You are here

Home

Religion and Sports Fandom

Submitted to Program Units
1: Religion, Sport, and Play Unit

Terry Shoemaker, Arizona State University, Presiding

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Sports fandom has frequently been associated with religious ways of being, even if tongue-in-cheek. A religious-like devotion is often used to describe sports fans’ relationship to certain teams and athletes, and Durkheimian “collective effervescence” is frequently drawn upon to explain enduring tribalism amongst fans. These religious descriptors of sports fandom, however, do not capture the myriad ways in which religion and sports fandom can be theorized. To this end, the Religion, Sport, and Play session presents papers that that apply new analytical, methodological, or theoretical frameworks to religion and sport fandom.

Papers

  • Jeffrey Scholes, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

    The Secular in College Football, Faith, and Fandom

    Abstract

    Rabid, emotional, and fiercely loyal sports fans defy common descriptors and social norms, hence religious terminology is often used to them. In this paper, I will apply religion differently to sports fandom with the help of its intertwinement with the secular, thus preventing a strict bifurcation between the religious and the secular when it comes to fandom. I will examine the tension between football fandom and a committed religious life at select religious universities with high-profile sports programs in order to highlight this interplay between the religious and secular for the football fan of such university football teams.

  • Ryan Halloran, Independent

    “No One Likes Us, We Don’t Care!” Philadelphia Sports Fandom as Religious Community

    Abstract

    Every sports fandom acquires some ugly stereotype which becomes representative of their fans, but only one repeatedly gets reminded that they threw snowballs at Santa Claus: Philadelphia sports fans. In this paper, I will examine how Philadelphia sports fans gained such a negative reputation and how viewing them like a religious community can offer new insights into how we study religion and sports.

  • Vincent Biondo, Humboldt State University

    Fandom, Futility, and Failure: A Theology of Baseball

    Abstract

     

    Baseball can be called a Catholic sport since Pope Francis referenced John Navone, who said, "Jesus responded to the problem of failure with a loving patience.…like that of teachers who hope that at the end of the course the students will have learned what the course was all about." William Cavanaugh explains further in Theologies of Failure, how part of being Christian means following Jesus in failing to redeem humankind. Whereas Elysian Fields originated in Hoboken in 1846 as a bucolic escape from urban factory life, baseball has become for “fanatics” a daily meditation on human failings. The hitter who fails three out of four times or pitcher who fails once every inning are esteemed. This paper interviews devoted “fans” of the losing-est team in America’s losing-est city, the San Diego Padres, (named after Franciscan Friars) about the religious appeal of fealty to futility amidst a sport about failure.

     

  • Rebecca Alpert, Temple University

    Is Rod Carew a Jew? Jewish Baseball Fans’ Obsession with Jewish Players

    Abstract

    The paper examines how Jewish baseball fans understand their connection to Jewish players and theorizes about what that means for Jewish identity. Baseball was a pathway for Jews to become (White) Americans in the 20th century. Today a large cohort of Jewish baseball fans remain obsessed with counting and rooting for Jewish players, regardless of team affiliation. I will argue that these fans are motivated by both a continuing insecurity about their place in American life and a search for the meaning of their identity as American Jews. The paper will focus on the American Jewish players on Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic to explain the role Israel plays in the American Jewish imaginary, contrasted to the Southpaw League, an anti-Zionist virtual group of diehard Jewish baseball fans. It will also include a study of Jacob Steinmetz, the only Orthodox Jew in the MLB.

Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

LCD Projector and Screen
Podium microphone

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

90 Minutes

Schedule Preference

Saturday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Schedule Info

Saturday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Tags

football
secular
fandom
sport
American Judaism
#baseball
baseball fans

Session Identifier

A23-332