God and Football: A Review
I recently met Chad Gibbs through a mutual friend on Twitter. Since then I have had a few Twitter conversations with Chad and began reading his blog.
Most importantly for this post, I read his book God and Football: Faith and fanaticism In The SEC which was published in 2010. (To be fair, I should tell everyone that Chad was kind enough to send me a copy.)
I should start out by saying that I usually avoid these type of books. I may have even seen Chad’s book before and just kept on going. This seems weird,even to me, since I am a huge college football fan and write a blog that focuses primarily on faith.
What Chad did was go to every football stadium in the SEC during the 2009 season. If you have ever read Clay Travis’ Dixieland Delight, think of that with a spiritual twist. Chad would also go to church in the SEC town while he was there. He networked and tailgated with other Christian fans of those teams as he embarked on his quest.
I would say that the chapter for Week 4 was my favorite, but unfortunately I don’t deal with defeat very well. Add to the fact that Chad has bragging rights to the last four times our teams have played and bad memories begin to creep in and moods can be affected. Chad writes with a sense of humor, but I probably found that chapter to be the least funny of all.
God and Football is simply this: It explores the connection between those of us who follow Christ and football. Both become religion in our lives. Both evoke wild emotions. Chad shows how it becomes difficult for us to maintain any type of balance between the two in our lives.
My best recommendation is to say that if you love college football and the Lord, you should read this book. If you have some other passion that sometimes takes the place of your faith, read this book. In the end, we all have something that gets in the way of our relationship with Christ.
Have you ever read God and Football? Do you struggle with something that can replace your passion for God?
You met him through a mutual friend on Twitter? This “other” Chad? I think maybe I know the guy you’re talking about.
But, yeah, great book! It tackles what is basically idolatry in a humorous, thought-provoking way. Highly recommended!
Looks like an interesting read, but I’m more of a Big 10 Guy.
No, seriously, the book looks good, I’d give it a read.
As for replacing God with other passions, yes it can happen easily. Sports, writing, work, … the list goes on.
He also has another sports themed book coming out soon called Love Thy Rivals. I am going to have more to say about that later.
Yes–about a year and a half ago. Funny and insightful. And it included 2 of my favorite things. You know–God and football.
Chad has a new book about sports rivalries coming out in September. You may hear more about that, in say, September.