Using the Platform...Trevor Bayne and the Daytona 500

We as sports fan or just people in general love stories about people who come out of nowhere and are successful.  Those who overcome the odds to win.  We like hearing those kind of stories.  As believers, we also like it when those people who are successful recognize God in the process...even more so when we know more about their story and life.

Trevor Bayne is an example of this.  Before Sunday at around 4:00pm, I didn't know who he was.  You could have put him in a lineup with other NASCAR drivers and I could pick him out only because he'd be the only one I didn't recognize.  But after Sunday at around 4:00pm, I found out more.  He's 20 years old & a native Tennessean like myself (he's from Knoxville).  He had only raced in his second Sprint Cup race ever and he had just won the Daytona 500.  From what I watched, he ran a great race and deserved to win.

In Victory Lane, he was excited and shared that excitement.  During one of the many interviews post race, he said "We said a prayer before.  We pray a lot, and we expect a lot of things, but this just shows how powerful God is."  I was like, "Ah that's cool."  But didn't think nothing of it.

Then the next day, I did some looking around about Bayne.  Come to find out, he is a very strong follower of Jesus.  He has a twitter account (@tbayne21) and prior to and after the race was tweeting about his faith and verses of scripture that he had been reading.  I've read transcripts of interviews that's he's done since the race where he shares about his faith in Jesus.

A lot of times we see and hear athletes talk about God and Jesus.  Sometimes we wonder if they mean what they say, especially when the succeed.  That's between them and God.  But when someone whether they're known or not known is sharing their faith, that's encouraging, especially someone like Trevor Bayne.  I love working with young adults and seeing them grow in their faith.  It's nice to see someone like Trevor who is out there and using the platform God has given him to share his testimony.  May we use the platforms that God has given us to likewise share.

Super Bowl XLV Prediction

It's time again for the Super Bowl, Super Bowl XLV.  I had an interesting picking time this postseason.  I was .500 until the Conference Championship round when i picked both games correctly.  Coming into this game, I'm 6-4 picking games.

This year's matchup is the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Green Bay Packers.  Two teams known for their toughness and their defenses, though they both have pretty good offenses.  Pittsburgh has won the Super Bowl twice in the last five seasons while Green Bay hasn't won since the '96 season.

I'll make this short and sweet.  I don't like Pittsburgh.  I still think back to Super Bowl XL where the refs pretty much gave the game to them against the Seahawks.  And I usually go with a rule that if I don't like a team, I'm picking against them.  Even though the Madden simulator had them winning (and they've been right except for once the past six years or so), I think one key element will play a huge factor.  Starting Center Maurkice Pouncey is out for the game.  Given the Pack's 3-4 D, it'll be tough for a backup center to hold off B.J. Raji.

I'm going with the Pack and Aaron Rodgers (part of my fantasy football team [K.C. Masterpieces] that won the championship in the Speed Kills league) to get the championship.

Packers 27 Steelers 17