Why I love college sports...
This weekend marks the beginning of college football season, and while I actually live in the heart of college basketball country, there's just something about this opening weekend that is so exhilarating.
First of all, there's "College Gameday" - an ESPN original broadcast from a different college campus each week. The announcers face the cameras with hundreds of college students behind them, holding up signs that taunt their opponents. This is what I love: the signs. Sometimes they simply say, "Hi Mom," or "We're gonna win," but every now and then there is a real thinking-person's jewel to be found.
For example, today, College Gameday was broadcast from the campus of Georgia Tech, who will be playing Notre Dame tonight. One of the signs displayed by a rabid Yellowjackets fan read: "Calvin: defeating Catholics since 1509." Now, in order to understand this sign, you should know that GT has a great player named Calvin Johnson, and that Notre Dame is a Catholic school, and that John Calvin (born in 1509) was one of the major leaders of the Protestant Reformation, which broke from the traditional (and state-mandated) church for the first time, ever. It's funny, really. And I love that you have to know church history to get it (very rarely do I get to utilize my seminary training in the sports world, so I jumped at this chance).
Anyway, it's fun, to me, to see people who are devoted to a sport for the love of the game - for the competition and camaraderie.
First of all, there's "College Gameday" - an ESPN original broadcast from a different college campus each week. The announcers face the cameras with hundreds of college students behind them, holding up signs that taunt their opponents. This is what I love: the signs. Sometimes they simply say, "Hi Mom," or "We're gonna win," but every now and then there is a real thinking-person's jewel to be found.
For example, today, College Gameday was broadcast from the campus of Georgia Tech, who will be playing Notre Dame tonight. One of the signs displayed by a rabid Yellowjackets fan read: "Calvin: defeating Catholics since 1509." Now, in order to understand this sign, you should know that GT has a great player named Calvin Johnson, and that Notre Dame is a Catholic school, and that John Calvin (born in 1509) was one of the major leaders of the Protestant Reformation, which broke from the traditional (and state-mandated) church for the first time, ever. It's funny, really. And I love that you have to know church history to get it (very rarely do I get to utilize my seminary training in the sports world, so I jumped at this chance).
Anyway, it's fun, to me, to see people who are devoted to a sport for the love of the game - for the competition and camaraderie.
posted by Rachel @ 4:50 PM
2 Comments:
At 9/03/2006 9:10 PM ,
j kelly said...
That's pretty freakin' clever. Not only do you have to know church history, but you also have to know about sports to get that kind of sign. So it's good that you know about both. I would like to think that I would be clever enough to come up with something like that, but i have a feeling I wouldn't be able to put it all together like that.
At 9/07/2006 10:49 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Wow, I knew there was a reason to spend 3 years and ??? $$ at seminary! But actually that is pretty clever, I know I wouldn't have quite gotten it! Hope you have fun in the blue tent town this weekend! I would love to see a report on that! - Love, Annette
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home