Sports talk

I enjoy sports, really almost any sport. I'm part of a vanishing breed of folks who still like to watch baseball on TV, and it gripes me that I can rarely find a ballgame on the radio anymore when I'm driving cross-country. As a tennis fan, summers are great for me because there's the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Once in a while I catch a bit of a golf tournament. I love college basketball and football; not as enamored with the pros, but I still watch them quite a bit. The sports section of the daily newspaper gets checked out regularly. I do listen to sports call-in shows in the car sometimes, too. But here's the thing.

The ego of these radio hosts (and not just in sports talk!) is mind-boggling. I know that's a way to pump ratings, but come on! (I may address the irrepressible egos of the athletes themselves someday, too.) It's almost like you give a guy a microphone and he thinks he's an expert. (A little like a blogger, eh?) Have a discussion of the local team's chances, prognosticate on the pennant race, make up a top 10 list of college coaches -- I'm okay with all that. But the idea that these opinions somehow are sanctioned from On High is ridiculous. And the ubiquitous habit of demeaning callers who have the temerity to disagree (and why would anyone call in anyway?), is appalling.

What does this has to do with evangelism, one might wonder. It's this. A faith-sharing person can be guilty of an inordinate ego, too. We can pontificate and quote chapter and verse in the effort to beat someone down. As much of a sports fan as I am, I get weary of today's approach to sports talk. And I'm also wanting to make sure that's now how I'm coming across as a disciple.