Abstract

Turn-of-the-century thinkers expected that, thanks to Darwin, organized religion would be replaced eventually: perhaps by art, perhaps by literature, perhaps by the state. In fact, one could argue that to the extent it has been displaced, it has been supplanted by organized sport. Cities once strove to build remarkable cathedrals; now they want domed stadia. Pilgrimages are made to the big games and to tournaments and bowls. Ritual and ceremony abound. But above all it is the faith, the pure blind faith in some mystical higher good that links religion and sport. And the irrational faith in the unlikely - even the absurd