The Church of Sport

As an avid sports fan, I completely agree that sports can be a form of religion (I love soccer, so most of the following will be based on soccer culture). One of the most obvious link between sports and religion is the role of the "idol". In all religions, there is the worship of a deity or a Godly figure. In Christianity, the idol is Jesus Christ, in Buddhism, the idol is Buddha, so on and so forth. This is the same in most sports. The most avid fans of a sport will have some sort of idol or "Godly" figure to whom they worship. My dad used to tell me he had posters of Maradonna all over his room when he was younger; Maradonna was his idol. However, we can also find a relationship between sports and religion in the most unlikely place: soccer hooliganism.

For those who don't know, soccer hooligans are avid fans who delve in the occasional violence for the sake of their team. These hardcore fans travel every where with the team they support and put their team over everything else in their lives (some have even missed their own wedding to support their teams). In some cases, they die for their team. This type of avid fandom is similar to religious extremism, where some members of a religious tradition go overboard in their display of faith.



There is without a doubt in my mind that there is a strong connection between sports and religion. I went to a Jays game last Sunday, and the emotions I felt during the game are very similar to emotions I feel when I go to church (other than anger when the Jays lost). One can argue that religion provides services (e.g. sense of community, morals) that society as a whole tends to leave behind. I believe that sports provide a similar sense of community as well as a moral code with which to live by (e.g. Baseball's unwritten rules). In a way, perhaps both religion and sports are helping us fill some missing gaps in our lives.