Knowing A Child's Heart

A recent New York Times article about a top women’s basketball recruit of UConn burning out on basketball and choosing to give it up to be a walk-on volleyball player at Delaware points out the dangers of children being over-involved in sports as they grow.  It’s an important word of warning to parents who get involved in the AAU machine and other sports that demand large amounts of time.  Such commitment to youth sports can make the sport work instead of fun and can destroy real, quality family time.

My experience coaching an AAU volleyball team revealed that the parental involvement often led to less fun and enjoyment for the child, as the parent was more concerned about the child’s “success” (or the parent’s vicarious “success”) than with the simple joy of sport.

In the book, Pastoral Genetics, Ronald Cole-Turner and Brent Waters suggest that while a mother uses the childhood years as a time to separate from and give wings to the child that was literally a part of her, a father spends those years trying to connect to the child.  It is a difficult thing for a father to take the time to know and understand his child, to know and understand the role of sport in the heart of his child, and to make sure that the child’s interest in sport is distinct from his own interest.  Far too often a child’s pursuit of sport is more a reflection of the father (or mother) than of the child’s own heart.

In Proverbs 22:6 we read, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."  To train the child in the way he/she should go, parents need to know the child, to know his/her gifts and passions, to discern the path that will bring fulfillment and joy, and direct the child to be the person God has made him/her to be.  To do so is the great labor of parenting.

I know from my experience that it is difficult to separate my own passion for sports from my children’s passion.  I want to connect, and sports can be one way to do so, but I need to do so by understanding their hearts, not by trying to make their hearts like mine.  It isn’t always easy for me, but my desire is for them to pursue their own sports interests, not mine.

(If you have children or grandchildren who are getting deeply involved in sports, be sure to read the article.)

Can 91-0 Be Good Competition?

Estero High School’s football team lost to Naples High School last Friday by thirteen touchdowns, 91-0.  It was a difficult night, not only for Estero, but also for the Naples coach, Bill Kramer.  As soon as the scores were reported, he started receiving angry e-mails.  Some were from Estero parents, angry that they had run up the score.  Some were from Naples parents, angry that their boys didn’t get play more in order to pad their stats.

 

Kramer had kept his best players off the field, some for the entire game, and ran only 31 plays, and still scored 13 touchdowns.  The student bodies of the two schools are of similar size.  But while Estero is rebuilding a lowly program, Naples is the reigning Class 3A State Champion in Florida.

 

Unfortunately, Kramer received the angry e-mails, but those e-mails seem to be misguided.  If there is blame to be placed anywhere, it would be in arranging the Classes so that such a mismatch can occur.  But, if these schools are similar in size and are in the same region, perhaps this couldn’t be avoided.

 

Regardless, Kramer made the best of a difficult situation.  It was not the time to run up the score any further by playing the best players.  Those parents who complained were giving evidence of a few deadly sins – envy, anger, and greed among them.  Kramer also didn’t make a mockery of the game by having the quarterback take a knee repeatedly, or having the players intentionally fail in their efforts, which is apparently what the Estero parents would have wanted.  From what I have read, he played the second and third string (fourth?) players, and let them perform to the best of their ability.

 

This is the basis of competition.  Both teams striving to the best of their abilities so that they might display together the beauty and strength and skill that result from God’s gifts and the discipline of training.  It is unfortunate that the teams were so unbalanced, but Coach Kramer did the best he could to even the sides, while still letting the boys play to the best of their abilities.

 

Estero High’s right guard, Mike Perez seems to understand.  Back at practice on Monday, he said, “Our team might not be winning or might not be on top right now, but we all have to do the best we can do. We can’t forget that.”  Doing your best, so that together, God may be glorified in the event.  That’s what competition is meant to be.

No Crying In Baseball... Or Is There?

Tears formed in my eyes on Sunday. It wasn’t during the morning or the evening worship services. It was during the afternoon. The last day of the Major League Baseball regular season. I watched the Brewers on television, and they won. The Mets were losing. If they lost, the Brewers would be in the playoffs for the first time since 1982, when I saw them play the Cardinals in the World Series at County Stadium. When the final out was recorded, and the Mets had lost, my eyes turned moist. The Brewers made it to the playoffs. But it wasn’t just the relief and excitement of the victory. There was something more.

I reflected on Michael Novak’s musing in The Joy of Sports: “How could I be forty years old and still care what happens to the Dodgers?” I’m forty-five, and my eyes filled with tears when the Brewers won the wild card and a place in the playoffs. Is it time to put away childish things? No, because the game made a deep connection, sounding the depth of my being.

My Dad and I loved the Brewers. During the last days I got to spend with my Dad, we watched some of the Brewers games on TV, and we moaned and grumbled because they kept losing, and we figured they’d find a way to be on the outside of the playoffs, looking in… again.

But they did it. It wasn’t pretty, but they are in the playoffs. For that moment, as the excitement of the game brought a smile to my face, I felt in my belly a joy shared with Dad. He wasn’t here to see it, but still, I somehow was enjoying it with him. And with Tyler. My son. Another Brewers fan. Another generation.

No wonder my eyes were filled with tears.

On Second Thought...

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but I hope to be back at it regularly again.

Last week the judgment on the Nicolay Davydenko tennis fixing case came in. There were some irregular betting patterns for a match that Davydenko lost in August of 2007. After a year of investigation, the ATP determined that there was no wrongdoing. Eight other players have been banned for betting on matches, and other players said that they were approached by people asking them to influence the outcome of matches.

Last week, in Frank DeFord’s article on Sports Illustrated’s website, he pointed out that match fixing has been a part of tennis for many years. Apart from the issue of betting, I’m concerned with the loss of competition. Whether it is for the sake of making money, or simply to give someone a chance to win a match and earn a few ranking points, the beauty of sport is diminished. We glorify God when we compete, when we strive together, and so perform to our best abilities. I was very disappointed in the ATP’s findings, and hope that more will be done in the future to clean up the sport.

But that also made me think more about the football game mentioned in a previous post. In a blowout, one high school football team gave a special needs player an opportunity to score a touchdown. In the context, everyone involved saw it as a good thing to do, and quite honorable. I wasn’t there, so I trust that the moment was one of joy and kindness.

However, as a friend pointed out to me, this may not be such a blessing. What happens if (when?) the special needs player learns that his touchdown was a sham? What if he is then brokenhearted because of condescension, rather than overjoyed at a (false) success?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted that I cannot truly serve another person until I truly acknowledge that I am less than the other person. Otherwise I will be acting from a position of superiority, and will be condescending, not serving. Were the players on the team that was winning the blowout acting in a condescending manner, or were they serving the other player and team by enacting an unforced fumble and allowing the touchdown?

If it’s wrong for one tennis player to throw a match that doesn’t matter to him in order to give another player – a friend – a few ratings points, if that action prevents competition in the truest, God-glorifying sense, then isn’t a winning team gifting a fumble and touchdown also diminishing competition?

Again, I wasn’t there, and I don’t know the player(s) involved in the football game. It may have been a moment of true honor and blessing. But perhaps moments like these diminish the players and the honor of competition, even as they seek to offer kindness to another player and team.

Football As a Stage for Grace and Honor

The Des Moines Register today had an article highlighting a moment of great kindness and grace on the high school football field. The article describes the PCM junior-varsity football team giving up a shutout by allowing a special needs student on the opposing Albia team to score a touchdown. The PCM quarterback fumbled, allowing a sophomore safety on Albia to pick up the fumble and run for a touchdown, to the cheers of players and fans on both sides.

It was refreshing to see the teams consider the ways they could be a blessing to each other, as the Albia team gave a group cheer to honor their opponents from PCM, and the PCM team responded with a unison, "Thank you."

Both teams had played hard, to the best of their abilities, which allowed PCM to sacrifice a shutout to give joy and honor one student who might never have such an opportunity on the playing field. But even before that, the coach of Albia, Jerry Staton, made a choice that provided a blessing for the sophomore safety by giving him the opportunity to play. Coach Staton has done this before with other teams he has coached, providing the opportunity for everyone to play.

A football game served as the stage for gifts of grace and honor, reflecting the best of what high school sports can be.

No Apologies In Football?

The injury to New England Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady, was big news on the first week of the NFL season. On a tackle by the Kansas City Chiefs’ Bernard Pollard, Brady incurred what may be a season-ending injury. Pollard hit Brady low, and some questioned whether the hit was a “dirty” one, whether Pollard intended to try to injure Brady.

Pollard’s response to the hit was quick. He started apologizing to Brady right away. Pollard argued that if it had been intentional, he wouldn’t have apologized. According to SI.com’s Peter King, Pollard said, “It was most definitely a clean play. It was an accident. It’s tough. It’s football. I’m sorry it happened, obviously. I can’t do anything but apologize to him. I went to Herm [Chiefs coach Herman Edwards] after the play and told him how sorry I was.” He added, “I’ll pray for [Brady].”

I don’t know what Pollard’s religious faith may be, but his reasoning seems sound. He genuinely did not want Brady to be injured, the injury was an accident. He apologized, not because he was wrong for trying to tackle Brady, but because the result of the tackle was so unfortunate for Brady and for the competition.

As I understand it from a Christian perspective, competition is at its best and most God-glorifying when both sides are putting forth their best efforts. A true competitor will not want his or her opponent to be injured, but will want to participate in the contest when both players are at their best. By “striving together,” (the root meaning of the word competition), the players are able to perform in ways that reveal how “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) we are.

Pollard’s apology reminds me of the line from the movie, A League of Their Own, when the manager berates a player for her emotion, saying, “There’s no crying in baseball!” Of course there is crying, and there are apologies, in baseball, in football, and in every other competitive sport… because the games do mean something to us, and we want everyone to be at their best in order to do their best.

Athletes and the Ancient Church

I came across this quote in some reading I was doing:

The professions and trades of those who are going to be accepted into the community must be examined. The nature and type of each must be established… brothel, sculptors of idols, charioteer, athlete, gladiator… give it up or be rejected.
Hippolytus of Rome, AD 218

Why would the early Church consider athletes to be suspect for membership in the Church? I can understand those who work in a brothel or sculpt idols would need to give up their line of work, and from the movies I’ve seen, charioteer and gladiator might not have been the most respectable careers. But why athletes? Was it because of some connection of athletics (Olympics?) to pagan gods? Was it because athletes performed nude? Was it because of corruption?

According to the books of the Maccabees (1 Macc 1:11-15; 2 Macc 4:7-17), the Jews saw athletics as pagan, and decried the priests who neglected their service in the temple to go watch the discus throwers. Josephus (Antiquities xv.8.2) noted that athletic games fell into disrepute after the Maccabean revolt (167 B.C.). But when the Church was bringing in Gentiles, Roman converts, why was it such a bad thing to be an athlete?

I guess I have a new pet research project. Anyone know why Hippolytus would have had a low view of athletes?

UPDATE (8 September 2008): Dave Timmer from Central College offered this suggestion: "The Greek and Latin words that are cognates to our word "athlete" can also have the more specific meaning of "prizefighter"; I wonder if it is that particular sport which Hippolytus intends to forbid for Christians, rather than sports in general. That wouldn't make boxing fans happy, but it would get baseball off the hook. (Not "basebrawl" fans, though.)" Dave wants to make it clear that this is just a suggestion, not a scholarly opinion. Thanks, Dave!

Too Dangerous?

Does Jericho Scott, pictured above (AP photo) look like he’s dangerous?  Apparently the Youth Baseball League of New Haven, Connecticut, thought so.  As a 9-year old in the 8-10-year old division, his 40 mph fastball was deemed too threatening, so they banned him from pitching.  When his coach put him in to start a game, the opposing team chose not to take the field.  Jericho's team was subsequently disbanded as punishment for allowing him to pitch, and the players redistributed to the other teams.  Which leads to the question – with helmets with faceguards on them, how much danger is a 40 mph fastball?  It suggests that the real fear is not a bruise on the arm but a bruise to the ego.  And, of course, whose ego are we concerned about?  The 8-year old who might be overmatched, or the parents who will feel so bad if their child strikes out against that nasty pitcher who throws too fast?

It seems to me that there are a couple of important issues that are being missed by the YBL of New Haven.  First, there is a need for us to face fears.  A lot of the things life throws at us are scary.  Not only fastballs and bad-hop grounders, but death, divorce, disease, and all sorts of other nasty things that people, young and old, deal with every day.  Sports can be a proving ground for endurance, perseverance, and overcoming fear for a greater good.  I learned a lot about myself by running (mostly walking) through stomach cramps and knee pain to finish a marathon.  I learned that I can endure a lot more than I ever imagined.  What does it do to a player when the parents say, “That pitcher’s too fast for you, we won’t let him play”?  Don’t we want the message to be, “Get out there and do your best – it may be scary, but you can face that fastball”?

Second, I’ve argued here before that the greatest part of competition is that it allows players to showcase God’s glory by doing their best and accomplishing wonderful feats.  By not allowing Jericho Scott to pitch, the players, coaches, parents, and spectators are all deprived of (1) the wonder of a 9-year old who can throw 40 mph (and, so far, with enough control that he hasn’t hit anyone), and (2) the glory of another player – maybe an 8-year old? – putting the ball in play and, wonder of wonders, getting a hit!  Wouldn’t the better story be, “Eight-Year Old Homers Off Nine-Year Old Wonder Pitcher”?  But, when the parents and league officials are afraid of someone’s bruised ego, the opportunity for displaying wonderful God-given talent and hard-practiced skills is lost.

How sad for Jericho Scott and all the other players in the Youth Baseball League of New Haven that these displays of glory in competition and these opportunities to grow in character have been lost because of the fear of a 40 mph fastball.

John Sajdak - In Memoriam

            My Dad passed away on Monday of this week (August 18 – my favorite baseball player’s birthday – Roberto Clemente).  Later today will be his funeral.  So a tribute is in order.

            My Dad turned 90 in January of this year, and I turned 45 the next month.  I am the age he was when I was born.  I now understand his parenting style a bit better, as I imagine what it would be like to have a baby right now.  Because Dad was older when I was born, he wasn’t as directly involved in much of my athletics as a boy.  I only remember one time when he pitched whiffle ball to me, and I don’t remember playing basketball or football with him.  But sports was still an important part of our relationship.  Sunday afternoons watching the Packers, listening to the Brewers on the radio all summer, and in later years watching the Brewers on TV, provided for a lot of conversations.  I remember talking him into taking me to my first game at Wrigley Field when we were visiting relatives in Chicago (and seeing Manny Trillo hit a homer in a Cubs victory, then later learning that my first nephew, Brian, was born), and I remember going to see the Packers play at Milwaukee County Stadium.  He was a District Supervisor for the Milwaukee County Parks, and his district included the arena where the Milwaukee Admirals played hockey when I was a boy, and I got to see a few games and play with pucks and sticks from the team.  I have a lot of great sports-related memories of my Dad.

            But some of the more significant interactions with my Dad in my youth took place on the golf course.  There was a lot of time for talking about things from tee to green, and I enjoyed those moments with my Dad.  My Dad wasn’t the best golfer I played with as a boy – Uncle Clare was always the best in my youthful opinion – but one of my goals was to beat my Dad at golf.  My Dad never let his boys win - we learned to do our best in order to beat him, and we learned a lot about him and about ourselves in the trying.  It took a lot of years, but it happened eventually.  It was a rite of passage.  I slowly began to see his humanity on the golf course – he was made of the dust of the earth, like all of us.  That revelation only served to  demonstrate his nobility, for, despite his grumbling about the outcome, he was not brokenhearted at losing, but rather was proud in having a son who would go beyond what he could do.

      I don’t golf much anymore, but I do play tennis, and my boys are taking up the sport.  I know that day will come when, one by one, they are able to beat me on the court, and I know they’ll brag about the feat, just as I bragged about beating my Dad at golf.  But I also hope that on that day I’ll taste a bit of the pride of my Dad, and that I’ll delight in them just as my Dad delighted in me.

I love you, Dad.  

Olympic Solution?

            I’ve spent very little time paying attention to the Olympics this year.  Sure, I’ve seen reports about Michael Phelps’ gold medals and world records, but I’ve also seen the questions about the ages of the Chinese women (children?) gymnasts.  The Olympics were intended to be an event that would bring nations together in peace, but for all the great sports moments, there are also the questions of human rights violations (Tibet), wars (Georgia), performance-enhancing drugs (Maria Isabel Moreno, Katerina Thanou and how many others?), smog, killings, terror threats, murder-suicide, and other scandals.  Perhaps the days of the Olympic ideals of Baron Pierre de Coubertin are past.

            Instead of the issues of who will boycott, who will cheat, and who will dominate, perhaps the sports championships should be held in venues where they are showcased far more appropriately, without the politics, and overseen by their own agencies.  Isn’t that why we have the Soccer/Football World Cup, Wimbledon, the British Open, the World Series, the Super Bowl, and so on?

            In April, sportswriter Buzz Bissinger wrote a NY Times Op-Ed piece about the need to improve the Olympics… by ending them.  It’s worth reading, even as you watch Phelps continue his quest.

            [And, if you are a fan of women’s (children’s?) gymnastics, you might also want to read Bissinger’s more recent Op-Ed piece in the NY Times.]

The Christian at Play - Part 2 - External Values

            In my last blog I referred to the book The Christian at Play, by Robert K. Johnston.  In the book, Johnston makes the case that play is only play when it is engaged in for it’s own sake.  If we engage in play for another purpose, it ceases to be play and becomes something else, most likely, work.  Still, play in general, and sports in particular, have external values, benefits that accrue to the player.  Johnston highlights five external values: “(1) a continuing sense of delight or joy, (2) an affirmation of one’s united self, (3) the creation of common bonds with one’s world, (4) the emancipation of one’s spirit so that it moves outward toward the sacred, and (5) the relativization of one’s workaday world.”

            Of these external values, I am particularly drawn to three.  First, the “continuing sense of delight or joy.”  Johnston quotes former basketball player and US Senator Bill Bradley, who, in his book, Life on the Run, described the euphoria that comes when something special happens on the basketball court:

            “What I’m addicted to are nights when something special happens on the court…. It is far more than a passing emotion.  It is as if a lightning bolt strikes, bringing insight into an uncharted area of human experience…. It goes beyond the competition that brings goose pimples or the ecstasy of victory…. A back-door play that comes with perfect execution at a critical time charges the crowd but I sense an immediate transporting enthusiasm and a feeling that everything is in perfect balance.”

            I’ve never been a particularly gifted athlete, but there are moments that transcend the sporting event and bring a deep joy to the soul.  In golf, I remember my drives on two consecutive holes when I was a teenager.  Never before or since have I hit a drive as long or as straight.  I’ll never forget that moment or that feeling.  I remember a particular tennis doubles match in high school – we won, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 – where the exhaustion, the perseverance, and the shot execution together created a euphoria beyond the final score.  Something magical happened that night.

            Johnston directs our attention to C. S. Lewis and his book, Surprised By Joy, in which Lewis recounts how specific moments of joy that came unbidden in his play pointed to something transcendent.  Are these moments of extraordinary joy a taste of the presence of the divine?  For Lewis, these moments prior to his conversion to Christianity were “valuable only as a pointer to something other and outer.”  Seeking an encounter with the transcendent, the divine, through sport will, most assuredly, prevent it from happening.  Trying to make it happen will turn the "play" into "work," and the opportunity will elude the player.  But when one abandons oneself in the moment, sport might provide an avenue to encounter the divine joy, if God chooses to make himself known in that moment.

 

            Next time, the external value of “the emancipation of one’s spirit so that it moves outward toward the sacred.”

"The Christian At Play" - Part 1 - Sport and Purpose

            While I was away on vacation, I came across the book, The Christian at Play, by Robert K. Johnston, (sadly, out of print) in a bargain bookstore.  Johnson’s book offers some helpful insights for a Christian theology of sport.  Johnston’s definition of play is broader that the realm of sport, including the aesthetic (e.g., music, art, drama, dance) and the communal (e.g.,  feasting, celebrating, resting) as well.  In the next few blogs I intend to share a few of these insights.

            One of Johnston’s insights is that play (sport) is primarily non-utilitarian.  He argues that one of the ways that play is misused and becomes something less than play is when it is done for a purpose.  Children will often resist adopting games that have been designed or adapted to teach a moral purpose.  He refers to a study by Stanford psychologists Mark Lepper and David Greene in which two groups of preschoolers were tested for their continued interest in a certain play activity.  One group was told that if they performed the activity they would be rewarded, the other group was not promised any reward.  At the end of the activity both groups were rewarded with playing with special toys.  After two weeks, the group that was promised a reward had diminished interest in the activity.  “Because their play had become goal oriented, they overlooked its pleasures.  The activity had become purposive; it was work, not play.”

            Johnston also quotes Lee Gibbs: “…the purpose of play is in the play itself.  If a person enters play only with useful, instrumental goals in mind, the activity ceases to be play.  The most distinctive characteristic is that it is voluntary, spontaneous, a source of joy and amusement, an activity pursued exuberantly and fervently for its own sake.”  There may be other benefits that accrue to the people who play, but they cannot be the primary intent, or it is no longer play.

            I see this in my own exercise program.  I took up running because aging and my wife’s delicious cooking were adding pounds.  I ran in order to lose (or, at least, not gain) weight.  I even ran a marathon (or, should I say, survived one).  But I never felt any joy in running, never experienced the “runner’s high.”  Perhaps my utilitarian use of running prevented it from being “play” or “sport” in the fullest sense.

            On the other hand, during the last year I have returned to a sport of my youth – tennis.  It also provides some health benefits, but I don’t play primarily for the health benefits.  I play because I enjoy the game.  It is a lot of fun.  Even though I gain health benefits from both, for me, running is work, while tennis is play.  Sports may have external benefits, but if those benefits are the focus, then the sports are no longer “play.”  They stop being Sabbath and become work.

            Perhaps this should be kept in mind by the coaches who preach that the team plays to learn life lessons.  The sport is primarily about the sport, otherwise it stops being play and becomes work.  When I coached my children’s teams, I said I had three goals: that the athletes are safe (avoiding injury), have fun, and learn something.  Maybe my goals should only have been the first two, (or even only the middle one) but then, what need would there be for a coach if the kids weren’t supposed to learn something!  We are told in Scripture to stop from our labors (which Johnston argues is an invitation to play, among other things), but if even our play becomes work, we will either burn out on an activity that is meant to be fun (by “working at our play”), or we will be diminished in our capacities to be the people we are created to be.

            May all of our sports be “play,” in the truest, deepest sense.

The “Kindergarchy,” AAU, and Healthy Parenting

            I’ve been away on vacation and study leave, so it’s been awhile since I’ve posted.  I hope to post at least twice a week from now on, so stay tuned…

 

            While I was away, my brother, Rich, sent me a link to a worthwhile article in the Weekly Standard by Joseph Epstein, “The Kindergarchy.”  In the article, Epstein questions the child-focused (read: child-obsessed) parenting of today, particularly by comparison to the parenting of a generation or two ago.  Children have become the focal-point of parents’ lives, leading to many unhealthy consequences, including self-centered delusions of the children.

            One area where the “Kindergarchy” is evident is the parenting of child- or student-athletes.  Parents become concerned (obsessed?) that their children get into all the right camps, have all the right equipment, get all the best coaching, and play on as many teams as possible so that they will “succeed.”  In Iowa, one of the sports idols that contributes to this “Kindergarchy” is AAU.  When I think of what I have seen and experienced in AAU, I feel a mix of sorrow and anger.

            It breaks my heart to see families disrupted and focused on their children’s participation in sports.  Long trips to tournaments and games every weekend feeds the insatiable monster that never cries “Enough!”  The lie that spurs this on is that if you want your child to play Varsity in high school or earn a college sports scholarship, you’ve got to get them into AAU and into as many camps and programs as you can.  What is the result?

-       Children who think that they are the center of the world, as their parents cater to their every (sporting) whim. 

-       Children who get burned out working on sports skills, instead of enjoying the delight of playing. 

-       Families that are grossly misshapen by unrelenting sports schedules.

-       Too-often disappointing results, as those who are “athletes” will “succeed” in sports, whether or not they follow the AAU – Camp – Tournament routine or not. 

“Soccer-Mom” should be considered an insult – why don’t the moms & dads have a healthy life full of real involvement church, ministry, and in their own hobbies and enjoyment?  I am angered when I think of all the otherwise able parents in congregations and communities who have used their children’s activities, including sports, as an excuse for not getting involved in worthwhile causes.

Shouldn’t sports be fun?  Parents (through what I believe to be originally well-intentioned organizations like AAU and Little League) have organized the play out of the games and made the games into work for everyone involved – children and parents.  (I can’t believe how much is expected of parents of student-athletes in high school these days.  Parents were hardly involved “back in the day,” and sports programs functioned just fine.  Now it’s another insatiable monster that never cries “Enough!”)  The parents should “put away childish things” and get involved in healthy adult activities and let the kids have fun on their own.  But then, maybe the problem is that the parents are still trying to live out their childhoods vicariously through their children. 

But that’s a whole other blog entry.

Lessons from Mr. Walters

            Mr. Walters was a large man who taught two equally large lessons that have stuck with me through the years.  As our high school US History teacher/Athletic Director, he required two things at sporting events.  First, since he was a US History teacher, he required all the students to memorize the Star-Spangled Banner perfectly – spelling, punctuation and all.  If you had any mistakes on the test, you got to sing the National Anthem to the class.  But it didn’t end there.  If he saw you at one of the high school games and caught you not singing the national anthem, you also had to sing the National Anthem to the class.  It didn’t matter if you were a star player, head cheerleader, or school-spirited fan.  If you weren’t singing at the game, you sang for the class.

            I still always sing the National Anthem at ball games.

            The second lesson was from a rule that was instituted on all of the sports teams with which I was involved, so I assume it came from Mr. Walters.  Players on the high school sports teams were not to speak with the referees, officials, or umpires, except to say “Yes, sir,” or “No, sir.”  If a player had a complaint or question, he or she was to go to the coach, who alone was allowed to talk with the official.  Mr. Walters taught us to respect authority.

            It saddens me to watch arguing, complaining, and carrying on with sports officials.  A current TV commercial has Cubs manager, Lou Piniella, pretending to argue an umpire’s call because that’s what people expect him to do.  How sad that arguing like that, and getting ejected from a game, is expected.  How unfortunate that coaches, managers, and players feel it necessary to “work the officials,” to argue with them, plead with them, cajole them so that the next close call will go be to their team’s benefit.  Aren’t we supposed to respect authority and honor it?

            I wish more people could have played for Mr. Walters.

ESPY Moment

The other night I watched some of the ESPY Awards show and was moved by the winner of the "Moment of the Year."  It was the story of Western Oregon's softball player, Sara Tucholsky, hitting her first ever home run, then tearing her ACL rounding first base.  Because her teammates aren't allowed to help her run the bases, two players from the opposition (Central Washington players Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace) carry her around the bases.  This is a heart-warming story because it reflects honor in the game, sportsmanship, and competition in the root sense of the word, "seeking together."  When we consider what is honorable and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8) in sports, surely a moment like this should come to mind.  May we think on such things and celebrate the ideals of sport.

The Football Question - Part Three

            So, where does this question leave me right now?  I think that football is a sport that straddles the line of violence/aggression as far as Christian schools are concerned.  Although I never played football, I understand that a coach can teach aggressive blocking and tackling without promoting the violence of a hit.  A coach can teach technique and strength, while discouraging unnecessary aggressiveness/violence.  A coach makes a huge difference in whether or not the sport crosses the line between acceptable and unacceptable violence/aggression.

            However, it also seems to me that it would take a very special coach not to succumb to the temptations of encouraging ever greater aggression on the field.  How does a coach avoid selecting for aggression in a player?  How do you teach and require such control on aggression?  If a player displays a lot of aggression, wouldn’t a coach be pleased?  Again, I’ve never played tackle football, and I’ve never coached, but it would seem to me to be a very difficult task to keep football to a limited aggression level.

            Could a Christian school engage in a football program with integrity?  Although it appears to me to be an extremely difficult task, I think it is possible.  But it would require selecting a special type of coach who can teach control over aggressiveness, and not promote violent hits.  Does such a coach exist?  I don’t know, but I do get worried when a coach tells the team and parents that he likes football because he likes to hit people, and the football field is the one place where you can hit people without getting thrown in jail.  It would take a very special person to coach technique and strength and strategy, without encouraging (over-)aggressiveness.  I hope such coaches exist.

            This also suggests the need to educate the student body, parents, and other fans in the nature of the (non-violent) game, so that they will understand, appreciate, and cheer for good plays appropriately.  (See my earlier post, “How To Be a Christian Fan,” which offers a non-sport-specific starting point.)  It also means that the players need to be well-coached and understand this controlled-aggression approach to the game.  If the coaches, players, and fans all understood, played, cheered, and were committed to this approach to football, the game that would be played by the Christian school’s team would stand out clearly from the football that is played everywhere else.  Christian school football should be distinctive, not because the game begins with a prayer, but in how it is played on the field.  A controlled-aggression approach would be a clearly distinctive game.

The Football Question - Part Two

            One response I’ve encountered regarding the question of whether or not football is too violent or physically aggressive to be part of a Christian school sports program is that other sports that aren’t questioned are (just as) physically aggressive [I’m using this term instead of “violent,” as a result of Jason’s comments] as football.  The argument is that basketball also involves contact which is sometimes physically aggressive – consider the “banging” that goes on under the basket.  Or that baseball is physically aggressive – brush-back pitches, collisions at the plate, breaking up a double play.  There is no doubt that these sports have some degree of physical aggression in them, but this aggression is not meant to be as integral to the game as is the aggression of football.

            Consider that while a basketball player may intend to get to the basket, she must go around the defender, not through her.  If she goes through her, she will be called for a foul and the opposing team gets the ball.  Some jockeying for position goes on under the basket for rebounds, but if the jockeying is judged to be out of line, the referee will call a foul.

            Baseball is similar.  While there may be some contact in breaking up a double play, intentionally going after the infielder will result in an interference and an out call.  Brush-back pitches are illegal.  In high school sports, collisions at the plate are outlawed.

            There may be some contact in basketball or baseball, and that contact might be physically aggressive or violent on occasion, but this contact is not inherently part of these games, and is, in fact, often punished.  The aggressive contact in football is essential to the game and is encouraged.  This is an important difference.

            In basketball, you have to go around the defender, in football, you try to go through the defender, pushing him out of the way.  In basketball, you cannot have (significant) physical contact with the offensive player; in football, you attempt to strike the offensive player with enough force and technique to knock him to the ground.  The physically aggressive contact is foundational to the game.  No one proposes to play flag football, they want to play tackle football.

            It is true that good coaching will emphasize technique – tackling over hitting – but this doesn’t eliminate the violent or physically aggressive nature of the sport.  Football is not as physically aggressive as boxing, where the game is designed to knock an opponent senseless, but it is more physically aggressive than baseball or basketball.  The question remains: Is there a point on the continuum of physical aggression which a Christian school sports program ought not cross?  If so (and I believe so), where does football stand in regard to this point?  Does football cross the line?

In Part Three, I'll try to summarize what I've come to understand on this issue.

The Football Question - Part One

            “The purpose of this Christian high school football team is to glorify God.”  So began the new coach’s talk to the players and their parents.  The coach outlined his coaching philosophy and football theory, and it was full of Scripture texts.  I had to give him credit – he was trying to integrate football and Scripture.  But within five minutes of his opening statement, the coach was explaining why he loved football.  “When I was in high school, I loved to hit people.  The football field is one place where it’s legal to hit people.  If you hit people in other places, you can get thrown in jail.  But on the football field, you get to hit people, and I loved to hit people.”

            No one, besides me, smiled at the irony.  Maybe I was the only one who caught it, but I had to hold back a laugh.  I thought to myself, “Let’s clarify that opening statement.  ‘The purpose of this Christian high school football team is to glorify God… by hitting people.’”  Is that possible?

            Those comments from the coach highlight a conversation I’ve been wanting to have for a long time, but I have found very few willing to take the other side of the conversation.  The question to consider is this: Given the violent nature of the game, is it appropriate (right, ethical, acceptable) for a Christian school to have a football team?  (I’m leaving aside the question whether it is appropriate for any Christian to play football – just talking big picture here.)  Just this summer, a third Christian school with which I’ve had a connection has added football to its sports programming.  In each case, the schools never invited a dialogue with the constituency about whether or not a football team is appropriate.  I’ve wanted to ask the simple, theological, ethical question – is it appropriate for a Christian school to have a football team – but no one at any of the schools has been interested in asking that question.

            I have had a couple of conversations with Christians who played football, who ask if I’ve ever played football, and when I say ‘No,’ simply roll their eyes and say, “Then you wouldn’t understand it.”  While that may be true, that non-answer makes it tough to do theology.

            Here’s how I usually frame the question.  Nearly everyone would agree that there is no problem for a Christian school to have a golf team, and nearly everyone would agree that it would be inappropriate for a Christian school to have a Fight Club or MMA team.  Somewhere between those extremes of total non-contact and brutal beatings, there is a line between what is appropriate and what is inappropriate for a Christian school.  I think that the violent nature of football places it close to that line.  I don’t know which side of the line it is on, and that’s the question I’d like to pursue.  Is it appropriate for a Christian school to have a football team, or is football, in its very nature, too violent to be appropriate?  Is it possible to set this mission before a football team: “The purpose of this Christian high school football team is to glorify God by hitting people”?

In Part Two, I’ll consider one argument I’ve heard regarding violence in football and other sports.

How To Be a Christian Fan

A few years ago, the Christian High School in our area decided to add a football program.  Sadly, the administration was unwilling to engage in a theological discussion of the idea of "Christian football," but the Athletic Director said he would write something for the school community about how to cheer at a football game.  He never did, but this is my attempt to describe how Christians should be sports fans.  Enjoy!

            Pastor, author, and baseball fan, John Fischer, wrote in a Breakpoint commentary [July 15, 2002 – sadly, no link], “I was elated the day I discovered that God was having as much fun at a Minnesota Twins/Texas Ranger [sic] ball game as I was.” Is God delighted by a ball game?  The Scriptures include a number of allusions to athletics.  Paul refers to athletes competing for a prize, to his own finishing the race and fighting the good fight.  The writer of Hebrews alludes to a crowd of witnesses in the stadium watching us run our race and cheering us on. [1 Cor 9:24-27; 2 Tim 4:7-8; Heb 12:1-2] Athletics was part of the culture in Paul’s day, so his illustrations from the world of sport were relevant.  Fisher reports, “I made this discovery when I realized how much truth I could find illustrated by what was going on down on the field.” If we are joining with God in delighting in a sporting event, should our behavior as a Christian spectator be distinctive?  Can we attend a sporting event in a Christian manner?

            Dr. Ethan Brue, an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Dordt College in Sioux Center, IA, has written on understanding athletic competition from a Christian perspective.  He notes that the Latin root of the word “compete” means “to come together and agree” or “to seek together.”  He then argues that sport is primarily an aesthetic endeavor.  “Within the context of mutually agreed upon boundaries and rules, persons engage their bodies in a tapestry of motion that is made beautiful by skill, nuance, creativity, and the unexpected, a beauty apparent to fans and players alike.”  Players put forth their best effort in order to “offer the opposition the best possible opportunity for creative and skillful play.”  When athletes compete to the best of their ability, even if they may lose by a lopsided score, they allow all the players to glorify the creator in the aesthetic movements of the sport – the ballet of a smoothly turned double play, the graceful arc of a 3-point jumper, the fluid grace of a header into the corner of the net, the acrobatic balance of a catch with toes landing in-bounds in the corner of the end zone.

            From a Christian perspective, competition is not about winning, but about “seeking together,” about putting forth effort so that the players together can reveal the artistic marvel of human athletic endeavors.  This should affect how coaches coach their teams, how players participate in the games.  The goal is to put forth full effort within the  boundaries of the rules to please God with their effort.  This means, among other things, that victory is not the ultimate purpose or measure of sport in general, or of an athletic event in particular.  This affects how the fan should cheer.

            Since I am no longer a coach or player in organized sports, I find myself in the role of spectator and fan.  My cheers for the home team (or whatever team I may favor) ought to be primarily directed not toward winning, but rather toward the best efforts of the players so that the beauty of the game and of athletic aesthetics can be demonstrated.  This means at least two things for how we, as fans, should behave Christianly at sporting events.

            First, it means that our cheering should never be directed toward the officials, referees, umpires, coaches, or other people involved in controlling or directing the game.  The officials and coaches are in positions of authority in sport, and we are to “submit… to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” [Rom 13:1] Officials have been given authority to enforce the rules of the game, so booing or complaining about calls is wrong.  We are to submit to their authority, and so we are to let them do their work unhindered.  They report to supervisors who review their work.  We in the stands are not their superiors, and we have no authority over the game.  Christian spectators ought to refrain from anything that would undermine the authority of officials or coaches, but instead should submit to their decisions.

            Second, our role in the stands is one of encouragement and celebration.  The competing athletes are striving together to the best of their abilities, and it is the work of the spectator to encourage them to give their best.  We ought to cheer for the participants to be the best shortstops, goalies, runners, or centers that they can be.  We should be encouraging them to use their gifts to creatively celebrate the gift of play.  This is distinctly different from cheering for the detriment of the other team, which would not be in keeping with Christian encouragement.  The event before us is a game, not a battle.  It is played, not waged.  Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., the President of Calvin Seminary, helps us to see our place in sport when he writes in Educating For Shalom, “Part of our calling as delighted creatures of God is to be playful.  War, for instance, isn’t playful.  Football is.  A prominent mistake is to confuse these things.” That prominent mistake is too often found in the bleachers, where fans forget that a game is being played, not a war being waged, and cheer against or try to discourage the other team or player.  Our calling is to encourage the athletes to glorify God by their efforts in competing, in striving together.

            This also requires celebration.  Celebrating a remarkable shot, an astonishing catch, a breath-taking homerun.  It is good to celebrate God’s goodness revealed in a deftly thrown ball or an exquisitely executed play.  When the players strive well and the result is a beautiful sight, it is most appropriate to stand up, cheer, and give your neighbor a high-five, for in using their bodies so adroitly, the players are prompting us to glorify their Creator.

            Unfortunately, the bleachers at our teams’ games too often resound not with encouragement and celebration for skillful performance, but with booing or shouting at referees, coaches, and players.  It is important for us as fans to know our role.  The referees and coaches use their authority to control and direct the game, the players use their bodies and skills to glorify the Creator, and we spectators are there to support, encourage, and celebrate the marvel that is displayed before us.  We are told in Scripture to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. [Phil 4:8] A third baseman snagging one-hop drive down the line and rifling the ball to first to beat the striving runner is admirable.  A smoothly executed pick-and-roll finished by a reverse lay-up is lovely.  A team moving efficiently down the field in a two-minute drill is excellent.  A cross-country runner straining side-by-side with a competitor in the last 50 yards is noble.  We ought to at least think about these things.  We should even stand up and cheer, and praise God for the excellent and praiseworthy efforts of the athletes, for they are glorifying their Creator.

Introduction

            I’m a baseball fan and a theologian.  When I try to imagine what Heaven or the New Creation will be like, I assume that somehow baseball will be part of the wonders to be revealed.  In Revelation, God says he will make all things new, and the eternal kingdom will be an earthly, physical realm.  Certainly baseball will be part of it, right?

            But that puzzled me for a long time because every highlight for one player or team is a lowlight for the opposition.  For every jubilant hitter who slugs the ball over the fence, there’s a dejected hurler.  For every cunning pitcher who notches a strike out, there’s a downhearted batter trudging back to the dugout.  For years I imagined that baseball would have to take the form of a game of catch in Heaven.  You know, fathers playing catch with sons, those moments when all is peace and wonder as the ball arcs back and forth – no winners, but no losers either.

            Then I read an article by Dr. Ethan Brue, “Base Running as an Obedient Art.”  In the article, Brue argues that when we compete we provide the opportunity for our fellow athletes to use their skills to glorify God.  He offers the illustration of a softball game, bottom of the last inning, two outs, your team down by seven runs.  You hit a dribbler to their gold glove second baseman, an easy out.  You are tempted to turn and head to the dugout, but you resist the temptation and act as a servant by hustling to first base.  Then the second baseman slips, the ball takes a strange hop, and the fielder makes a dazzling recovery to stop the ball and flip it to the first baseman.  It’s a split-second, bang-bang play.  You’re out.  Was it worth the effort to hustle down the line?  Yes, because you have given the fielder “an adequate canvas to display his athletic creativity.”  Even though you are out and your team lost, “you delight in the extemporaneous skill of the second baseman, as though you had done it yourself.  And you actually did.  There are never winners and losers when Christians engage in sport, only obedient or disobedient artists.”

            And so I discovered that there is a place for baseball in the kingdom of God and the New Creation.  Wins and losses aren’t important, only obedient artistry in the field of play.  In that we can rejoice and, as Brue concludes, “Who knows, maybe even God himself likes a ballgame like that.”

            This blog, then, combines my love of sports and theology, and will, hopefully, address a variety of sports topics theologically.  I invite your comments and insights, as I seek to consider sports as obedient art.