Case 1. Friday Night Lights: High School Football as Religion in Odessa, Texas

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS v
3. A Note to Instructors on How to Use This Text vii
4. Acknowledgments ix
5. Introduction: Why Study Religion and Sports, Anyway? 1
6. PART 1. WHY DO PEOPLE THINK SPORTS ARE A RELIGION?
7. Case 1. Friday Night Lights: High School Football as Religion in Odessa, Texas 39
8. Case 2. Oscar Pistorius and What It Means to Be Human 47
9. PART 2: DOES RELIGION HAVE A PLACE IN SPORTS, OR SPORTS IN RELIGION?
10. Case 3. Zen and Archery in Japan 57
11. Case 4. O God of Players: Prayer and Women’s Basketball at a Catholic College 70
12. Case 5. Juju: Witchcraft and African Football 75
13. Case 6. Jewish Umpires and Baseball Chapel 85
14. PART 3: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN RELIGION AND SPORTS COME INTO CONFLICT?
15. Case 7. American Jews and the Boycott of the 1936 Berlin Olympics 95
16. Case 8. The Belleville Grays and Playing Sports on the Sabbath 109
17. Case 9. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and the National Anthem Ritual in the NBA 127
18. Case 10. Judo and Hijab at the Olympics 134
19. PART 4: RELIGION AND ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN SPORTS
20. Case 11. Caroline Pla and CYO Football: Should Girls Be Allowed to Compete with Boys? 141
21. Case 12. Should the Roman Catholic Church Condemn Bullfighting in Spain? 151
22. Case 13. The Florida State University Seminoles’ Osceola and Renegade: Mascots or Symbols? 159
23. Case 14. Jack Taylor’s 138 Points: Is “Running Up the Score” Christian? 171
24. Case 15. Conclusion: What Would Phil Jackson Do? 180
25. Notes 187
26. Index 197