I haven't seen this subject come up on the board, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets a little irritated by athletes "praising the Lord" at sporting events with huge TV audiences. For some reason, it seems to be more prevalent in football than in other sports (maybe someone can explain that). Don't get me wrong, I am NOT anti-religious, in fact I am at least nominally Christian/Protestant. And I have no objection to public declarations/displays of faith in certain solemn situations (eg, post-Sept 11 memorials). But does God really have a role in determining the outcome of a football game? Give me a break!

To hear Kurt Warner talk after every Rams win, you'd think that J.C. Himself personally intervened to ensure victory. Interestingly, I've never heard Warner praise the Lord when the Rams have lost!

Rams fans, please don't think I'm singling out or picking on Kurt Warner...he just happens to be the most obvious current example (certainly there have been many others, past and present). Warner is an excellent QB (not to mention great-looking!)and I wish him well next Sunday against the Patriots. And to his credit, I have never heard Warner make any controversial remarks about 'our kind', unlike 'Christian' ex-NFL player Reggie White. Warner is certainly entitled to his religious beliefs and freedom of speech, but I just don't think constantly praising the Lord after a football game is appropriate in terms of time and place. In fact it seems almost disrespectful to God, as I'm sure He/She has far more serious concerns than football!

Hey Marc, feast your eyes on these 50 posts...

Sports & Religion Thread

Different sport, same points of view (unless someone's converted).

Cheers, fellow Canubian!

Marc, Marc, Marc...Didn't you know that God takes sides on all athletic events? You must learn to pick which one team is the anointed one. What does make of the Bengals, the Warriors, and the Expos?

I, too, cringe when I hear players praise God after winning a game or shots of players kneeling to pray. Same thing about artist award ceremonies. I believe in a higher being, but I choose to keep it private. I don't want to force my religious beliefs on others. Why can't these players and artists do the same.

Check out this story at The Onion:

If God won a Grammy, whom would He thank?

Also this brings to my mind the Simpsons episode where Bart is competing against Todd flander at the mini-golf tourney.

The Flanders cla is praying and Homer yells "Hey Flanders! Too late! God can't answer BOTH our prayers!"

Jim Lampley did a report on this on Real Sports on HBO but I just caught the end of it.

Did anyone else see this?

Please continue posting to this topic in the Sports and Religion thread. Thanks.