I was a long-time fan of NFL football with first the Dallas Cowboys, then the New England Patriots, as my favourite teams. I'm drawn to the franchises in different sports which maintain excellence over a long period, which cannot explain why I've been a Toronto Maple Leafs fan since childhood!
I didn't watch a single NFL game this past season because I was poisoned by the immoral behaviour of Pats owner Robert Kraft and the cheating by the team itself. Add to that the league's treatment of quarterback Colin Kaepernick, which was clearly racist, the repeated incidents of domestic abuse by players, and the evidence that playing pro football shortens lives, and, well, I was done.
Confession is good for the soul. I was done...until the playoffs. The past few weeks I have tuned in to playoff games, feeling guilty, as though I was breaking Lenten promises to abstain from certain things. And the team that intrigues me most, the Kansas City Chiefs, is really exciting with a superb young QB in Patrick Mahomes.
But...the name of the team --Chiefs-- and the racist chant of fans and their "tomahawk chop" are disturbing. Of course, there are the Eskimos in Canadian football, and the NFL Redskins, and baseball's Braves. Last year McGill University got rid of the Redmen name for sports teams and it's just wrong that major league teams resist the changes.
I follow several US pastors/writers/theologians who are long-suffering Chiefs fans. They never express concerns about this ugly reality with their team, and I wonder why.
So, off to church this morning to worship God and invoke the name of Christ who makes us all one. Will I watch the Superbowl, with the Kansas City______ as one of the two teams taking the field? Pray for me...
3 comments:
David, you need more than just prayers if you're admitting to being a fan of the Leafs, Patriots and Cowboys. Of all the teams in all the sports, those are the three I detest the most.
I agree that it can be difficult to be a sports fan, when things like those you mentioned come to mind. It's a battle I constantly fight...but in the end, I do love sports. With my wife away on a trip, I've gone to a Raptors game, to Buffalo to see my Habs beat the Sabres, and an Oshawa Generals game - all in the past week.
I really don't care who wins tonight, but I'll be watching....because I'm a sports fan. And next year, we'll all get to see my Pittsburgh Steelers play in the Super Bowl. Or not.
You'e probably too young to remember the days of Roger Staubach as QB & Tom Landry as coach for a very different Dallas franchise, Roger. I thought you might have some respect for your namesake. Yet despite your tender years you seem to demonstrate signs of dementia thinking that the Steelers have a prayer for next year with their geezer quarterback. And talk about the pot calling the kettle black as a fan of the futile Habs. That said, I do appreciate your comments!
I remember Staubach and Landry well - that was back in the days of Bradshaw and Noll. It was the mid 70's when my obsession with the Steelers began. It seemed the Cowboys and Steelers had a bit of a rivalry anyway back then(they did play each other in the big game).
I agree the QB issue is big with the Steelers. Big Ben seems to get injured by a breeze, and we definitely don't have a backup QB. But at least they aren't openly supporting Trump(hello New England). Sorry David, that's enough reason to hate them.
As for the Habs, well it was heart-warming to see the sea of red, white and blue at the Keybank Centre. More of us there than Sabre fans.
Post a Comment