Conversation #8: Football

This post almost wasn't written.

I had the idea to write this post shortly after the Big XII Championship game this weekend.  Oklahoma beat Nebraska 23-20, and a lot of different thoughts went through my head. 

How come we can’t win the big game? 

Why doesn’t Martinez just calm down when there is pressure? 

Why can’t we hold on to the football? 

I wonder what bowl we’ll play in.

Then my thoughts shifted to things outside of the game. 

Why am I getting so upset after my team loses a football game.

Then a good friend of mine reacted very dramatically.  He cursed (the first time I’ve ever heard him do so), and he was pacing, obviously upset.

Why is he so upset?

What’s gotten into him?

So I had the idea write a post about this.  Not about how officiating or bad calls or poor performances cost us games this year, and not about how Husker fans are the best (or worst) fans ever.  You can find all of those topics everywhere.  I was simply going to write about my experience as a football (specifically Husker) fan.

Then I thought that that wouldn’t go with my blog.  What does football have to do with God or Christianity or anything spiritual?  Then I remembered why I started this blog.  It was “small talk with God.”  I don’t make small talk on any one subject more often than football.  So it actually fits perfect.

I went to my first Husker game with my grandpa in 1997 when I was 8.  We were going up against Central Florida.  I had been doing my research and I was concerned about a stud quarterback (Daunte Culpepper).  I didn’t know if the Huskers would be able to stop him.  I heard he was really good, and I really didn’t want us to lose the first game I ever went to.

Well we didn’t lose.  It was closer than some people wanted (38-24), and we were losing much of the first half, but honestly I don’t remember anything about the game.  I only remember the atmosphere.

I come from a town of less than 700 people.  At school my class had 24 students in it (a large class).  Then I found myself in a stadium with 75,000 other people all wearing red and screaming for our beloved Huskers.  I was incredible!

I was hooked.  It didn’t hurt that I was an impressionable child, and the Huskers went on to share the National Championship that year, and had moments as memorable as the kicked ball against Missouri to send the game to overtime.

Now here’s the tie-in to the blog.  I wanted to focus on the verse from 1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the Glory of God.”  I believe you can be a fan of football, and still do that for the Glory of God.

I was told stories by my grandfather and mother, and many other people who introduced me to football, about how being a Husker fan was a privilege.  We were the greatest fans in the world, not because we were the loudest, or because we won the most games for our team, but we were respectful of our players, coaches, officials, and even our opponents.  We knew the game well, and appreciated a great performance by an opposing team just as much as a huge win.

Now I am not so naïve to believe that all Husker fans are this way (or that I even am at all times), but that was the goal.  That is the type of fan I strived to be.  I believe that this is a viable way to show God’s Glory even through football, and I thank all of those who introduced me to such a wonderful game and such a classy way of being a fan.

So, until next time.

All for the Glory of God.