A cold front moved into the netherworld this morning as I was featured on a website of the sport-y variety. An actual athlete, a guy who knows the name and rules of every major sport in this hemisphere, posted an interview with me on his site. My answers were predictably lame.
I think you could do better. Because you own a “jock strap” or a “sports bras.” Hopefully not both. And you know what RBI stands for, and what the difference between a period and a quarter is and to which sports these terms belong. You, my friend, exercised in high school by lifting band nerds like me with one ripped arm, possibly even your left one to make it challenging, and dunking their head in the nearest toilet. Unleash your competitive inner self once again and take a stab at these questions that left me stumped.
(As always, bonus points for sarcasm.)
1. What number best describes the role sports play in your life on a scale of 1 to 10?
2. Rank your 3 overall favorite sports, college or pro.
3. What is the one team that you root for more passionately than any other, and is there a team that you hate, maybe a little too much?
4. Do you play fantasy sports?
5. What is the most memorable sporting event you have ever attended in person?
6. What is the best highlight and/or worst lowlight of your sports playing career as a child or as an adult?
7. If you could change one thing about sports, what would it be?
8. Do you have an opinion on Christian athletes who, without being prompted, talk about their faith in post-game interviews?
9. High school gym class…your favorite 45 minutes of the day or the source of countless nightmares and embarrassments?
10. Sports are often the whipping boy of pastors and clergy because so much passion, money, time, and energy is poured into them. Do you think this criticism is valid, or are sports okay as a diversion from the stresses of life.\
11. If you had to compete against other musicians, in which of these 5 competitions would you have the best chance of winning? 5-mile run, 18 holes of golf, free throw shooting contest, arm wrestling match, or a game of bowling.
12. What is your favorite sports movie of all-time?
Go here to read the answers of a sissy boy soft rock star…who can get his bowl on thanks to Baylor University’s superior physical education program.
bryan says:
thanks for the link love Shaun! It was an honor to have you take the Prayers For Blowouts Sports Survey. You might be our first and only “1” to participate…until i can get Osenga to take it. (then again, he claims to like college basketball, so he might be a “2″).
anyway, thanks again. (oh and i also added a compassion widget to my personal blog, so thanks for the heads up on that!)
for the love of the game,
bryan
Ragamuffin says:
1. 7
2. College football, pro football, college basketball
3. I love the Auburn University Tigers and loathe the University of Alabama.
4. Every couple of years I’ll put together a fantasy football team.
5. Too many Auburn games to pick just one.
6. Best highlight was hitting an inside-the-park grand slam in baseball as a kid.
7. The high prices to take a family to a sporting event from tickets to parking to concessions.
8. I generally don’t care for it. It seems out of nowhere and gratuitous.
9. Gym wasn’t required for us after junior high. But I always enjoyed it.
10. It’s like any other hobby or interest, it has to be in balance in and in the right order of life priorities.
11. Probably the 5-mile run because I suck at the rest of them these days.
12. Hoosiers
CardsFan says:
I’m not sure what I like more, the survey or your responses!! I was a little thrown by the need to clarify competitive yoga! Isn’t all yoga competitive??? I’m sure it was on the 2AM olympics broadcast last month.
Seriously though, sports play a big role in our house. My wife teaches aerobics (might as well get paid for exercising!!), and I run to keep up the temple. Sadly, we beat our bodies with no guaranty that they will last any longer than that of a tall, skinny, soft rock star with a heartbeat that rarely exceeds 80 (except when he runs a yellow light next to a police car). As Solomon said, it is all vanity!!
Matt Brier says:
1. 4
2. Pro Football, Pro Baseball, College Football
3. Love: Kansas City Chiefs
Loathe: Toss up, Oakland Raiders or Dallas Cowboys.
4. No
5. St. Louis Cardinals baseball game in ‘83 as it was the first game I ever went to.
6. Highlight – Proving I was better infielder than outfielder.
Lowlight – Getting struck out without swinging once.
7. I would restructure the salaries for professional players.
8. It depends on how sincere they are and whether or not their on field actions match up with their words.
9. I hated gym. The only bright spot for PE was volleyball.
10. Like any hobby I think a moderate involvement is just fine.
11. Bowling
12. Major League or The Replacements
The Secret Life of Kat says:
1. 8
2. Tennis, soccer, running (these are the sports I like to play, not necessarily watch)
3. Baylor University (team I root for)
4. Not much. I’d rather play the sport than watch someone else do it.
5. My daughter’s 1st soccer game.
6. Walking on to the Baylor University tennis team.
7. I wish Tag was a professional sport.
8. I think it’s great when athletes honor God – so long as they’re really living out their faith.
9. Loved it.
10. I tend to think sports are great – if *we’re* actually playing them. I think too many people spend too much time on the sidelines watching other people compete.
11. 5 mile run.
12. Chariots of Fire
shaunfan says:
I was also in band (also playing saxophone), but I do enjoy playing and watching sports.
1.7
2.College Basketball, Baseball, Football
3.Saint Joe’s (my alma mater), Buffalo Bills (grew up there). Root for both.
4.Yes
5.Saint Joe’s basketball game vs. Okla. State 2004 Elite 8.
6.Highlight-hitting game-winning homerun in softball. Lowlight-getting knocked out by take-out slide in softball.
7.High ticket prices
8.Great if genuine
9.Liked it
10.Good as hobby/bonding with friends/witnessing possibility
11.Bowling
12.Hoosiers, but I love Rudy as well
Grovesfan says:
1. Any sport I participated in would have a huge impact on my life; as in; heart attack. Actual participating aside, the sport of hockey currently has a big impact on my wallet. My youngest daughter plays on a traveling team (yes, 9 year old girls do play hockey on traveling teams) and my husband got season tickets to our beloved Sioux this year for his birthday.
2. Girls hockey (see #1), college hockey (see #1) and the occasional college football game if Michigan is playing or Notre Dame is losing anywhere.
3. Grand Forks Angels (see #1 again). Notre Dame (see #2).
4. I never fantasize about any sport unless it’s over the money I’d save owing to the absence of hockey.
5. NASL game when the Tampa Bay Rowdies played the New York Cosmos. I got to see Pele’ play in person.
6. Blocking my first goal in indoor soccer in college/letting the next 27 or so get in.
7. The ridiculous money the pros are paid to PLAY a game and the “above the law” mentality that many college standouts seem to possess.
8. Go for it.
9. Gym class was good until I reached middle school and had to participate in gymnastics. That sport does not induce much self confidence in us tall, gangly, uncoordinated types. A balance beam should be MUCH wider by the way.
10. My pastor only talks about hockey. He is a former Canadian pro. Doesn’t bash it except to say that he left the sport because it was controlling his life.
11. I’m no musician (unless playing the radio counts), but I’ll answer anyway. A 5-mile run only if I can use my car. Definitely not golf as I’d be asleep by the 3rd hole (yawn). Does free throw mean I don’t have to pay when I miss? Arm wrestling is too close to exercise for me to discuss. Bowling would have to be it (if I can use the bumpers of course).
12. Probably “Victory” cause Pele’ and Werner Roth both played futbol in that movie and the Ipswich Blues most of the “allied players were from this team)were the sister club to the Tampa Bay Rowdies back in the day. I minored in sports medicine in college and did my practical training with the Rowdies.
Lori in Lauderdale says:
1. With 1 being as important as oxygen and 10 being as important as the mildew in the gym shower, sports would be an 8.
2. College Football, Pro Baseball and Australian Cricket (no sarcasm there, I promise)
3. University of Florida Gators is the team of choice and Florida State University Seminoles is the team of loathing.
4. If you count fantasizing that one day I’ll be as lean and trim as the female aerobics instructors at my gym, then yes.
5. UF Gators vs. TN Vols football game at “The Swamp”. Nothing has ever come close to the energy of The Swamp on game day.
6. Marching Band was my sport of choice in high school, that in itself is considered a lowlight to many.
7. The amount of money that is paid to pro players – give ‘em the current salary of a US teacher and see if they still want to play.
8. If it’s genuine, I think it’s great that they openly speak of their faith in interviews. Shouldn’t we all?
9. Absolutely countless nightmares and embarrassments… not fun being the last fat chick to cross the line during the mile run every year
10. Sports are an acceptable diversion as long as they are not a controlling factor in a person’s life. There are people that I know that their world seems to revolve around sports. Get a real life is what I say.
11. Bowling
12. The Longest Yard (it’s a sports movie in MY book)
Laura says:
1. 6
2. college basketball, college football, olympics
3. Love the Michigan Wolverines and really dislike the Ohio State Buckeyes!
4.No – I am afraid my family would never eat and my house would implode because I would become addicted!
5. The Hillsdale homecoming football game of 1996 – my DH proposed to me earlier that day – come to think of it -I don’t remember much of the game – because I was staring at my ring!
6. I never participated in sports growing up, but was always a fan – I finished a marathon on my 35th birthday – my biggest athletic accomplishment
7. That all the MAJOR sporting events seem to be broadcast so late at night and kids don’t have the chance to watch them
8. No major opinion
9. I have no major memories – so either it wasn’t too bad, or I have blocked it out
10. Good question – I think it’s all about balance – the money side of it does strike me as downright ridiculous at times
11. I am not myself a musician, but I would go with bowling – I have college credit!
12. Glory Road
Texas in Africa says:
1. 6
2. College football, synchronized swimming, and competitive Christianity (whose church is bigger?)
3. Texas Longhorns. I HATE USC and all it stands for.
4. No. That’s for men who never had dates in high school.
5. I stood outside the Rose Bowl during Texas’ 2005 championship game.
6. I missed a free throw that would’ve won my junior high church league team the Nashville area Baptist church league junior high girls’ championship.
7. Nothing.
8. Kindof annoying.
9. Ha! I didn’t have to take it because I was in the band and that got us PE credit.
10. I’d rather pour money into sports than into church buildings and programs. At least sports are honest about being a business.
11. Bowling, thanks to Baylor as well. I picked it because it was air-conditioned.
12. Dodgeball
Jeana says:
I’m so disinterested in sports I couldn’t even get through all the questions, much less anyone’s answers. But as a fellow former band nerd, I offer this story from my sole sports experience:
As a child, I wanted to play soccer because my big brother played soccer. Actually I think I just wanted a trophy to put on my dresser. We all knew sports wasn’t my thing when I came off the field at the end of the first game, crying because the other team lost. I felt sorry for them.
I did finally get a trophy for my dresser, but it was a Cultural Arts trophy, for a play I wrote about George Washington. I shed no tears for the cherry tree.
alan says:
1. 4
2. college football, golf, tennis
3. Favorite: Florida Gators
Dislike: Definitely the Georgia Bulldogs as well as most other teams in the SEC.
4. yup
5. Taking my son to his first Florida Gators game in “The Swamp” back in 2005, The Gators beat LA Tech. It hasn’t happend yet, but my daughter will be attending her first Florida game in “The Swamp” here in a few weeks against Kentucky. That’ll rank right up there also.
6. In an exhibition match at a tennis clinic in Montgomery, AL, my doubles tennis partner and I beat a doubles team from the University of Texas. We were seniors in high school.
7. Can’t think of anything.
8. I think it’s awesome.
9. playing either football or dodgeball.
10. I do believe it’s sad that so many people can get excited for a sporting event, but not for Jesus.
11. uuuuuuhhhhhhh…18 holes of golf
12. Toss up. Caddyshack, Major League, The Replacements, or Dodgeball
Jeremy says:
1. 7
2. Baseball, College Football, Hockey
3. Love the STL Cardinals ; Hate the Cubs and the NY Yankees
4. Yes – fantasy football
5. 1998 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game – my NWMSU Bearcats won!
6. Made a diving over the shoulder catch in centerfield then hopped up and threw the baserunner out at second to end the 1 run game.
7. Extremely reduce the amount of money paid to players.
8. It’s a good reflection of their heart and I have no problem with it.
9. Favorite
10. I believe sports okay as a diversion from the stresses of life as long as they maintain their witness.
11. 5 mile run and bowling
12. “The Natural” followed by “Eight Men Out”
Deneen says:
1. 8
2. NFL, MLB, Tennis
3. love: Patriots hate: none
4. Football
5. UConn basketball game vs St. John’s in 1994 at Gampel Pavillion
6. Highlight–making the county tennis tournament senior year in high school; Lowlight: softball.
7. I would add a few weeks to football season and delete hockey as a sport.
8. Yes.
9. Worst 40 minutes of every day of high school
10. I think that sports are a benign pastime.
11. I’d win a cooking contest…not an actual sports competition
12. Dangerous Minds.
Golfmitgliedschaft says:
I’m not sure what I like more, the survey or your responses!! I was a little thrown by the need to clarify competitive yoga! Isn’t all yoga competitive??? I’m sure it was on the 2AM olympics broadcast last month.
Towable Tubes says:
1. 7
2. College football, pro football, college basketball
3. I love the Auburn University Tigers and loathe the University of Alabama.
4. Every couple of years I’ll put together a fantasy football team.
5. Too many Auburn games to pick just one.
6. Best highlight was hitting an inside-the-park grand slam in baseball as a kid.
7. The high prices to take a family to a sporting event from tickets to parking to concessions.
8. I generally don’t care for it. It seems out of nowhere and gratuitous.
9. Favorite
10. I believe sports okay as a diversion from the stresses of life as long as they maintain their witness.
11. 5 mile run and bowling
12. “The Natural” followed by “Eight Men Out”
Business Racket says:
1. 8
2. NFL, MLB, Tennis
3. love: Patriots hate: none
4. Football
5. UConn basketball game vs St. John’s in 1994 at Gampel Pavillion
6. Highlight–making the county tennis tournament senior year in high school; Lowlight: softball.
7. The high prices to take a family to a sporting event from tickets to parking to concessions.
8. I generally don’t care for it. It seems out of nowhere and gratuitous.
9. Gym wasn’t required for us after junior high. But I always enjoyed it.
10. It’s like any other hobby or interest, it has to be in balance in and in the right order of life priorities.
11. Probably the 5-mile run because I suck at the rest of them these days.
12. Hoosiers
Tire Stores says:
Seriously , sports play a big role in our house. My wife teaches aerobics (might as well get paid for exercising!!), and I run to keep up the temple. Sadly, we beat our bodies with no guaranty that they will last any longer than that of a tall, skinny, soft rock star with a heartbeat that rarely exceeds 80 (except when he runs a yellow light next to a police car). As Solomon said, it is all vanity!!
Solvency II says:
1. 9
2. Tennis, soccer, running (these are the sports I like to play, not necessarily watch)
3. Baylor University (team I root for)
4. Not much. I’d rather play the sport than watch someone else do it.
5. My daughter’s 1st soccer game.
6. Walking on to the Baylor University tennis team.
7. The high prices to take a family to a sporting event from tickets to parking to concessions.
8. I generally don’t care for it. It seems out of nowhere and gratuitous.
9. Gym wasn’t required for us after junior high. But I always enjoyed it.
10. I’d rather pour money into sports than into church buildings and programs. At least sports are honest about being a business.
11. Bowling, thanks to Baylor as well. I picked it because it was air-conditioned.
12. Dodgeball