No, God is not a Flames fan....

No, God is not a Flames fan.

But I do think that God is a sports fan!

Walk down any street in Calgary over the last few weeks and you will notice a change.  Now, I’m not saying that Calgary isn’t a friendly city but it seems that now, well now, everyone has something to talk about! So suddenly you see strangers’ high-fiving strangers and conversations about the chances of the Flames going all the way happening between people who would never otherwise would have met.

During the play off period almost everyone can say to anyone “go Flames, go” – especially if the person happens to be wearing anything resembling red!

Even the most belligerent I-never-watch-sports-because-they’re-stupid people at least engage to say, yeah, people seem pretty happy about whatever it is that’s going on.  And why would even non-fans say that?  Because you can feel it in the air.

Now, for those die-hard enemy in sheep’s clothing people, you know, the Habs fans who cover up with a Flames jersey or, even worse, an Oilers fan, even these folks are getting in on the good natured ribbing and speaking to people they would never otherwise meet.  Even while they may be “punching above their weight” (yes, I’m mixing my metaphors….) even the fans of other clubs have a good reason right now to begin a random chat.

And God loves that.

No, God is not a Flames fan.  Nor is God a Duck fan.  God is certainly not a fan of dirty hits or mean-spirited board jamming – but God is clearly gave us these amazing bodies to be used to their best ability and what better way to dramatically display their amazing physicality than professional sports.  Yes, I said that God loves our very human bodies.

So God is a fan of random high-fiving down on the Red Mile (17^th Ave – where all of the pubs are just a stone’s throw away from the arena, for those non-Calgarians out there) God is certainly a fan of random conversations starting up because there is a community wide common topic available to all.

And God is most certainly a fan of the amazing sense of community that spontaneously appears as on every street corner you hear….Go Flames, Go!