Blue Jays: Themes Of Nationalism And Patriotism

feeling of community by linking the team to nationhood. This attraction felt by sports fans towards the aspect of community is highlighted in Commercial Sport, as the article describes how spectating globalized sports “offers an opportunity for people to develop a sense of belonging, feel part of a bigger community and is a refuge from everyday life concerns” (Genz and Møller 269). However, the problem with creating a marketing strategy that utilizes themes of nationalism and patriotism is that by focusing on these ideals, said values of nationalism and patriotism become commodified and reified for the club’s own commercial gain, thus exploiting the inherent feelings of nationalism already present within the fan base. As a result of this
When looking at the Facebook pages of Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, and Tom Muclair, references to the Blue Jays during this successful season were present and widespread. Each of these party leaders official Facebook pages included posts in support of the Blue Jays, highlighting the nationalist ideals associated to the team through the further dissemination of the #ComeTogether slogan to their social media followers situated all across Canada. This theme of nationalism was even further empathized by Stephen Harper as his supportive post stressed “Great to see the whole country #ComeTogether. We are all behind you”. As these political leaders have all produced posts surrounding the Blue Jays’ overall success, as well as the nationalist ideals already associated with the baseball team, the spectacle in modern sport is once again revealed. Through these posts, Harper, Trudeau, and Muclair were aiming to utilize the positive feelings of nationalism and overall fan support associated to the Blue Jays, in hopes that these same positive feelings would be attached to each of their political platforms. Similarly to the manner in which nationalist ideals associated to the Blue Jays were reified by the organization for increased commercial benefit,
During the heightened success experienced by the Blue Jays within their 2015 season, news coverage presented an overly sensationalized focus surrounding the theme of nationalism associated to the baseball team. This focus is clearly seen when looking at articles such as “O Canada: Nationalism soars as Jays head into postseason glory” by the Globe and Mail, or “Blue Jays fans across the country come together to cheer comeback bid” by CTV News, and “Blue Jays are becoming Canada’s Team – Even in Montreal” which was posted in the Montreal Gazette. Once again the spectacle is seen in modern sport, as the nationalist-connoted coverage of the Blue Jay’s success is aiming to instil a level of social control over the general population of Canada through the preoccupation of the public through the spectatorship of sport. As people are now fully engaged in the success of the Blue Jays, attention is taken away from other more serious issues happening within the government, and the country as a whole. This widespread distraction of sport away from more relevant issues within society is described within Modern Day Bread and Circuses, as the article explains, “The ‘circuses’ of soccer, football, baseball, hockey, etc. have become more important and pertinent than the innumerable scandals that are plaguing the