Sport and Religion in the Twenty-First Century

Brad Schultz is professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi. Mary Lou Sheffer is associate professor in the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Here is one more book among a host of others on sport and religion. Comprising 12 essays, the volume commits itself to this relationship from 'both macro and micro perspectives.' The backgrounds of the contributors range from sports management to journalism and communication arts.... The book's major contribution is bibliographical—the references run to almost 30 pages. And the book rightly encourages far more interdisciplinary scholarship on the myriad possible topics related to sport and religion.... Summing Up: Recommended ... Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.

• Chapter 1: Who’s Got Game?: America’s New ReligionMary Lou ShefferChapter 2:From Sunday Sermon to Monday Night Football:The Rise of the Use of Prayer in North American SportsAlan GoldenbachChapter 3:Elegy for the McPheean Moment: False Idols and the Tyrannical Faith of Celebrity-Sports CultureJeffrey B. KurtzChapter 4:Biblical Tales in the Sports News: Narrative and the Redemption of Michael VickChris B. GeyermanChapter 5:An Olympic Religion: Does the IOC Still Have Faith in the Olympic Games?Anthony J. MorettiChapter 6:“Be Not Conformed”: The Relationship Between Modern Sport and ReligionBrad Schultz Chapter 7: A Useable Soccer Martyr: The Egyptian Ultras and their Fight for LegitimacyNatalia Mielczarek Chapter 8: Celebrating in a Cemetery: Sport, the Sacred, and a Search for Significance in Fan CommunitiesBruce J. EvensenChapter 9: Southern Reconstructing: Sport and the Future of Religion in the American S