Less than a week away!

Finally. The wait is almost over as college football returns this weekend, which is just another reason why I love the fall so much. As a big FSU fan, I don't really like that they have to play one of their biggest rivals the first week of the season. I'd rather them have a few games under their belt to play together and get into a rhythm, but Miami's in the same boat so it really doesn't matter. Trying to be as objective as possible and considering I never really liked FSU's chances to win this game for every start of Chris Rix's career as proof, I really think FSU will win. Weatherford was great in spring practices and that's carried over into this fall. Plus Miami is without their starting RB and top WR for the game due to suspension. Still, there are a few things I'd like to see from FSU in the game which would lead to an FSU victory.
1) More of what you see in the picture. There are some new faces on the D-line and they need to put Kyle Wright on his back during this game.
2) A break-out game from Chris Davis. So much talent and athleticism. Please put it all together this year, Chris! A good game at Miami would go a long way toward that.
3) A dominant Lawrence Timmons. In addition to stopping the running game, he'll probably be asked to cover Greg Olsen (UM's TE) at times too. Let's hope he shows the nation just how good he is with a dominant performance in the opener.
4) Room to run. I don't care if it's Booker or Antone Smith or WR's on reverses. Can we please gain a few yards on the ground this year?!

If these things happen, then FSU should be able to win this without it coming down to a last-minute field goal. Prediction: FSU 27 - Miami 13

A good reminder

Classes begin here at USF this coming Monday so things are starting to get busy on campus again. Students are returning from summer and yesterday was the first day students were able to move into their on-campus residences. For the past 3 years, a group of us from the campus ministry have volunteered 2 or 3 days during move-ins to pass out water and help anyone who wants it with their move. It's a relatively small thing, but I really enjoy it. At the same time, it's kind of funny (maybe even sad). These last two days - and it's been the same in past years - so many people we've helped are completely caught off guard and can't understand why anyone would volunteer to do something like that. It's hot. It's humid. Why in the world would we offer to help a total stranger move their stuff? The water, they can understand that, but a lot people usually assume we're selling it. I've had about 4 or 5 people these last couple days offer money for helping them move even after I've explained that we're just volunteering the help. The best comment was one mom who said, "Well, why in the world would you do that?" That's why I enjoy it so much. We're not out there promoting our campus ministry (no signs, banners or anything like that), but we are trying to speak Christ to them in what we're doing. It's faith in action. And everyone we help always asks who we are and why we're out there. Those conversations are a great reminder of just how powerful a little love and service are in a relatively selfish world.

Sanctuary in the church?

Have you seen this story about the illegal immigrant who has sought sanctuary in a Chicago church to avoid deportation? It's about a week old, but it's interesting, polarizing, a little odd and thought-provoking all at the same time. So many questions come out of this. Is illegal immigration a cut-and-dry issue and a problem that needs to be seriously addressed? (I lean to 'yes' on this) Should there be exceptions for people who come here illegally, but only to work hard and seek a better life for their family? Can we really identify these cases on a consistent basis? What about proposed amnesty programs? Should we even consider amnesty programs when so many illegals are responsible for many serious crimes? Should the church be involved at all? Should the church ever be a sanctuary for illegal activity of this kind, where lives are not threatened or in any real sense of danger?

Quote of the Week

This statement came from Maurice Clarett's attorney in response to Clarett's arrest yesterday: "We're very confident that there was no intent to harm anyone."

His attorney made this statement "a day after the former Ohio State running back was arrested following a chase with police and four loaded guns were found in his sport utility vehicle." Also, "Officers said they could not easily subdue Clarett because the bulletproof vest he was wearing thwarted their stun guns." Another interesting thing is that "Clarett was driving with the guns only a few blocks from the home of a woman who was set to testify against him next week in an alleged robbery outside a Columbus bar." These quotes come from a Sports Illustrated story online that you can read here. Bold italics added by me. Hey, as long as the defense attorney is confident, I'm sold.

The Trial

I have to admit, there's nothing real exciting to tell you about. That's probably a good thing. It was a domestic abuse trial where the plaintiff accused the defendant of battery (the actual incident was an alleged choking). In short, the plaintiff's testimony on the stand was different from the written report, which the plaintiff filed with the police the day after the alleged crime. That testimony also differed from the testimony of the police officer who first responded and opened the investigation. The funny thing is that the officer was called to the stand by the prosecution and all that did was damage their case. Anyway, we (the jury) came to a "not guilty" verdict after what I'm guessing was a fairly brief deliberation. I'm confident that was the right decision. It was just a one day trial. We started at 9:30am and were done by the afternoon. Thank goodness, because the jury chairs in this courtroom might have been the most uncomfortable things I've ever sat in. Well, I only sat in one of them, but I figure they were all just as bad. Sorry there were no Hollywood-style courtroom moments to pass along, but it was still intresting.

Jury Duty

A few weeks ago, I received my summons to show up for jury duty today at the 13th Judicial Circuit Court here in Hillsborough County. I've been summoned for jury duty once before when I was a college student up in Jacksonvile, but wasn't selected for a trial. Well now I'm 1 for 2. Today I was chosen to be on the jury for a criminal case. Obviously, I can't talk about the information in the case, but I'll tell you how things went when it's over. It's supposed to be a short trial.

I wasn't all that thrilled about the prospect of sitting on a jury, but now I'm looking forward to it in a way. I'm also a little nervous. The last time, if I remember right, I wasn't there more than a few minutes in the actual courtroom before the attorneys/judge dismissed me. Never really picked up on why. I always wondered if it had something to do with the fact that I was a college student because they never asked me about any experiences that might have related to the case. (Kyle - Mr. Law Enforcement, would you know why??) They let me and a few other prospective jurors go before they got into deeper questioning with the others. Then I never was sent to another case.

This time, we (the 16 prospective jurors) were all there for all of the questioning. I gotta tell you, I am now the biggest proponent of better civics instruction in American schools. A few of these people were absolutely clueless about basic elements of America's court/justice system like "innocent until proven guilty" and "beyond reasonable doubt". There had to be times when some of the people were trying to give stupid or ridiculous answers to get out of being selected, but there were also times when I couldn't believe what I was hearing and I'm sure they were being honest. Guess it doesn't matter either way. I'll have to go back and watch Runaway Jury tonight to get ready. (Just kidding, judge) More about the trial when it's over.

Snappers Sea Grill

Last Friday night, Taryn and I stumbled upon Snappers Sea Grill while driving down Gulf Blvd. on St. Pete Beach. It was pretty much directly across from our hotel, but we passed it on the way out only noticing the tiki torches outside and part of the sign. After driving a little while and going by places like Applebee's that you can find almost anywhere, Taryn said we should go back and try "the place with the tiki torches". One of the best calls she's ever made!

If you live in the Tampa/St. Pete area, we both highly recommend you eat here sometime. Even if you're coming from Tampa, it's worth the drive. The prices are very reasonable (about the same as Outback, Stonewood or other places like that) considering the quality of the food and service. You can click on the restaraunt's name in the first line or here to check out their menu and location. The meal started with seasoned flatbread and slightly spicy humus to dip it in, which was a nice change from the typical breads you get at other restaraunts. I was still eating the flatbread after we finished our meal because it tasted so good! Our entrees came with a salad as well. No choice of dressings, but the house dressing at Snappers was wonderful. The entrees we ordered are not on the online menu at the website. We had the "Reef and Beef", a very large King crab leg and 8-oz steak, and the Cashew Crusted Mahi Mahi. I'm not going to bother trying to describe the flavors, but simply put, it was one of the best meals we've ever had! You can see when looking at the entrees on their website that the food is presented very well, but the flavor isn't lost in the presentation. It all tasted wonderful, including the potato and vegetables that came with each!

Thank you, Snappers, for a wonderful meal and a great experience as we celebrated our anniversary!

Catching up

Sorry, again, that it's been so long since I've posted. And sorry that my last post was just telling you about Eddie Griffin. Did it really do anyone any good to know that happened? Probably not. Anyway, let me get you caught up on what's been going on lately.

The last month has been pretty busy. I worked a couple of baseball camps with the Devil Rays. My friend, Brian, who works for the club and also runs these camps helps me out by letting me work these. It's great part-time work for me because of the flexibility I have during the summer in working on a college schedule with the campus ministry. The camps only run from 9am-noon each day, which still leaves me the afternoon and early evening to go to the office and get other work done. Did I mention that they're held indoors at Tropicana field (out of the heat) and we're paid well?? Thanks Brian!

The ministry I serve with at USF (Impact) has been working together with a couple other ministries (Intervarsity and Chi Alpha) to help with the Freshmen Orientations this summer. Each orientation brings in between 400 and 700 new students who'll be starting this Fall and we're running one of the main activities for their "Late Night" social event. Basically, "Late Night" is 2-3 hours of entertainment for the students and some of the things going on include a live band, pool tournament, comic and game show. We're putting on a coffee house/lounge/open mic event. It's been a great experience and I hope we get the chance to do it again next year.

A couple weeks ago, Taryn & I went home to visit her family in Jacksonville for the weekend. While we were there, I had the chance to drive down to St. Augustine and golf at the World Golf Village and Hall of Fame. My friend Josh and I (again, thanks to Brian) played the Slammer & The Squire course for free. Beautiful course! The layout is great because average players like myself can still shoot a decent score. I'm happy shooting bogey-golf (90 on a typical par 72 course) and I shot an 88. It actually should have been better. I three-putted 4 times on the front 9 alone! The greens were lightning fast compared to anything I've played on. It was like putting on a marble floor! In spite of my horrible putting, I had a great time. Can you really beat playing a course like that for free?? No, especially not when a round there typically costs more than $100.

Finally, Taryn & I just celebrated our 4th anniversary last weekend. We went and stayed at the Tradewinds Hotel on St. Pete beach for a couple nights. The weather was great except for about an hour of rain each on Friday and Saturday night. Also, we had one of the best meals I've ever eaten at a place called Snappers! I'll probably tell you more about it in another post.

That pretty much catches you up. More on Snappers coming soon.