You got this thread off to an excellent start. I never opened it before because I didn't know how well the subject would be handled. Compliments.
Politics started becoming more like sports back around 1980. On election night, I worked at an airport warehouse, some of the other young men were gathered where I was working were talking about the election. One asked who I would vote for. I was conflicted. "Probably Carter."
"Carter? Man, he's going to lose!"
It was revelatory. It was all about being on the winning side pulling for the winning team. Of course, it became more pronounced over the decades. For GOPS, so many of their voters should sport some kind of jersey. They already have a team hat that they wear like true team supporters everywhere they go.
I, too, find myself ambivalent about US teams. I now hate the U!S!A! U!S!A! chant. It sounds like a taunt rather than a cheer. "Fucking ashamed." You nailed it.
Ewers wearing that shit bugs me. The subject should not be introduced in any public way in sports. Sadly, again as you note, that ship has sailed.