Former Auburn Tigers head basketball coach and current AU ambassador Bruce Pearl was moved by what he saw at the Final Four this year. For some reason, though, seeing passionate fans in Indianapolis this past weekend, from the champion Michigan Wolverines, runner-up UConn Huskies, and the Illinois Fighting Illini, not to mention passionate Indiana Hoosiers fans who cheered their team on to win the College Football Playoff earlier this year, made Pearl yearn for the same support for the United States federal government.
Amid an unpopular war overseas that serves causes Pearl supports, but which most Americans don't support, Bruce called for the country's collective patriotism to match enthusiasm for college sports during an appearance on "Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich."
"We used to love our country as much as we loved Indiana football winning the national championship this year. We used to love our country and while we would always be critical of our coaches or whatever ... we always sort of got on the same page. We showed up, we supported," Pearl said.
"I just want people to look at what happened at the Final Four in Indianapolis and all those fans from Michigan, all those fans from Illinois and UConn and the way they all showed up. And just the passion, we used to feel that way about our country. ... We need to find a way to get that passion back and that gratefulness."
Bruce Pearl's heart is in the right place with these comments
Truthfully, this is rhetoric Bruce was sharing long before this war started. The Boston native has always pushed for love of country. He's probably not the right messenger for that statement right now, as countless people lose their jobs to AI, and thousands of young men and women are sent overseas to fight these wars.
Of course, the beauty of the United States is that not supporting the federal government and being critical of it is a function of our democracy at work. So is Pearl's input, though.
Pearl is just sharing an opinion. His heart is in the right place, and he did it during an interview, not while he was on CBS airwaves live. Wanting more communal unity isn't a bad thing. Pearl is perhaps losing the plot on why there isn't more support for the U.S. federal government and the American identity right now. But that doesn't make his speaking out the wrong move.