When we discussed Christianity and sports and the interplay of religion and sports, Professor Harris mentioned the show Friday Night Lights. In class Professor Harris mentioned how sports serve a religious function for many people and outlined three specific religious functions of sports:
(1) the social or "communal"
(2) meaning
(3) transcendence
Friday Night Lights is a perfect example of a show that presents sports as religion and its portrayal of football embodies the three religious functions of sports. For those of you who may not be familiar with the show, Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama show that follows the events surrounding a high school football team in a small town called Dillon in rural Texas. Much emphasis is placed on the important role football plays in the lives of the Dillon Panther football team members and their family members.
The first religious function of sports, the social or communal function, is shown through the way football brings the citizens of Dillon together and creates a strong bond between the members of the Dillon Panthers football team. The second religious function, meaning, is shown through the way Coach Taylor teaches the team about the importance of winning and what can be learned from defeat. Football also brings meaning to the lives of particular members of the team.
For example, for Smash Williams being able to land a scholarship and play football at the college level provides him with a ticket out of the small town and with a means to go to college. The prospect of playing football at the professional level serves as motivation for Smash Williams to give his best performance in every game and lead his team to victory. Moreover, Smash Williams' father was killed in a car accident and the show portrays the financial constraints his family experiences. Smash regards securing a college football scholarship as a way to help his family out financially.
The third religious function of sports, transcendence, is revealed through the glorious depiction of what the Dillon Panthers football team can achieve when they come together and and collectively work towards victory. The show portrays how members of the team who do not get along in social situations put their personal feelings aside when playing football and strive towards working together to win.
The show also portrays how the town glorifies, and to a certain extent, worships particular members of the team, such as the star quarterback, Matt Saracen. However, this glorification and worship is contingent on the player being victorious. In this sense, Friday Night Lights reveals the pressure that is put on the members of the football team and how they experience a constant cycle of approval and disapproval from their fans who have high expectations for them.
The connection between Christianity and sports is explicit in American culture and Friday Night Lights reflects this relationship. The narrative of the show includes many scenes in which there is a voice over of either Coach Taylor or a member of the Dillon Panthers team praying to God, thanking God for their successes and asking God to watch over them, and so forth.
I think Friday Night Lights does a commendable and accurate job of portraying the religious function sports plays in the lives of both fans and athletes. For the most part I find this devotion to football serves a healthy role in athletes' lives as it provides them with the drive and motivation to stay focused on living a healthy lifestyle, provides them with gratification when they are victorious, and creates a sense of belonging from being a member of a team. However, the pressure from fans and Coaches to win can also manifest in negative ways for the athletes. For example in Friday Night Lights, Smash Williams, obsessed with winning and attracting the attention of college football team scouts, risks his health by using steroids to enhance his performance.
Overall, I think the positives outweigh the negatives. Their devotion to football allows the members of the Dillon Panthers football team to work together as a team and learn the importance of teamwork and striving towards a goal as a group. It also serves as motivation to overcome other circumstances in their personal lives. For example in Friday Night Lights, Tim Riggins is forced to become a better student and ensure he passes his midterms as part of adhering to the rule of "no pass, no play." Smash Williams is driven to give each game his best performance to ensure he lands a scholarship which would transform not only his life, but the lives of his family members.
Though at times this devotion to sports seems quite extreme, I think feeling so passionately about something is beneficial and gives a sense of meaning to the lives of both fans and athletes. It also brings people together and allows people to collectively wish for a common goal. It allows people to forget the social or economic class of fellow fans and simply focus on their shared desire for their team to win. Likewise, athletes are regarded as "good athletes" based on their skill and ability not on their race, social/economic class, or sexual orientation. This focus on skill and ability is another positive element in the interplay of sports and religion.
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