When better to focus on America’s National Pastime than the day that Minnesota shatters its February record for snowfall? Yes, it’s our spring training episode of The 252! • Chris Moore suggested some ways that baseball is both shaped by politics and helps us to think about politics. • Then we discussed who belongs on … More Wednesday’s Podcast: The Mount Rushmore of Baseball History
On this week’s episode of The 252, Sam, Chris, and I talked about: • The death of Hall of Fame baseball player — and pioneering manager — Frank Robinson. • The cancellation of a football program at one of Bethel’s sister schools. • The relative greatness of Lindsey Vonn’s recently concluded skiing career, which yielded 3 Winter Olympic … More Wednesday’s Podcast: Sports as Religion
On this week’s episode of The 252, Chris, Sam, and I talked about: • WNBA superstar Maya Moore’s decision to sit out the 2019 season and concentrate on Christian ministry. (Clarification: on the episode, we discuss some earlier speculation about Moore’s contract status and the possibility that she might not want to stay in Minnesota… After … More Wednesday’s Podcast: Why We Love Sports
Every once in a while, leading higher ed publications like The Chronicle and Inside Higher Ed report on my particular sector, and I add those articles to my Saturday links wraps. But this week has seen an unusually large number of stories about Christian colleges in the mainstream media, so I thought I’d do a midweek collection of … More Christian Colleges in the News
Today I’m happy to announce the debut of The 252, a new weekly podcast from Chris Moore, Sam Mulberry, and me. As you may recall from my post earlier in the week, Chris and I are developing a new general education course at Bethel University: HIS/POS252L History and Politics of Sports. While not a field of expertise … More Thursday’s Podcast: The Super Bowl
Almost from the moment I got to Bethel University (sixteen years ago!), I started dreaming about developing two new courses. The one on World War II launched five years ago, with its fourth iteration starting next week. But aside from one independent study, I’ve never quite been able to follow through with a History of … More Coming Soon… The History and Politics of Sports
So you’ve been in London teaching the history of World War I for a week and are getting ready to head to the former Western Front and have some down time while you catch up on laundry. What do you do? Record a podcast on a pair of iPhones, of course! Yes, Sam Mulberry and … More Live from London: Nothing Rhymes with Gehrz
So it was a few days before Christmas, and I got a call from my wife. She was looking for a jersey to buy our sports-loving eight-year old son, Isaiah. “Are you okay with the Vikings?” I’d prefer the Twins, but she’s braving the mall so… “Definitely. What are the options?” “Who’s #14? Would he … More The Minneapolis Miracle
Last week at Anxious Bench, I had a chance to interview historian Paul Putz, who just launched Sportianity, a blog on “the unique cultural world that stands at the intersection of sports and (mostly evangelical Protestant) Christianity.” When I asked Paul to share significant changes in “Sportianity” since sportswriter Frank Deford coined the term in 1976, … More Sportianity Goes Global
To the countless number of ways in which our current president is unlike his immediate predecessor, you can add this: Donald Trump is not filling out a March Madness bracket for ESPN. Of course, that short-lived presidential tradition had been so appealing because, as ESPN analyst Andy Katz explained, “President Obama follows basketball and is passionate about the sport. He … More How Would Donald Trump Fill Out His Bracket?
The Pietist Schoolman 