Football and Fitting In

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/FSU-Hopes-to-Deliver-Better-Wi-Fi-to-Fans-at-Doak-Soon-324359971.html

Football and Fitting In

Lacey Csaszar, Fall 2015

“F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E, FLORIDA STATE, FLORIDA STATE FLORIDA STATE!” The roar of the crowd and the thrill of the touchdown are some of the experiences only found at a school like Florida State University. Events always seem to be happening, football games, tailgates, and other athletic endeavors that students pour out in droves just to hope to catch a glimpse of their athletes and coaches. Sometimes even national sports stations show up to show their support, or quite possibly, try to capture our team making mistakes they can later take to their newsroom and play over and over again.

            There are lots of rivalries in college football, some are friendly, and others take a far more serious turn. While a for a young Christian it is challenging enough to defend your faith regularly, it is a whole other challenge to properly defend your football team. People will curse you, pick fights, challenge your sexuality, and even deface property, all in the name of who might be better in those four quarters of a football game. While it may be simple to mind our mouths and actions in day-to-day situations, it may be a whole new challenge attempting to follow what the Bible says in minding ourselves in a heated post game loss. Tempers may flair, and when actions occur, sometimes others doubt our faith when we mess up.

This leads to a whole new challenge of also supporting a team that may not exude Christian standards. While we have freely chosen to support this school, we have not elected these individuals to represent us, we simply support them for their actions on the football field, and others condemn us when their actions on the streets are unfavorable. Actions, as Christians, we may not support either.