Guns and Records

I found myself watching the Masters Tournament a couple of weeks ago on Easter Sunday, and Zach Johnson had just pulled off a nice run past Tiger to win. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I don’t like golf. Never have. I just happened to be somewhere where it was on TV, and since it’s a sport- I watched it. Anyway, after someone wins the Masters, they get an awful green jacket and get to make a little speech on TV.

Like so many other athletes before him, when presented with a trophy or some other big win in a big event, he thanked Jesus. Zach Johnson believes that Jesus played an active role in his winning the Masters. Not Johnson’s belief in Jesus, but actually Jesus himself had something to do with him winning.

So then, we are to assume by all of these “I’d like to thank God” speeches that God/ Jesus have stakes in how well a certain player or team does in their respective competitions. How fucking egotistical and selfish are you that you think that what you’re doing on that course or field is that important that God Himself would affect the outcome or assist you in winning some inconsequential game. Ever hear the losing opponent blame God in a post-game interview? “Our team would have won if God had helped us out a little more. Thanks for nothing, Jesus!”

I wouldn’t have a problem with athletes attributing their wins to “my being a Christian”, or “my belief in Jesus Christ”. That speaks more to having a belief system or a mindset that was conducive to being successful. Hell, the athletes in question could have just seen a particularly inspiring episode of “October Road”, and that’s what helped them win. That would be easier to handle than the idea of you being such a good Christian that God felt it necessary to step in on your behalf to defeat your obviously less devout opponent across the pitch.

In the future, just thank your wife and sponsors and shut the fuck up.