ANY GIVEN SUNDAY

 

TWO STARS - Unsettling

 

 

       How one chooses to spend their time is a reflection of their spiritual health.  This fact is proven by Oliver Stone in his film “Any Given Sunday.”  Set within the combative world of professional football, “Any Given Sunday” fillets the souls of a fictional coach and his team:  the Miami Sharks.

       Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino) is a veteran coach.  With a loneliness that haunts his soul, D’Amato explains to his drinking buddy that he has sacrificed his wife and children for his team.  Though he may not realize the spiritual significance of his statement, it is clear that D’Amato’s choice to place his marriage and family on the altar of sacrifice is an act of worship.  He values, or gives more “worth-ship,” to his team than to any other person or purpose.  The result of his choice is a life of emptiness and loneliness that even his victories cannot fill.  Drowning himself in the ever-present alcohol, D’Amato is a vain and profane man.

       This is the central message of the film.  On “Any Given Sunday,” D’Amato worships football.  As a professional coach, D’Amato is at the peak of a culture that has claimed Sunday as a day for athletics.  As in all religions, this culture begins training children in their elementary years that they must devote themselves to their sport.  With tournaments that require the sacrifice of family time and religious experiences, these children devote themselves in a way that would make any deity pleased.

       This elementary training is then reinforced by parental dreams and aspirations as coaches in high school and college require increasing sacrifice and focus.  Becoming “monks” who live in the uniforms of their sports, such athletes abandon other activities and skills until they have nothing left but their sport.

       This singular devotion is seen most clearly in the person of Luther “Shark” Lavay #58 (Lawrence Taylor).  A tremendous defensive player who gives his all to the game, he hits so hard that he not only has multiple concussions, but has broken his neck.  When told that if he continues to play he could end up paralyzed, Lavay only says that he doesn’t know anything but football and he is willing to take that risk. 

       But what makes the choice to live for football even more devastating within this film is the choice the players must make between the worship of God in church and the worship of football in the stadium.

       This choice is stated directly when D’Amato is speaking with his youngest and newest quarterback, Willie Beaman #13 (Jamie Foxx).  Knowing that his father died when he was young, Coach D’Amato asks Beaman if his mother is ever going to come and see him play.  Beaman responds that his mother believes Sunday is for church.

       Though it is true that a person can do both, one gets the feeling that Beaman’s mother is making a clear statement in hopes of touching her son’s soul.  Beaman obviously is not doing both and his choice is costing him his own relationships at home.

       This is most often the situation with Sunday choices.  It is not that athletics are evil.  Kept within its place of secondary importance and playful recreation, athletics allow a person to enjoy the vigor and achievements of physical activities and the comradeship of being a part of a team.

       But when athletics becomes a primary importance and replaces the truly important experiences of church, family, friendship and transcendence, then the devotion becomes obsession and consumes the souls of the people involved.   The inhumanity that is then expressed by coaches and players alike is clearly shown within the film.

       In one very devastating scene, it is clear that it is not only the athlete who is consumed but also those who are living their lives through them as well.  When veteran quarterback, Jack “Cap” Rooney #19 (Dennis Quaid) tells his wife that he is going to retire because he cannot physically handle the pain, she slaps his face and rejects his decision as she demands that he continue to play.  It is clear that she is not willing to give up the position of being the “quarterback’s wife.”

       In professional sports, the final seduction is money and fame.  Giving millions of dollars worth of offerings, the fans worship the players and the game.  Dressing up, painting their faces like ancient witch doctors, invoking victory by rituals and charms, fans choose to give themselves and their Sundays to their team in a clearly religious form.

       On any given Sunday, we all express our values by the choices we make.  “Any Given Sunday” expresses the truth that if we choose to live only for athletics we are at risk and living empty, profane and spiritually impoverished lives. 

 

 

(787 words)

 

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