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But should it be a suprise that the sporting arena often highlights the worst elements of patriotism? Didn't Orwell once describe sport as war without the bullets? - though he was referring to the fans' reaction more than the players, adding that for the crowd it is a test of national virtue, with defeat insulting to both national pride and self worth.

And as the American Basketball coach John Wooden once said: sports do not build character; they reveal it.