Go M.A.D.
Go M.A.D. means "Go make a difference". Together we discover how we can make the greatest possible impact through Jesus for the people in your world. Whether in conversations, on social media, at home or at work, you can be that M.A.D. person starting today! We'd love to connect with you on social media as well!Connect with us on social media and / or email:Twitter - @GoMADPodcastFacebook - facebook.com/gomadshowInstagram - @gomadshowYouTube - @gomadshowEmail - gomadshow@hutchcraft.comOr find out more about us on our website: gomadpodcast.com
Go M.A.D.
Confessions of a Sports Addict (And Spouse)
If you haven't noticed from our studio setup, the bros are New York sports fans. In this episode, Doug and Brad discuss the potential negatives but also the positives of how we handle engaging with sports. And, Jesse confirms his commitment to cheering for generic local sports. How can we enjoy sports as Christ's ambassadors? Tune in to the confessions of two former sports addicts to find out!
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Thank you for listening and Go M.A.D. today!
Welcome to Go Mad with Doug and Brad, and this is the podcast where we talk about how to be ambassadors for Christ where you live. Jesse, good to see you over there, how's it going, brad? It is going great. We're off to a great start this new year. Doug, how have you been? Hey, doug, oh no, we only needed one yard, doug. How have you been? Hey, doug? Oh no, we only made it one yard, doug. Hey, we're recording. We started. Yeah, we're doing this.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry, I was watching the end of the football game.
Speaker 1:I'm so sorry man. Football's everywhere nowadays. I can see why it's on basically 24-7. It is we got the Super Bowl coming, coming up. Were you watching that one state team playing the other national college team?
Speaker 3:just like the super bowl, where that one team's playing the other team, so you looked emotionally invested in that game.
Speaker 2:I'm just gonna.
Speaker 3:I was, I was and now I'm emotionally invested in this podcast you know what that's actually? We're gonna be talking that's how quickly I can turn that corner.
Speaker 1:It's funny you should mention that, jesse, because really we are talking a little bit about being too emotionally invested in sports today. What we're going to talk about today is that we are not saying let's get this clear off the top of the show we love sports, we watch sports.
Speaker 2:Look around the studio Some of us more than others. Yeah, I love sports too, you've heard about that. Which one Jesse? Well, all of them equal, like my children. Just all of them the same.
Speaker 1:So we have got, but we're going to talk about how we look at that, how you know when it's maybe become a little much in your life and it's an unhealthy balance for you, and also how you can be Christ's ambassadors and balance sports in your life and it's an unhealthy balance for you, and also how you can be Christ's ambassadors and balance sports in your life and everything. So we're just going to be having a little conversation. We're heading up to a pretty big game. We've got the playoffs, the Super Bowl coming up, all that.
Speaker 3:Today we're focusing on when sports can become a little too important to you. So maybe that's not you, maybe it's someone you know, someone you love, maybe you're seeing it happen in your kids or your grandkids. It's something for everybody. Today, I mean, a lot of what we'll talk about you can apply to when anything is creeping up on you and becoming a little, maybe a bit of a surprise that it's become that important to you. You do remember I may have shared this before, but I mean you guys remember what I really I hate to bring stuff like this up because it's so. I don't want to sound like I'm, you know, patting myself on the back, but if we're talking sports, I got to remind you what my high school football coach told me.
Speaker 1:What did he tell you?
Speaker 3:You know he said I could make the NFL. He said Doug. I remember, I'll never forget. He said Doug, you could make the NFL if you were only stronger, taller, faster, smarter, bigger, tougher, oh, and coordinated. That was quite the encouragement I like that.
Speaker 1:I'm still working. I'm 53.
Speaker 3:I'm 53. That was quite the encouragement.
Speaker 1:I like that. I'm still working, I'm 53.
Speaker 3:I'm 53. I have not given up.
Speaker 1:So basically what your coach told you was you can make the NFL much, much worse. That's right.
Speaker 3:This is probably a good time actually to mention. Look, brad, this has all been that we're doing. This topic has all been a ruse. Today, this is about Jesse and I confronting you about your pickleball addiction this isn't pickleball intervention. Yes, pbi, I've heard of these I'm actually I know nothing about this. Do they play with actual pickles here's? Are they gherkin? Are they the sweet ones, and am I in fact pronouncing gherkin? Are they the sweet ones and am I in fact pronouncing gherkin correctly? You?
Speaker 1:know. All I can tell you is that I got this little magazine Look, it's from our insurance provider, basically and they send out stuff as far as hey, how to take care of yourself. They seem to come more frequently the older I get, but the main article was actually about pickleball and the massive amount of injuries that come from the knee injuries and just elbow injuries and everything, it is pickle injuries.
Speaker 3:My goodness.
Speaker 1:So it's crazy, but we are talking today about especially leading up to the sports consumption side of things. Leading up to the sports consumption side of things, I will you know, Doug, you tried on and I've tried on recently, our high school football jackets.
Speaker 3:Oh my goodness, mine's behind If you're watching on video. Mine's just behind me in this corner here we opted to not wear them on camera.
Speaker 1:I was able to get one arm, one arm in. Now I want to mention this that, as we talk about, sports are not bad. They can be an escape, they can be kind of a good connection in different ways. We'll get to that, but we want to start off by talking about ways to see if sports are unhealthy for you, where they have an unhealthy role in your life.
Speaker 3:You know, yeah, and we're going to actually get some specifics there, and if it has become a little too important to you, what things you can do about it. Sports are definitely huge, oh yeah, in our culture. I was at church the other day and folks had their arms lifted, their voices raised, looks of total worship on their faces. Oh wait, that was the football game. Oh no. But I love sports, my wife loves sports. What's that, jesse? Oh no wait, she doesn't.
Speaker 2:She said I'm staying out of this, Doug.
Speaker 3:She said you know what I love about sports, honey, when you turn it off. No, no.
Speaker 3:One time I asked her I said said do you enjoy sports at all? And she said I enjoy them because you do. And I thought that was very sweet. Wow of her. But man, yeah, we're passionate about brad and I, about our yankees, our giants, our knicks. We love how it's a connection point with, uh, with our dad. I like it's a connection point with brad and I, our dad, it's a connection point with Brad and I. Our dad, actually Ron, spoke at chapels, at Yankees, chapels and Giants, and actually would bring us along sometimes. So we've got this deep connection with sports. Some of my most joyful moments have come after a great sports victory in my life.
Speaker 1:Actually, I have to tell you the joy over a sports victory.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Jesse, I want you to picture it. It's Doug and Brad, anna and Sarah were out on the Hopi Reservation where we worked with young people for a number of years. Yeah, and the Yankees were in the World Series. Now, this was a good year for the Yankees in the World Series, and Sarah still remembers vividly how, when the Yankees won which seems like a long, long time ago, but when the Yankees won the dog pile that Doug and I did just with each other in the living room.
Speaker 3:We just Just with one another? Is it a dog pile if there's two people? It's a dog pile, it's a dog pile.
Speaker 1:So we do get. We have been known to be passionate about our teams and I'll tell you one perspective, one way that you can get a good perspective on the role of sports in your life. My wife grew up as a missionary kid in Liberia, africa, and her family not so sports-oriented in case they're listening.
Speaker 2:There's not a huge amount of sports teams from Ghana.
Speaker 1:But they weren't big sports watchers and everything. Now they can fix cars. They can do things I have no clue how to do. They can do useful things. Yeah, they can do cars.
Speaker 3:They can do things I have no clue how to do. They can do useful things. They can do useful things Staring at a ball.
Speaker 1:So for her to come into this world, where I am passionate about sports and I like watching these games, it's been really good to help me find balance actually in how I approach them, just because it's like, okay, maybe there's a little much, maybe I had a little too much of this and not enough anyway.
Speaker 3:So I I have had. I gotta admit this. I've actually had times in my life. Again, we're talking, so the thing about about this is you don't have to be the. The title of this is about um, if you can, if you're a sports addict, but you don't have to be an addict for it to be too important to you. I've had times in my life where they were too important to me when it just crept up on me and it's affecting my family. I'm spending too much time, too much energy, too much emotion. But yeah, you don't have to be an addict for sports to be too important to you, whether it's watching them or playing them golf. If you want to know if it's too important to you, whether it's watching them or playing them golf, if you want to know if it's too important to you, this is one of those things where you can't just trust yourself. Remember that scripture the heart is, above all, deceitful. We know how to lie to ourselves and rationalize. If you want to know, are sports too important to you, ask your spouse.
Speaker 2:Do I have to Be honest?
Speaker 3:Yeah, do I have to. Or ask your spouse, do I have to Be honest? Yeah, do I have to. Or ask your kids, you might go.
Speaker 3:Well, sports seems so innocuous, you know we wouldn't think about examining whether it's too important to us or whether it's an addiction. But, man, when you start to actually look at the amount of time, energy, money that we give to sports, it might seem silly. But when you look into that, you go, maybe this has become a little too important. I mean, you got 24-hour network coverage, right. You got the internet, which has everything about. If you have any interest in sports, you can find everything about everything.
Speaker 3:Now, of course, fantasy sports, which Brad and I have played, gambling and next thing you know, a healthy love of sports can maybe become something that's not very healthy, can even be damaging. So the question is, where does passion end and addiction even begin? And addiction even begin? Because if addiction is, I did my little Google search here and I wanted to see how, the, how, the, whatever, the U S scientific place of addiction things, and they said addiction is a chronic action, right, so something you constantly do, a chronic action characterized by behavior that is compulsive, right or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences, and so people might be suffering financial loss, relationship problems because it's too much anger and depression. If you've ever had a big game that your team has lost and it just affects you the next day or the next week, but you keep on giving the time and energy, even though you look at it and you go, this might be hurting me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah and I think that. So I would say that's a good place to start Doug as far as how to tell if sports have an unhealthy place in your life. First of all, ask your family, ask your spouse.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1:So I think that's a good place to start.
Speaker 1:I would add to that to look around the room next time you're watching an ESPN show recently that they were talking about and NFL of playoff football, and you start doing the math on that, with each game say it's three hours, I mean you could spend almost an entire day, an entire waking day, 15 hours watching games, and some will.
Speaker 1:And so when you're doing this, I would encourage you, in addition to asking your spouse, asking your kids, to look around the room and if you have negative looks as you're reacting to the game, if you have reactions of like ooh, if someone has moved a half step away from you while you're watching, these are ways that you're seeing the impact on others, the visual impact. So ask the Lord to hey put a check in me to actually observe what's happening around me, because we get so engrossed in a game, in the lives of the players on the field, that we forget to look around and see how it's impacting others. If it's having a negative impact, you're doing sports wrong, and I had an example of this recently Yankees I don't know if you heard doug.
Speaker 3:They were in the world series this year and no one dropped the ball, did they, and that lost the world series. Dropped the ball, uh, and I, literally, and figuratively.
Speaker 1:So there we are. We're watching the world series. I'm watching with my boys, and it was we'll talk a little bit about this there's a bonding moment. We're watching because my boys, sadly, uh, who are now 16 and 14, had never seen the yankees in the world series. Uh, my son, caleb, has, was one last time, so I didn't really remember, um, but we are. So we're watching the game and all of a sudden, my youngest, joshua, I hear him say why can't they just fire boone?
Speaker 1:and I'm like the yankees manager yeah, I'm like I'm pretty sure that's not an original thought, that Josh would just, and I'm like, all of a sudden I'm thinking, where did he get that? Well, I found myself and I'm having to backtrack. At that moment I'm having to say you know what the World Series it's? We're gonna wake up tomorrow, life's gonna go on, it's fine either way and everything, and I'm just like I started to realize I was putting too much into it.
Speaker 1:I was still and I've gotten so much better over the years I really have. I don't watch full games barely at all anymore because it takes so much time, but it was a microcosm there.
Speaker 1:I that I bring up to say that the people are watching how you watch. People are noticing how you consume sports. So your spouse is noticing your kids are noticing those guys you're having over for the uh fantasy football league draft and the uh guys you're having over to watch the game. And this is true of men and women. We get too invested in sports. It's more true of guys. The stats show that. But people are watching and this is where Ephesians 4.29, we talk about this verse several times on the show. But do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs. This is the part that really got me this time around when looking at this that it may benefit those who listen. Wow, and I checked In the Greek. It applies to sports. It's there somewhere.
Speaker 3:Really yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:It applies.
Speaker 1:There's no exemption in the Greek there for benefit those who listen, unless you're watching your team lose a game. They should win. But it is we're supposed to speak words that benefit those who listen, and our attitude is to reflect that of Christ. And so, if you're missing that mark, take a look at sports. Are they too unhealthy?
Speaker 3:That's good. Yeah, my, my, my son, like this was a little while ago, but he yelled at the tv during a game and he's like what a loser. He was talking about a particular guy and I'm like, oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I think I know we're here, so so now all of us said that right, I'm just kidding, that is not.
Speaker 3:She would not, so she'd have to care about it. No, but you know, and it did hit me in that moment, that that whole don't let unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. He got that from me and so now, all of a sudden, my son someone he doesn't know that is made in the image of God he's calling a loser Brad. This is such a huge point. We always talk about our ambassadorship, that we're ambassadors, and that's what this podcast is about.
Speaker 3:If we are representing Jesus to everybody, starting with our families and then our friends, you've got to assume whatever is important to you is going to be important to your family.
Speaker 3:We're always imprinting right what do we value, what do we give our affection to, and you communicate that. You communicate what's important to you, what you give value to, by how you spend your time. Forget about what you say I mean, that's a little part of it but how you spend your time, where you spend your energy, where you spend your money, always imprinting your life priorities to your family. So we're not talking about sports or bad, we're talking about anything that becomes too important to you, and this one can really creep up on you, and you know I hate to say it, but I mean, if an idol is anything that we give more importance to than God, especially consistently we all do that from time to time. We wish we didn't, but we're human, but you do that consistently enough, it really becomes an idol to you. Sports does so many things that we communicate about church, about our time with the Lord, about our kids, about time with our spouse. There are things you never intended to communicate, that you are, so let's keep going.
Speaker 3:I'm ways to tell if sports have become maybe a little too important in your life. What else you got?
Speaker 1:Well, you just tackled another one there, doug, and so I'll just summarize when sports jumps into the driver's seat in your life, it's idolatry. When sports, even if it's momentary idolatry, it is when, because I love at our church where they have the us bus, as our pastor calls it, and he just says what are the different things that could be in the driver's seat and these aren't bad things. He makes very clear emotions and traditions and all these things we could add sports in there.
Speaker 1:It's not bad for it to be in the bus with you, it's bad if it's in the driver's seat of the bus, because everything should be subject to your relationship with the Lord and the Word of God, and so 1 John 5.21 says keep yourselves from idols, and the Bible lists a number of categories that can lead to idolatry, and sports can definitely fall into some of those areas. I was looking up some of the Greek words about passion, about our emotions that come along with idolatry and everything, and it starts with answering the question if sports ever comes before god, does sports ever come before god? Does sports ever come before your family? Because sports should not be in the seat before your family as well, and I I wrote this down do sports bring out the opposite of the fruit of the spirit in you?
Speaker 1:and I wrote that down. I'm like do I need to say that? Because I am guilty of that sometimes and I'm like they definitely have in me down. I'm like, do I need to say that?
Speaker 3:Because I am guilty of that sometimes.
Speaker 1:And I'm like they definitely have in me sometimes, where I'm like that was not gentleness, that was not peace, that was not patience. We know the list. It certainly wasn't joy and I would say, doug, when those I think of, when those losses your team doing poorly lead to a bad day the next day, conflict on social media where you're like spewing back and forth with someone about your, their team and your team and everything it just it's evidence of that sports, which can be good in our lives, has become too much in our lives yeah, if your, your mood is pretty dependent on the success or the failure of your teams or your players, especially if it's extended man, we all have friends.
Speaker 3:Maybe it's been us where I mean the stress level, even depression, you know you, just the thing about depression is, when you feel it it affects everything, like it affects everything, it affects your relationships, it infiltrates everywhere, and then when your team loses a big game, it can really make you feel depressed. So yeah, great point, brad. I think if you plan your week around what sports you want to watch, that might be another sign to tell if sports may become a little too important in your life.
Speaker 1:And now you're not saying I want to clarify. You're not saying don't plan on watching a game.
Speaker 3:That's exactly what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:You only watch sports if you happen to turn on the TV If it happens to be on. You get five minutes. But I think the reality is, if we're planning it where we're not flexible for something else, does your wife have, or husband?
Speaker 3:have a need. Is it in the?
Speaker 1:driver's seat Right, and then I would say the one. I would add that may not apply to everyone listening, but again, this, doug, is you either are doing this yourself, you know someone who does, or maybe your children are starting to do this. Are you betting on sports? And I looked this up Sports betting 68 million Americans bet on the Super Bowl this past year for the total of $23.1 billion.
Speaker 3:I hadn't seen that. So if it's 68 million Americans, that's like one in five.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, like I said, you know someone, or it's you.
Speaker 3:That doesn't include little kids. Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:And when I was reading this article, it's about how there's a lot of teens that are because of online gambling and shocker. Not all sites that say 21 and over really do a thorough check.
Speaker 3:Oh come on.
Speaker 1:I know, I know it's really shocking and it talked about the impact on young people. They are more susceptible to mental health issues because of money lost on betting than even adults would be. Check out guys, checkout guides, to show the Super Bowl would not have prop bets, which these are like the underlying bets for things that don't matter at all.
Speaker 3:You wouldn't believe what you can bet on. Well, I'm going to list a couple of them.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, yeah good because these are crazy, but they would not offer these if people weren't betting on them, right? So people are using some of that $23.1 billion to bet on how long Reba McIntyre will go singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl this year, the color of the Gatorade in the winning team's cooler, which evidently last year the popular choice was purple I have no idea what won, which brand will have the first commercial and, of course, as it happened last year, if the Chiefs make the Super Bowl again, the Taylor Swift prop bets will be there.
Speaker 3:As far as how last year.
Speaker 1:How many times will she be shown on camera and things like that? So how we use we're not going to go deep into this. This could be a whole nother podcast. How you use your money matters to the Lord, and if you are betting that much on sports, even as a nation, it shows that our priorities are messed up when it comes to how we're using our money and counting on sports to all of a sudden provide revenue for us somehow. So, anyway, that was one. That was big. For me was if you're betting on sports and spending even more time because you're betting on sports, watching them and getting upset about them, you got to take a look at that.
Speaker 1:They should have a prop bet on whether I'll fall asleep before the end of the first quarter in the Super Bowl how much food I'm eating? I could win that one. I know what snacks I'm like, yeah, great point.
Speaker 3:But I mean, another way to tell, maybe, is look at how you're spending your time. If you're spending more quality time and quality energy on your teams than your time with the Lord, your wife, your kids Do they? When we watch these games, they get our undivided attention. You know, I mean I will. If there's a commercial, you will run at top speed. I can't miss a moment of this. It gets all of you, man. Are your kids? Is your spouse, doug, getting your undivided attention the way the game does?
Speaker 1:I did not like. One of the questions Either you or Jesse brought brought up when we were talking about this was, uh, kind of along the lines of and it's not even you know, talking about the equal time or whatever, but are do you? Are you as passionate about we should say not time wise? Are you passionate about playing sports with your kids as you are about consuming sports and watching them? And yes, and that hit me because it's like it's not no, you don't have to go throw a baseball for three hours with your child because you're my, at my age, my arm's gonna fall off. But am I as passionate about, hey, let's go do this together, let's go have fun together doing this? So I, I appreciated that.
Speaker 3:I uh and a quick point just to add to the, the gambling point. Um, you can, even if you're not gambling on sports, you can be financially irresponsible with sports. Um, you know, somehow we've got enough money to buy the sports package or the tickets, but when, when the offering plate comes around, well, I don't know, things are pretty tight, I didn't think we were going to talk about uncomfortable things today.
Speaker 1:So, Brad, what do you say? You know what? And we will admit, easy for us to say because we don't invest in packages, because our team never wins the Giants as far as the NFL.
Speaker 3:So we know All right, how about we talk about steps to maybe putting sports in a better perspective, because there can be a lot of positive things about watching sports, obviously about playing them. I would try this. Here's a step. If you think you know what, if this is hitting you a little bit, what we're talking about today, actually, for a month, try this Keep a log of how much time you are spending on sports. Now, you got to not just count the games, you got to count watching SportsCenter four times the same one. You got to count the articles that you're reading on the internet, the amount of time you're giving your fantasy teams and all that stuff.
Speaker 3:Then and now I'm not saying that I've heard this before and this is not what I'm saying. I'm not saying if, okay, if you spend three hours watching the game, that means you have to go and spend three hours in the Bible. That's not what I mean. But if you look at this log and you go because I get this American average football fan listen to this can spend the equivalent of three days out of the month watching football when there's college and NFL on, count the amount of time you're spending and then compare it to how does it stack up to your time with the Lord again, your time with your wife, your time with your family? Yeah, keep a log, can?
Speaker 1:I affirm Jesse for something here.
Speaker 3:Jesse, we're about to affirm you.
Speaker 1:We have a fantasy team, fantasy league.
Speaker 3:Oh, this is so good.
Speaker 1:With just kind of some in our office. No money, no investment.
Speaker 3:How did you?
Speaker 2:get Jesse to agree to be in it.
Speaker 1:Well, that's the thing. There's a couple guys that I really, by admission, don't have any clue of. Who these current players?
Speaker 3:are.
Speaker 1:It's just fun, because it's just for fun with guys in the office and everything. Jesse's team name Jesse, come on, hit us with it. What was your team name this year?
Speaker 2:Autodraft Victory. It's my dream to just let the computer do all the work and take home the gold or whatever it is. I looked at Jesse's team one week and there's like two guys on injured reserve and then I forget for weeks at a time that I have a team, and then someone says fantasy football and I go oh, I have a team.
Speaker 3:So auto-draft is when you let the computer.
Speaker 1:You're not familiar with it. You literally don't put any time no.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you just let the computer make all the picks. That's pretty funny so anyway.
Speaker 1:So Jesse does not get distracted by spending a lot of time on the sporty things.
Speaker 3:So what else Watching? What else can we do, brad, to put maybe sports in better perspective? I want to go to Jesse, actually because Jesse you mentioned something.
Speaker 1:I'd love for you to flesh this out for us a little bit about the good and best story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, talk to us. Yeah, well, despite my standing now as completely ambivalent to sports of any kind, I actually grew up a pretty hardcore Yankees and Giants fan and it was a real good connection point with my dad and with other members of my family real good connection point with my dad and with other members of my family. Most of my memories of sports and watching sports and going to sports games as a kid are really positive. It was something that me and my dad or other members of my family could be excited about together. We could talk strategy. It was a positive connection point and I feel like there's a way to engage in sports and in consuming sports to where it's not only neutral. It can actually become a positive way to connect with family, with kids or even with people, friends, people, even on social media. If it's done in a healthy, positive way that maybe you wouldn't be able to connect with as readily otherwise, that's really good.
Speaker 1:I think that's very true, because even on the baseball side of things one of the things we like to do, when we're in an area of the country that's got a professional major league team, we'll go to the stadium and we kind of just uh, you know, we're knocking them off, maybe one every couple years, but we're, you're really good at this and we enjoy it because you bring your whole family.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we go to the game, we get cheap seats, we sit in the bleacher, sometimes on the outfield seats, and but we're just there and it's an experience, because it's another kind of hey, we visited this stadium, we got to go to this city, we saw these teams and we don't make a big deal of it, it's just something we do and it's a connect point because when it is centered around, I think, good memories and good conversation and it's an all-play sort of thing, where you're not just staring at a screen but you're talking about things and everything, it can be a really good connect point. So, thank you, jesse, thank you.
Speaker 3:We live several hours from the Royals and I have with each of our kids. I've gone just solo with just one of them. We've got three and gone to a game and made it just completely about them. You can get whatever you want to eat and, as you know, that's about $400 bill if they get four hot dogs and an ice cream. But man, just there was something about it just being us, the drive there, the conversation, the time together. We have all these pictures and we're just laughing and smiling and my kids still talk about it. So, yeah, it can be a great connection point Real quick.
Speaker 3:Another great connection point can be you can actually help build up your kids through the sports that you're engaging with. There's a great site, magazine. It's called Sports Spectrum and sometimes I'll see a quote from it or a video online. And, like Aaron Judge, a big player for the Yankees and his favorite scriptures and different, there's always these different athletes coming out and saying you know, the most important thing in my life, no matter what's going on, is Jesus.
Speaker 3:I share those with my sons because it impacts them to see someone that they has made it really made a big name for themselves say you know what I may be at the top of my game, but this is not the most important thing to me Teaching them how to lose gracefully and perseverance, and even using the sports quality. The other day it was a football game and I saw a player who just after the end of the game he had lost and he was the only guy that went up to the other guys on the team. It was a really tough loss. He was congratulating them, smiling with them, and I told my son. I said you know what that reminds me of you. That reminds me of you because you never let anything get you too upset where you start treating people the wrong way. So there's lots of great jumping off points, great connection points.
Speaker 1:Those are all really good points. I love the story of CJ Stroud with the Houston Texans. He's on cover of the recent sports spectrum and there are athletes that are pointing to Jesus on a regular basis. And CJ Stroud actually even talks about how it helped him with his language because he had a coach when he got close to the NFL who was like man. He can't be representing Jesus and using those kind of words.
Speaker 1:And he was like I've got to clean up my language and so he has. And if you'd like to check out actually more, even about Sports Spectrum, we have a former episode, an older episode, with Jason Romano from Sports Spectrum.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right Used to be with ESPN. You can check out. And I would just say, in all these things, I love that you can teach them to lose well. You can also teach them to win well, not in a taunting way or whatever else, but in a hey, I can win the right way. And I see I should have said things. This is my watch is buzzing. It's not supposed to. Sorry, jesse. I would just say, in all of these things, we can watch sports in a redemptive way, in a way that makes an impact, because Ephesians 5.15 says making the most of every opportunity. And I think that's the key. When you consume entertainment, when you consume sports specifically right now, are you doing it in a way to make the most of every opportunity to connect with your family, to connect man? You're bringing those guys over for a Super Bowl party. Do they all know Jesus?
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, Make the most of every opportunity and share a you can find on I Am Second and other sites like that where you can find sports spectrum as them clips of guys talking about Jesus during halftime.
Speaker 1:Guys in the Super Bowl. Yeah, I'm going to tell you this the halftime show. It's okay to skip it and just say, hey guys, I've got some. Can I show you this real quick? Or during a commercial break, and then tell them a little of your story. But somehow build a bridge, use it as an opportunity. So make the most of every opportunity when it comes to consuming sports around your family, around your friends, on social media, whatever it is brad and I could, uh, sit here all day and talk sports.
Speaker 3:we, we love it. We got to wrap this up. But the bottom line is I really like where you landed there, brad, with everything in our lives, with how we spend our time. You look at how you spend your time. You don't have to say, well, I have spent too much time and too much energy doing this thing, whether it's sports or whatever. Therefore, I must leave it behind If there's something wrong with it that offends God, and even pray that way, like King David did, even about how you're interacting with sports. Remember he said Lord, examine my heart, see if there is any offensive way in me, lead me in the way everlasting. So maybe do that as it pertains to sports or anything else in your life that might be becoming a little too important to you. Look how you can redeem the time, for the days are evil. Redeem sports, your sports time, because the days are evil. Sports aren't evil, but let's keep an eye on it.
Speaker 1:So we hope this has been an encouragement to you as we head into the busy sports season here. Ahead and until next time. From Doug Brad and Jesse Go Mavs.