Books

 

Baker W. J. Playing with God: Religion and Modern Sport. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007. Unfortunately this book has been checked out of the library and has no online component. I have requested a copy of it but it still has not come in. I have read Harvard’s synopsis of what the book is about as well as the list of contents and believe that it will be of great help to illustrate the way in which the sport world has changed and shifted to come to accept sport and Christianity.

 

Forney, Craig. The Holy Trinity of American Sports: Civil religion in Football, Baseball, and Basketball. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2007. This book compares following sport and compares it to religion. The daily process and debating of sport as if it were scripture are examined, and in football’s case the once a week preparation of service much like church.

 

Guttmann A. From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978. This book was unavailable and has no online component. The book is discusses the evolution of sports in society and will provide an explanation for how football has risen to be like a religion in American culture.

 

Higgs R. J. God in the Stadium: Sports and Religion in Modern America. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1995. This book too is unfortunately not presently in the library and has no online component. Having read a synopsis on this book it is vital because it looks into the way athletes are looked as heroes. As well as how sport and religion have become intertwined.

 

Krattenmaker, Tom. Onward Christian Athletes: Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010. This book is important as it talks about the ways players view Christ and how they take the platform they are given and use it to spread God. There are chapters that deal with pro sports and conservative Christians, as well as the balance of God helping one team win while the other team loses. It has lots of evidence that shows the link between athletes and the viewers and God.

 

Journal Articles

 

Chandler, Joan. “Sport is Not a Religion”. In Sport and Religion. Edited by Shirl J. Hoffman, 55-61. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Books, 1992. This article tries to prove that sport is not a religion because it lacks certain aspects that create a religion, but in doing so it gives examples of how sports, like football, can be thought of as religious.

 

Eitzen, D. Stanley and George H. Sage. “Sport and Religion”. In Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane. Edited by Charles Prebish, 79-118.West Port, CN: Greenwood Press, 1993. This article talks about not only how sport is likened to religion but how religion uses sport. Churches sponsoring sporting events to promote God, as well as organizations like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes are examined and show how the two sides of sport and religion work together.

 

Hoffman, Shirl. “Prayers Out of Bounds”. In Theology, Ethics and Transcendence in Sports. Edited by Jim Parry, Mark Nesti and Nick Watson, 35-63. New York: Routledge, 2011. This article deals with athletes praying before and after games. It shows the amount of faith players place into the hands of God that He will lead them to victory.

 

Nesti, Mark. “Suffering, Sacrifice, Sport Psychology and the Spirit”. In Sport and Spirituality: an Introduction. Edited by Jim Parry, 151-169. New York: Routledge, 2007. In this article the author looks in great detail into suffering in professional sports, and how athletes continue to go on through intense pressure and pain.

 

Prebish, Charles. “Religion and Sport: Convergence or Identity?”. In Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane. Edited by Charles Prebish, 45-76.West Port, CN: Greenwood Press, 1993. This article talks about how sport and religion are similar. It includes quotes from bishops and Christian magazines that explain how sport is helpful to religion and links the two share.

 

Price, Joseph. “The Super Bowl as religious Festival”. In Sport and Religion. Edited by Shirl J. Hoffman, 13-16. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Books, 1992. This article compares the spectacle of the Super Bowl to a religious outing, drawing on the imagery and similarities between the two. It also briefly speaks about why the sport is so popular among Americans and its ties to their history.

 

Slusher, Howard. “Sport and the Religious”. In Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane. Edited by Charles Prebish, 173-196.West Port, CN: Greenwood Press, 1993. This article talks about many aspects of religion and sport. It focuses on sport through the perspective of a religious person and deals with topics like faith, a religious meaning of sport, and sport as a religious symbol.

 

Other Sources

Brooks, Booby. “Why has the NFL Become a Religion”, bleacherreport.com, August 12, 2010. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/437542-why-the-nfl-is-replacing-religion Accessed October 9, 2013. This brief article points out the similarities between the NFL and religions. It serves as a glimpse into themes that will be talked about in greater detail in the rest of the assignment.

 

Fellowship of Christian Athletes. http://www.fca.org/ This is the website for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and it has videos and write ups about how God is an important person in the lives of athletes. It demonstrates the feeling of utter defeat and the hopes of a resurrection next season.

 

Holbert, Allan. “Cowboys Finish Vikings 17-14”, Star Tribune, December 29, 1975. http://www.startribune.com/blogs/81598612.html Accessed on October 8, 2013. This article is from the losing team after the “Hail Mary” game. It gives a discription of the events and has interviews from the players and people involved. It will be used in the explanation of a Hail Mary.

 

Lipsyte, Robert. “Sports, God, & Religion” in Writers’ Bloc, February 10, 2004. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=bloc/040210 Accessed October 8, 2013. This article features an interview with a minister and he talks about how God has influenced players and how it is important to people in the league; he also talks about the kind of player Jesus would be if he played football. It also features a brief interview with a professional quarterback that feels as though he was discriminated against because of his beliefs.

 

 

Oppenhiemer, Mark. “In the Fields of the Lord”, in Sports Illustrated, February 4, 2013.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1206795/ Accessed on October 7, 2013. This is an article that was featured in an issue of Sports Illustrated just before the Super Bowl. It talks about the faith of players like Ray Lewis and how it has influenced them in their lives. The head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes also speaks about the importance of God in players and spectators.

 

Onion Writing Staff. “Athletes in Religion”. The Onion: America’s Finest News Source, January 13, 2012, http://www.theonion.com/articles/athletes-and-religion,27033/ Accessed on October 6, 2013. This is a joke article that talks about religious acts athletes in other sports have done. It is a funny quick read that will go in the introductory part of the website.

 

Wikipedia writers, “Hail Mary Pass” wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass Accessed October 5, 2013. This article explains what a “Hail Mary” play is in football. It gives its religious backgrounds, its naming origin and when it became popularized.

 

Videos

 

Bossip Staff. “Tim Tebow Skit on SNL with Jesus Making a Special Appearance”, bossip.com, video uploaded December 19, 2011. http://bossip.com/512373/tim-tebow-skit-on-snl-with-jesus-making-a-special-appearance-video69691/ Accessed on October 5, 2013. This is a sketch from Saturday Night Live where Jesus appears to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos after a Bronco win. It makes a commentary on the amount of credit athletes give to Jesus when they win games.

 

DallasCowboys94Ware. “NFL Films – The Power and the Glory”, youtube.com, video Uploaded on March 1, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7AhBi7dEnE Accessed on October 5, 2013. This video just gives an artistic, poetic expression of what football is all about. This will be used in the beginning just to show what the sport is about to the players and the fans.

davek70s. “1975 Vikings – Cowboys Hail Mary”, youtube.com, video uploaded on November 21, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7uS0ezb2o4 Accessed on October 5, 2013. This is the original Hail Mary passing play and will be used to show what a Hail Mary is.

 

ejrebtibay. “Tim Tebow - Giving Glory to God Highlights”, youtube.com, video uploaded on November 19, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QUe8NLZztY Accessed on October 5, 2013. This is a video from a Tim Tebow interview just after a game; Tebow repeatedly talks about his faith and the support from his family and God. The first thing he does in the interview is thank God for blessing him with his talents.

 

FemBossNews, “Almighty Referee, God on the Side Lines at the Big Game”, youtube.com, video uploaded by on February 3, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5-x2BNp_-4 Accessed on October 5, 2013. This is a news clip that came out shortly before the previous Super Bowl and involves a reporter talking about American people believing God plays a part in deciding the outcome of the game. It demonstrates what some of the general public think about God and football

 

NFLBlogBlitz. “Ray Rice and Post Game Prayer”, youtube.com, video uploaded on February 1, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhwkYiGW1K8 Accessed on October 5, 2013. This is a post game prayer where the players from the two teams come together and thank God for the game. The players all go down on one knee, and hold hands as one player leads them all in prayer. It shows how religion has influenced the players.

 

NFL.com Staff. “Week Three Can’t-Miss Play: Seahawks Hail Mary”, NFL.com, video uploaded September 25, 2012. “http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/0ap2000000066000/Hail-Mary-for-Hawks” Accessed on October 5, 2013. This is another Hail Mary but one called the “Fail Mary”. It is just another look at the type of play used in football but when it does not go as planned.

 

The following three are videos that will be used to demonstrate “miracle plays”. These are plays in NFL history that have been deemed so improbable that a miracle has happened and given the team a comeback victory.

bret3d “The Immaculate Reception”, youtube.com, video uploaded on January 16, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xMDIcsUMmA Accessed on October 5, 2013.

Jeff Nichols. “The Music City Miracle”, youtube.com, video uploaded on July 4, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCJFmL4oxPE Accessed on October 5, 2013.

Scott Juffe. “Miracle in the New Meadowlands”, youtube.com,video uploaded on December 19, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnutUk02Sk0 Accessed on October 5, 2013.