Spirituality of Sport

Sports have long been used as a metaphor for life. Its lessons are simple – never give up, try your best and play fair.

During this Easter season, when March Madness takes hold of the diehard and casual fan alike, it is worth asking if there is a way to see the spirituality of sport.

Coach Larry Krystkowiak led his 16th seeded Montana Grizzlies into first round action against the top seeded Washington Huskies. In 80 such matchups since the NCAA went to a 64 team format 20 years ago, a number 16 seed has never defeated a number 1 seed. This, then, was a David and Goliath struggle if ever there was one. Alas, Montana would not be the first team to prevail as the 16th seed but they did better than expected.

Krystkowiak told the media in the days leading up to the game that, "I’d love to be a loving father of a coach who can just be smiley and happy-go-lucky all the time. But it’s basically called ‘tough love’. There’s a time when some correction needs to be made and a lot of the time if you speak in a soft tone you don’t get anybody’s attention."

Those of us who are Christians sometimes question God’s love for us because we are caught trying to reconcile an all loving Creator with the tragedy we see around us every day. This past week has given more than enough examples of this: a young girl in Florida kidnapped and murdered by a sexual predator and a teenager in Minnesota in yet another school shooting. Myriad other tragedies great and small throughout our land – some public but countless others private – challenge our faith in ourselves and our fellow citizens.

In some instances, it causes some to question their faith in God.

If this happens it is often because we are asking the wrong questions. We turn around and direct our anger towards God and ask why He would allow this to happen? Coach Krystkowiak gives us a hint that perhaps we ought not to be questioning God but ourselves. When he or any other coach corrects his players, or uses the ‘tough love’ of which he spoke, it is because they care about the welfare of the player and the success of the team. In short, they correct, they discipline - employing sometimes unpleasant tactics – to inspire an improvement. The motive is not to punish but to get someone’s attention and motivate them to help themselves.

Given that, perhaps instead of questioning God’s love for us, we should ask what we can do – as individuals, as communities sharing a common destiny – to change in such a way that we avoid or minimize future tragedies.

It all seems so easy in sport. All of us, young and old, are armchair athletes with answers at our fingertips: ‘Work harder if you don’t succeed, run until you drop, don’t try but DO, perform under pressure and, above all, use your talents in every instance to score the basket.’

Number 3 seed Gonzaga blew a 13 point half-time lead against Bobby Knight and Texas Tech. After scoring 25 points in the game and with Gonzaga trailing 69-67, Adam Morrison missed a 3 pointer with 19.5 seconds left. His 25 points are forgotten but we remember he missed the crucial 3.

He failed because despite some successes, he didn’t do what he was capable of doing every time. Can we say the same?

If we are so certain in the arena of sport when we judge others, why then can we not use that same certainty of purpose in our own lives? How many of us perform to our fullest moral potential every day without fail? How many of us are capable of giving more than we do? I suspect the answers are simple – none of us and all of us.

Sports is a canvas upon which natural dramas are played out. The line between victory and defeat is clear and there are no second chances. The overconfident and proud fall – as Kansas did to tiny Bucknell. The underestimated like West Virginia move on. In the wings sit North Carolina and Illinois - both are kings to loyal fans - but only one can win and rule the college basketball world.

Life is a lot less definite than sport. But it may be so because we fashion it that way. Perhaps if we tried living our own lives with the same clarity and clear-cut distinctions between right and wrong as we impose on success and failure in sport, we might find the line between winning and losing in life becomes just as crystal clear.

The referees are dressed in black and white for a reason – there are no shades of gray.

When we question God’s involvement in our destinies it might do to remember another comment from Coach Krystkowiak. In speaking about a coach from his own past, he quoted him as saying, " ‘Don’t worry about when I’m yelling at you. You better worry about it when I don’t talk to you’. And he’s right. Because if you don’t have the energy to talk to someone there’s a pretty good chance they’re not part of your plan."

At least God is talking to us even if we sometimes don’t like what He is saying. It’s safe to assume we are part of His plan. Our own ultimate success may depend on our decision to listen.