ABSTRACT
Belief is required in religion. Religions typically deal with notions of God, divine reality, revelation, miracles, or an afterlife that are experienced through any of the five senses. Despite the growing variety of religious or spiritual beliefs in America, all share the common function of orienting the believer to that mystery that is beyond the reach of the five senses. Religion, whether expressed in the Bible or elsewhere, is nothing if not that which involves objects and realities beyond the immanent world that one sees and touches. Unlike with religion, beliefs have a difficult time fitting into the sports world. If a sports fan believes that Muhammad Ali was the greatest boxer of all time, that belief will be difficult to hold if statistics that measure Ali’s success in the ring do not back up such a belief. On one level, religion and sports interact with each other, based on the fact that beliefs are needed in both domains.
