Most people who know me know I am passionate about sports. Having lived in L.A. for virtually my entire life, I have always rooted for my hometown teams, specifically the Lakers and Dodgers (I used to root for the Rams, too, but somehow they got displaced, first in Anaheim, and then St. Louis, and it gives me great joy now when the Rams lose, traitors that they are).

There is nary a day that goes by that I don't devour every article in the L.A. Times and L.A. Daily News about my teams. Now I am even able to read takes about my teams in out-of-town papers, thanks to the Internet. Of course I love going to games even more than reading about them. My friend Laura Portney took me to opening day at Dodger Stadium last spring, and my friend Shel Spector invited me to a Laker game last season against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which had disappointing results for my guys in purple and gold.

If you have watched a sporting event recently, say the Super Bowl, you might notice that many athletes pray before and/or after the game. In postgame news conferences, athletes state that if not for Jesus, their team would not have won the game. I have heard many athletes attest that their belief in Allah was the recipe for success that they enjoyed in the boxing ring, or on the basketball court. I find this curious, to say the least. I suppose I would find it even more curious if an athlete thanks HaShem for helping her team win the NCAA Tournament!

While I don't know for certain if God cares who does or doesn't win a game, although I'm fairly sure that God doesn't care one iota, what I am certain of is that God does care how an athlete behaves on and off the field. Religious values apply to all human beings, whether or not one is an athlete. The recent passing of American hero Joe DiMaggio brought to mind someone who lived a virtuous life, whether he was shagging flies in the outfield, hitting in 56 consecutive games, or speaking to a young fan after the game. He always behaved himself with respect to God, to his country, and to himself.

So if God does have a lot of time on God's hands, and if God probably isn't too interested in the betting line on any particular sporting event, what exactly is God doing now? The Talmud relates a famous story of a Roman matron who asks a famous rabbi that very question. The rabbi retors that God arranges marriages. The Roman matron laughs and replies that she is as smart as God is, and that she, too, can arrange marriages. After failing miserably to arrange marriages between her male and female servants, the matron confesses to the rabbi that it is mucher harder to do God's work than she ever imagined.

I still wonder, though, if God is all-powerful, can't God help bring a championship banner to Inglewood in June...?