While I have never particularly been fond of sports (always being the skinny, poorly coordinated kid in school) I found this interesting perspective described regarding sports in arenas:

The venerated 11th century Torah commentator Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki – better known as Rashi – warned Jews away from sports arenas almost 1,000 years ago. According to the rabbi considered to be the father of all Torah commentators, the Torah admonition against "perform[ing] the practice of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled" (Leviticus 18:3) includes attendance at sports stadiums.

Other opponents refer to the construction of the world's most famous sports arena – the Colosseum in Rome – as the impetus behind their rejection of professional sports.

In 2001, Cinzia Conti, the Director of Surface Restoration at the Colosseum in Rome confirmed that inscriptions deciphered at the site say the Colosseum was built using the spoils of war. The war was with the Hebrews, and the plunder used to pay for the building was taken from the Holy Temple, which was sacked 2 years prior to the beginning of work on the Roman arena.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135129

One of the earliest words that I was considering for a "Words For Thought" article was philosophy.

Rather than using Merriam Webster I had searched for this word on the Online Etymology Dictionary and found this:

philosophy from O.Fr. filosofie (12c.), from L. philosophia, from Gk. philosophia "love of knowledge, wisdom," from philo- "loving" + sophia "knowledge, wisdom," from sophis "wise, learned."

Meaning "system a person forms for conduct of life" is attested from 1771. Philosophize is attested from 1594.

The M-W Word of the Day for September 14th was munificent.  They defined the word as follows:

1 : very liberal in giving or bestowing : lavish 2 : characterized by great liberality or generosity

I was scanning through the news a few weeks ago and came across this article on CNN entitled "Fasting carries risk of overeating".

In it the author makes some observations about the health benefits of certain religious practices associated with Islam and Judaism.

Kosher meat in Judaism is slaughtered in a specific way by a religious butcher known as a "shochet." The animal is drained of blood and broiled or heavily salted to help remove the blood. Both Judaism and Islam, whose dietary laws fall under "halal," [Halal is strictly a Muslim thing. -Ed] mandate that the animal be ritually slaughtered with specific prayers.

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for September 10th was slough.

1 : to cast off or become cast off 2 : to crumble slowly and fall away 3 : to get rid of or discard as irksome, objectionable, or disadvantageous — usually used with off

Here is the background they provided on the word:

On September 8th the Merriam Webster Word of the Day was irenic.

favoring, conducive to, or operating towards peace, moderation, or conciliation

In typical Word of the Day fashion, M-W provided this etymology:

In Greek mythology, Eirene was one of the Horae, the goddesses of the seasons and natural order; in the Iliad the Horae are the custodians of the gates of Olympus. According to Hesiod, the Horae were the daughters of Zeus and a Titaness named Themis, and their names indicate their function and relation to human life. Eirene was the goddess of peace. Her name is also the Greek word for "peace," and it gave rise to "irenic" and other peaceable terms including "irenics" (a theological term for advocacy of Christian unity), "Irena" (the genus name of two species of birds found in southern Asia and the Philippines), and the name "Irene." [emphasis added]

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for August 29th was defile.  The surprise definition:

to march off in a line

Here is what M-W provided on this word:

The "defile" that means "to contaminate," a homograph of today's Word of the Day, dates back to the 14th century and is derived from the Old French verb "defouler," meaning "to trample on" or "mistreat." Today's word, on the other hand, arrived in English in the early 18th century. It is also from French, but is derived from the verb "défiler," formed by combining "de-" with "filer" ("to move in a column"). "Défiler" is also the source of the English noun "defile," which means "narrow passage or gorge."

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for August 27th was eleemosynary(pronounced el-ih-MAH-suh-nair-ee).  It is an adjective that means:

of, relating to, or supported by charity

As always, M-W provided wonderful insight into the word: