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So if American football is almost a religion, especially on the high holiday called the Super Bowl, what does that make the real thing, the real sport that is played with the feet? If the World Cup isn’t a religious event — in terms of civil religion, sociology and global myth — then I would be hard pressed to find on.
It’s well-known that football is religion in the United States. But Americans are reminded every four years, in the rest of the world they worship the other football — aka futbol, footie or, simply, soccer. This short feature from the South African Mail & Guardian, with the apt and simple title “Football and Worship,” hammers that point home.
So, the Los Angeles Times has published its giant salute to the life and times of John Wooden and, unless I have missed something, the bottom line is that he was an amazingly nice man of sterling integrity and a sense of honor and values that came from the American heartland.
If you care about college athletics at all and, especially if you have any ties that bind you to the Southwest, then one of the big stories of the day is the almost certain breakup up of the Big 12 Conference.
Many people simple called him the “reverend,” which was nice since he hated his famous nickname — the Wizard of Westwood.
I’ve tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I’ve worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms and Isadora Duncan.
Washington Nationals fans are having a great time right now. I know it’s only May, but the team has an above .500 record and locals are elated. Last year they ended the season with the worst average in baseball: .364. And the most exciting news is related to pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg. He’s expected to make his Major League Debut here pretty soon and, well, let’s just say I’ve already bought my tickets.
To those who love baseball, it is more than a game. F. Scott Fitzgerald famously called it “the faith of 50 million people,” as Daniel Burke noted in a recent Religion News Service feature:
