1. First off, a timely rejoinder to our many social-media-is-making-us-lonely posts from Paul Miller on The Verge, entitled “I’m Still Here: Back Online After A Year Without Internet”. As the title suggests, Miller unplugged for a solid year, partly as an assignment to try to discover how technology, and the Internet in particular, had affected him (and us) over time. He reports that while the experience was initially incredibly freeing, he eventually found himself right back where he started, i.e. his new habits became just as constraining as the old ones. In theological terms, you might say that Paul’s story…
Art / Children / Humor / Identity / Law / Literature / Relationships / Religion / Sports / Suffering / Technology / TV / Week In Review
Another Week Ends: Techno-Fasting, Google Glass, Tiger Babies, Missional Burnouts, Serrano’s Backfire, Powell’s Joy, and Family Tree
Thank You For Not Coaching
People are selfish. Christians are people. That’s an interpretation of something Aaron Zimmerman said at last year’s Mockingbird Conference (Have you registered for this year’s yet?). He said that people are bad, and that’s true…selfishness is just one of the myriad ways in which we’re bad. That’s why it’s noteworthy when someone does something legitimately unselfish; when someone does something for someone else with no regard for themselves, they usually end up on magazine covers and talk shows. Such behavior runs counter to our nature, and so it stands out.
Professionals in the athletic arena are people…
Even Jim Valvano Died
Jim Valvano (most likely known to non-sports fans as the namesake of the Jimmy V Foundation, a cancer research supporter which has given away hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the disease) was the subject of the latest ESPN 30-for-30 documentary, “Survive and Advance,” which premiered on Sunday night. The doc is about the unlikely path-to-a-championship of the 1983 North Carolina State Wolfpack, coached by Valvano, which included nine consecutive must-win games, many of which came down to the final seconds. The team’s run (the final basket in the championship game was recognized by Sports…
Michael Jordan, Oscar Pistorius, and the Year of the Heroic Fall
“You ask for these special powers to achieve these heights, and now you got it and you want to give it back, but you can’t…I drove myself so much that I’m still living with some of those drives…I don’t know how to get rid of it.”
These are the words of a 50-year-old Michael Jordan, in an interview with ESPN’s Wright Thompson this past week. The name of the article ESPN released is “Jordan Has Not Left the Building: As He Turns 50, MJ Is Wondering If There Are Any More Asses to Kick.” There is an illustration of a Bulls-era…
America / Art / Books / Celebrity / Everyday / Grace in Practice / Interviews / Music / Politics / Theology
Another Week Ends: Taylor Swift, Tragedy’s Tragedy, Friday Night Faith, Crises of Boredom, and More November Haidt
David Zahl is finishing up his paternity leave this week. Congratulations amigo! Love to you and yours.
1) In his “Life of Reilly” magazine series, ESPN’s Rick Reilly covered a hummer of a story about one of the most backwards high school football games in history, in which there were “rivers running uphill” and “cats petting dogs.” Taking place in Grapevine, Texas, a well-to-do suburban high school team took on a team from the juvenile justice center—the Gainesville State School Tornadoes versus the Grapevine Faith Lions. Having home field advantage in more ways than one, the Lions’ coach surrendered all—fans,…
Michael Jordan is (Metaphorically) Killing His Sons
One of the lessons assigned in my church this past Sunday was a selection from Ephesians 4 and 5, wherein the writer implores the Ephesians to live a holy life, ultimately calling them to “be imitators of God” (Eph 5:1). This is, no doubt, a heavy burden, laid crushingly bare by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore you must be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This is The Law, in its most capitalized form. It brings about the death of the one who tries to live up to it.
A similar thing is happening…
The Low-Hanging Fruit of the ESPN “Body” Issue
Around these parts, sometimes we have to go looking for law/gospel illustrations in the nooks and crannies of the popular world. Sometimes, though, they come and browbeat us. Such is the case with the annual ESPN “Body” issue, on newsstands now. A “celebration of the athletic form,” the Body Issue is supposed to be, I think, an equal-opportunity (and more obviously sports-oriented) answer to the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. Oh, and there aren’t any swimsuits. Birthday suits only, in this one.
Interestingly (perhaps) is the fact that it’s not really the athletes bodies themselves that are the law to…
ESPN and Lisa Simpson Denounce the World
Am I the only one who still watches The Simpsons every week? Sometimes it seems like it…and it seems like the writing staff of The Simpsons knows it. The show has become a trifle (after beginning as a powerhouse) over the last several seasons, and only occasionally still has something interesting to say. In last week’s episode “Lisa Goes Gaga” (even the episode titles are boring…”Lisa Goes Gaga?” This from a show that brought us “Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk.”) Lady Gaga comes to Springfield. She’s not planning to; her joyful train only stops in town after Gaga notices what a…
Another Week Ends: Attachment Parenting, Sendak on Innocence, Self-Disclosure, Fraudulent Psych, Prometheus, Avengers, and Josh Hamilton
1. Why Is This Attractive Woman Breast-Feeding This Giant Child? asks Hannah Rosin over at Slate, in response to Time’s, um, eye-catching cover this past week. You know the one I’m talking about – at least you do if you’ve seen it (below). The story within, bearing the not-so-subtle title of “Are You Mom Enough?”, profiles the controversial world of radical attachment parenting and the man behind it, Dr. Bill Sears. Now I’m as big a proponent of breastfeeding as the next guy (…), so the reason I include the article here has nothing to do with developmental health or…
The Calipari Complex: When Perfection Is Perfectable
I am a Kentucky fan, and because I am a Kentucky fan, I know about expectations. It’s not so much that victory last night–Kentucky’s eighth national championship–wasn’t a thrill. It’s not that everyone in Lexington clicked off their television sets and sighed a sigh of a job well done, a season well-lived, and with a glass of bourbon waddled off to bed. No, there were riot squads, and college kids dancing in the street, and cars and couches burning, and people on top of traffic signals, firetrucks stolen. It was joyous and raucous and overwhelming mayhem. It’s just that it’s…
Cut the Blather: A 10-Point Mockingbird Super Bowl Preview
With two weeks between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl (ostensibly to let injured players heal) the hype machine goes into overdrive before the big game.
ESPN really has to scrape the bottom of the barrel to give some of its NFL analysts credibility. On their NBA studio show, to give a measure of perspective, Michael Wilbon introduces himself, and says that he’s joined by Jon Barry, “Hall-of-Famer Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson”, and Chris Broussard. That seems appropriate. On the NFL set, though, everyone’s gotta have something. Stuart Scott actually mentioned that he’d played for one day in an NFL…
Crushed: The (Sadly Predictable) Downfall of Todd Marinovich
Todd Marinovich was more than a highly coveted quarterback recruit. He was more than a highly-trained physical specimen. He was…a machine.
His father, Marv, had been a star football player at USC and had played in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders. As he played, he sometimes wondered how good he could have been if he’d been devoted to the sport from a younger age. When he had a son, he decided to find out. The story of Todd Marinovich’s childhood is well-worn territory. Magazine articles from the time (like Sports Illustrated’s “Robo QB”) and the recent ESPN documentary The Marinovich…
Was Norman Vincent Peale Right? The Continuing Saga of Tim Tebow
The Power of Positive Thinking was first published in 1952, and spent 186 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. It has sold, according to some estimates, over 5 million copies, and has spawned a horde of copies, including books like The Secret and Your Best Life Now. More than that, though, it has created a place for itself (and its thesis) in the common consciousness, long after its author’s name (Norman Vincent Peale) has begun to fade from memory. This morning, though, I heard Peale’s name referenced in a most unusual place: On The Blitz, a segment of ESPN’s flagship program, SportsCenter.…
Another Week Ends: Zombied Church, The Hill and Wood, Full Eyes, Soda Bans, (The Paradox of) Dysfunctional Families, Joe Pa and Scandal Love
1) Something’s in the water at The Atlantic lately, because inspired after inspired article seems to be finding its way into the proverbial stream, including an intriguing article about tv show The Walking Dead‘s “Come-to-Jesus Moment.” As the review is aware (and mind you, if you’re not caught up on the show, spoilers), it’s certainly a dissatisfying presentation of faith’s power in crisis, but it has a lot to say about the human compulsions to lean on something in hard times, and the ease of and inevitable infidelity of that leaning becoming a leaning on one’s self. In a hellish…
Steve Bartman: Sacrificial Lamb
ESPN recently aired a piece of original programming, a documentary called Catching Hell. It was directed by Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, and Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer) who, apparently, loves colons. I wish I could say it was a “great” documentary because it’s about a story that I find absolutely fascinating, but my fascination is, I think, the thing that saved the doc from being pretty sub-par.
The story of Catching Hell is the story of Steve Bartman, the Cubs fan who…
Tam: oh man, that last paragraph. I really needed that today. Thanks....
Marianne Brian: Loved it. So, so true! I love Ethanisms, as well!...
David Zahl: Wonderful, wonderful piece, E. I'm almost tempted to call it 'charming...
Rebecca W: I saw this column and loved it too. Thanks for highlighting his book s...
Shawn Smith: Well said!...