engage

Entries categorized as ‘sports’

Why I am a Sports Atheist

July 29, 2008 · 2 Comments

I got the term from Bill Simmons, of whose writing I am a big fan. Basically he uses the term to refer to those who follow and love pro sports without declaring allegiance to a specific team. I’m splitting hairs a little bit, but a more accurate term would probably be sports pluralist. The sports atheist would be the humourless Noam Chomsky sort who believe that pro sports are the new opiate of the peoples, as if we would solve world hunger and cure cancer if we got rid of the NBA. I agree with them to a point, what fun are they at a party? I’ll take some friendly NASCAR fans, thanks. The sports pluralist, however, stands back from the scene as a supposedly impartial observer. We delight in sport for the sake of sport and while we appreciate how insane fan-dom adds to the colour of our experience, we are unable to choose just one object of devotion.

For Simmons this is ridiculous idea. He was born and bred in Boston and lives and dies with the Boston area teams. The joy of pro sports is for him the emotional roller coaster ride being a fan can give. While this brings joy (the Red Sox coming back from a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees, The Celtics crushing the Lakers in game six) it also brings pain (the Patriots being upset by the Giants, Spygate). In his mind, without a team, you’re not truly a fan, you’re a watcher.

I became a sports pluralist honestly. I grew up in Charlottetown, far enough away that I didn’t have any clear geographic ties and the only sport my Dad really followed was NASCAR, or more accurately, what was then Winston Cup. Free agency helped, as there were no real ties for the players anymore, so why should I have those ties. Video games were part of it as well, as it made no sense to keep playing Madden with my favoured Bengals because they were terrible.

But the biggest issue I think is protection. I didn’t want to be a fan because what do I do when they lose? That sucks, and no one wants to be the bandwagon jumper. Who likes the guy who shows up on Tuesday wearing the SuperBowl winners hat? That guy is a jerk. After a while it was easier and seemed cooler and safer to maintain distance.

This is all in direct contrast to my faith life, where I am not a pluralist. I have pledged allegiance to a team and I believe that the only way to truly follow is to believe in our team exclusively and if our team “loses” (sports analogies fail) I will go down with the ship. I am all in to Jesus. As a person of faith I believe the religious pluralist to be in a sad position. While they aren’t subject to the discipline of following a faith path, they don’t really get to experience the joy, comfort, and connection that comes with choosing to follow the One.

There are times when I feel the pull of real sports fandom, but like faith, at some point it has to happen to you. I can’t wake up tomorrow and decide to be an Oilers fan, on some level the Oilers have to happen to me.

Come, Sam Gagner, Come

Categories: church · life · sports
Tagged: , ,

super bowl picks

February 3, 2008 · Leave a Comment

By the way, Patriots over Giants:35 – 21

I think it will be close for a half, but a perfect season might not be enough to hold off the return of Spygate 

Categories: football · nfl · playoffs · sports
Tagged: , , , ,

Redneck past revisited

January 29, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Okay, apparently you can only pick eight drivers, which is actually easier.

Jeff Gordon                      $2,000,000
Dale Earnhardt Jr           $1,280,000
Clint Bowyer                    $1,775,000
Juan Pablo Montoya       $875,000
Jimmie Johnson              $2,100,000
Patrick Carpentier          $410,000
Greg Biffle                        $1,150,000
Jacques Villeneuve          $405,000
$9,995,000

Now my family is free to mock me more

Categories: family · nascar · sports
Tagged: , , ,

If you’re afraid that they’ll discover your redneck past…

January 28, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Don’t join a NASCAR pool. We have a family pool and this is my first year joining. You get to pick ten drivers and have a salary cap of 10, 000, 000.

Jimmie Johnson $2,100,000 Dave Blaney $590,000
Jeff Gordon $2,000,000 Brian Vickers $515,000
Tony Stewart $1,945,000 Regan Smith $500,000
Matt Kenseth $1,880,000 David Gilliland $480,000
Denny Hamlin $1,805,000 Ron Fellows $450,000
Clint Bowyer $1,775,000 Boris Said $440,000
Kyle Busch $1,745,000 PJ Jones $435,000
Carl Edwards $1,730,000 Travis Kvapil $425,000
Jeff Burton $1,655,000 Sam Hornish Jr. $420,000
Kurt Busch $1,590,000 Paul Menard $415,000
Kevin Harvick $1,540,000 Patrick Carpentier $410,000
Martin Truex Jr. $1,400,000 Jacques Villeneuve $405,000
Dale Earnhardt Jr $1,280,000 Dario Franchitti $400,000
Mark Martin $1,250,000 Kyle Petty $395,000
Ryan Newman $1,190,000 David Reutimann $390,000
Greg Biffle $1,150,000 Scott Riggs $385,000
Casey Mears $1,080,000 Joe Nemechek $380,000
Jamie McMurray $1,000,000 A.J. Allmendinger $370,000
Bobby Labonte $980,000 Sterling Marlin $360,000
Kasey Kahne $915,000 Jeremy Mayfield $355,000
Juan Pablo Montoya $875,000 Bill Elliott $350,000
J.J. Yeley $820,000 Kevin LePage $350,000
Reed Sorenson $770,000 Dale Jarrett $350,000
David Ragan $715,000 John Andretti $350,000
Elliott Sadler $700,000 Morgan Shepherd $350,000
David Stremme $610,000 Michael Waltrip $350,000

Robby Gordon $605,000 Ward Burton $350,000

These were my picks

Dale Earnhardt Jr $1,280,000
Jacques Villeneuve $405,000
Juan Pablo Montoya $875,000
Jeff Gordon $2,000,000
Clint Bowyer $1,775,000
Dave Blaney $590,000
Denny Hamlin $1,805,000
Patrick Carpentier $410,000
Dario Franchitti $400,000
Travis Kvapil $425,000
$9,965,000

I’m a bit out of the loop but this was my thinking. I think Jr. is going to have a big year and Hendrick will continue to dominate. Bowyer was undervalued for a guy who finished third in points last year, Toyota is going to have a bounce back with a year of experience, and the cheap guys have all won in other places, and for the most part, just need to stay out of trouble. If they just finish, I should be okay.

I also enjoy that I should be the only person in my family to choose both Jr. and Gordon, which will drive my sister nuts.

Categories: family · life · nascar · sports
Tagged: , , , ,

Playoff picks

January 21, 2008 · Leave a Comment

What we have learned so far this NFL offseason is that Dan should not quit his day job to make a living betting on football. That is, were gambling legal.

So with the Good vs. Evil subplot gone without the Packers, we still have a fairly interesting Superbowl. The Giants played the Patriots through to the fourth quarter in the meaningless final game of the regular season, and used that mometum to begin their surge through the playoffs. Their valiant effort to upend the Patriots when conventional wisdom would have rested for the playoffs was a reminder of what sport is all about.

Beautiful, but they still lost

Patriots over the Giants

Go evil empire

Categories: football · nfl · playoffs · sports
Tagged: , ,

Playoff picks revisited

January 14, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Okay, I was two for four this past weekend. I was wrong about both Sunday games. I never dreamed that the Colts defense would play as badly as it did or that the Cowboys would crap the bed at home. Anyway here are my championship week picks

Green Bay over the NY Giants

New England over SD Chargers

Which sets us up for a good vs. evil Green Bay – New England Super Bowl

I can’t wait

Categories: football · nfl · playoffs · sports
Tagged: , , ,

Playoff picks

January 8, 2008 · Leave a Comment

I am a football junkie and have been since my days as an undersized offensive lineman for the Charlottetown Timberwolves. Just so I can brag should I happen to be right, here are my picks for this weekends divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

Green Bay over Seattle – 28-24

New England over Jacksonville – 31 – 21

Indianapolis over San Diego – 28 – 14

Dallas over NY Giants – 21 – 10

As you may have noticed I picked the home teams across the board, and I will deny this completely should I turn out to be wrong.

Categories: football · nfl · playoffs · sports
Tagged: , ,