Ecstasy, Joy, and Sorrow: The Religious Experience of Southern College Football

Eric Bain-Selbo

Department Head, Philosophy and Religion, Western Kentucky University

Abstract

Beginning with the assumption that college football in the American South at least looks religious, this essay explores the possibility that it functions religiously to the extent that it provides opportunities for fans to have religious experiences. The essay draws upon fan descriptions and survey data, classic accounts of the nature and import of religious experience, and the contemporary philosophy of religion of Wayne Proudfoot. The conclusion is that a reasonable case can be made that the experience of the Southern college football fan is similar to the kinds of experiences of religious adherents.

Introduction

[1] The fundamental assumption of this paper is that if we think of religion in terms of myths and legends, heroes and saints, rituals and sacrifice, sacred sites and community, then we can come more and more to see sports in the modern world as religious.[ 1] Writers and scholars like Michael Novak, Joseph Price, and William Dean have effectively made this argument, even if in importantly different ways.[ 2] There are innumerable sporting examples that can be used to make the case. The beliefs and practices of Boston Red Sox baseball fans, of Duke University basketball fans, of Oakland Raider football fans, could all be used to illustrate the ways in which the beliefs and practices of sports fans can function religiously. College football in the American South, however, may provide a particularly exceptional example with its game day rituals, legendary or mythological figures and games, sacred spaces, and much more. But while Southern college football may "look" like religion or have the "trappings" of religion, do fans really experience it religiously? In other words, do Southern college football fans have religious experiences?

[2] Renowned college football analyst Tony Barnhart writes that Southerners have formed an "emotional bond with college football that I have not seen in any other part of the country or with any other sport" (Barnhart, xiii). But what are these emotions? Are they similar to those of a religious experience? How is the experience of the fan comparable to the experience of the religious adherent? In this essay I will defend the claim that there are good reasons to believe that the experience of the Southern college football fan is similar to many experiences that people generally would describe as religious.

Sports and Spirituality

[3] Michael Novak claims that "sports are at their heart a spiritual activity, a natural religion, a tribute to grace, beauty, and excellence" (Novak, 346). Football, for example, can "touch you deeply, and to probe further and further in the depths of your psyche, you will find that it can go far more deeply than you ever had imagined" (Novak, 87). But what do Novak and others mean when they say that sports are "spiritual activities"? What are these emotions to which Barnhart and others refer? In my survey of college football fans in the South, conducted during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, I asked participants to provide me with words that described the game day experience for them. Some of the words provided may or may not have religious connotations. For example, participants described the experience as fun, great, entertaining, drunk, utter chaos, and better than sex. Whether or not these make any sense in a religious context probably depends on what kind of religion you practice. But other terms were provided that easily could be used--and, in fact, stereotypically have been used--to describe religious experience. Friendship, fellowship, and community were used 40 times (out of a total of 220 surveys completed). These certainly are positive terms used to describe the experience of religious organizations, rituals, or institutions. Excitement or exciting (46 times), tradition (17 times), awe-inspiring or awesome (15 times), passion or intensity (11 times) also were used frequently. Even terms like spirit (three times), love (four times), hope (once), godliness (once), heaven (once), and energy (twice) were used. Interestingly, the concept of ineffability was expressed on eight surveys. In other words, some fans found that no words could adequately describe the experience they have on game days. Ineffability is a common (non-)descriptor of mystical religious experiences. Indeed, ineffability is considered by some to be constitutive of a genuine religious experience.[ 3] If you are able to describe a religious experience then what you are describing is not it. "The Way [Dao] that can be spoken of is not the constant Way;/The name that can be named is not the constant name" says the Daoist sage Laozi (De Bary, 79). The religious experience according to this characteristic is necessarily of a transcendent content--beyond what our senses can tell us, beyond our cognition, beyond anything we can imagine and thus describe.

[4] More than half of the respondents used at least one religious or possibly religious descriptor to explain the game day experience. While the use of these descriptors may be simply a matter of their ready availability, their use seems particularly significant given the deeply religious context of the fans. No region of the United States is more religious than the South. The South often is equated with the "Bible Belt." Any number of surveys and polls indicate that Southerners are more likely to attend church on a regular basis than other Americans. While church attendance data is renowned for its inaccuracies (people tend to say they go to church more than they really do), the regional differences still are significant. In the South, it is more often the case that church attendance is simply assumed--and learning what church a person goes to is part of learning about him or her. "Belonging to a church, and being more or less active in it, is a taken-for-granted part of middle-class life in the South, in a way that it's not in many other parts of the …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Ecstasy, Joy, and Sorrow: The Religious Experience of Southern College Football. Contributors: Not available. Journal title: Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. Volume: 20. Publication date: Fall 2008. Page number: Not available. © 2008 Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.