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Just Another Essay



Of Gators and Buckeyes and Christians

Essay Posted Jan 9, 2007 by James E. Nelson

Every summer the Antiochian Archdiocese sponsors a Creative Festival in which Church School students, from ages three to adult, are invited to submit works of art (visual, photography, essays, poetry, and an oratorical competition) on a particular theme. This year’s theme is unity. This is also the 40th anniversary of Philip’s ascension to the office of Metropolitan of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America. He is without question the most outspoken proponent of Orthodox unity in North America. On several occasions he has gotten himself in what could have been serious trouble with the worldwide Orthodox leadership as he has spoken the truth as he saw it and lobbied for a unified Orthodox Church in North America. The Creative Festival theme is in honor of Metropolitan Philip’s indefatigable efforts for Orthodox unity.

As the High School Church School teacher at St Thomas it is my task to introduce the kids to the theme as they begin their Creative Festival projects. It’s a difficult topic to talk about because so much has already been said. It’s hard not to simply repeat platitudes; it’s hard not to reduce the difficult task of unity to overly simplistic solutions. It’s hard to speak honestly about unity without pointing accusatory fingers at those who stand in the way. I have therefore been giving the theme a lot of thought in a variety of different settings so that I can say something worthwhile about the subject.

And this brings me to the BCS championship game between Ohio State and Florida (played Monday night, Jan. 8). Being a Nebraska fan who lived in Lincoln during the heyday of the Osborne years, I have a knee jerk reaction against Florida teams. Florida teams have spoiled a number of Nebraska national championship teams, and that includes Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators. It would seem natural for me to root for Ohio State, a northern team and Big 10 team. In fact I assumed that I would be rooting for Ohio State, but after the first two drives it was clear that in my heart of hearts I was rooting for Florida.

How is it that a Nebraska Husker like me could root for the Florida Gators in the National Championship Game? As I considered this question throughout the game, the reason became clear. The Florida football program is a classy program. Steve Spurrier, the coach of the Gators back then (and now the coach at South Carolina) is one of the classiest head coaches in college football. The same could be said of Jimmie Johnson at the Univ. of Miami and Bobby Bowden at Florida State. These coaches, along with Tom Osborne, were all fine human beings and their character was reflected in their teams. (The current coach, Urban Meyer, also seems like a good guy, but I don’t know as much about him. And the current program hasn’t done anything criminal like the University of Miami team.) Nebraska competed hard against the Florida teams and in the days of the Big Eight, when the Big Eight played against the ACC in the Orange Bowl, developed a huge rivalry with Florida State. But in all those games it was a friendly rivalry; it was a rivalry between two programs that truly respected each other. (In years past this was also the character of the rivalry between Nebraska and Oklahoma, one of the great rivalries in college football. But that was ended with the formation of the Big 12 resulting in the two teams only playing every other year.)

Other football teams, which will remain unnamed in this essay, have tried to create a rivalry with Nebraska, but up to this point, those rivalries have been one sided, with only the opposing team thinking of it as a rivalry and Nebraska just treating it as another game albeit with a bullying opponent. Why did this happen? The problem was essentially that the unnamed football program was, and continues to be, decidedly unclassy. Their fans are mean and rude. There is little to no respect given to their opponents. They have a reputation nationally of being bad fans. (One ESPN commentator comments that they would be more comfortable with the English Football hooligans than with American college football.) Stories abound of cups of urine being thrown on opposing fans, tires being slashed if they have the wrong license plate, etc. Rather than promoting rivalry, such actions lead to contempt and disgust.

And this leads me back to the question of unity within the Church. A necessary part of Christian theology is approaching the disagreements between denominations and jurisdictions head on. If differences are not explored honestly and in-depth, more fundamental agreements can never be achieved. But such explorations can either be done confrontationally or irenically. When done irenically and with class, the “opponents” come to respect each other making true unity possible. When done confrontationally, the “opponents” truly become opponents—untrustworthy opponents—and with that spirit, unity can never be achieved.

This year call me “the loyal opposition.” Like Republicans vs Democrats it is simply in my blood to root against a Florida football team. But the Gators are a classy program, and when push comes to shove, I am with them and behind them in their quest for a national championship. Sorry Ohio State, but tonight I’m Orange and Blue.