Yes! People are similarly aligned with their sports teams they like to root for. Just like the ball game in the story. People will fight over something that doesn’t change anything in their lives except their mood. That sort of transference is queer to me in what otherwise seems like rationally, intelligent people.

I suppose people do this because we are social animals and draw our identity from the people we associate with. But it is exploitable because when you are attached to these things, like sports teams, you will do things that aren’t in your best interest, like fight over the game, or vote for the guy who cuts taxes for the rich when our economy did not need the stimulous but our health care, pension, and education systems are under funded.