“Sometimes the fight takes a while; That doesn’t mean we won’t win. » – Vice President – ​​and presidential hopeful – Kamala D. Harris

“Look what happened. Is this crazy? This is a movement like no one has seen before. » – President-elect Donald J. Trump

“I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I lost almost 300 matches. Twenty-six times I was trusted to make the game-winning shot and I missed it. I have failed over and over again in my life. And that’s why I’m successful.” – GOAT Michael J. Jordan

In sports, this is called an “I told you so.” Or, depending on which direction it comes from, an “I warned you all.”

Identity politics. Identity sports. American politics and sports exist independently of each other, but almost always – especially more recently, as the lines between the two have become more blurred and blurred – almost always find themselves sharing the same room without actually sleeping together.

Sport itself, especially at the professional level, can constitute an oligarchy. Pugnacious in nature. Exist in a separate state of sovereignty. Inappropriately demonizing the “enemy within” to ensure self-preservation. For control. For victory.

Sports, like politics and elections, give us direct insight and an incisive awareness of who we are as a people and a society, even when we don’t function as one or the other. In the Trump era of “anything is possible,” we have just witnessed what would be considered, today in sports, a mini-dynasty. Two wins in his last three tries with an attempted government overthrow/insurgency in the middle.

More than anything, there is an identifier between sport and the politics it seems to align with. There is more red in the “Shield” than blue. More blue in the “Logo” than red. The MLB emblem? Perfectly unbalanced. RFK Jr. This is all symbolism, but it’s too often accurate.

Sport, less polarizing and divisive than the politics it serves. Similar energies, same commitment. Loyalty may not matter, but it carries a powerful and empowering weight. Evil empires often operate in both cases.

As Andscape.com reminded us Wednesday in its post-election article on Twitter/X about an article we wrote during Obama’s election: “Obama’s impact on gaming has encouraged NBA players to do more on and off the court. »

Now welcome to the other side.

The NFL won. WWE won. PGA Tour/LIV Golf won. Dana White won. Barstool Sports won. Outkick won. Madison Square Garden won. Tom Brady won. Colin Cowherd won. Jason Whitlock won. Herschel Walker won. Curt Schilling won. Nick Bosa won. Make Sports Great Again, essentially, won.

Just like in politics, true democracy in sport takes a back seat to power and wealth – or playing the game of those in power and wealth and deciding how the game should be played. Sports will serve as a reminder that for all the power Taylor Swift carries with her in global pop culture and the entertainment industry, attracting a few hundred million extra eyeballs to the NFL because of her romance with the Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, his very strong endorsement of Kamala Harris does not have and does not carry the weight of Bosa’s MAGA hat on “Sunday Night Football” or Patrick Mahomes’ wife Brittany – not Patrick Mahomes – to talk about how the real NFL fan base rolls.

“Shut up and dribble” became “Shut up and vote.” While the NBA gave its fans a “day off” to prioritize their right to express their political leanings through paper or electronic ballots, the NFL, in a much less discreet and more powerful, whistled to his base to seize the opportunity to prove that his power is not limited to his popularity, his attendance at matches and his television audiences. It worked.

In 1973, the famous sociologist Dr. Harry Edwards wrote in his book “Sociology of Sport”: “What is happening in sport today is the result of the impact of the 20th century, with its wealth, its speed, its mass communications — all of which combined to create a much smaller world and new definitions of reality. As tradition has become increasingly irrelevant to contemporary perceptions of reality, enormous tensions have resulted.

Following November 5, 2024, many will return to sport as an escape, without realizing that there really isn’t one. The connectivity hidden in plain sight of the two governances will only amplify as Trump’s mandate builds absolutism, as each will be more difficult to distinguish from the other. Unscripted, real-time, modern “Gladiator III.”

What we must do in our American life is to stop forever equating victory with greatness, with rightness or righteousness, with truth and identity. Winning is a victory, often an eristic one, not perfection. This is not a provocation of triumphalism. No superiority. Not absolute.

In sports, we love a good comeback. And no matter what you think, individually or as a voting bloc, about Trump’s return to the presidential race, know this: Accomplished fact is real. Really, really real in this country and in the politics that speak for the sports that shape our lives. Defeated, we stand. Let the games begin.