you feel you deserve at least some of the “power” or “glory” that your “winner” has earned for you.

How does this all relate to history and politics?

I see this exact same “winner’s principle” at work when watching the Youtube videos of Trump supporters that have surfaced since Nov. 8th.

A man in Starbucks, or woman in Michael’s craft store (of all places) using the president elect’s name as it they were invoking some higher power. “I voted for Trump! You lost…You’re garbage. Complete trash.” And…“What are you gonna do about it?” Or repeating mockingly, “And look who won, and look who won and look who won.” Or painting themselves as the victim: “Are you treating me this way because I voted for Trump.” These Trump supporters mistakenly seem to be using his name the way people of faith call on the Almighty. Thinking they’re casting out demons, when indeed they are merely summoning their own. And often proceed to act in embarrassing ways or say terrible things.

In both cases, they were letting the whole store know which “team” they rooted for. Their “team” just won the championship game, and felt they could brag and gloat till next season (or in this case for the next 4 years). The truly baffling aspect of this behavior is that there is no indication from the videos that the objects of their ire “rooted for the other team.” They gloated just to gloat. Picture a Cleveland Cavs fan walking into a random Dairy Queen and screaming that everyone in the store is a loser, that he is a Cavs fan and they won so now they all suck and he is the best.

Sounds insane right?

Trump sportified politics in a way no other candidate has done before him. He had a bunch of bright red hats (made in China, btw) that ironically said, “Make America Great Again.” By wearing one of these hats, you proclaimed your loyalty before you even opened your mouth. Much the way sports caps do, the red hats served the accomplish the trifecta of political and sports marketing: instant recognizability, brand identity, an easily digestable slogan. The red hats were all about exclusion, all about making someone feel like they didn’t belong in the ballpark if they weren’t wearing one. Where Obama said, “we’re all on the same team, ” his successor asked, “what team are you on: hers or mine? If you’re on mine…where’s your hat” He made the election about what team you root for instead of improving the game. The problem with Trump setting up this construct is that, during his presidency, no matter what policy decision is legislated or which executive action is taken, “one team’s fans” are always going home from the game disappointed. And the “other team’s fans” feel emboldened to gloat, bully, and disrespect the side that lost.

Sons and daughters often root for the sports team their parent supports because, in infancy, they were adorned in Dallas Cowboys onesises and Pittsburgh Steelers rompers. They were surrounded and innundated by their family’s “team” so who they rooted for was never a choice. They were literally clothed in their tribal allegiance before they knew what allegiance was. Political loyalties are often the same.

Like old baseball cards and vintage hats, I believe hatred, bigotry, tribalism and victimhood are passed down through generations like heirlooms, from father to son, right on down the line. Sometimes those heirlooms must be hidden for years, because of the currents of the time, but they will come out sooner or later…as we saw in the Youtube videos. When they do return, its shocking, but we realize hatred, bigotry and tribalism have never left our shores, never been cleared out, they’ve just been patiently waiting in a dark corner for the last 20 some odd years. Waiting for the right time, the right person, to enable them to rear their ugly heads. Like the Celtics jersey that had been in the cellar for years, got dusted off in 2007, and is proudly worn by an obnoxious fan as if the team didn’t have more than a decade of futility…hatred, exclusion and bigotry are never far from being on the back of its “fans.”

This is where you come in….you know, the guy who said you don’t have to DEAL WITH Trump winning the presidency. After all….you didn’t vote for him. You voted for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. You don’t have a team in Super Bowl and “just want to see a good game.”

Or maybe you did vote for the Bully but only because you disdain Hillary. If your protest vote succeeded, and you truly believed he would bring monumental change, I urge you to not forget those who are most vulnerable to that change. And I am not talking about the politicians you are so certain he would make “fall in line.” I’m talking about populations of people who are the most at risk of having their constitutional and human rights violated.

If you witness one of Trump’s “fans” beating up, berating or otherwise abusing someone innocent, even if they don’t look like you, or root for the same team, it is your duty as a citizen to step in and stop the abuse.

If people who freely practice their religion are not allowed to, yours might be next.

If people who freely decide who they choose to love are not allowed to, one day, you might not be allowed to either.

If people aren’t allowed dignity, or the pursuit of their own happiness, the pendulum of control could swing against you as well.

In this era of the Trump, you must come to the defense of those who are being persecuted in his name. If you will not, it matters little if you voted for the man or not, you are no different than his most active supporters. Your silence and inaction is tantamount to complicity.

Let’s make the game better, not the rivalry.

When bullies rule, we all lose. When people are afraid to speak up, to step up, to stand up, a bully wins. Do not be silent, do not be afraid.

History loses when you do nothing.

— Matthew Gilliam

(cont. in Part 2, coming soon)