Ghost of Notre Dame’s modern-day ‘Rudy’

December 22, 2012 By
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Is the pope Catholic?

Wait. That’s not what I wanted to know. Here’s my real question: Is Grant Patton Catholic?

“Grant who?” you ask.

Patton is a Notre Dame football player featured this week in an inspirational sports column in The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky.:

If there wasn’t already a movie about an unlikely Notre Dame football walk-on, defensive lineman Grant Patton might have scripts to browse. When he was a senior at St. Xavier High School in Louisville, he did not play football. During his first two years of college, he did not even attend Notre Dame. When he was finally accepted to the university as a junior, he played for his dormitory’s intramural football team. But on Jan. 7 the senior will put on his gold helmet and run through the tunnel with the Fighting Irish as they face Alabama for the national championship. He’s “Rudy” with a cellphone and a Twitter account, and he’s as astonished by his journey as anyone.

“It’s almost unbelievable,” Patton said by phone from South Bend, Ind., perhaps while pinching himself. “To be on the field, with that jersey, with that helmet, it’s like a Disney moment.”

Keep reading, and the writer tells of Patton’s “lifelong devotion to the Fighting Irish.” But what inspires that devotion?

Later, we learn that Patton enrolled at Holy Cross College in South Bend, which often serves as a feeder school for Notre Dame.

Let’s pick up the story after Patton receives his gold helmet:

“It’s just a great story for kids to know that if you have a dream and you follow it, you can do anything,” St. X coach Mike Glaser said.

Patton picked the perfect time to become a Notre Dame football player. The No. 1 Irish blitzed through a 12-0 season, including victories over Michigan, Stanford and Oklahoma. Although Patton has not played, the experience has been indelible.

He said the first time he ran out of the locker room under the iconic, hand-painted “Play Like a Champion Today” sign, he felt numb. He knelt on the grass and gathered himself.

He knelt on the grass and gathered himself. Is that a fancy way of saying he prayed?

The story ends this way:

“It’s crazy after games when you see 200 people outside wanting his autograph,” said his mother, Alison. “He’s not Manti T’eo or the quarterback, but they don’t care. He’s someone who plays for Notre Dame, and that’s all he ever wanted.”

All he ever wanted. But why?

Is this purely a sports story? Did Patton grow up adoring the Fighting Irish simply because he loved football? Or do I sense a deeper calling? (Patton has a private Twitter account, but his public profile includes a Scriptural reference.)

I’ll ask again: Is Grant Patton Catholic? And if so, shouldn’t that important detail make its way into the story?

Gold-and-blue ghost, anyone?

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Yahoo! asks Robert Griffin III a rather obvious question

December 10, 2012 By

The big news here in Washington, D.C., (other than the mysteries of the U.S. Supreme Court) is that (a) the knee of quarterback Robert Griffin III is strained, not broken, and (b) that The Washington Post team survived another weekend covering a superstar who keeps talking about the fact that he apparently believes in a God who hears prayers and plays some meaningful role in the lives of real people.

So blame Twitter, of course, along with press conferences in which players get to say whatever is on their minds (and hearts).

Team spokesman Tony Wyllie said later Sunday evening that Griffin underwent an MRI exam and “everything is clear.” Griffin did not tear his anterior cruciate or medial collateral ligaments, Wyllie said. He called the injury a knee sprain and added that Shanahan will provide further details Monday. It remained unclear whether Griffin will be able to play next weekend.

Griffin wrote on Twitter: “Your positive vibes and prayers worked people!!!! To God be the Glory!”

Sports fans here in Beltwayland are certainly in full swoon mode, which the Post team tried to capture last week in a piece that ran with the headline, “Redskins’ Robert Griffin III maintains focus amid increasing frenzy.” This being Washington, it’s hard to write about a figure this charismatic without connecting him to politics, in one way or another.

I mean, check out this near-messianic language:

… (The) Redskins’ rookie quarterback was the subject of a CBS “Sunday Morning” segment that credited him with uniting politically polarized Washington, quoting some high-profile elected officials. On Monday night, Griffin played in his second nationally televised game and led the Redskins over the New York Giants for Washington’s first three-game win streak since 2008. (The victory also marked the Redskins’ sixth of the season, meaning they will at least finish one game better than last year’s 5-11 record.)

Following the game, analysts such as Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, fellow Super Bowl-winning passer Trent Dilfer and former Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden raved about Griffin’s play, which ESPN highlighted over the next 48 hours.

On Tuesday night, Griffin attended his first Washington Wizards game. Sitting courtside in owner Ted Leonsis’s seats, he stole the spotlight from the home team’s players, who upset LeBron James and the defending NBA champion Miami Heat. When the long-suffering Wizards pulled off the upset, fans and commentators wondered tongue-in-cheek if it was Griffin’s aura that had caused their good fortune.

“It’s humbling. You never go somewhere expecting people to chant your name,” Griffin said, referring to the response he got at the Verizon Center Tuesday night. “… It just means you’re really doing something for the city.”

How do reporters avoid Godtalk when dealing with a young Christian man who insists on saying things like this?

On Wednesday, a representative from the Pro Football Hall of Fame came to Redskins Park to collect the jersey and cleats that Griffin wore while he set the record Monday.

“Everyone wants to be in the Hall of Fame, so, we’re in there,” Griffin said after uncomfortably enduring the brief transfer ceremony of his memorabilia to the possession of the Hall of Fame official. “But I have a long career, prayerfully, and this is only the first step. It’s an honor to have my jersey and my cleats, although they’re very dirty, in the Hall of Fame.”

Following the “Monday Night Football” broadcast, Gruden gushed over Griffin, saying he his skills, and the plays the Redskins are running for him, have changed the pro game.

Griffin’s response: “I don’t think it’s me by myself, necessarily … God has blessed me with speed, and good decision-making, so [coaches] allow me to go out there and trust me even in crucial situations to throw the ball and run the ball or whatever it is. When a coach buys in and the whole team buys in, you can have what we’re doing.”

What is interesting, however, is the degree to which the Godtalk that is at the heart of Griffin’s life and persona has not been explored in major D.C. media at the level of information and facts. You know, journalism.

Thus, I was happy the other day when one of my former students — the digital comet named Chris Moody — was able to land a few moments to talk with Griffin on behalf of Yahoo! News. While the quarterback was extremely cautious about what he said, Moody asked some specific questions and learned at least one interesting fact that I don’t think has previously made it into print.

Here’s a clip or two from that Q&A interview, which begins, of course, with politics:

Yahoo News: When you cast your ballot for president, what were some of the most pressing issues that were on your mind?

RG3: For me, I always told my fiancée and my family that money would never change the way I viewed politics. For me, it wasn’t a money issue. It was about overall what each candidate presented, but I can’t disclose who I voted for.

YN: Why don’t you like to talk about who you voted for?

RG3: There’s a couple things you don’t talk about in life, and that’s race, religion and politics. I try to make sure I don’t talk about politics at all.

Religion does, however, show up later in the interview, along with the answer to one very specific question. However, Griffin remained very cautious, perhaps knowing that even general comments on specific faith issues — such as biblical authority — could be interpreted as commentary on political specifics:

YN: You grew up in a Christian home and went to a Baptist university. Have you found a home church in the D.C. area?

RG3: I go to a church in this area, but I haven’t necessarily found a home church yet. I’m still in the process of finding that.

YN: Where do you attend?

RG3: I go to Cornerstone [Fellowship Church.]

YN: Has your faith shaped the way you view politics or policy?

RG3: It shapes everybody’s view. To me, you don’t directly relate it, but my faith makes me who I am. When it comes to that, my beliefs are not strict to only what the Bible says. I’m influenced by. … You probably can’t point out exactly what it shapes, but it does shape you.

Looking at a digital search, it would seem likely that the congregation to which RG3 is referring is Cornerstone Fellowship Church in Frederick, MD. Looking at it’s website, and statements of faith, this appears to be a modern evangelical, charismatic/Pentecostal congregation, which would be consistent with the congregations Griffin has attended in the past back in Texas.

In other words, stay tuned. In this town, questions will eventually be asked.

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Faith, family and football for Ole Miss walk-on

November 26, 2012 By

When his 37-year-old mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, a college football star steps up to care for her and his younger sisters.

But what motivates the young man to put his family’s interests over his own athletic pursuits?

Could it be his faith?

Kudos to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., for an emotional profile of Ole Miss walk-on Derrick “DJ” Wilson that lets the religion angle unfold naturally.

Let’s start at the top:

After his East Mississippi Community College football team went undefeated and won the 2011 junior college championship, star lineman Derrick “DJ” Wilson was offered full athletic scholarships to four-year colleges in Alabama and Louisiana.

But as the football season came to an end, the 2010 Horn Lake High graduate had more important concerns. His mother, Jelks Wilson, was dying of cancer. Wilson was driving home from school every weekend — an eight-hour round-trip — to care for her and his two younger sisters.

Wilson would wake to the sounds of his mother’s soft mumbling. Straining to hear, he realized she was praying.

“It would be 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning,” said Wilson, now 21. “When you are asleep, half the time you don’t know what is going on. I would be saying to myself: I wish she would be quiet. After I realized what was going on, there was nothing I could say.

“I would just go in there and listen to her pray. She would want to hold hands. We would sit in the room. We would talk about what God had done for us. The way she raised me was go to church, make sure you believe in God, and make sure you honor God.”

At GetReligion, one of our mantras is that mainstream news stories should reflect the crucial role that religious faith often plays in the lives of ordinary people. Another of our mantras is that news organizations should allow believers to explain their faith in their own words.

Read the whole story, and see if you don’t agree that the Memphis newspaper mostly succeeds on both counts.

If not for the final three paragraphs, I might have rendered a different verdict. But the ending encapsulates the young man’s faith:

Now that his mother is gone, Wilson compartmentalizes her death. Too much is on his plate even now to grieve. He relies on his faith to get him through the days. The nights are often the hardest.

Wilson sleeps with a colorful quilt his mother gave him as a child. “It doesn’t fit me anymore, but I refuse to not sleep with it,” he said.

“I wouldn’t be here without God. It’s just so amazing what He can bring you through,” he added. “He said He would never forsake us or fail us. I knew what was going on wasn’t a mistake. When He called her home, I just knew He wanted his daughter to be with Him and not on Earth. That’s what brought me through it and comforted me and why I didn’t go crazy.”

I’m not suggesting this is a perfect story. I found myself wishing for elaboration at certain points, such as when Wilson’s junior college coach described him as a “powerful soul.” What exactly did the coach mean?

Similarly, when the story notes that Wilson led fellow players in a devotional before the championship game, I wanted to know more about the devotional. What was said? Did they read Scriptures? Did they pray? Was this a new ritual or a routine one for Wilson and his teammates?

Nonetheless, I was pleased overall that The Commercial Appeal avoided the holy ghosts that haunt so many stories of this nature.

P.S. Two types of GR posts typically draw no comments at all: Positive posts and sports-related posts. May tmatt find it in his heart to forgive me for this doubly cursed post.

Image via Shutterstock

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Basketball coach’s ‘intensely religious’ widow

November 24, 2012 By

YouTube Preview ImageA variety of factors contributed to my decision to become a journalist: My love for writing. My love for news. My love for seeing my name in print.

When I chose this career, however, I was too young and too naive to understand just how much death I was signing up to witness.

As I quickly scan my mental archives, I still remember the heartbroken parents who lost their precious daughter to a drunk driver.  I still remember the little boys — just 11 and 13 — whose Army recruiter mother never came home after the bombing of Oklahoma City’s federal building.  I still remember the World War II veteran whose son followed his father into the military and devastated him by dying in Iraq.

Just last year, I found myself interviewing a minister I got to know after Hurricane Katrina. The reason: the shooting deaths of his wife and disabled son.

Through all the car wrecks, fires and other senseless tragedies that I have covered, I have developed both an appreciation — and a disdain — for the kind of stories that involve interviewing a victim’s grieving loved ones. On the one hand, so many relatives desperately want and need an opportunity to tell their story. On the other hand, calling someone on the telephone or showing up at their front door at such a desperate time can feel like an intrusion.

After a quarter-century writing newspaper stories, I have developed this approach: Whenever possible, give the victim’s relatives an opportunity to comment. But never pressure them to do so. Make it their choice.

All of the above memories came flooding back as I read a heartwrenching interview in The Oklahoman, my hometown newspaper, of the widow of Oklahoma State’s late head women’s basketball coach:

STILLWATER — Shelley Budke remembers looking down at the huddle and seeing her husband celebrating with his players.

His team could be down 20 or 30 points — and that first season, it often was — but there he’d be back patting and high fiving. Everyone in his rag-tag band of seven players at Kansas City Kansas Community College would be smiling.

“Win the next five minutes,” he would say.

And when they did, they’d celebrate.

Since Kurt Budke died in a plane crash a year ago Saturday, Shelley has been living — and surviving — by those words.

“Win the next five minutes.”

A friend alerted me to this “really touching” story by posting a link on his Facebook page. It’s definitely an emotionally gripping piece told by a fantastic writer.

Let’s read more:

On a day when many near and far will remember the four who were killed while on an Oklahoma State women’s basketball recruiting trip, none will feel the loss quite like Shelley. She lost her husband. Her soul mate. Her best friend.

The days that have followed tested her like never before. Where Kurt was the orange-blazer-wearing, hand-shaking, back-slapping coach, Shelley preferred being in the background.

This extremely private and intensely religious woman became the face of the victims.

Earlier this week, for the first time since her husband’s death, she talked about the crash. She talked about the struggles. She talked about the support.

She talked about the man she loved.

She talked, too, about the woman she’s become.

Intensely religious woman. 

Given the nature of GetReligion, you can probably guess why I chose to highlight those words. The question is: Will the rest of the story provide any insight into the role of the widow’s religious faith and beliefs in dealing with this tragedy?

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Oh, there are a few vague glimpses, such as this one:

Shelley went to bed but woke up around 12:15. She couldn’t believe Kurt still hadn’t called or texted. But then, for reasons that she can only attribute to God’s mercy and grace, she fell back asleep.

And this one:

“He was not a guy that would get knocked down,” she said. “He didn’t pout. It was God, Kurt and my kids that I wanted to shine through in this.

“I wanted to make him proud.”

But overall, the holy ghost haunts this story.

It’s still a remarkable piece. I’d still recommend reading it (with a box of tissues handy). But I regret that after stepping inside the widow’s private world of grief, the newspaper fails to open such a crucial window into her soul.

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Jack Taylor’s 138-point game and the Gospel of Matthew

November 22, 2012 By

Even though I’m not a big basketball fan, I’ve had a lot of fun with this story about Grinnell College’s Jack Taylor shattering the NCAA record books by scoring 138 points in a single game. The whole team beat Faith Baptist Bible 179-104. Faith Baptist Bible’s David Larson went an impressive 34 for 44 shots to score 70 points, too! Imagine scoring that many points and being a footnote to the story.

Anyway, all the outlets covered it and ESPN had this write-up, using Associated Press reporting. Let’s cut right to the religion news portion of the story that caused one reader to send it in:

Before his squad took the floor Tuesday night, Taylor met with a few teammates for a pregame devotional. It was the first time that Taylor, a sophomore at the Division III school, had ever read Bible verses with other players prior to tipoff.

They focused on Matthew 25, a chapter that features a parable about the value of talents.

“I gotta thank the man upstairs,” Taylor said. “I was able to multiply my talents tonight.”

Is the parable about “the value” of talents? The submitter thought the reporter was simply confused but it’s not necessarily in error. The parable is about what it means to be a faithful servant in God’s kingdom. It’s called the Parable of the Talents because of Jesus’ reference to talents — that is, to monetary units. It does sound like the reporter is thinking of talents as in skills.

As the submitter said:

It’s a nitpick in the grand scheme, but if I were drinking coffee this morning, I surely would have spit it!

Well, we wouldn’t want that.

But on this Thanksgiving, I wish all of our readers a blessed day, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you for all you do throughout the year to make this such a fun discussion sight.

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Ready, set, barf: An evangelical football feature

November 15, 2012 By

Grab your air-sickness bag and let’s dive right into this New York Times sports feature.

The italicized phrases below are courtesy of me, not the Times:

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Football is not just a sport at Liberty University, the Christian institution founded by Jerry Falwell, it is a mission.

At Liberty, once a tiny Bible college but now a budding giant, the plan is for college football — big-time, always-on-television college football — to do for evangelical Christians in the 21st century what Notre Dame football did for Roman Catholics in the 20th.

Hey, homogenized evangelicals all over America, are you ready for some football!? Finally, we have a place for all the future Tim Tebows to chase their dreams!

Liberty is already packing the house for its campus games, but Jerry Falwell Jr., the businesslike son of the founder and the current university chancellor, gazes from his office in the western hills of Virginia and sees a worldwide congregation united in faith and in football. 

Hallelujah, praise the official Evangelical football team!

Other football teams run a spread offense. Liberty’s team will spread the word.

“We think there would be a vast, committed fan base of conservative, evangelical Christians around the country and maybe even folks who are conservative politically who would rally behind Liberty football,” Falwell Jr. said, smiling at the thought. “They would identify with our philosophy.”

Pssssssst, Alabama, Georgia  and Oklahoma. Enjoy elite football while you can because all the Bible Belt fans are fixing to jump ship. Go, Liberty!

The university has a motto for the cause: “Champions for Christ.”

“And yes, there are parallels to Notre Dame,” Falwell continued. “There might even be a little rivalry there — the Catholics against the Protestants.”

Given all the mentions of Notre Dame in this story, it’s amazing that the Times did not seek comment from the Fighting Irish. Apparently, the following call never occurred:

Notre Dame: “This is sports media relations.”

Reporter: “Yes, I’m calling from The New York Times. I was hoping that someone could comment on how soon Notre Dame might be able to add Liberty University to its football schedule.”

In case my subtlety has confused you, this was not my favorite story. On the bright side, I now have a solid example next time I need to define nauseating. 

Here’s my major problem with this piece: It overshoots in a big-time way, with little or no evidence to back up the breathless pronouncements about the program’s powerful potential. And the Times never bothers to talk to anyone outside of Liberty.

To read this 2,500-word account, it’s as if an evangelical university never has attempted to excel in the world of big-time college football. (On a probably totally unrelated note, does anybody remember where last year’s Heisman Trophy winner played? I seem to have forgotten.)

I could go on. But I’m starting to feel rather queasy.

What’d I do with that Pepto-Bismol?

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An NBA rookie’s favorite (missing) Bible verse

October 31, 2012 By

It’s time for another season in the National Basketball Association, which is another one of those giant sports stories that GetReligion readers seem to care little or nothing about.

Hint, hint.

But do I care? No. I’m going to keep writing God-and-sports posts, no matter what. After all, I am a pretty big sports fan and I think that religious issues in sports coverage are interesting and, at times, unique. Why’s that? Well, lots of athletes are religious (think Tim Tebow, of course) and lots of athletes are not (insert an obvious name here). Some athletes are religious and still go on to make dangerous lifestyle choices that create headlines and then, lo and behold, these rich media stars may play the “God card” (think Michael Vick) as they try to bounce back in the public eye.

So what should serious journalists do when they cover these kinds of God-meets-sports stories?

As in the past, let me note that the key is to ask precisely the kinds of fact-driven questions that reporters should ask about other public figures, questions about how they spend their time, spend their money and make their decisions. It’s also important to give readers the kinds of practical, colorful details that add depth to athlete’s lives.

Alas, this is precisely what — when it comes to religion — does not happen in The Washington Post opening-day feature story on Washington Wizards rookie Bradley Beal. This is a story, it seems to me, about a family that is striving to help Beal play it safe as he enters the morally-dangerous waters of pro sports.

How do we know that? The story starts in a promising manner, one rich with symbolic details:

Even before his parents urged his two older brothers to live with him in Washington this season, Bradley Beal was determined to take his family with him on his journey through the NBA.

Beal sketched a design that he wanted etched on his right upper arm: four descending stars, with the letters B-E-A-L inside, and names of his four siblings — Brandon, Bruce, Byron and Bryon — to the right of the stars. The names of his parents, Bobby and Besta, arch above them all.

Besta Beal joined her son at the tattoo parlor when he got his first ink at age 15, and he needed her permission, because otherwise, “she would’ve killed me,” Bradley said with a laugh. Beal provided all of the artwork on his arms — including praying hands with his favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:13, on his left arm — but he doesn’t draw much anymore.

His hands are now reserved for that beautiful, textbook release on his jump shot, which convinced the Washington Wizards to draft him third overall last June.

Now, what is the first logical question that is likely to pop into the minds of readers after they read that passage (unless we are assuming that the typical Post reader has memorized the entire New Testament)?

Right. What, pray tell, does Philippians 4:13 say? I mean, this rising NBA star has this verse inked into his flesh in a very visible place. It clearly means something to him and this verse seems to be linked to his family — which is the whole subject of this news feature.

So why not tell readers what this verse says? What is the journalistic logic for omitting the content of this short verse, once the biblical citation has been included?

Beats me. I mean, if the story had said that this young man had carved a reference to the first verse of Kanye West’s “The Glory” into his flesh, would the Post team have omitted the lyrics and created a similar gap in the facts? I kind of doubt it. (Oh, by the way, that verse is: “I got fury in my soul, fury’s gonna take me to the glory goal. In my mind I can’t study war no more.”)

So what’s wrong with quoting the Bible verse?

Moving on. At the end of the story, the Post team offers quite a bit of rich detail about Beal’s new life as he moves inside the Beltway. Here is a sample:

Beal has developed an immediate affinity for his new home, even if he hasn’t completely settled in. As of last week, his apartment was undecorated and remained filled with boxes that have yet to be unpacked, as he prepares to move into a larger unit on a higher floor.

He had the essentials: a large flatscreen television, a stack of DVDs, an XBox and PlayStation III, a comfortable couch and beds for him and his brothers to rest their heads. Oh, and food in the refrigerator.

“That’s all you need: TV and a kitchen,” Beal said, without mentioning the obvious — his brothers.

“I’m the first one in my family to be a professional athlete, so I take that to heart and actually do it for them,” Beal said. “Because some of them were that close and didn’t make it and I feel that I do necessarily owe it to them, but I’m doing it for them. They are living through me, almost. My brothers are here, like I want them to experience what I’m experiencing.”

Now, if this young man is an active believer, what basic fact might have been included at this point as a follow-up connection to the biblical reference and some other God talk at the top of the story? What’s a logical question to ask?

Oh, and Philippians 4:13? That’s the verse (very popular with muscular Christians) that proclaims: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

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Pod people: saying goodbye

October 13, 2012 By

Friends of GetReligion, it is time for me to tip my hat and say farewell. It’s been a good ride, three years of working with excellent colleagues.

I’ll give one final post with some reflections, but first, in my last podcast, I tried to address a few posts that have encapsulated some of the issues GetReligion regularly addresses. Ultimately, we hope to help reporters understand better how to cover the religion beat, a challenging beat for reporters to cover.

Recently, we considered how the religion beat is changing, looking at what’s new that we didn’t have a few years ago. Here’s a hint: we’re all recovering from this great recession and we have this thing called Twitter on the scene. Combine those and you have a few dead religion blogs, reporters moving in and off the beat faster than many people can remember in recent years.

We also have often discussed what religion ghosts look like, stories that should include religion but they don’t. I made a few assumptions when watching London’s opening ceremonies, for instance, filtering religion through my own set of beliefs. Religion is truly everywhere, so sometimes it’s worth getting over yourself and admitting you don’t know the answer. Then you go to a religion scholar and ask some basic questions. Or you crowd source and ask Twitter for help. There are more ways of reporting when we get creative.

Remember this summer when everyone was getting all hot and bothered over Chick-fil-A? The stories were perfect for social media, so what do you do when you have a really hot story the internet loves? I say, maybe you should give it a little bait and then quickly ignore it. Truly, the internet honors stupid stories. Additionally we see seen time and time again reporters who show biases, undercutting their own objectivity.

Because my husband is a sports reporter, I regularly make comparisons between the religion beat and the sports beat. Think about it. There are passionate fans in both beats, people who will spend a lot of money in both areas. So why, then, do sports reporters often ignore an athlete’s faith? I’ve made the case time and time again that sports reporters expect the faith narrative and think it’s cliche. But reporters who ignore the glaring religion angle, as some did with the story on Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas, do a disservice to their readers. So how do they keep it fresh? Examine the Grantland piece on athlete Mo Isom for ideas.

There are always ways to tell stories about religion in fresh and interesting ways. Just ask the religious leaders who give sermons every week. And enjoy the podcast.

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