Good morning, sports fans! And what a great day it is! We have a fine matchup in Detroit today! It'll be quite a contest this evening! We're in for some excitement with these two teams - the survivors of tough and sometimes surprising post-season contests. Today they vie to see who will finally triumph. Who will win the right to take home that coveted silver trophy?

I don't think I'll ask who's rooting for the Seahawks or Steelers today - wouldn't want to stir up undue dissent. And you notice we have not divided fans in the 'stands,' either. Surely that's not necessary in a UU crowd. Besides, some of us tune in more for the ads or maybe for the half-time show. The 'wardrobe malfunction' of two years ago certainly caused a stir for months afterward. And some of us won't tune in at all.

The Super Bowl is the center of a whirlwind of activities. You certainly don't have to travel to Detroit to be part of it. Plenty of local gatherings are arranged in homes, sports bars, and the like. Maybe you saw the piece in the Bee this week that described the rush of business expected by pizza places. We noticed the ads from deli departments, grocery and beverage outlets that want to help you put out the best 'spread' ever. Maybe you yourself have plans for something like that this afternoon and evening. It seems that every section of the paper has some story related to today's game. One of the newscasts the other night even had a poll asking whether Super Bowl Sunday should be a declared national holiday!

Those of us who aren't particularly excited about the Super Bowl have the start of the Winter Olympics to look forward to this week. We'll be able to watch all sorts of skiing, skating and sledding events taking place in and around Torino (or Turin) Italy. And the spectacle of Olympic opening and closing ceremonies will be broadcast, will be available on the Internet, and will fill our sports sections and magazines as well.

Even those of us who aren't much involved or interested in sports recognize that the Super Bowl, the Olympics and other sports events are major features of our culture. We may scratch our heads and wonder why, but we see it all around us. Sports figures command amazing salaries. Cities build new arenas and offer other incentives to get or keep a franchise. Team-logo gear fills stores, catalogues and kiosks. People schedule activities and appointments so that they won't conflict with a particular game or event. Those 30-second ads that will be shown later today are astronomically expensive. No doubt about it, sports matter in America.

Let's look at this a little more closely. So many factors are involved. We can use so many different lenses, different views. What's so appealing about these events? Why are sports so influential? How are they embedded in our non-sport lives? What's going on here? Not that I expect to provide once-and-for-all answers to those questions. But I do think it's helpful to explore them. First off, let's admit that both of this week's events, different as they are, involve tremendous elements of spectacle. It's pretty obvious in the pageantry of the Olympic ceremonies. If you haven't considered it for the Super Bowl, just remember what a small percentage of the broadcast is actually playing time. What makes a spectacle? Why, parades, music, dramatic entrances, color and bright lights, celebrities and costumes, of course. Lots of stimulation for eye and ear goes into it. Surprises help. All of those come together as a treat for the senses, with a big 'Wow' factor. Excited commentary is contagious. And along with all that comes the 'I don't-want-to-miss- something' syndrome. We know there'll be a lot of talk about what happens tonight over the next few days and weeks. We could be totally left out of those conversations. Clips on the late news just aren't the same.

Picking up on that thread about being 'wowed,' there's no question that the athletes involved have amazing talents and skills. And they've added the strategy, grit, technology, luck and plain hard work to make the most of it. When you watch them, you see things you've thought were humanly impossible. Their speed, strength, nimbleness and grace are simply awesome. Our ideas about what people can do - what we may aspire to - are stretched and redefined. I heard an interview with some former NFL players on NPR this week. They were talking about how much the game had changed, how much more strength and speed are required and how the skills and agility of the players had increased. Part of the appeal of sports comes from the remarkable achievements of the athletes involved. Look at that! Did you see it? How can they do that? It's true in football, in Olympic events and in other sports as well. No one knows when the truly remarkable will happen.

But back to that interview for a moment. The men also talked about changing roles and the way race factored into decisions about who could play what position, who might coach or manage a team. The changing racial makeup of our sports teams is linked to the culture's changing ideas and attitudes about race. One of those former NFL players, an African American, offered a list of prominent running backs and ends. They had all been quarterbacks in high school, but as they moved through college teams to the pros, that position was closed to them. Consequently, the aspirations of these young men became aimed at being players, making the team, but not keeping their position. Once an African American was able to win a quarterback spot, both aspirations and realities changed significantly. Do changing attitudes in the culture produce changes on the playing field or does it work the other way around? Does the lead come now in one area, now from the other? I leave that for you to consider.

There's quite a lot of talk about athletes as role models. Plenty of commentary focuses on either field decorum or off-field lifestyles. On the field, what's appropriate? What crosses the line into unsportsmanlike conduct? Away from the game, is an athlete's transgression more weighty than an ordinary person's? Does the amount of her influence multiply the problem? Will an athlete's arrogance be imitated by his young fans? What about drug use? Bullying and belligerence? Just how influential are our athletes, especially for youngsters? Or maybe especially for the high school athletes who are beginning to find some success in their sport and hoping to 'make it big' some day?

Maybe you've noted the recent commotion over the TV interview in which skier Bode Miller described his heavy drinking and how hard it is for him to race while "wasted." Uproar over the possibility that he had tainted his influence over young skiers led to an apology from Miller. But it isn't keeping him from competing on the US team. Is that appropriate? What do you think?

And even without scandal, how much do we want our young people to focus on success in the world of sports? Plenty of jr. high and high school teachers and parents know kids whose main motivation to stay in school is their participation in sports. When the books seem a drag and studying painful, the need to keep qualifying grades can be the only antidote. It's a lot better than dropping out. Today's game will include some players who stayed off drugs and out of trouble because of their dedication to their sport.

At the same time, some athletes neglect their studies, opting for increased training, putting all their efforts toward the goal of professional athletics. For those who make it, sports are highly rewarding. But studies indicate that 92% of college athletes never make the pros. I can only imagine the statistics for high school players. Not that all student-athletes aspire to compete professionally. But for those who do, the odds aren't very good. The ones with no Plan B face serious challenges.

In all of this, and in the wider culture, we need consider the complicated effects of competition. Surely, striving to do better, to compete either with ourselves or with an opponent, spurs us to improve ourselves and our abilities, to achieve things that might seem outside our grasp. If some extra bit of effort, ingenuity or determination is required for us to exceed what we've done before, the idea of winning can produce it. And that effect has put competition right up there with mom, apple pie and the flag in our American array of icons.

Yet obsession with winning has its dark side. From the behavior of Little League parents right through doping scandals and game fixing, we forget about pursuing excellence or achievement and just go for the win. We see victory as the only goal, worth any price. It's too often true for parents, for coaches and for athletes. Too many of our young athletes are urged to training practices too strenuous for their developing bodies. Sports injuries among the young are soaring. We've even heard reports of a few tragic practice field deaths. Both youngsters and adults sometimes lose sight of ideals like sportsmanship or character development in the push to win. Winners crow; losers are devastated. "Win some, lose some," says the proverb, but it's cold comfort to athletes.

At the end of today's game, one team will be branded as 'losers.' No parade will welcome their homecoming. The mistakes and pivotal plays will be broadcast again and again. Even though they have had an outstanding season, done things the teams and coaches before them had never managed, there will be no joy in Mudville, or among most of Mudville's fans. We can only hope that many of them will find a way to grit their teeth and talk about next year. Just how much stigma do we want to attach to the loss of a game?

Finally, let's look for a moment about some of the ways that sports influence other parts of our lives. One often mentioned by civic leaders involves bringing people together, giving us ways to get past the things that divide us. Differences in religion, politics, sexual orientation or occupation won't keep you from talking about the teams and athletes in the news. Did you see that play? Could you believe that run? How could he miss that pass? It was going so well until that fall! She would have been a sure winner if it weren't for catching that edge. This alone is a good reason for those of us who aren't fans to cultivate at least a passing familiarity with current sports events. In other words, if you don't watch the game today, at least check out the sports reports. And generally, keep up with the basics. It means you'll be able to talk with people who are different from you.

Far from the fields and arenas, sports images and terms permeate our everyday language. Every organization seems to talk about having and building teams. When someone proves difficult or uncooperative, they're not 'a team player.' When an idea doesn't seem right to us, we say it's 'off base.' When we didn't complete some task, we say that we 'dropped the ball.' If we want to talk something over we 'go into a huddle.' Your great success is 'hitting a home run,' or maybe it's a 'slam-dunk.' You may be the 'front runner' if the race isn't 'neck and neck.' Someone may 'have you on the ropes,' especially if it's not 'a level playing field.' You can see what I mean about the pervasiveness of the references.

The work of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (in "Metaphors We Live By") shows that our constant use of sports metaphors reveals our framing of these situations - and an underlying assumption that life is a lot like sports. Does that really make sense? Do the same rules and practices apply? Well, maybe so; but maybe not. At least we should pay attention to when and whether sports references offer an appropriate description. And what about those who don't have much experience or enthusiasm for sports? Some of the references 'go right by them;' they just don't have any meaning. Some think this is a handicap for women in the workplace, since historically we have less involvement with team sports. These days a lot more girls and women are engaged in sports, but some aren't - and neither are some of our boys and men. Does that mean their contributions are less valuable? Or is it just that they aren't familiar with the language?

When you think about it, sports are evident throughout our culture. You would pretty much have to live in a cave or on a solitary mountaintop to escape knowing that there's a big game scheduled for later today. And the Olympics aren't far behind. And it's not just about particular events. Images from sports influence our understanding of life and the world quite a lot. For some of us, that's just the way we like it. For others, oh well! We have to learn to deal with it.

Some of you may be getting nervous about the time by now. If you don't care about the Super Bowl and have no intention of seeing it, I hope I've given you some observations and questions to think about this afternoon. And for those who are rushing home to turn on the TV - well, let's hope it's a great game and wonderful show besides. You can think about this stuff some other day!

05 February 2006

(Copyright by Rev. Grace Simons. Contact the author for permission to use.)

This is one in a collection of Minister's Sermons. We also have a collection of Guest Sermons, a brief Welcome and Biography from Rev. Simons, and the latest edition of Grace Notes, a column Rev. Grace writes for our newsletter.