Joe Levin, BA, BJ ’21, Life Member, likes to say he came from Los Angeles by way of Austin. Forty Even before he attended the University of Texas as an Akers Scholar, the fifth-generation Longhorn knew the ceremonial power of athletics. (His Instagram handle is an homage to Colt McCoy, and when he was 7 years old, his parents held a “religious holiday” in the weeks before and after the University of Texas faced USC in the Rose Bowl.) I expelled him from school to protect him.)
It therefore seems natural that the title of Levin’s first book The religion of sports. The book is co-authored with Gotham Chopra, the son of award-winning sports filmmaker and alternative medicine guru Deepak Chopra. The authors draw on exclusive interviews with greats like Tom Brady and Serena Williams, as well as great athletes with untold stories.
This book is sure to appeal to sports fans of all kinds, but also offers wisdom to readers of all backgrounds.of alcalde I sat down with Levin to discuss his writing process with Chopra and their myriad influences.
How did you become involved with this book?
I met Gotham a long time ago, when his son and I went to the same elementary school in Los Angeles, and I knew he was making a movie about Kobe. [Bryant] Back then, when I was fired, I would sneak out and tap him on the shoulder and listen to his story. I’m sure he thought I was crazy, but we became friends. He talked to me about the idea of sports as a religion. This comes not only from his experience as a fan, but also from growing up around spirituality. We exchanged ideas about what is the sports version of the hymn? The Red Sox sing “Sweet Caroline.”
Eventually, Gotham turned that idea into a TV show, and then an entire media company, and every step of that journey, he was kind enough to bring me along to help. Then, about a month before I graduated from college, he called me and told me he was writing a book. He was having trouble finding co-authors who were really willing to collaborate. Obtained That’s what he thought of me. Of course, I said yes, and what I started writing in elementary school quickly became a completed manuscript.
I’m curious as to which one you would choose: “Sports are religion,” “Sports are religion,” or “Sports are similar to religion.” Why an equivalence and not a simile?
For one thing, it’s not only a more fun discussion, but also something we both wholeheartedly believe in. As a Longhorns fan, I consider his 2023 Big 12 Championship victory an answered prayer. And I’m watching the game against Texas A&M with my whole family, and we’re all holding hands before Justin Tucker kicks a field goal. I literally had a religious moment. And then we turn our attention to society. How do you teach moral lessons to your children? Put them on sports programs. When you actually look at it, I think it means more to people than just existing. like religion.
Another perspective comes from talking to all the athletes like Tom Brady, Kobe, and Serena. Many of them are also very religious, but I find that the way they structure their lives around sports can only be described as religious.
What was the research process like?
All the stories here have been captured on film and were either used as part of the Gotham documentary, or he sent me the unedited material. We watched Brady’s work for 10 hours, and in a way it was like going back and reporting. So it was easy to turn the film into something that could be used as scenes in the book.
And there are some great stories we stumbled across. For example, there’s a whole chapter about getting into the zone, and the religious example of that is Zen Buddhism. I was looking into, where does this idea of ”being in the zone” come from? It comes from the word “zen.”Then I started reading about [Bodhidharma, the Buddhist monk credited with creating the Zen branch of Buddhism,] These are people who have reached a transcendental state of being “in the zone.” After meditating for days and days, he thought: How can I transform this so that others can reach this state? So he invented Kung Fu. he played sports.
How did you make religious language and sports lore more readable for readers?
I’ve always loved sports stories because they’re not just sports. I like setting up Trojan horses in that sense. There’s something very relatable about them. For example, I still have little understanding of how cricket works, but I can be interested in the human stories surrounding it. It’s all about storytelling, and when you’re done listening to it, you realize, “Oh, this is something we’re all going through.”
What unites all these theories of greatness in both religion and sport?
All great athletes realize that [their success] It’s not just them, it’s the result of their work. And one more thing, they all Love that. When Tom Brady goes on vacation, he brings his huge duffel bag with cones and stuff in it. He loves soccer so he wakes up every morning and plays soccer.Also today [after retirement], He’s still playing. They never lose that love.
How does sports knowledge influence your writing skills?
Being around these athletes is so inspiring. The word I use to describe them is “monk.” They are very single-minded. It’s their work ethic, but they also understand that work ethic doesn’t always work until you puke. It’s more important to show up every day.
Serena talks about how she avidly watches other sports. She saw Peyton Manning’s footwork and called her trainer to teach her footwork. There are millions of examples. And that’s the same with writing or whatever you do. I can’t write without reading. You can’t play a sport without watching and learning from other greats.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Credits: Author Photo Credit: Joe Levin
