*Michael Phelps ended up with 22 medals with 18 of them gold medals. That is ridiculous. He medaled in 22 of 24 Olympic finals. That is a pretty good percentage right there. Some compared his finish to that of Michael Jordan retiring (the 1998 retirement). The crazy thing is that Ryan Lochte is older than Phelps and will be at the Rio Olympics in 2016. So honestly, if Phelps wanted to, he could add to that total. But given his comments, I don't think he'll go back on saying he's retiring. There are Olympic athletes that dominate a generation. Phelps is definitely one of those athletes.
*Usain Bolt is fast. Anyone who watched the final of the 100m race can attest to that. And that final had some big time names in it: besides Bolt, there was his teammate and fellow countryman Yohan Blake, who beat Bolt at the Jamaican Olympic qualifiers and also is the reigning World Champion at 100m, Justin Gatlin, USA runner who won the gold back 2004 & was coming off of suspension, Tyson Gay another USA runner who won the World Championships in 2007. So it was a big time race. And Bolt came through with an Olympic record time & 2nd fastest time in the world only to himself. It was one of those blink and you'll miss it.
A cool side story. After the race, Bolt was being interviewed by a Spanish network. The reporter was trying to ask questions just as the national anthem was being played for the medal ceremony for the winner of the women's 400m, American Sanya Richards-Ross. Bolt politely stopped the interview and pointed to the medal podium and paused while the American anthem was played. Afterwards, he finished the interview with the reporter. Classy move and one that deserves props.
*On the flip side of that, the USA women's soccer team. This tournament has seen them win every match so far (though there were some scares against France & recently in their semifinal matchup against Canada). Along with that, there has been some antics they've done which has been disappointing. After some of their goals (particularly against New Zealand) there were over the top in their celebrations. Now I'm all for celebrations, in the heat of the moment, excited spontaneous celebrations are great. But if you're choreographing them (especially the worm one) that's a bit too much, especially in the Olympics. I haven't seen the women's basketball team do things like that (and they're the best in the world), neither has the women's volleyball team either (and they're undefeated so far in these games as well). I think the soccer team should take a page from those teams and win without losing respect of other teams.
*Speaking of the USA volleyball teams (both men's and women's) both sides look dominating. They both won their groups and are in line for a chance to both get gold. Beach volleyball could have a USA gold medal final on the women's side with Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh Jennings vs. Jen Kessy & April Ross. Unfortunately, on the men's side both US teams got bounced so no medals there. That'll have to be rectified in 4 years in Rio.
*Hopefully in 4 years as well, NBC will have better coverage of the games. This has been a bad summer games for the network as they have gotten a lot of things wrong. Part of it I think is not updating with the times & part of it is having London be a 5 hour time difference from the East Coast. Next summer games, it will be in Rio, which is only a 1 hour time difference. So hopefully more live prime time events will help out. They can get a jump start on this in 2 years with the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, which is an 8 hour time difference.
Showing posts with label respect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label respect. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Random Sports Reflections
Some Random Sports Reflections as the month of May winds down...
*The playoffs in both the NBA & NHL are kinda eh to me. The NHL because the Predators got knocked out in the 2nd round by Phoenix (who subsequently lost to the L.A. Kings). The NBA...well because I still haven't really got into it much since Clay Bennett moved the Sonics to OKC. I was happy to hear that there is movement to build a new arena in Seattle down near Safeco & CenturyLink Fields. If Stern wants to get on my good side again, he'll get a team back there & make sure the history is returned there as well. It is really annoying when like ESPN and such state history that doesn't really belong to OKC. That would've been like the Ravens claiming the Browns history still. Anyway, I'm sure I'll watch some of the Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Finals. Then again, if it ends up Miami & OKC, I'll more than likely not watch.
*It's been about a quarter of the season into the MLB regular season and both the Royals & Mariners are under .500. The Royals had high expectations (for them) going into the season and did well on the road to start (and still have a winning record on the road) but their record at the K is abysmal. They might want to recruit me to come back to K.C. so they can win some more home games. The Mariners got off to a fairly hot start but cooled down as well. They have leveled off some. If both teams can pick up the pace in June & July, it might make for an interesting stretch run. Otherwise, it'll be looking forward to the start of football season.
*Speaking of football, one of the big stories this offseason for the NFL has been the bounty scandal with the New Orleans Saints. This problem, which cost Saints coach Sean Payton the season along with several other coaches and players various suspensions. It was sad to hear when it came out and disappointing. I know that football is a tough sport and injuries happen because of it. But there is a difference between players getting hurt unintentionally and trying to go out and injure players on purpose. Where's the respect in that? I'm sure there are players out there at other players don't like but at the very least they should respect the person not to intentionally try and take them out. I hope that this type of program finds its way out of the sport.
*The playoffs in both the NBA & NHL are kinda eh to me. The NHL because the Predators got knocked out in the 2nd round by Phoenix (who subsequently lost to the L.A. Kings). The NBA...well because I still haven't really got into it much since Clay Bennett moved the Sonics to OKC. I was happy to hear that there is movement to build a new arena in Seattle down near Safeco & CenturyLink Fields. If Stern wants to get on my good side again, he'll get a team back there & make sure the history is returned there as well. It is really annoying when like ESPN and such state history that doesn't really belong to OKC. That would've been like the Ravens claiming the Browns history still. Anyway, I'm sure I'll watch some of the Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Finals. Then again, if it ends up Miami & OKC, I'll more than likely not watch.
*It's been about a quarter of the season into the MLB regular season and both the Royals & Mariners are under .500. The Royals had high expectations (for them) going into the season and did well on the road to start (and still have a winning record on the road) but their record at the K is abysmal. They might want to recruit me to come back to K.C. so they can win some more home games. The Mariners got off to a fairly hot start but cooled down as well. They have leveled off some. If both teams can pick up the pace in June & July, it might make for an interesting stretch run. Otherwise, it'll be looking forward to the start of football season.
*Speaking of football, one of the big stories this offseason for the NFL has been the bounty scandal with the New Orleans Saints. This problem, which cost Saints coach Sean Payton the season along with several other coaches and players various suspensions. It was sad to hear when it came out and disappointing. I know that football is a tough sport and injuries happen because of it. But there is a difference between players getting hurt unintentionally and trying to go out and injure players on purpose. Where's the respect in that? I'm sure there are players out there at other players don't like but at the very least they should respect the person not to intentionally try and take them out. I hope that this type of program finds its way out of the sport.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Random Sports Reflections
Some quick hit reflections:
*I'm happy to hear that Michael Vick has really turned his life around. I talked last time about forgiveness when it comes to Randy Moss. It could definitely apply to Michael Vick as well, maybe even more so. What Vick did with the dogfighting was wrong and he was punished for it. The fact that he has shown contrition and has turned things around is good to hear. I hope that he continues on this path and that it continues to be a good story.
*What happened with Vince Young yesterday was sad to hear. I know there are both sides to a story and that probably we won't know the whole thing. But there are certain things that have to be taken away from it. 1) No matter how frustrated you get, you don't storm out of a meeting with your boss. 2) You don't cuss out under your breath at your boss when he's in the room during a meeting. 3) If your job is to address people after an event, you don't ignore those people when things don't go your way.
I like Vince Young. But I know that one has to be responsible for their actions whether it be standing up and taking responsibility when an incident happens or being apologetic when you don't react appropriately. I keep thinking Vince will reach that level of maturity that comes from experience. But it hasn't happened yet. I'm thinking at this point, he might need a change of scenery to get that maturity. The sad thing is that it detracts from a season where the Titans are still right in it. Hopefully, they'll turn it around and make a run for a deep playoff push.
*I'm happy to hear that Michael Vick has really turned his life around. I talked last time about forgiveness when it comes to Randy Moss. It could definitely apply to Michael Vick as well, maybe even more so. What Vick did with the dogfighting was wrong and he was punished for it. The fact that he has shown contrition and has turned things around is good to hear. I hope that he continues on this path and that it continues to be a good story.
*What happened with Vince Young yesterday was sad to hear. I know there are both sides to a story and that probably we won't know the whole thing. But there are certain things that have to be taken away from it. 1) No matter how frustrated you get, you don't storm out of a meeting with your boss. 2) You don't cuss out under your breath at your boss when he's in the room during a meeting. 3) If your job is to address people after an event, you don't ignore those people when things don't go your way.
I like Vince Young. But I know that one has to be responsible for their actions whether it be standing up and taking responsibility when an incident happens or being apologetic when you don't react appropriately. I keep thinking Vince will reach that level of maturity that comes from experience. But it hasn't happened yet. I'm thinking at this point, he might need a change of scenery to get that maturity. The sad thing is that it detracts from a season where the Titans are still right in it. Hopefully, they'll turn it around and make a run for a deep playoff push.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Random Sports Reflections
It has been awhile since my last post but there hasn't been anything pressing so it's always good to throw up a few random reflections in bullet style points.
*A friend of mine had a tweet about the possibility of college football being an idol. Now I know where my friend is coming from. I know him from college and I'd consider him a good friend and he's a strong believer (and also a youth pastor which means he has a huge calling in my book) so I know he's not like sports is evil. Though there are some people that do have that feeling. To them I would say this. Sports is not evil. It is like anything. It is good and honoring to God....if it is in the proper relationship to Him. If sports is put above God, then yes it is an idol. However, anything can be put above God and hence become an idol. Food, friends, one's spouse, anything can become idol. But those things in an of themselves aren't bad. God created those things to be enjoyed in the proper place. And I feel that sports is one of those things. Do some people make sports their idol...yes. But one should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Sports can be an instrument for God to be glorified. It's about keeping it in the proper perspective.
*I thought it was really cool (though I don't like Texas) the celebration the Rangers had in their locker room following their ALDS series victory. They celebrated with ginger ale, because they wanted to include OF Josh Hamilton in the celebration. Hamilton, a follower of Jesus and a recovering alcoholic, skipped the AL West clinching win celebration because they used champagne because he didn't want to be tempted to drink. This time his teammates used ginger ale. I respect Hamilton because he's someone who has made mistakes, owned up to those mistakes and continues to move forward and be honest about his faith and his struggles. That is something that should be an encouragement to all believers as we struggle to live out our faith on a daily basis.
*Speaking of baseball, all the teams I rooted for in the Division series lost....which means I'm stuck with four teams that I'm not really fans of (or don't like at all). I'm pulling for whoever wins in the National League.
*Hockey season has started as well and the Predators are 3-0-1 in their first 4 games...not bad at all :)
*A friend of mine had a tweet about the possibility of college football being an idol. Now I know where my friend is coming from. I know him from college and I'd consider him a good friend and he's a strong believer (and also a youth pastor which means he has a huge calling in my book) so I know he's not like sports is evil. Though there are some people that do have that feeling. To them I would say this. Sports is not evil. It is like anything. It is good and honoring to God....if it is in the proper relationship to Him. If sports is put above God, then yes it is an idol. However, anything can be put above God and hence become an idol. Food, friends, one's spouse, anything can become idol. But those things in an of themselves aren't bad. God created those things to be enjoyed in the proper place. And I feel that sports is one of those things. Do some people make sports their idol...yes. But one should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Sports can be an instrument for God to be glorified. It's about keeping it in the proper perspective.
*I thought it was really cool (though I don't like Texas) the celebration the Rangers had in their locker room following their ALDS series victory. They celebrated with ginger ale, because they wanted to include OF Josh Hamilton in the celebration. Hamilton, a follower of Jesus and a recovering alcoholic, skipped the AL West clinching win celebration because they used champagne because he didn't want to be tempted to drink. This time his teammates used ginger ale. I respect Hamilton because he's someone who has made mistakes, owned up to those mistakes and continues to move forward and be honest about his faith and his struggles. That is something that should be an encouragement to all believers as we struggle to live out our faith on a daily basis.
*Speaking of baseball, all the teams I rooted for in the Division series lost....which means I'm stuck with four teams that I'm not really fans of (or don't like at all). I'm pulling for whoever wins in the National League.
*Hockey season has started as well and the Predators are 3-0-1 in their first 4 games...not bad at all :)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Reflections on March Madness 2010
It's Wednesday and it's the eve of March Madness. The next four days starting tomorrow is one of my four favorite days of the year, especially Thursday and Friday. I love watching the tournament and the excitement that comes with it. I have filled out brackets but before breaking down the brackets, here's some random reflections on college basketball.
*I'm not the first to say that the selections committee did a not great job and I won't be the last. It's a tough job but they could've done better than stacking the Midwest region with the overall #1 seed and the East with the #2 seed and making the South and West lighter. Also, Tennessee should've gotten higher than a 6th seed in the Midwest, you beat the #1 and #2 overall teams in the country and that gets you only a 6th seed in the toughest region?
*With all the talk about raising the amount of teams to 96 and such...I'm neither for nor against that yet. I will say this, if I was running the show this is what I would do. I would make the 31 automatic bids the top seeds (so roughly 1-7 or 8 seeds). That way A) it doesn't penalize the teams that won their way into the tournament like the mid-major schools and B) you still have the top teams in the top conferences as the 1 or 2 seeds because typically if they're that good they'll win their conference tournament. You then have your remaining 34 at large teams be the lower seed 8-16 with the last two "bubble" teams play in the play-in game. Of course that will never happen but it's a nice thing to think about.
*One thing that I have been reminded of in recent weeks is something that I talked about a while back in one of my video posts. I talked about how at least I am trying to talk positively about the teams I root for and not talk negatively about teams that are rivals or those I don't necessarily like. And for the most part, I've done a good job. If my team has won, I was excited and said great things about my team but I didn't denegrate the other team. If my team lost, I said they put up a good effort and gave the winning team their due. What has disappointed me is that I've seen, read and heard those friends of mine who haven't done that. They have made it a point to say bad things about the other team for no reason it seems like. Case in point. I have several friends who root for Kentucky. In the last few weeks when Tennessee played them in basketball, they made it a point to make snarky (a word I use sometimes that means like a sarcastic putdown) comments both when Kentucky lost and when they won. I don't know why they felt they had to say those things, maybe they're around Tennessee fans who make those kind of comments around them and they feel they need to respond in kind, I don't know. I know my tendency deep down is to respond like that if people are saying those kind of things and I kinda wanted to respond to them like they were responding but instead I thought about what good that would do and instead chose to say good things both about my team and theirs. I think definitely those who are pastors and ministers like myself need to be reminded that our words do mean something and they have an impact like our actions, and that includes being a sports fan. One cannot separate being a fan and being a follower of Jesus, because it's all wrapped into the person God has made you and called you to be. I'm not perfect in this but I'm trying and hopefully that will end up being edifying to God.
Now...onto the brackets. Just like last year I filled out 14 brackets (10 on ESPN, 3 on Facebook and 1 on Yahoo). I went with a variety of ways of filling out the brackets. Some were scientific (Strength of Schedule, Average of RPI and Strength of Schedule, Records vs. Top 25) and some were simply not scientific (Mascots, Numbers out of a Hat, Completely Random, First Impressions). Here are some thoughts on the brackets:
*I'm not buying some of the easy upset picks that a lot of the "experts" are going with, and not just because I'm a Tennessee guy. I don't think Tennessee or Vanderbilt will be upset. In fact, I think Vandy will be a sweet 16 team. Some sleeper teams I'm picking are Utah St., Washington, Minnesota and Cornell.
*I have seen a lot of Big 12 games living in Kansas City. It is a tough conference and Kansas is a very tough team. They have talent + experience which to me is a deadly combination. I think a lot of people think that Kentucky is the top team like a lot of other people think Kansas is the top team. I've seen both teams and there's no question, Kansas is better. Kentucky does have talent but Wall is too much of a kamakaze point guard who has a propensity to turn the ball over and have a Kobe Bryant mentality of shooting shots. Cousins is a player who could just as easily take his team out of a game as well as keep them in it with his attitude. Their best player to be honest is Bledsoe. When you're top three players are all freshmen, I do think that's not a formula for tournament success (see Michigan in 1993 with Fab 5). Kansas has the depth and talent with Collins, Aldrich, and the Henry twins. Along with that talent they have experience with Collins and Aldrich being seniors. That will play a factor to me as the tourney goes on.
I have two brackets in which I'm thinking are my best. In my first bracket I have in my final four: Kansas, Kansas State, West Virginia and Villanova and in my second bracket I have the same with the exception being Baylor instead of Villanova. I have in the championship game in both brackets Kansas and West Virginia with Kansas taking the title.
Good luck to everyone filling out the brackets and hope you enjoy watching some basketball!
*I'm not the first to say that the selections committee did a not great job and I won't be the last. It's a tough job but they could've done better than stacking the Midwest region with the overall #1 seed and the East with the #2 seed and making the South and West lighter. Also, Tennessee should've gotten higher than a 6th seed in the Midwest, you beat the #1 and #2 overall teams in the country and that gets you only a 6th seed in the toughest region?
*With all the talk about raising the amount of teams to 96 and such...I'm neither for nor against that yet. I will say this, if I was running the show this is what I would do. I would make the 31 automatic bids the top seeds (so roughly 1-7 or 8 seeds). That way A) it doesn't penalize the teams that won their way into the tournament like the mid-major schools and B) you still have the top teams in the top conferences as the 1 or 2 seeds because typically if they're that good they'll win their conference tournament. You then have your remaining 34 at large teams be the lower seed 8-16 with the last two "bubble" teams play in the play-in game. Of course that will never happen but it's a nice thing to think about.
*One thing that I have been reminded of in recent weeks is something that I talked about a while back in one of my video posts. I talked about how at least I am trying to talk positively about the teams I root for and not talk negatively about teams that are rivals or those I don't necessarily like. And for the most part, I've done a good job. If my team has won, I was excited and said great things about my team but I didn't denegrate the other team. If my team lost, I said they put up a good effort and gave the winning team their due. What has disappointed me is that I've seen, read and heard those friends of mine who haven't done that. They have made it a point to say bad things about the other team for no reason it seems like. Case in point. I have several friends who root for Kentucky. In the last few weeks when Tennessee played them in basketball, they made it a point to make snarky (a word I use sometimes that means like a sarcastic putdown) comments both when Kentucky lost and when they won. I don't know why they felt they had to say those things, maybe they're around Tennessee fans who make those kind of comments around them and they feel they need to respond in kind, I don't know. I know my tendency deep down is to respond like that if people are saying those kind of things and I kinda wanted to respond to them like they were responding but instead I thought about what good that would do and instead chose to say good things both about my team and theirs. I think definitely those who are pastors and ministers like myself need to be reminded that our words do mean something and they have an impact like our actions, and that includes being a sports fan. One cannot separate being a fan and being a follower of Jesus, because it's all wrapped into the person God has made you and called you to be. I'm not perfect in this but I'm trying and hopefully that will end up being edifying to God.
Now...onto the brackets. Just like last year I filled out 14 brackets (10 on ESPN, 3 on Facebook and 1 on Yahoo). I went with a variety of ways of filling out the brackets. Some were scientific (Strength of Schedule, Average of RPI and Strength of Schedule, Records vs. Top 25) and some were simply not scientific (Mascots, Numbers out of a Hat, Completely Random, First Impressions). Here are some thoughts on the brackets:
*I'm not buying some of the easy upset picks that a lot of the "experts" are going with, and not just because I'm a Tennessee guy. I don't think Tennessee or Vanderbilt will be upset. In fact, I think Vandy will be a sweet 16 team. Some sleeper teams I'm picking are Utah St., Washington, Minnesota and Cornell.
*I have seen a lot of Big 12 games living in Kansas City. It is a tough conference and Kansas is a very tough team. They have talent + experience which to me is a deadly combination. I think a lot of people think that Kentucky is the top team like a lot of other people think Kansas is the top team. I've seen both teams and there's no question, Kansas is better. Kentucky does have talent but Wall is too much of a kamakaze point guard who has a propensity to turn the ball over and have a Kobe Bryant mentality of shooting shots. Cousins is a player who could just as easily take his team out of a game as well as keep them in it with his attitude. Their best player to be honest is Bledsoe. When you're top three players are all freshmen, I do think that's not a formula for tournament success (see Michigan in 1993 with Fab 5). Kansas has the depth and talent with Collins, Aldrich, and the Henry twins. Along with that talent they have experience with Collins and Aldrich being seniors. That will play a factor to me as the tourney goes on.
I have two brackets in which I'm thinking are my best. In my first bracket I have in my final four: Kansas, Kansas State, West Virginia and Villanova and in my second bracket I have the same with the exception being Baylor instead of Villanova. I have in the championship game in both brackets Kansas and West Virginia with Kansas taking the title.
Good luck to everyone filling out the brackets and hope you enjoy watching some basketball!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Reflecting on the Buffalo Bulls and their Bowl Game
I thought a great way to start the new year off with this blog was to reflect on a college football team about to play in a bowl game. This team is the Buffalo Bulls. Their story is one that has been shared recently on ESPN but I thought I'd chime in a little on it.
The University of Buffalo (in Buffalo, NY) is "playing" in their second ever bowl game today against the University of Connecticut. The reason why playing is in quotation marks is because they didn't play in their first bowl game some fifty years ago. The Tangerine Bowl officials at the time didn't want an integrated team to play in their bowl and the Bulls had two African-American players on their team. The coaches left the decision up to the players and the players unamiously voted to not play in the game as a show of support for their teammates.
This season's team, lead by Coach Turner Gill, won the MAC championship (which included beating once undefeated Ball State) to secure a bowl opportunity. In a show of respect, this year's squad invited the 1958 squad to come with them to their bowl game since they were not able to go to their game.
I think this is a tremendous story and one that reflects the good work that went on. It was ahead of its time and showed that even in an era of racism, there was progress that was ahead of its time. I hope the Bulls do well today and as they take the field, they remember the past and the team that came before them.
ESPN did a great piece on the 1958 team. Here's a clip of it from their Outside the Lines piece they did a few months back:
The University of Buffalo (in Buffalo, NY) is "playing" in their second ever bowl game today against the University of Connecticut. The reason why playing is in quotation marks is because they didn't play in their first bowl game some fifty years ago. The Tangerine Bowl officials at the time didn't want an integrated team to play in their bowl and the Bulls had two African-American players on their team. The coaches left the decision up to the players and the players unamiously voted to not play in the game as a show of support for their teammates.
This season's team, lead by Coach Turner Gill, won the MAC championship (which included beating once undefeated Ball State) to secure a bowl opportunity. In a show of respect, this year's squad invited the 1958 squad to come with them to their bowl game since they were not able to go to their game.
I think this is a tremendous story and one that reflects the good work that went on. It was ahead of its time and showed that even in an era of racism, there was progress that was ahead of its time. I hope the Bulls do well today and as they take the field, they remember the past and the team that came before them.
ESPN did a great piece on the 1958 team. Here's a clip of it from their Outside the Lines piece they did a few months back:
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