Earlier this month, WMB and WoW both reported on NFL restrictions that prohibited churches from showing the Super Bowl on big-screen TVs. In a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a vocal critic of the policy, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote that the league would no longer object to churches showing the Super Bowl — regardless of screen size — as long as no admission is charged and the event is held at a place the church uses on a “routine and customary” basis. “[The NFL has] decided to set aside profit for community spirit,” Pastor Steve Holley of Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, Va., told The Washington Post. “I’m encouraged by that.”

Since way back on August 5, when the Steelers marched over the Saints in the Hall of Fame game, you football fans out there have had gridiron action to look forward to nearly every weekend. Now that the Giants have pulled the big Super Bowl upset over the no-longer-perfect Pats and another weekend’s upon us, where do you sports fans turn your attention? Yeah, I know, the Pro Bowl will be played in the land of leis tomorrow afternoon, but does that count? (I don’t think so.) Glancing through the “Sports on TV” section of USA Today, here are your options:

• Boxing: Welterweights rock ’em and sock ’em tonight in California.
• Bull riding: The PBR series bucks its way into Anaheim this weekend.
• Bowling: The PBA sets its pins up in El Paso tomorrow.
• Tennis: The United States will be volleying in Vienna in Davis Cup action against Austria today and tomorrow.
• Golf: Choose from the PGA European Tour in India (I think there’s somewhat of a geography problem there), the Champions (a.k.a. “seniors”) Tour in Boca, and the PGA Tour’s best playing alongside a gaggle of celebrity hackers at Pebble Beach.
• College basketball: Both the men and the women will tip it off in a number of TV games across the country this weekend, wrapping it all up tomorrow night with the Clemson men trying to put an end to their school’s amazing streak of futility (0-52) against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. With Tar Heel point guard Ty Lawson ailing, this may be the year for the Tigers.
• Pro basketball: ABC and ESPN will offer 11 consecutive hours of men in long shorts tomorrow.
• Motor sports: The NHRA’s Winternationals power up in Ponoma, Calif., while NASCAR’s 2008 season gets into gear tonight in Daytona with the Budweiser Shootout followed by pole qualifying tomorrow afternoon for next Sunday’s 500.
• Oh yeah, and there’s a hockey game on Sunday: Ducks and Wings (sounds kind of fowl).

But if you still need a taste of NFL action, skip the Pro Bowl and tune in tonight to the Gospel Music Channel, where you can catch Giants Super Bowl star receiver David Tyree and players from every team in the league singing together in a gospel choir.

Years ago, when I was a mere child, the Super Bowl was played on Sunday afternoon. Then, with higher ratings and ad revenues to be had, its time slot slipped toward prime time, causing a conflict for those who observed the Christian Sabbath by going to Sunday evening services.

At first, churches resisted, keeping to their usual schedule. But after a few years of dwindling numbers, pastors began to see the Super Bowl as a community outreach opportunity, inviting members, especially youth, to bring their unchurched friends to the fellowship hall for an evening of food, fellowship, and football. And as the audio and video capabilities in these houses of worship have improved, so has the allure of these events. Where else in town could you go to watch mighty gridiron warriors larger than life on a six-foot screen that a few hours earlier had beamed the words to “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”?

Of course, there were the GoDaddy.com ads and halftime wardrobe malfunctions to avoid, usually with an alternative, football-themed evangelistic video or two to take their places. But it looks like these outreach opportunities have been snuffed out. No, not by some angry, legalistic deacons or elders, but by the National Football League.

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Rumors of Tony Dungy’s imminent retirement as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts began circulating a few weeks ago when word leaked out that his family was moving to Tampa, Fla. On Monday, after much prayer and discussion with family and friends, Dungy announced that he would be staying on, but added that his decision wasn’t based solely on a desire to lead the Colts back to the Super Bowl.

“I enjoy my job, the players, the staff we have here and [General Manager] Bill [Polian] and [owner] Jim [Irsay],” Dungy said at the press conference. “But it is a platform, and that’s something I talked to my wife and pastor about. I said ‘I could stop and start a ministry, but I might not have a platform like this.’ I look at this as a job, but I also look at it as a ministry … I might not have as effective a ministry as I have right now.”

Many Colts supporters are ecstatic that their coach will be around a bit longer. However, some, such as Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz, question whether Dungy’s decision to parent from afar meshes with his message of putting faith and family first. “I think that by returning to the Colts, and doing so after his entire family moved out of Indianapolis and back to Tampa, Fla., for reasons he prefers remain private,” Kravitz writes, “Dungy has revealed himself as something of a hypocrite.”

Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock responded to Kravitz, writing, “My take is Dungy’s critics fail to understand how super-religious people think, especially men who are ministers or view their work as their personal ministry. Dungy’s logic is consistent when you consider that nearly every minister puts his family on the backburner to some degree to serve his congregation.”

Dungy apparently feels a calling to continue to coach, and his family, friends, and employer support that decision — in fact, Dungy will have ready access to Jim Irsay’s private jet to fly home to his wife and kids as often as he can. There’s so much to be admired about this man, especially in an era where it’s become increasingly difficult to find redeeming qualities in those involved in sports, so I don’t see a need to question his motives or for anyone to go so far as to label him a “hypocrite.”

It’s happened only once in the NFL, when the 1972 Miami Dolphins, coached by Don Shula and led by the running of Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris along with the always tough “No-Name Defense,” defeated the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

In NCAA men’s basketball, it’s been accomplished by seven teams, the last time back in 1976, when the Indiana Hoosiers, led by coach Bobby Knight and the trio of Scott May, Kent Benson, and Quinn Buckner, took care of Big Ten rival Michigan in the NCAA tournament championship game. (The other six were San Francisco in 1956, North Carolina in ’57, and John Wooden’s UCLA teams in ’64, ’67, ’72, and ’73.)

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It’s NFL divisional playoff weekend, which leads to the following questions:

• Will Josh Brown’s “hot pants” help the Seattle Seahawks keep up with Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, or will they be toast?
• Will the two-touchdown underdog Jacksonville Jaguars and their running game put an end to the New England Patriots’ pursuit for perfection, or will Tom Brady skin the Cats’ secondary?
• Will Lynn Vincent’s San Diego Chargers pick up where they left off in November, picking off Peyton Manning’s passes, or will the Colts make another Super Bowl run while Tony Dungy checks out real estate in sunny Florida?
• Will Tony Romo be able to put aside memories of Mexico and Jessica Simpson in time to avoid the pass rush of Michael Strahan and lead the Dallas Cowboys to victory, or will the “other” Manning, who “vacationed” in Tampa Bay last weekend, continue his hot hand and keep the New York Giants in the hunt?

Which four teams do you think will survive the weekend?

In recent years the Detroit Lions have been known for futility, finishing each of the last six seasons with 10 or more losses. So it was a bit surprising to hear Lions quarterback Jon Kitna boldly predict last spring that his team would win 10 games this year. So far, the Lions have already matched last season’s victory total of three, and Kitna, who’s tossed 15 TD passes in his last seven games, deserves a lot of credit for the team’s early success.

But it’s not just the 35-year-old QB’s strong performance that’s attracting attention. His strong Christian beliefs has even ESPN The Magazine “wondering just what the Almighty is up to in Motown”:

Like many athletes who are outspoken about something as personal as faith, Kitna — with his ubiquitous cross hats and constant biblical references — is often dismissed as a loon. But his impact in Detroit is undeniable. He is part of a team prayer group on Friday afternoons and hosts a Bible study for teammates and their wives at his home on Monday nights.

Since he signed a four-year, $11.5 million deal in March 2006, about 20 Lions have given their lives to Christ. Teammates, converted or not, credit Kitna — and, in part, this religious awakening — with helping change the previously poisonous attitude in the Lions’ locker room. Says [Lions backup QB Dan] Orlovsky, “He is the pulse and the heart and the soul of this team.”

By combining two of the most fervent elements of society — faith and football — a previously anonymous journeyman quarterback has catapulted himself into the zeitgeist.

On Sunday, Kitna and his crew will take on the 4-2 Tampa Bay Bucs at Detroit’s Ford Field.