It is unsporting and rude for a spectator to try to interfere with the results of the game therefore we should not wish God to do so or pray for the success of our favorite team.

This provokes the question why anyone would petition God for any specific outcome — even of the “give us this day our daily bread” variety. Surely an all-knowing, all-loving God has arranged for His purposes to be fulfilled. If our wills play any role at all, it’s to align ourselves with those purposes — not our own.

But I see little harm in praying, “God help the Ravens” provided I follow up with “but Thy will be done!“

Sure, I expect God would structure all things to His purposes, and there’s no reason to think that the Superbowl would be an exception. I see no reason that God would not use the Superbowl, or anything else, to help save humanity from itself. Thus, while neither team could justly claim that “God is on our side,” it might be the case that either time was, incidentally, on God’s side.

That said, it’s far from clear how the Superbowl would (or did?) help save humanity from itself. True, there did seem to be some kind of battle between the forces of light and darkness during the second half….

Objection 2. The “competitiveness” of football is not sinful in itself and the game is just as much cooperative as competitive. Perhaps competition would not exist were it not for The Fall but that could be said of a lot of good things including most of literature.

Objection 3. Which has not been given. It is unsporting and rude for a spectator to try to interfere with the results of the game therefore we should not wish God to do so or pray for the success of our favorite team.