There’s A Time And A Place For Religious Gestures In Sports

Religious gestures in sports not always needed

I admit to feeling a bit annoyed every time I see a football player score a touchdown and immediately point to the sky to thank God. Or when I see a baseball player hit a home run and point upward after touching home plate. Or when a jockey looks heavenward and points up his or her whip after winning a horse race.

At some Catholic schools, it has long been commonplace for a basketball player to cross himself (or herself) before shooting a free throw. What’s that all about it? Shouldn’t such a holy symbol be saved for more solemn and worshipful moments?

My first reaction to these public displays is to remember something I once heard from the Rev. Kevin Cosby, a brilliant African-American pastor from Louisville. “It’s a perversion of religion,” Cosby told me. “It’s a manipulation of God.”

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