Crying Brazilians and the Rationality of Team Loyalty

This week, the internet relished in the suffering of Brazilian soccer fans in the wake of the loss to Germany. Photos went viral all over social media, and they often led to the question: What is wrong with these people? Isn’t there something ridiculous about allowing yourself to be that emotionally invested in a sports team, especially when you don’t even play for the team?

Shawn Klein (AKA “The Sports Ethicist”) addresses that question and argues that it is permissible to be emotionally invested in a sports team.

Check it out, and let us know what you think? Even if Klein is right, it does seem that we ought to have some account as to why it is okay to get so wrapped up in the success of a team that we come to suffer pain at their loss. Sports fans (and I must confess that I am one of them) owe an account of the reasonableness of this kind of behavior.