It's dumb and pointless and has nothing to do with sports.
I agree with this, except I wouldn't say it's pointless. It's subjugation through group pressure. Oh, and what's this about the land of the free? It's the adults version of the pledge of allegiance. Its symbolic more than its substance but people judge you up and down if you don't stand, sing, or take off your hat and bow to your overlord. Again, whats this land of the free nonsense? And what entitles the U.S. to this forced/fake devotion? The fact that people happened to be born in the US through circumstance?
People should constantly be scrutinizing the value of being "American". People should be asking what their country does for them.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, a prevalent motif was this scrutiny of whether "civilization" is worth it. Similarly, Americans should constantly be questioning whether the U.S. is worthy of this devotion.
Americans are commonly bought and sold wholesale by politicians who leverage their power as gatekeepers who control access to citizens.