{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01984877126654064, 'fraction_numerical': 0.006616257088846881, 'mean_word_length': 5.418181818181818, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Offensive Lines: Sport-State Synergy in an Era of Perpetual War

Although relationships between professional sport and the United States military are not new, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a system emerged in which sport culture moved beyond its customary role as an ideological support to the state. In this new configuration, organizations like the National Football League (NFL) integrated Bush administration policy into their business strategy, and the Bush administration built an audience for its military ventures through an association with a brand that attracts more fans each week than a presidential election draws voters once every 4 years. Drawing on discourse surrounding the use of military metaphors in sports commentary, Pat Tillman's death, and NFL Kickoff celebrations, I argue that there is an intensified depth and mutuality to the sport-war nexus, a shift that is indicative of the militarization of everyday life and, simultaneously, of the sportification of political life, in the contemporary United States.