The last few weeks have seen a remarkable run of milestones for American sports, with the Knicks’ first title in 53 years, the Carolina Hurricanes’ first Stanley Cup since 2006, and the World Cup filling American stadiums and cities with fans from across the globe. Underneath this summer’s great athletic spectacles, countless everyday Americans young and old are participating in athletic contests of their own: Little League, high school sports, rec leagues, run clubs, senior pickleball tournaments, and Saturday-morning pickup games, to name a few.
Yet while 75 percent of Americans say respecting opponents in sports is very important, just 30 percent say the same of political opponents. That gap points to something sports have quietly preserved and politics has lost: A shared sense that the person across from you is a rival, not an enemy. Sports may be the closest thing America has left to a national blueprint for how to disagree well.
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