Other Archives - Sports Spectrum

Christian family flees Nigeria, seeks asylum in U.S., discovers 8-year-old son is chess prodigy

Eight-year-old Tanitoluwa (Tani) Adewumi had never seen a chess board in Nigeria. If he’d stayed...

S.O.S. ministry helps point sports officials at all levels toward Jesus

Whether the game is played on the court, between the lines or on the ice,...

Stefano “Verbo” Di Salvo - It's Not About You

I didn’t celebrate when I was initially presented with the opportunity to share my faith...

Another Angle: Cheapening the Brand

The other day, I was listening to The Dan Patrick Show on the way to work, as I usually do, and Patrick was interviewing Jim Parsons, who is most known for his endearing role as “Sheldon” in The Big Bang Theory. Patrick was talking to Parsons about the new Broadway play he was starring in called “An Act of God...”

In The News: Zach Johnson

From Zach Johnson’s first PGA Tour win to his most recent victory in the British Open on July 20, he has remained consistent. Not just in his play, but in how he talks after each win...

From the Archives: Masterful Performance

For many golf fans, the final round of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, is the high holy day of professional sports. It's a chance to worship all things green and beautiful in the aptly named Cathedral of Golf...

Devotional of the Week: Running to Win

Jim Ryun, one of the most famous distance runners in American history, once came home after a race and, responding to a question from his mom who asked how he did, said, “Not good.” He went on to say that he was disappointed he hadn’t won...

Video of the Week: I am Second® - Ryan Ries

All Ryan could remember was waking up the next morning to his friends saying, "Dude we thought you were dead last night." The drugs, the parties, the girls and sleepless nights followed Ryan from highschool into his skateboarding career. But that one night his life began to change...

Where Are They Now? Closeup: Tom and Terry Brands

Success breeds success is the well-worn coaching cliché. But more than a cliché, twins Tom...

Around The World Closeup: Lee Wai-sze

Winning championships and medals almost never happened for Hong Kong Olympian Lee Wai-sze. Her fledgling career nearly ended, just as it was about to explode, after a chance run-in with a stray dog...

Swimming Closeup: Missy Franklin

Remember 17-year-old London Olympic swimming phenom Missy Franklin? She’s still winning and she’s still fast. She’s just doing it a lot more out of the spotlight...

Magnificent Mary

An Olympian and five-time world champion works in her garden as her husband looks on and talks to a reporter. But this isn’t an interview for a home and garden show in America’s Heartland, the Northeast or the Deep South...

Video of the Week: Rich Froning Jr.'s spiritual journey through CrossFit (by Game Plan For Life)

Four-time CrossFit Games champion Rich Froning Jr., opens up to Game Plan For Life about his struggle with pride and his spiritual journey through his many athletic successes...

Another Angle: Meeting Norberto

The first time I saw Paraguayan missionary Norberto Kurrle was two years ago on a video screen. I was sitting in the back of an amphitheater at a church service in Roanoke, Va., when a video cued featuring Norberto and his newly adopted two-year old daughter, Anahi, sitting on his lap...

Athlete Blog: We Are What We Do?

Playing professional soccer for Major League Soccer (MLS) at the highest level in America over the past eight years has, without question, been a huge accomplishment of mine. Little did I know growing up that, one day, I would be living my dream as a professional soccer player! While it would be easy for me to list all of my soccer achievements, these accomplishments do not define me. Others will be drafted higher than I, trophies will fade, records will be broken, and our championship teams will long be forgotten...

Devotional of the Week: Everything is a Gift

“I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy.” Psalm 43:4...

30th Anniversary Closeup: Garry Unger

Garry Unger, who appeared in the first issue of Sports Spectrum when it was called...

Devotional of the Week: To Glorify and Enjoy

Before one of my team’s golf matches against a big, public school in Charlotte, I gave each one of my players a notecard that read: “'The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' Westminster Catechism, 1646”. I’m not sure if it meant anything to them. One of my players just said, “Whoa, that’s older than my dad...”

Switchfoot's 'Joy of the Journey'

You look the most hipster out of all of us with that bike,” Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman laughs. I look back over my shoulder at Foreman behind me. “I don’t know about that,” I laugh, as I coast down a hill on a yellow, rusted fixie they’ve lent me from their tour bus. The paint is peeling, and the bike appears to be more silver than yellow. The bike is wobbly and the front brakes are practically non-existent...

Another Angle: Resting In Smallness

Switchfoot’s lead singer Jon Foreman and drummer Chad Butler say that their favorite thing about surfing is feeling small again in the ocean—leaving their problems on the shore, getting lost in the ocean’s infinite magnitude, and sometimes being humiliated by its waves. This idea, feeling small, was one of the underlying things they communicated in their interview with Sports Spectrum...