Religion and Football

As masses of people in the United States and elsewhere huddle around food, drink, and the altar of their HD television sets this Sunday for the Super Bowl, some of the old questions about the relationship between football and religion are on  the radar again. For example, Shirl James Hoffman, author of Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports, will appear on the American television show "Fox and Friends" this Sunday--Super Bowl Sunday--to discuss the question "Do faith and football mix?" Here's the publisher's blurb for the book (NFI, by the way):

In recent years the United States has seen an influx of Christian athletes and coaches into big-time sports, as well as a heightened importance placed on sports in church programs and at Christian schools and colleges. However, as Shirl Hoffman critiques, a Christian vision of sport remains merely superficial—replete with prayers before free throws and praises after touchdowns but offering little, if any, alternative vision from the secular sports culture. Good Game retells numerous fascinating stories from the world of ancient and contemporary sports and draws on the history of the Christian tradition to answer “What would it really mean to think Christianly about sport?”

Recently, Books and Culture, a book review magazine published by Christianity Today, reviewed two books in the article "And God Created Football." The End of Autumn: Reflections on My Life in Football (again, NFI), and Football and Philosophy: Going Deep (small FI) each contain material relevant to the connections between football and religion as well as the issue of whether football in some sense constitutes a religion. Whatever one ultimately thinks about these issues, it does seem that sport, including American football, offers moments of transcendence for athletes, coaches, and fans.

Are we too professional?

In one of Ed Smith's usual thought-provoking articles he ponders the question whether we are mistaken in our belief that professionalism underpins excellence:

"Professionalism was continually invoked as the primary means of improvement, whereas amateurishness was mocked as a laughable relic. But it was often unclear to me what the word professionalism meant. “What we really need,” people would say, is “a good, solid professional win.” How does that differ, I always wanted to ask, from a normal kind of win? In fact, professionalism wasn’t so much a real process as a form of self-definition. We had to become ever-more professional, because that was the lens through which we interpreted progress and success."

The concept of professionalism (often of a MacIntyreian kind) has been considered (and generally celebrated) by a range of authors in the philosophy of sport (for examples below) but perhaps it's time, as Smith says, to realise that unrealistic expectations of professionalism can end up acting as a straight-jacket.

Further Reading:

Howe, P.D. (2004) Sport, Professionalism and Pain: ethnographies of injuries and risk. London: Routledge.

McNamee, M.J., Sheridan, H. and Buswell, J. (2000) 'Paternalism, professionalism and public sector leisure provision; the boundaries of a leisure profession'. Leisure Studies 19 pp199-209.

McNamee, M.J. (2008) Sports, Virtues and Vices. London: Routledge.

Zeilgler, E.F. (1977) Problems in the History and the Philosophy of Physical Education and Sport. Prentice Hall Foundations of Physical Education Series.

Steroids and Forgiveness

Steroids are again in the news, with the formal admission by Mark McGwire that he used steroids during his career, including the season in which he broke the HR record. Much has already been said about this, but I think an interesting philosophical point here has to do with the nature of and justifications for forgiveness.

Some, like Jack Clark, are too angry and upset to consider forgiving McGwire, at least at present.

Others, like Joe Posnanski and Albert Pujols, are more open to it. Former Cardinal Andy Van Slyke is not happy with the nature of McGwire`s confession.

Should "we" forgive McGwire for his transgressions? In a world of earthquakes and grinding poverty, this can seem of little consequence. But forgiveness is a key component of flourishing human relationships, and so I am wondering if anything can be learned from McGwire`s situation?

Intellectual Muscle

Intellectual Muscle is an eclectic series of talks by prominent and up-and-coming Canadian intellectuals on topics related to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Public lectures will be delivered at universities across Canada and made available online in podcast form. The online program will include polls, discussion forums and other interactive features, providing Canadians with a unique opportunity to participate in a series of national dialogues.

Intellectual Muscle, developed by Vancouver 2010 and the University of British Columbia, in collaboration with universities across Canada and The Globe and Mail, will run from September 2009 until the end of the Games in March 2010.


(Thanks to Gabriela Tymowski for the link.)

IAPS Session at APA New York December 28

International Association for Philosophy of Sport Session

at The American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting

New York Marriott Marquis

Monday, December 28 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Chair: Heather Reid (Morningside College)

Speakers: David Charlton (Western Michigan University) “Winning Isn’t Everything: How the Monetary Structure of the BCS May Provide an Incentive to Lose”

David O’Hara (Augustana College) “Sport, Religion, and Value: Considering the Possibility of Renewing an Ancient Connection”

Steffen Borge (University of Tromsø–Norway) “Towards a Taxonomy of Sports”

***Participants, IAPS members attending the conference, and anyone else interested in the philosophy of sport are invited to join us for lunch at a nearby restaurant immediately after the session***