The PFB Sports Survey: Anne Jackson

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The PFB Sports Survey is a feature here at Prayers For Blowouts where we throw a few sports related questions at some of the most notable voices among Christian authors, pastors, musicians, and sidewalk artists to see if they like sports as much as we do.
Today’s spotlight is on Anne Jackson, who believes blood and broken bones = more fun.
Anne Jackson serves on staff at Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Her articles have been published in a variety of print and online magazines, and her blog, FlowerDust.net, is ranked as one of the top blogs in Christian Leadership with hundreds of thousands of page views a month. She is an advocate for Compassion International, a down-to-earth communicator, and an all around dreamer. Anne has an unwavering passion to see the Church grow, thrive, and fulfill its purpose. Her book Mad Church Disease (Zondervan) releases in February 2009.
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1. What number best describes the role sports play in your life on a scale of 1 to 10?
AJ: I’d say a 3. Mmmm. No, a 2. I love the Dallas Mavericks and will go out of my way to watch their games. When I lived in Dallas, I can’t tell you how many times we went. I’ve loved them since I was in high school and they had the triple J’s…Other than that though, I’m out.
2. Rank your 3 overall favorite sports, college or pro.
AJ: Basketball (because I played forever and was pretty darn good), shoe shopping, and Scottish Rugby. Because that means I’m in Scotland.
3. What is the one team that you root for more passionately than any other, and is there a team that you hate, maybe a little too much?
AJ: The Mavericks…And I am not a fan of the Suns because one of my good friends is and it’s just fun to fight.
4. Do you play fantasy sports?
AJ: That’s really funny. I laugh at the boys in my office who play. Although I have kind of wanted to just randomly pick a team because I am so ignorant. It’d be funny to watch my team win after everyone puts so much effort into compiling theirs.
5. What is the most memorable sporting event you have ever attended in person?
AJ: Stanley Cup Finals, Game #5, 1999. I was a big hockey fan then. We paid $500 a piece for the tickets. The Stars ended up losing, but Mike Modano fell down and snapped his neck pretty good.
6. What is the best highlight and/or worst lowlight of your sports playing career as a child or as an adult?
AJ: Best highlight? I was one of the most accurate 3 point shooters in our district, and in West Texas – that’s a big deal. Lowlight was having a girl from Odessa Permian (the school they based Friday Night Lights off of) slam me into a brick wall while I was going up for a layup…thus ending my basketball career and I’ll probably have to have a knee replacement before I’m 35. Looking forward to that day…Gerrr…
7. If you could change one thing about sports, what would it be?
AJ: I would take away all the padding and protection we wear. So much more fun to get down, bloody and have broken bones.
8. Do you have an opinion on Christian athletes who, without being prompted, talk about their faith in post-game interviews?
AJ: I have an opinion on many things, but not this. I’d say it’s probably more important to actually live that faith and have their team members respect them than to make a generalized or over-spiritualized statement which would potentially have no accountability. But that’s just thinking out loud.
9. High school gym class…your favorite 45 minutes of the day or the source of countless nightmares and embarrassments?
AJ: Totally my favorite 45 minutes a day. Except we had 3-a-Days for basketball, so it was more like my favorite 5 hours a day.
10. Sports are often the whipping boy of pastors and clergy because so much passion, money, time, and energy is poured into them. Do you think this criticism is valid, or are sports okay as a diversion from the stresses of life.
AJ: I think that sport is a completely gray area. And I know so many pastors are fans or play fantasy or whatever, so…whipping boys they may be…but they can’t really do much about it.
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11. If you had to compete against other bloggers, in which of these 5 competitions would you have the best chance of winning? 5-mile run, 18 holes of golf, free throw shooting contest, arm wrestling match, or a game of bowling.
AJ: Oh, free throw shooting contest, hands down. BRING IT.
12. What is your favorite sports movie of all-time?
AJ: Any chick flick where a girl is running in stilettos.
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You can click here for an exhaustive (but not exhausting) list of everyone who’s been featured as a PFB Sports Survey participant.
If you’d like to be considered for the PFB Sports Survey, or know someone who should be, send along a name and email address to prayersforblowouts(at)gmail(dot)com.
