We Lutherans believe
that it is our duty to thank and praise God for His gifts of creation, for all the wonderful things He gives us purely out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy (Small Catechism). We love the things that make the fallen creation loveable—music, literature, the beauty of nature, and, yes, sports. I love sports. God thinks that sports are great, too: He tells us specifically that “physical training is of...value.” (1 Timothy 4:8). He thinks our bodies are great: He created our bodies inside of our mother, He saved our bodies by the incarnated and crucified body of His Son, and He sanctified our bodies, made them holy by Holy Baptism, to be His temple. To receive the Lord’s physical Body and Blood in Communion,“bodily preparation [is] certainly fine outward training” (SC). Today, sport in America is a huge and ever-growing business and entertainment force in our culture. Let’s take a look at some of the chief media in the world of sports. Show: Pardon the Interruption Airs: Weekdays, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Critique/Summary: There are tons of fairly new discussion/interview sports shows: PTI, Around the Horn, The Best D*** Sports Show Period, Real Sports, Rome is Burning, Cold Pizza, etc. For my money ($13.66/month for basic cable), PTI is the best. Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon yap/argue/shout with a running clock for each issue. The right-hand column lets you know time and upcoming subjects (good for flipping to ESPN2 or FoxSportsNet if it’s not one of interest). I don’t always agree, but the hosts are truly funny, informative, provocative, and the show is fast-paced and unique. World-View: PTI doesn’t take itself or sports too seriously. Kornheiser is wonderfully ignorant of some of the details of sports news and names. Their commentary is sometimes colored by a “politically correct” streak, but, just as often, they rightly criticize the popular powers and opinions that be. Objectionable Material: Stray, infrequent foul language; harsher stuff is bleeped. Of course, keep in mind that what passes for sports news nowadays includes arrests, suspensions and Janet Jackson. Recommendation: For older teens and adults, this is great stuff.
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Show: The Super Bowl Aired: 1 February 2004, CBS Critique/Summary: This mega-event is annually the most-watched show in America. Families and friends gather together to watch the physical action, the cheerleaders, the uniforms, and the bright lights. And I’m only talking about the halftime show. Seriously, with a 7 1/2 hour pre-game show, a 20+ minute halftime MTV “live video,” a streaker, and fatal post-game rioting in Boston, the XXXVIIIth rendition of the super game, despite its high-scoring and last-second excitement, was sadly overshadowed. The halftime (peep) show gave us P. Diddy and Nelly apparently in need of Tinactin,“cheerleaders” seemingly in need of air conditioning, and, not to be outdone, Janet Jackson—seeking to rival the unholy trinity of female pop (Madonna, Britney, and Christina) in shock, sleaze, and slutiness—promoting her new single and album with old songs and a bit of obviously premeditated “northern exposure” (why else the nipple jewelry?!). CBS and the NFL claimed to be shocked, though if they had watched just a few minutes of MTV in the past decade they would have known what was coming. Ms. Jackson’s greedy and gratuitous publicity stunt is simply, in content and especially in purpose, immoral and unethical (talk about “sex-ploitation” of the naive).Too bad she didn’t follow the lead of Beyonce’s classy rendition of the national anthem.
