Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group

Excerpt from “A (Cautionary) Lion’s Tale” posted on tomkrattenmaker.com

By Tom Krattenmaker

It might seem a distant memory. But just two years ago, in the fall of 2007, the [Detroit] Lions, who had been one of pro football’s most forlorn franchises, won six of their first eight games and created a surge of media interest around the country.

As much of the coverage stressed, the Lions were not only hot on the field, but on fire for the Lord. From secular outlets like ESPN and Sports Illustrated, to religious media including the Christian Broadcasting Network, the resurgent Lions were portrayed as the sports version of a faith-based organization.

There was the evangelizing quarterback and team leader Jon Kitna, who claimed a miracle following his return from a concussion in the Week Two win over the Vikings, and who preached salvation as frequently and naturally as breathing. There were reports of rampant conversions...And there was the message from faith promoters that the Lions’ competitive resurgence was fueled by their devotion to Jesus. Here, we were told, was compelling evidence for the wonder-working powers of Christian faith. As sports journalist Jemele Hill wrote at the time, “It’s hard not to note the impact spirituality has had on the team’s incredible resurgence.”

You know what happened next: The Lions lost seven of their eight games over the second half of that once-promising 2007 season, and that was just a grim prelude to the winless 2008 campaign. And therein lies a cautionary tale for the promoters and admirers of the Christian religiosity that has become such a conspicuous part of big-time sports in this generation: Pinning the validity of faith to sports success can appear mighty tempting, but when God’s team or player falls–as will inevitably happen–someone’s going to end up with egg on his (or His) face.

Since the formation of the Christianity-in-sports movement several decades ago, sports ministry organizations have been hard at work to leverage the popularity of big-time spectator sports to reach the public with their evangelistic message. And in doing so, groups like Athletes in Action have consciously attempted to meet Americans on their turf–their love of sports, and their love of competitive success.

Cynics, of course, had a field day with the religion that the Lions were wearing on their sleeve back in 2007, especially when they collapsed and Kitna began piling up the sacks, interceptions, and incomplete passes. The snarky “Deadspin” sports website put it this way in one hilarious headline: “Jon Kitna was sacked for your sins!”

As it turns out, those close to the Lions that season will tell you that Kitna and his Christian teammates remained committed to their faith and one another, even as mounting losses disproved the notion that the team that prays the best plays the best. Kitna would later testify before a local church congregation that the riches-to-rags season deepened his understanding of what it means to be a Christian. In a sense, he and his faithful teammates found Jesus– in the loss column.

But by then, the religion promoters had moved on, in search of the next hot team with a cadre of Christians. As it happened, the playoffs found the Green Bay Packers just one win away from the Super Bowl, and like virtually every team in pro football, the Packers had their share of pious players. One could see the CBN headline coming from a mile away: “Super Faith Taking Packers to Super Bowl?”

The Packers, alas, lost the game.

Any embarrassment in such situations obviously belongs not to God, who is quite above that human frailty according to religious teaching, but to those who would hold up something as fleeting as sports success as evidence for Christianity’s validity. Faith has much to recommend it. But as the Lions’ story attests, a team’s win total is no place to rest your case for religion.

Tom Krattenmaker is a Portland, Oregon-based writer specializing in religion in public life and a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors. He is the author of Onward Christian Athletes: Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers.

The Manchester Derby: What Can We Expect?

By Christos Kassimeris

Football fans the world over will be literally glued to their TV sets on September 20 as Manchester United play hosts to heavy spenders Manchester City in a local derby that never fails to excite. The fierce rivalry that characterizes the two Premier League contenders has reached new heights this season not merely owing to Carlos Tevez’s summer move to Manchester City, but also because of the kind of resentment expressed by Manchester United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson when he described their local rivals as “a small club with a small mentality.” Delegates from the two clubs will be meeting over the next few days in what has become customary practice in recent years so as to ensure that the game is not marred by violence, racism or any sort of offensive conduct from either set of supporters. Manchester United will no doubt communicate their concerns regarding the distasteful ‘Munich chants’ that are often aired when the two clubs meet, just as Manchester City officials will seek to protect the club’s gifted striker that is Emmanuel Adebayor from the kind of racist chanting that certain fans’ websites have already publicized. Adebayor is, indeed, not the only colored player in Manchester City’s flamboyant squad, yet his embarrassing conduct during the game against Arsenal seems to have aggravated a section of football supporters across England. Having stamped at former team-mate Robin van Persie, as well as celebrating his goal rather provocatively in front of Arsenal’s fans, Adebayor will almost definitely be on the receiving end of quite a lengthy ban and, therefore, miss Manchester City’s visit at Old Trafford, given the Football Association’s commitment to combat violent behavior on and off the pitch. Ironically, Adebayor had emphasized in May 2008 in an interview with FIFA the significant contribution of African football players in the campaign against racial discrimination. Since racism continues to disturb the popular game, it remains to be seen whether the Manchester United fans have arranged for a hostile reception.

Christos Kassimeris is assistant professor in political science at European University Cyprus in Nicosia, the editor of Anti-Racism in European Football: Fair Play for All, and the author of European Football in Black and White: Tackling Racism in Football.

A Red Card to Racism: The Incident at Juventus

By Christos Kassimeris

On April 18, 2009, Juventus hosted Inter Milan in what was a football match that determined, essentially, the league’s winning side. The match ended a draw and, therefore, Inter Milan maintained their healthy lead in Serie A, but the game attracted much attention for reasons not pertinent to football. Born in Italian city Palermo, Mario Balotelli was adopted at the age of three by an Italian family, yet his Italianess was brutally questioned when fans of Juventus sung ‘there is no black Italian’ during the decisive Serie A match. There is little doubt that Balotelli’s opening goal must have devastated the Juventus supporters, yet there is no good enough a reason for the kind of racist abuse that the striker of Ghanaian descent had to endure. The Italian media condemned the incident and so did Giovanni Coboli Gigli, president of Juventus, who criticized that section of fans that derided the talented player. Sadly, the prospect of playing their next home game behind closed doors clearly proved far more critical than the menace that is racial discrimination for Juventus appealed against the ban so as to preserve the club’s interests in the league. Justice was, ultimately, not served when the penalty imposed by the Italian football authorities was never overturned, but when Juventus was made to suffer further humiliation as the club’s decision to appeal invited criticism from the media for failing to acknowledge the gravity of the incident.

Showing no sympathy for the club he once played for, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) president Michel Platini condemned on April 21 the racist incident a few days later and stated that referees would be granted the necessary powers to stop football matches for ten minutes and even to suspend games should racist chanting persist. Along similar lines, Giancarlo Abete, president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), emphasized that Italian referees already had the authority to suspend matches when banners inciting racism are displayed inside stadiums. Interestingly, the exact same day that Platini voiced his concerns about the future of the game the United Nations’ Conference Against Racism took place whereby a relevant declaration was issued that made particular reference to the game of football, thus calling Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to implement suitable measures so as to tackle racial discrimination with effect at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa—the country that gave rise to the apartheid regime.

Most certainly, racism in European football has reached unparalleled heights over the past few years and has nowadays become a serious enough matter to compel UEFA to consider conceding to referees sufficient powers for halting, suspending and even abandoning a game when fans engage in racist chanting, as decided on May 12 by Europe’s football governing body. The matter will dominate anew the agenda of UEFA’s forthcoming Executive Committee meeting in Vilnius on July; however, it is worthy to note that such measures will be limited, perhaps, to only those football matches held under the auspices of UEFA at both club and international level.

Christos Kassimeris is assistant professor in political science at European University Cyprus in Nicosia and author of European Football in Black and White: Tackling Racism in Football and and the editor of the forthcoming Anti-Racism in European Football: Fair Play for All.