Woke Sports? Consider the Big Leagues’ Longstanding Great Awakening – By James Varney (Real Clear Investigations) / June 20, 2023
When the University of Oklahoma softball team showed up for the College World Series last week, reporters expected to hear pride and camaraderie from a squad on the way to winning its third consecutive national championship.
But several star Sooners players startled the press and went viral online by declaring that their joy in Christianity trumped their considerable athletic accomplishments.
“The only way that you can have a joy that doesn’t fade away is from the Lord,” team captain Grace Lyons said. “Any other type of joy is actually happiness that comes from circumstances and outcomes. Joy from the Lord is really the only thing that can keep you motivated and in a good mindset, no matter the outcomes.”
The comments of Lyons and her teammates, reflecting religiosity common among many athletes, suggest that media-amplified culture-war flareups in sports – epitomized last week by the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring drag-queen nun impersonators – may overlook a story of abiding faith hiding in plain sight. It’s one in which taking a knee is not necessarily a form of racial protest — and its quiet power could complicate progressive agendas for national pastimes that serve as bellwethers of social change or, conversely, enduring tradition
