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Thursday, July 27, 2006

Another reason to hate the Atlanta Braves
Posted by Jill | 1:17 PM
In case their continued insistence on using racial stereotypes and their reign of terror over the National League East for over a decade, one in which they invariably choke in the playoffs, here's another reason to hope that the New York Mets, who are the only real threat to end the madness, kick the crap out of these guys in their series in Atlanta this weekend:

After the final at-bat of Thursday's game between the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins, the stadium seats will turn into pews.
That's because it's "Faith Day" at Atlanta's Turner Field. No, the hot-dog vendors won't preach John 3:16. But churchgoing fans - with, promoters hope, their non-Christian friends in tow - will assemble after the game to hear Braves star pitcher John Smoltz share how his life changed by believing in Christ.

From prayer circles after football games to Bible readings before NASCAR races, spirituality in sports is as common as carbonation in Coke. But the explicit marketing of a religious event by a major-league sports team brings the relationship to an unusually intimate level.

To many fans, the arrival of evangelism in the outfield is a natural evolution. Baseball has a spiritual rhythm, they say, with long stretches conducive to chatting Scripture. Others worry about using the national pastime to market religion as casually as an " '80s night." Promoters call the event "intentional ministry" - a way for evangelicals to connect with others looking for life purpose. Critics worry that events like Smoltz's pitch for faith amount to a conversion curveball.

"In the South, [Faith Day] makes sense because of the very strong historic evangelical culture, but the fact is that [evangelical game-night promotions] are spreading and moving out into other corners of the country," says Christopher Hodge Evans, author of "The Faith of 50 Million: Baseball, Religion and American Culture."

Part evangelism, part marketing, all baseball, the Faith Day movement began in baseball's minor leagues after 9/11, capturing the mood of a country that began singing "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch. "Faith does coalesce with sports in a more substantial way today than [in the past]," says Andy Overman, a former athlete and minister who teaches classics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.

But rarely has that intersection been so explicit. During and after the game on its "Faith Nights," the Nashville Sounds minor league team also hands out bobblehead Noahs and camouflage Bibles instead of free T-shirts and bats.

Minor league teams from Buffalo, N.Y., to Huntsville, Ala., are holding similar promotions. The effect on ticket-sales is often dramatic. Faith Nights in Nashville regularly increase ticket sales by 60 percent. The Las Vegas Gladiators, the arena football team, had its highest Sunday attendance ever during a Faith Day event this spring.

Results like those captured the attention of big-league promoters, who are determined to bring the phenomenon - without the flashiness of camo Bibles - to "The Show." After the Braves hold their major league-first Faith Day Thursday - which includes a post-game Christian music concert - the Arizona Diamondbacks will hold its first Faith Day later this season. The Florida Marlins will try one next season.


As if the big mega-churches that dot the south aren't enough, now the Christofascist Zombie Brigade wants to use the built-in audience that fills baseball stadiums to further their quest to remake America as a Christian dominion.

Unfortunately, there aren't even any establishment issues in terms of financing here. Turner field was paid for with $325 million in private financing from the Atlanta Commmittee for the Olympic Games, and Dolphin Stadium, where the Marlins play, was also built with private funds. But as someone who has hated the Braves for the last 20 years, this is just another reason to hope that when the Lord grabs a beer and a hotdog and sits down to watch the Braves play the Mets this weekend, flush off the excitement of "Faith Night", he says "Enough is enough, ya greedy bastids. I'm sick of your piety and your constant nagging me to make you win" and then the Mets knock them entirely out of any hope of contention.
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