According to StarTribune reporter Pat Reusse, Mariano Rivera kissed the pitcher’s mound after the Yankees won game 7 of the ALCS against the Red Sox.
“I went to have a conversation with God,” Rivera said. “I was thankful to the Lord, because there’s nothing better than this. I had had a big conversation with The Man and he came through.” What had The Man told Rivera? “You’re going to win this game,” Rivera said. Does that mean God is not a Red Sox fan? “No, he’s not a Red Sox fan,” Rivera said.
Reusse should have sought out Boston’s Trott Nixon for a comment. Nixon won an extra-inning game for Boston in the ALDS with a homerun and gave credit to the Lord. Nixon faced Rivera in the late innings of game 7 and could have won it with a homerun had the Lord seen fit, I guess.
And last Sunday night, after Yankee pitcher Andy Pettit won game 2, he was asked by a Fox reporter how he managed to contain Marlins phenom Juan Pierre. He credited his friends and family around the country who were praying for him… the Lord just blessed him.
My wife and I watched an episode from season 2 of The Sopranos on Sat. night. Paulie was pissed at his parish priest because despite all his tithing, he got a message via a spirit medium that some of his mafia hits from years back were going to land him in hell. He was willing to accept that he might deserve a few thousand years of purgatory, but hell? No way.
The nation laughs at the childish Catholicism of the Sopranos but for some reason, there’s more than a little respect afforded to professional athletes who espouse similar bullshit.