God and Sports

Give me a few seconds to step-up onto my soapbox please...

Ok, I'm there.

I'm not really big on athletes interweaving God in their sports-capades. I am just not sure that God actually pre-determines sporting events, so its not my cup of tea when players start saying "God really wanted us to win tonight." Certainly, He blesses individuals with prodigious abilities (I am a testament to that, of course!), but He does that in all walks of life - not just sports.*

*Though I will admit, its a bit of a catch-22 for me, because I do appreciate it when people in high profile positions share their faith publicly.

Regardless, what really truly grates on me is when people give Him glory when things are going really well for them, but are noticably absent during the down times. Most the of the time, you don't see that same athlete give praise to God when things aren't going well (I think we all tend to do this to a certain degree), and that is unfortunate to say the least.

Anyway, to the point of my post today.

Last night, in case you were unaware, the college football national championship game was played. It is by the far the "biggest" game of the players' lives, and is the culmination of years of hard work toward a goal. On only his team's 5th offensive play of the game, Texas' star Quarterback, Colt McCoy, was knocked out of the game. Texas then had to play a true freshman QB, who had all of 26 pass attempts in his career coming into the game, and who was shall we say... a bit over-matched. Needless to say, despite making a late run, Texas lost to Alabama. I am sure Colt McCoy felt as though he would been the difference in the game; had he played, Texas would have won the game. For all I know, he may have been.

But what really struck me was his post-game interview. Remember, this is a kid whose biggest moment in his sports life was just taken away from him. This is a kid that has failed very few times in an athletic sense - in his entire life. He has to hold back tears and is speechless for a good 7 seconds as he tries to find the right words. Yet, about 40 seconds into his this clip, Colt still gives glory to God, despite being at his lowest. My respect for that kid just went up a ton. My faith in athletes who hide when things go downhill is somewhat restored. Hats off to you Colt.

PS - Lindsey, please find a new picture of me, for the title area, ASAP. Good grief.