Sport as a type of religion: A look at the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Blue Jays.
Popular sports can be contrasted with religion and no matter what the sport, there are parallels between the two. Just like religion, many who follow these sports teams are devoted to only one team and many who practice religion only follow one religion. There are certain theories of religion that can also be applied to sports. The functional approach of religion can be applied to sports as well as a practical approach to religion. People who practice religion only practice one religion and this can be compared to various sports teams. For example, Americans are highly devoted to their sports and so are Canadians. North America and western influenced countries are subject to the devotion of various sports teams, which in turn appears as if the sport is a sort of religion. To better explain how sports are a type of religion two specific Canadian teams will be analyzed — they are the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Blue Jays. Sports have similar aspects to religion and they will be demonstrated with the use of the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Blue Jays.
When practicing a religion, there is only one religion each individual refers to. Each individual can practice the religion in their own ways but there are rituals that are prevalent and in practicing these religions, one is then a part of a larger collective faith. This can be compared to sports because each individual can practice in their own way but there is an overall architecture to the sport. In particular, the Raptors and the Blue Jays are the only two Canadian teams that are of major leagues in their respected sports. So the Raptors are the only Canadian basketball team in the national basketball association and the Blue Jays are the only major league baseball team in the American league division series that originate from Canada.
Canadian fans of the Raptors and the Blue Jays are devoted to their teams even when things do not work out in favor of their teams. Last season when the Raptors had made it to the second round of the championship to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in game six, they had taken a tough defeat yet the fans still praised the Raptors for their efforts similarly how religious followers still worship in dark times. The fans of the Raptors and the Blue Jays have been devoted to the respected teams even when they were not as successful as they are today. When times were hard for the teams, fans still were devout and believed in their teams. The same applies to religion. Overall, there is a functional aspect to sports just as there is to religion. In being devout followers of the sport, fans gain a social function to it. Being a Canadian fan of the Raptors and Blue Jays, there is a sense of meaning more profound than that of any other team because the Raptors and the Blue Jays are the only major league teams of their sport from Canada. The role of sports is to be “goal-oriented and promote and develop social co-existence” (Jona, Okou 2013). As Jona and Okou (2013) state in their paper, “Sports and religion,” “sports and religion are essential tools for development, unity, stability, togetherness and peaceful co-existence among sports men and women as well as spectators.” These teams bring Canadians across the country together as one and allow theses fans to have a shared sense of meaning and social cohesion. These two Canadian teams provide transcendence in which the fans of these teams have a feeling of something bigger than the self. It gathers social groups together as one to provide social belonging and meaning just how religion does so. These Canadian teams provide their fans with a hope that they will succeed and do well and in the case of religious practice, followers are too provided with hope and faith.
Just like religion, there are practical approaches to sports. There are both formal and informal rituals to practicing a religion and the same applies to sports. In religion, followers and worshippers gather in one communal area of faith such as churches or mosques. In sports, fans gather in one communal area as well. Where religious followers gather in churches and the like, sports fans gather in stadiums, arenas and more. Sports can be seen as a type of religion because there are scheduled times of a type of devotion, like when a team plays, fans will go to the games to cheer on their team. Similarly, religion has scheduled times of worship as well such as Sunday church services (Jona, Okou 2013). In religious worship there are certain rituals that individuals follow such as listening to sermons or praying (Jona, Okou 2013) that have a practical approach to it. In sports, fans too have rituals that take place such as listening to national anthems of the country they are from and some informal rituals that take place include cheering for the home team or jeering the opponent team when they are succeeding. When times seem hopeless, both religion and sports have informal rituals that take place. For example, when the Blue Jays were in the first round of the American League division series, one of the pitchers, Fransico Liriano, was hit in the head by the baseball, he was forced to retire for that game in fear of a concussion and when he was exiting the field, Blue Jay fans were cheering for him despite the fear that the Jays may now not be as successful. In religion when things seem hard, followers will join together in prayer or sing hymns. Both sports and religion have practical approaches to them.
In conclusion, sports can be seen as a type of religion on the basis that sports provide a functional and practical aspect to these fans. In the case of the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Blue Jays, they are the only Canadian teams in the major league division and that allows for a transcendent feeling amongst Canadians. They are given a sense of meaning and social cohesion. With religion, it is exactly the same thing, a sense of belonging and feeling something bigger than the self. With sports, there are certain practices that must be followed such as scheduled games that fan would go to, to support their teams and a common area of gathering. Religion too has a common gathering for followers and certain rituals that take place. There are many similarities that can be seen between sports and religion, using the Raptors and Blue Jays as examples, and that is why sports can be seen as a type of religion.
Blue Jays Hurting: Liriano (concussion) out for rest of ALDS, Travis (knee) gets cortisone injection. 2016. http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rangers/rangers/2016/10/08/blue-jays-hurting-liriano-concussion-rest-alds-travis-knee-getscortisone-injection
Jona, I. N., and F. T. Okou. “SPORTS AND RELIGION.” ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AND EDUCATION. January 2013. Accessed October 09, 2016. http://www.ajmse.leena-luna.co.jp/AJMSEPDFs/Vol.2(1)/AJMSE2013(2.1-04).pdf.
“LeBron James Postgame Interview | Cavaliers vs Raptors | Game 6 | May 27, 2016 | 2016 NBA Playoffs.” YouTube. 2016. Accessed October 16, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I686wavE0_U.
Sports as Religion. 2014. Image. http://idrottsforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/sports-and-religion.jpg
Toronto Sports multi-logo. 2015. http://imgur.com/NCqum4w
