# Sports Journalists Don't Do Their Job Regarding God **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 6, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199 "2009-12-06T15:35:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/141 "2009-12-10T00:19:21Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s the player’s initial claim which embarrasses him. The player is embarrassed by being questioned on something that is known to 99.9% of the English-speaking world\* to be meaningless filler. The journalist is then embarrassed by the awkward response and the ensuing ass-kicking from _his_ boss, and shortly after that he (or she) can probably safely regard their career as more or less over. Can you not understand that? \*I mean, I’m in Australia where sportspeople do not generally Praise Jesus™ after successful matches, and even _I_ know that when they do it in the US it doesn’t “mean” anything, it’s just one of those things religious sportspeople are expected to do- in the same way people thank their parents at Oscar speeches and that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/142 "2009-12-10T00:21:26Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s the player’s initial claim which embarrasses him. Wrong. The player’s claim either embarrasses or annoys a handful of militant atheists across the globe. Nobody else cares. Including more reasonable atheists. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/143 "2009-12-10T00:24:19Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s the player’s initial claim which embarrasses him. For someone who is so inquisitive about others’ beliefs, you sure are no stranger to the _ipse dixit_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Cleveland_Steamer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/144 "2009-12-10T03:13:36Z")
Just to be clear, I want the player asked to prove God’s existence. If he cannot, he should be mocked by the reporter. ---
**Author:** ![Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blut_Aus_Nord)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/145 "2009-12-10T03:35:41Z")
People keep arguing over whether or not the question is warranted, and fail to realize how stupid it is to begin with. “I guess my lucky socks helped me win this time 'round.” _Reporter holding a “Go Dawkins!” pennant bursts through the horde of microphones_ “A-HA! WHAT EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE CAN YOU SUPPLY FOR THE LUCKINESS OF YOUR SOCKS OR THEIR DIRECT INFLUENCE ON THE GAME?” who cares ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/146 "2009-12-10T03:47:14Z")
> [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](#): > > Just to be clear, I want the player asked to prove God’s existence. If he cannot, he should be mocked by the reporter. A reporter who will then find themselves on the dole queue before they get out of the stadium. Honestly, do you guys have any idea how the media works at all? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/147 "2009-12-10T04:35:28Z")
That’s irrelvant to wherher the queston is reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/148 "2009-12-10T04:39:12Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > That’s irrelvant to wherher the queston is reasonable. No it isn’t. It’s directly relevant to the very reasonableness of the question. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/149 "2009-12-10T05:30:24Z")
I’m thinking we could perhaps make some headway as to the question if we looked at it a different way: Reporter: Biff, what helped you guys win today? Biff: Well, we each gave 110%, we came to play, we were on our game, and we worked hard to get here. Of course, I had my lucky rabbit’s foot, and Bobby avoided walking under ladders, and Jim’s four-leaf clover is in the locker room. Now what would be a logical next question from the reporter? Would it be: – Let’s talk about that rabbit’s foot, Biff. Do you really think it works? Or would the logical next question be: – That’s great, Biff. Let’s talk about that third-quarter drive… I think it is important to remember that the broadcast is going out to sports fans, who are interested in hearing about the game. They’re not interested in theological or atheistic debate; they’re interested in how the game was played and won. That’s the issue that the reporter’s questions should address. If the athlete wants to thank his parents, his high school coach, his puppy dog, and God, that’s great; but I don’t think the reporter should dwell on those. Instead, IMHO, the sports reporter who is reporting to the sports fan should concentrate on the game just played, or perhaps the team’s chances in its next game, and nothing else. Not taking the bait when the athlete mentions God, a lucky rabbit’s foot, or whatever, does just that. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/150 "2009-12-10T13:05:38Z")
There is one difference between God and a rabbit’s foot. My lucky rabbit’s foot is not your lucky rabbit’s foot. But let’s say player 1 and player 2 worship the same god, and player 1 says he won because the god helped him. That would naturally imply that the god favors player 1 over player 2. After all, typically a god is considered to be a thinking being in which case the god has made a choice to bless player 1 over player 2. I highly doubt anyone would think the same about a rabbit foot. Wars may have been fought partially over God, but I don’t think too many groups have claimed they were justified because Lady Luck was on their side. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/151 "2009-12-10T14:58:48Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > That would naturally imply that the god favors player 1 over player 2. After all, typically a god is considered to be a thinking being in which case the god has made a choice to bless player 1 over player 2. Those who mind don’t matter. Those who matter don’t mind. Sports fans matter, I’ll let you guess which camp they fall into. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/152 "2009-12-10T17:16:26Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Doesn’t have anything to do with god, but on the subject of sports journalism, David Foster Wallace wrote a beautiful piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer about athletes and cliches. It’s in one of his books as “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart.” It’s about how frustrating and disappointing athletes’ biographies are because they seem to be devoid of any actual human emotions. He suggested that the reason that athletes give such facially bankrupt and mundane descriptions of their feelings, like for instance in response to questions posed by reporters, isn’t that they’re especially inarticulate or stupid but that those are the real answers . . . > > So maybe when Kurt Warner talks about winning in terms of being blessed, he’s just answering the question to the extent that he understands the question to have an answer. In the same way that it would be a waste of time to ask most athletes, No, but how do you _really_ feel after winning the championship? maybe it’s a waste of time to press an athlete over his thanking god for a victory, because that’s all there is to it. The god issue aside, this is as much a product of the inherent silliness of sideline interviews, and the typical lack of creativity in sports reporters. I remember thinking DFW’s thoughts on this to be unfair when I first read that piece. After all, what is an athlete supposed to answer when asked, “You just won the AFC championship, how do you feel?” A memorized cliché is warranted in such a situation. I guess he could answer, “Well, my wife has belittling me lately, and my kids don’t look up to me anymore. So this may give me the ego boost I need to perform better sexually, and it may even improve my relationship with my teenage son who doesn’t think I’m cool anymore. Also, I feel team management doesn’t pay me enough, so I’ll be expecting a pay increase next season. Hopefully my agent is already making some calls. Oh, and dad, I knew someday I’d prove you wrong, you son-of-a-bitch. Now how do you feel about abandoning me and mom and never paying child support. You never claimed me when I was a loser; I hope you aren’t claiming me now that I’m rich and famous. Also the wide receivers played like crap today, and I’m glad the rest of us were able to pick up their slack.” > [@Superhal](#): > > One that comes to mind is Ladanian Tomlinson being asked how he cuts off his back foot, and he is always unable to come up with an answer…he does it because that’s what he does. Maybe crediting God is just a better way of saying “I don’t know.” This is a prime example. Just what is LT supposed to say? He is being asked to describe how he is able to perform a physical action, one that he has both an innate ability to do and that has become second nature to him from years of constant physical training. How would I answer if asked, “How do you wave your hand?” Well, I raise my arm and move it around. Maybe a neurologist, or a research kinesiologist could give a detailed answer, but the average person can’t. Secondly, there are shows that have prolonged, in depth interviews with athletes. In many of these the more intelligent and articulate athletes go far beyond cliché. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199/153 "2009-12-10T22:17:03Z")
In defense of my hero, he was talking about athletes’ recollections in published books, which ostensibly exist to answer those kinds of questions. I feel like “Well, my wife has belittling me lately, and my kids don’t look up to me anymore…” is exactly what the audience is looking for in that context. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-journalists-dont-do-their-job-regarding-god/520199.md?page=7)