A Dream Game: Brazil v. USA

Now that Jim West has blogged on the soccer game between Brazil v. USA, I will too.

The game between Brazil and the USA in Johannesburg on Sunday will be a great game. However, people have to remember that the only reason the USA is playing in the Confederations Cup final game is because of Brazil (of course, the USA had to help itself too).

The USA was almost out of the tournament. In order to qualify for the semifinals, Brazil had to beat Italy by at least 3 goals and the USA had to beat Egypt by at least 3 goals. Brazil helped the USA by beating Italy 3-0 and the USA helped itself by beating Egypt 3-0.

Now, after Brazil beat South Africa and the USA, miracle of miracles, beat Spain in the semifinals, here we are, playing in the finals.

As a Brazilian, I always root for Brazil, even when Brazil is playing the USA. My three sons, all born in the USA, always root for Brazil, except when Brazil plays the USA. So, on Sunday, we will have a divided family watching the game. In the end, whoever wins, the four of us will celebrate, because our team won, whichever team wins.

I pity Jim West because he won’t be able to watch the game.

Don’t worry, Jim, my sons and I will watch the game for you. And as soon as the game is over, I will write a comment on your post and let you know by how many goals Brazil beat the USA.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Soccer

Injuries and the Old Testament

The Daily Star is reporting that Manchester United’s soccer star Wayne Rooney has been healed from his injuries by reading the Old Testament. According to the report, Rooney injured himself after falling over a piece of equipment.

The report says that Rooney hoped that reading “passages from the 3,000-year-old fire-and-brimstone texts” of the Old Testament would help him recover from his injuries. The Daily Star report says that his right ankle was twisted and badly bruised and he was ruled out for four weeks until he made a miraculous recovery by reading the stories of Moses, David, Solomon and Samson.

The lesson: If soccer players in England can become better players by reading the Old Testament, then baseball players in the United States need to learn a very important lesson: they don’t need steroids in order to become better players; they need to read the Old Testament.

NOTE: This post was originally written on December 17, 2007. The post was saved as a draft and never published.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Baseball, Soccer, Steroids, Wayne Rooney

Soccer, Baseball, and the Old Testament

The results are in: Manchester United defeated Liverpool by the score of 1-0. For anyone to appreciate this victory, they must love soccer in general and British soccer in particular.

I have to confess that I do not follow British soccer, but if I understand correctly, Liverpool is a great team that has won many championships. But this time Manchester United won. The secret: the Old Testament.

According to a report in the Manchester Evening News,

United's backroom staff have been using Old Testament readings to inspire the Reds during their gym work - well they certainly seem to get some divine inspiration when they travel to Liverpool!

There you go! The Old Testament inspired Manchester United into victory. Now, let us hope that the Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella will take this example from Manchester United and hope that what works for soccer will also work for baseball.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Baseball, Cubs, Soccer, Lou Piniella