National Pride sits uneasily with me. It is the petrol that fuels many a backward hatred of a neighbouring country or the energy to hold onto pointless out dated traditions. What I mean is that for the majority of those who assume some ferocious pride in their country the only connection they have with that country is that it provided the ground on which the building was built that their mother lay in as she expelled them into the world. Convoluted, huh?
The arena where national pride comes into an interesting focus for me is football support. When I see old pro's from the England team talking about pride in the shirt I can't help but thinking of the old saying about being able to choose your friends and not your family. Relationships that you find and develop in life are often fraught with more passion and take hard work to graft into something meaningful. On the other hand, the default relationships i.e. your immediate family, are obviously the most enduring and best link to your past. So the support I have for my club of choice mirrors the bond with friends and the support for my country symbolises the family bond?
That would suggest that I am devoted to my friends and follow every little detail and in turn take my family for granted, only checking in when there's something big on the horizon. This is eerily accurate. I trawl the transfer rumour pages for any subtle hints of who Liverpool might be interested in. Whereas Ireland on the other hand could qualify for the World Cup and I couldn't give a crap, (if they reached the final I might tune in for the second half of extra time, if it happened).
