Chad Gibbs. God & Football: Faith and Fanaticism in the SEC. Zondervan, 2010. 240 pages.
If you have ever felt like your mood on Sunday is determined by how your college team performs on Saturday, this book will be proof that you are not alone. A good friend of mine in Alabama sent me this book. Maybe he knows I take my team’s wins and losses to heart a bit too much.
Chad Gibbs attended a football game at every SEC campus over the course of 12 weeks during the 2009 season. His goal was to seek out people who love football and love God, and hopefully learn some secrets on how to prioritize the two.
Gibbs does a nice job of weaving his own history of being an Auburn University fan throughout the book. No matter what town he is in, he is always subconsciously comparing that school (atmosphere, stadium, fight song, etc.) against his own alma mater.
The book is full of amusing stories from pastors and youth leaders he met throughout the season. A personal favorite is during Gibbs’ visit to a game at LSU. Gibbs visited with Father Burns from the St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Baton Rouge. Father Burns told the story of how he was chanting “Go to hell, Ole Miss, go to hell!” at the game, and the Ole Miss fan in front of him didn’t appreciate it. In retrospect, Father Burns said, “I regret I wore my collar to the game.”
The book makes a good point of how some (perhaps most) fans get an inflated sense of self worth based on how their team performs. The minister, David Nasser, summed it up nicely, “Football is a great hobby, but a horrible god.”
I would highly recommend this book. It was a hilarious & quick read, yet still had enough substance to make you think about your own relationship with God.
This author knows how to suck up!
