Actually, I think it's a wonderful thing. It helps to relieve stress, among other things.
And, yes, the demonstration of masculinity goes miles when it comes to attracting young men. It shouldn't be, but it does. I've seen it here in choirs. At my former parish, the choir director was a soccer coach and played hockey in a night league. He had all sorts of boys in the choir. They'd rather be in the choir than serve Mass.
1. From the lead article:The Bishop is also a veteran marathon runner, which he does just to stay in shape for hockey, he told the magazine. Even allowing for the bias in the article, (it's about hockey), this statement is problematic. Did not Our Lord say that where your heart is, there is your treasure? and that man cannot serve both mammon, (the things of this world) and God? Did not St. Paul, one of the first Bishops of the Church, say that when he became a man that he put away childish things?
Again, going by the slant of the article, it gives the appearance that the Bishop's heart is directed more towards hockey, than toward the things of God. The appearance in and of itself is scandalous, but the second article posted on this thread does nothing to dispel this appearance Now we have pictures in the Bishop's office of him at marathons in Rome and Greece, of the Bishop playing hockey. Where is the Bishop's heart? When does he have time to be a Bishop? And he even has a picture of Our Lord playing hockey. Is this making God into man's image?
The article about the Bishop reminds me of a story that I read recently about St. Jerome. As you know, St. Jerome was very learned in the languages of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. St. Jerome especially loved the elegant Latin prose of Cicero, and he strove to imitate Cicero's style. One night, St. jerome had a dream that he had died and was appearing before Our Lord in judgement. St. Jerome was condemned. He asked Our Lord why? The reply was that St. Jerome loved Cicero more than he loved Our Lord, and that St. Jerome needed to choose between the two. As you know, one of St. Jeromes great legacies to the Church is the Latin Vulgate, the Bible translated, not into the high prose of Cicero, but in the common (very readable)Latin spoken by the people. Perhaps the good Bishop should consider the example of St. Jerome?
2. As to the masculinity issue. Though I would agree that sports are a great aid in teaching a boy to become a man, I do not believe that participation in sports, especially in later life, indicates masculinity/sexual orientation. Sports should never be any measure of manliness. Rather, the measure should be how the man responds and reflects the manly virtues. For example, do we not cheer the handful of Bishops who had the backbone (the masculinity) to deny pro-abortion politicians Holy Communion and bewail the many spineless(wimpy)Bishops who would wring their hands in despair over the issue? To this, we can add their response to liturgical abuses, heterodox teachings, the sex scandals, and a host of other issues.
So, in the end, do we want Bishops and priests who display their masculinity by uncompromising adherence to the doctrines of Our Lord and the Church, or do we want clergy who elicit a superficial manliness playing sports while their diocese collapses around them? I know that I would prefer the former over the latter anyday.