Recently on This American Life:
Act Two. Team Spirit in the Sky.
This past Christmas a story swept the internet about a football coach at a Christian high school in Texas who inspired his team’s fans to root for the opposition: a team from the local juvenile correctional facility. Among the thousands of emails that the coach received in response to his actions, one stood out to him. Trisha Sebastian mentioned her loss of faith, and coach Hogan got a message from God that he was meant to bring her back. We eavesdrop on their phone calls. (19 minutes)
Click here to listen to the audio of the story. It starts at 20:02 into the show.
I love the initial story of the fans cheering for the other team. Great work coach! We need lots more of that! Even just in regular high school games.
But as you listen to the story, you hear Trisha tell Ira Glass that she’s leaning towards agnosticism after the loss of a dear friend. She shares this with the coach and he attempts to change her mind with apologetics and logic.
Continue reading This I Used to Believe: Act 2