Random Sports Reflections

Here's some random thoughts and reflections running through my head...

*Congrats to Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber on throwing a perfect game on Saturday....even though it was against the Mariners and there was a sketchy called third strike to end the game by the ump.  Humber is a strong follower of Jesus so it's always nice to see a fellow believer do well.

*On a more positive sports fan note, the Predators won their opening round series 4-1 against the Detroit Red Wings.  It's the first time they've beaten their rivals in the playoffs and hopefully that'll be the start to a deep run in the playoffs.

*Yesterday I went to a college baseball game on the campus of the University of South Carolina Upstate.  They were playing the Jacksonville Dolphins to end the three game series that the Spartans had won the first two games.  Let me set the stage for you, it was the bottom of 8th inning and the Spartans were down 4-1.  When it got to be the top of the 9th inning, the score was 12-4 USC Upstate with the lead.  In the span of one half inning, there were 11 runs scored (all unearned) on like 5 hits, 2 errors, 2 batters hit by a pitch, 3 walks, and a passed ball.  Along with the starter, there were 4 pitchers used in the innning including one who didn't even record an out.  Wild ending to say the least.

*The incident that blew up on Twitter yesterday afternoon was Ron Artest (aka Metta World Peace) throwing an elbow to James Harden of That Team Which is Located in Oklahaoma City.  I wasn't watching the game because it was the Lakers and that other team, two teams in which I have no interest in watching but I did hear about the incident and saw a brief lowlight this morning on the TV.  Apparently, after a dunk (I believe) by Artest, he decided out of nowhere to give a little elbow check to Harden who was just standing there.  Harden has a concussion and it's uncertain when he'll be back.  Artest, for the moment, is not suspended but that's just a formality that he will be.  Artest has a history of on the court incidents, including the infamous Brawl in the Palace in Detroit back when he was with the Indiana Pacers.  He has a lot of rage inside of him and some thought that he had gotten over that with the whole name change thing.    But ultimately, change needs to take place in the heart and not just by a name.  That only comes through relationship with Jesus.  Hopefully, that will happen for Artest.

Reflections on Peyton Manning

This week the big sports story was Peyton Manning being released by the Indianapolis Colts.  This is a huge deal in the world of the NFL as Manning, who up until this past season, had taken every snap since being drafted #1 by the Colts in 1998.  He had been the face of the franchise and had let them to 2 Super Bowls winning one of those.

But the Colts, looking to the future, decided to cut ties with Manning.  In some ways, it was expected to happen.  But when the word came down on Wednesday, it still had a little bit of shock to it.  Listening to the press conference, you could hear the emotion in Peyton's voice when he talked about the fans and how much he'll miss playing in the city of Indianapolis.  He handled himself well and was a great example in how to handle a situation like that.

Something that did strike me was afterwards, I was listening on the radio to Colin Cowherd (not really by choice, the sports radio station in Spartanburg has him on there) and he had on former NFL QB Trent Dilfer and they were talking about Peyton and the situation of leaving the Colts.  Trent mentioned about how 98% (or 99%) of athletes leave the game bitter.  I thought that was sad.  Bitterness is a harsh thing to hold onto.  Nothing good ever comes out of holding bitterness.  Is it fun to lose your job or have a relationship end or something negative happen?  No, but at the same time harboring bitterness isn't good either.  As a follower of Jesus, I'm reminded again and again how Jesus said that it wasn't easy but He did say that we wouldn't be alone.

I wish Peyton the best.  I still root for him even though he was on a rival team for so many years because of his Tennessee Vols roots.  I hope that he lands in Seattle (wishful thinking) but wherever he lands I hope that he has a good couple of years left in his career.

Reflections on the Winter Olympics (Opening Weekend)

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love the Olympics. This is even more so the case of the Winter Olympics. I was born on February 29, 1980, five days after the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid (FYI, my due date was originally the 22nd, which was the day the "Miracle on Ice" took place). I was still too young to remember the 1984 Olympics but in 1988 I remember watching the Winter Olympics that were in Calgary and really fell in love with it. It was awesome to watch both Olympics in the same year. I was disappointed when they separated the two and moved the Winter Olympics to a non-Leap Year after the 1992 Olympics.

I've had some great memories watching the Winter Olympics. One of my best memories is in 2002 when I was a senior at Union and watching the Men's Hockey Finals in the upstairs of Hurt Commons with friends. It was cool watching the U.S. and Canada play each other.

This year, the Olympics are in Vancouver. It is a beautiful city. I was there for a week back in 2005 on a mission trip. If I still lived in Seattle, I would make the trip up to go to the Olympics. If I wasn't in seminary right now, I'd definitely have done it. By the way, if you've never been to Vancouver, you should visit.

Aside from the tragedy of Friday with the death of the luger from Georgia, it has been a good start. The U.S. team has gotten 4 medals after yesterday and will hopefully add to the total. I was very happy that Poland got a silver in Ski Jumping (Normal Hill), which is one of my favorite sports in the Olympics.

I'm excited for the next two weeks to watch some Olympics. I think there will be some memorable moments and hopefully I'll have time to blog about it.

Reflections on the Sports Landscape of the 2000s

Looking back at the decade that was in sports, there were a lot of memorable moments. Time and space do not allow to cover all of them but here's the ones that register in my mind. Feel free to comment about yours:

*The Music City Miracle: I was there and I saw it live. It was considered one of the top 10 NFL plays of the decade (it was even in the top 5) and I saw it in person. To this day, I still remember the excitement and the celebration that happened when Kevin Dyson scored that TD. Hearing the radio call later by Mike Keith and Pat Ryan still gives me chills. Awesome.

*The World Series in 2001: Probably the only time in my life that I liked the Yankees. After the events of 9/11, it almost seemed fitting that the Yankees were in the World Series that year. It was something to watch that series and see all the dramatic elements that came with it. In the end, I was glad that the Diamomdbacks won but for a time, I did like the Yankees.

*Steroids at the forefront in baseball: Nothing disappointed me more than all the things that came out when steroids, HGH and performance enhancing drugs were brought to light in baseball. It's sad to know that for most of my life, especially my childhood is now tainted by the label "steroid era". If there's any good that comes out of this, I hope it cleans up the sport. But it doesn't take away (like the strike in '94) the disappointment.

*Return of football to New Orleans in 2006: I watched the first game in the reopened Superdome with the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons. It had the feel of a Super Bowl and it showed. The game itself was a good one and it was really cool to watch.

*The Olympics: It was a good decade for the Olympics. With the Winter (2002, Salt Lake City, 2006 Turin, Italy) and the Summer (2000, Sydney, Austraila, 2004, Athens, Greece, 2008, Bejing, China) there was a lot of memorable performances. It'll be interesting to see how the next few Olympics turn out as well.

*Red Sox and breaking of the Curse: Obviously, the championship run by the Boston Red Sox in 2004 was memorable. To beat the Yankees four straight in the ALCS after being down 0-3 was simply sweet and then to then sweep in the World Series was icing on the cake. 86 years without a title and then finally one. Along with winning in 2007, it was a good year.

All this and more made for a memorable decade. Looking forward to the sports decade that is the 2010s

To Go Perfect Or Not And Other Random Sports Reflections

I can't believe 2009 is nearly coming to an end. There's been a lot of sports stories that I haven't been able to cover as I would like. Given that I'll have a lot more flexibilty in my schedule it is looking like next year, it'll be a better time with posting and reflecting. I hope tomorrow to do a decade in review of reflections regarding sports. Today I wanted to hit on some things I've been mulling over.

*I (along with millions) are very disappointed in Jim Caldwell and Bill Polian in their decision to not go for an undefeated season. Anytime the '72 Dolphins celebrate is a bad time. What gets me is it seems like multiple contridictions that those two were about. They don't care about history yet Polian in an interview said they wanted to have the record for longest winning streak in the regular season and the most wins in the decade. Hmmmm, how are those better than an undefeated 19-0 season? The mantra of any sport is to take it one game at a time and to not look ahead and yet when you rest players you're looking ahead to something that may or may not happen. Herm Edwards got it right, you play to win the game. You don't play to rest players to play in a game you may not even make it to. The most condemning aspect of their rationale is they've done this two other times in the past four years. What happened to them? They lost and didn't make the Super Bowl. The one year they played hard to the end, they won the Super Bowl. I haven't done my playoff predictions but I'm going on record, Colts aren't making the Super Bowl and it goes back to a game in December deemed "meaningless" by Caldwell and Polian.

*I saw my first NBA game on TV on Christmas Day...and it was like I hadn't really missed it much. I still hold the NBA in not high standards after the debacle with Clay Bennett and David Stern allowing the Seattle SuperSonics moving to Oklahoma City. Honestly it's disappointing because there's probably some good action going on. But when I think about how that transpired and how uncaring Stern was to the people of Seattle and state of Washington and the tradition of the Sonics, it makes me sad. Until that is rectified, I will continue to be ambivilent about the NBA at best.

*As much grief that Brett Favre got about his waivering, I hope Urban Meyer gets the same amount of grief. I think it's one thing to take a break to take care of health and family, it's another to say you'll retire, to then say you'll take an indefinite leave of absense to then say you'll more than likely be back next season. As much as I didn't like Steve Spurrier when he was at Florida, I can be pretty sure in saying even he wouldn't do something like this. It seems Meyer cares more about himself than the school and when that becomes the case that ends up hurting the school.

One Year Anniversary

It has been one year since I started this blog. The experiment of doing a sports and theology blog. I've enjoyed doing this and it's something that I look forward to continuing to do into the next year. I'm sure there will be plenty of stories to choose from and reflect upon. For those of you that have been here since the beginning, thanks. I hope you continue on with me on this journey and bring others along with you.

Here's to another year reflecting on sports!