The PFB Sports Survey: Tony Jones
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008If you're new here, and you're into sports and/or the Christian faith, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The PFB Sports Survey is a weekly 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 security guards to see if they like sports as much as we do.
Today’s spotlight is on Tony Jones, who just might have played for the worst football team ever.
Tony is the author of a whole bunch of books (after you hit 10 they stop counting) and a leading voice for folks who identify with the Emergent Church movement. His most recent release, “The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier” was released by Jossey-Bass last month.
He blogs regularly at his website, TonyJ.net. (and yes, blog is a verb)
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1. What number best describes the role sports play in your life on a scale of 1 to 10?
TJ: I fluctuate between an 8 and a 5. As you’ll see in my answers below, I have a deep ambivalence about sports.
2. Rank your 3 overall favorite sports, college or pro.
TJ: Major League Baseball, College hockey, high school hockey (sorry to break the rules, but nothing is so sweet as Minnesota high school hockey)
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?
TJ: I root for the Minnesota Twins (though I hold out little hope for this year) I don’t hate any teams, but I probably dislike the Yankees the most.
4. Do you play fantasy sports?
TJ: No, I don’t. It seems like you’d have to know so much and follow the sport so closely that it’d take time away from other, more important things.
5. What is the most memorable sporting event you have ever attended in person?
TJ: I umpired for about 20 years, starting with softball when I was 14. I worked my way up to college baseball, and in my final season I umped an NCAA Division I game. That was the most memorable.
6. What is the best highlight and/or worst lowlight of your sports playing career as a child or as an adult?
TJ: That DI baseball game I just told you about was the best (not playing, exactly, but I was never much of a player)
Worst: My 6th grade football team never scored a point all season. Not a single point. Or the time I was hit by a ball and knocked unconscious while umping a Little League game.
7. If you could change one thing about sports, what would it be?
TJ: Free agency. It has almost completely ruined pro sports because it has erased any loyalty that players had to teams and towns.
8. Do you have an opinion on Christian athletes who, without being prompted, talk about their faith in post-game interviews?
TJ: I usually find it very forced, cheesy, and embarrassing. I occasionally find it poignant.
9. High school gym class…your favorite 45 minutes of the day or the source of countless nightmares and embarrassments?
TJ: Somewhere in between, but leaning toward the nightmarish.
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.
TJ: I think we’ve grown numb. When we hear about a 10-year, $150 million contract for an athlete, we don’t bat an eye. Last year, I sat on a plane next to one of Michael Vick’s attorneys, and he said that a guy who comes from a background like Vick’s just has very little idea about what to do with that much money. The amount of money in pro sports is crazy.
11. If you had to compete against other writers, 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.
TJ: Arm wrestling, for sure.
12. What is your favorite sports movie of all-time?
TJ: Slap Shot.
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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.
Tags: PFB Sports Survey, Tony Jones
