Politicians who use Knicks and Dodgers logos in campaigns are not Americans

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani used the blue and orange of the New York Knicks last year in many of his campaign materials, and heading into Tuesday’s primary in Gotham, all the socialists running seem to be sporting the NBA Championship Knicks logo now to mark. It is a very worrying trend.

We saw this trend recently in Los Angeles as well, with GOP mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt rocking campaign gear based on the Dodgers baseball logo. Not only is this not just a joke, it’s not just divisive, it’s also very American.

In Europe and South America, especially in soccer, professional teams often represent political or religious divisions in the region. In Spain, Barcelona is the team on the left, Real Madrid is the team on the right. In Scotland, Celtic are Catholic, Rangers are Protestant, and their most rabid fans, called “ultras,” have been at odds with each other.

This is a concept so completely unknown to Americans that I once fell victim to it myself.

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On a recent trip to Israel, I wanted to buy a soccer jersey as a souvenir, and, knowing nothing about Israeli soccer, I picked up a shirt from a random Tel Aviv team. he threw it away and went into the sea.

That’s when the staring started, people were looking at me strangely. I thought maybe it was because I smoked, but Israelis don’t care about that. I decided to look up this soccer team, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and found out that it is a team whose fans support Hamas, Antifa, and communism.

I went back to my room to change. I was put on the path by an Israeli official I know.

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“How do you not know?” he asked in disbelief. “It’s bright red.”

I replied, “So are the Arizona Cardinals, you don’t make communists!”

Reports say that Lakers coach Jeanie Buss (right) has donated to the Los Angeles mayoral campaign of Spencer Pratt (left). (Getty Images)

The point is that in America’s 150 years of professional sports, our teams have never been avatars of political ideologies or parties. As a result, sports still have a unique ability to unite cities and regions.

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Part of the reason American sports have avoided this fate is pure geography. In Europe, major cities have up to 10 football clubs, catering to a diverse population. In Cincinnati, it doesn’t matter if you’re a MAGA or a Maoist, you’re rooting for the Bengals.

So, when Democratic Socialists try to unite the Knicks, or Pratt does so with the Dodgers, it undermines one of the last things that really unites us all.

Look, if a politician is a die-hard fan of a team, like Rudy Giuliani was of the Yankees, that’s one thing. It is part of the bio. But in Mamdani’s case, despite his current enthusiasm, just a year ago he couldn’t tell the difference between the New York Knicks and shaving.

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On the other hand, it is clear that Mamdani’s lifelong love of London football club Arsenal is genuine, if somewhat ironic as Arsenal can be considered not only a political club, but also one with a strong Jewish following.

The simple fact of the matter is that the New York Knicks have nothing to do with progressive politics, and the LA Dodgers have nothing to do with the political frustration of Angelenos. It’s just games, which somehow, are more important than politics.

It has long been a Marxist belief that every action is a political action, every choice a political decision. In recent years even on the right, we’ve seen boycotts of Bud Light and Target bring politics into our commerce.

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We must protect sports from this hyper-partisan fate. We fight for our parties because we love our regions and we love our neighbors, not for reasons of political power.

I think nothing should be done if gangs like MS-13 take the Chicago Bulls logo, and use the logos to target enemies. But responsible politicians can and should stop changing our sports logos to pink or red helmets.

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As a Philadelphia Eagles fan, when I see a Dallas Cowboys jersey I want to feel the simple hatred of that infamous symbol my parents and those before them. I don’t want to be tainted by politics like some European.

So, please, politicians, from progressives to Pratt, give yourself a break from turning our beloved sports franchises into competing tabloid newspapers. You left us with one, pure thing to share. I promise, there will be a lot left to argue about.

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