Legal Commentary

Europeans love their football (i.e., American soccer) teams. The lasting effects of an international victory on the collective spirit were evident last week when I spent a few days roaming the streets of bubbly Barcelona. A German friend who was showing me around the Catalan city described the link between spectator sports and national spirit as even more significant for the new Germany.  For obvious reasons, for many years displays of national pride, ?Nationalstolz,? associated with the Nazi regime, were frowned upon in Germany. When Germany won the World Cup in 2006, the country was altered with a renewed patriotism.

My friend described how for the first time in his lifetime (he is 37), he and he friends felt right about hanging and waving the national flag. He talked about how he found this change to be a highly significant, positive development for a generation that grew up schizophrenic. I tend to agree with his observations that Germany by and large was forced to deal with its past in a way that other European nations were not and that allowing the return of patriotic joy is better than brewing bitterness among a young generation that felt a continued shame of expressing their identity.

As someone who has always much preferred playing than watching sports, I find the power of these international events to transform national and international moods fascinating. The events surrounding the upcoming Beijing Olympics are of course an excellent example of the highs and lows that sports events can bring to countries.