Here's Johnny

Back in Blog

2012-01-06T20:27:00.001-05:00

Considering my last post on my first blog was back in December, 2006, it's been a little while since I've been in the blogging world. Going to give it another shot, this time with a different purpose. I'll primarily use this to provide updates about Impact USF, our parent organization Impact Campus Ministries (ICM), and other things happening at the University of South Florida.

Enjoyed the break, but looking forward being back on campus again next week. Praying for the students as they start classes again on Monday. Many thanks to all of you who support and pray for the ministry!

The greatest of all time??

2006-12-19T00:14:00.000-05:00

The guy is unbelievable to watch, which I did Sunday night when he played against the Chiefs. That game did it for me. He's the best ever. That 85-yard run against the Chiefs was sick! How fast did he look when he turned the corner?! He can outrun guys. He can make defenders miss. He can run with power (How's that stiff-arm taste, Champ?). He can catch the ball out of the backfield, catch it lined up as a receiver and even throw a few TD's here and there. Simply put, he can do it all. Thank you, L.T. for being so amazing to watch. And thank you for carrying my fantasy football teams to the top of two leagues.

Want to smell like a sweaty Dale Earnhardt, Jr.??

2006-12-12T00:38:00.000-05:00

Found this great article and Christmas gift idea on MSNBC's website. Apparently NASCAR is going to start marketing and selling ... COLOGNE!!

"This week, the International Speedway Corp., the owner of the world-famous Daytona racing oval, along with perfume and beauty products maker Elizabeth Arden, announced they were giving the green flag to the Daytona 500 scent, the 'first sporting-event branded fragrance'. The Daytona 500 fragrance leverages the prestige and popularity of this premier sporting event to reach consumers and motorsports enthusiasts across the country," said Elizabeth Arden Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott Beattie. "We look forward to introducing this outstanding fragrance at the 48th annual Daytona 500."

Brian Tracey, who wrote the article, also said "the companies didn't give any detail as to what Daytona 500 actually smells like. Exhaust fumes with a note of burnt rubber? Budweiser and brake fluid?" The jokes here are endless. How about sun-warmed Keystone Light mixed with drops of sweat extracted from a soaking wet "Dixie Pride" tank top. Any more ideas as to what the scent could be?

Taryn, if you read this, all I have to say is "PLEASE!!!"

Free speech on college campuses

2006-12-02T00:10:00.000-05:00

This story from Michigan State is becoming all too familiar. A Republican congressman from Colorado, who was a guest speaker at the school for a forum on immigration, was shouted down and his speech completely disrupted by protesters. The protesters also twice pulled fire alarms in the building and allegedly kicked and spit on organizers of the speech. Video of the event, which I saw on the news, will probably show up on YouTube if you want to check it out. Here's another article (click on the link for "Mob Rule on College Campuses") that recounts similar incidents. I know Ann Coulter faced similar disruptions during her speech here at USF. The sad thing is that the number of conservative speakers on college campuses already pales in comparison to the number of liberal speakers. I'd be surprised if anyone could find one secular college or university that even comes close to an equal ideological represention among guest lecturers. But even the large disparity in representation doesn't seem to be enough to satisfy some progressive liberals. It's just sad to see that the same groups and people who set themselves up as champions of free speech are also first in line to take it away from those with different views.

Wake Forest 30 - FSU 0

2006-11-11T23:10:00.000-05:00

Completely embarassing.

"walking" dolphin???

2006-11-10T17:03:00.000-05:00

Once again, I'm a few days late in talking about "current events", but have you seen this story about the dolphin with an additional set of hind fins? Evolutionists are jumping all over this as an "unprecedented discovery". I'm definitely no scientist, but can't we use a little common sense here? Why is this mutation (a rare exception to the rule of typical dolphin anatomy) hailed as a monumental evolutionary discovery and "evidence" that dolphins used to walk on land? What about an extremely rare case where a human is born with no arms? Is that evidence that millions of year ago our bodies were more streamlined like dolphins and proof that humans once lived in the ocean? Come on. Boooo scientists grasping for straws. Hooray lucky dolphin with extra fins!

I just need to rant

2006-10-30T09:10:00.000-05:00

I know I'm a little late chiming in on this, but Kenny Rogers with pine tar on his hand wasn't exactly a major surprise. He got caught cheating red-handed on national television during a World Series, which is the only reason why this was such a big deal. Pitchers have been doing things like this for years. The only thing shocking about it was what a terrible job of hiding it he did.

I can't wait for the elections to be over with. The commercials are driving me comepletely insane! Are there actually people out there who get persuaded by these things??

Speaking of commercials, I now curse the day that ESPN got Monday Night Football. I'm fine with the guys in the booth and the telecasts, but I'm completely sick and tired of the commercials they have for EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK telling me how many more days until the game.

Speaking of commercials 'part two', can anyone give me a good reason why NFL games go to commercial break after a score, come back for the kickoff and then go straight back into a commercial break?? I hate the influence of money in sports.

They're building a new housing development across from a large mega-church that just moved into a multi-million dollar facility here in Tampa. I called the phone number for info on the homes and found out that the starting price for a home there is $850,000. Guess you have to make sure you keep your target market close to home. I hate the influence of money in the church.

Florida State's coaching staff is being passed by their peers and the game itself. I've never seen a bigger waste of talent in college football.

There, I feel better now.

Had a little trouble

2006-10-27T18:02:00.000-04:00

Once again, I find myself posting after a long layoff. This time, though, I had a little trouble with eblogger. I had a brief post about Man of the Year (the new movie with Robin Williams) and politically-themed movies in election years ready to go, but it wouldn't post when I tried over a couple days. Then I went to Jacksonville followed by my parents being in town for more than a week and I didn't look at blogs - mine or anyone else's - that whole time. Anyway, here's some of what happened.

While in Jacksonville, I was ordained. My thanks to Fort Caroline Christian Church and the leaders there for their confidence, blessing and prayers. My thanks to God for impressing upon me the proper respect for, understanding and responsibility that comes with being ordained.

That same weekend was my alumni weekend for the Jacksonville University baseball team. I had a great time! Got to go golfing with 3 of my former teammates on Friday. Didn't shoot all that well because I couldn't sniff the flag with my irons all day, but still had a good time. One of my friends (Scott Biernacki) that I golfed with almost got in a fight on the first hole because he bombed his drive about 290 yards left of the fairway and allegedly hit the vehicle of a homeowner who lived along the first hole. The guy wouldn't let anyone look at the car to see if there was even any damage. There were some great quotes in that 15-minute fiasco. One of the best was after Scott said he was leaving and the guy said "What about the damage to my car?", Scott yelled "What about the damage to my Titleist?". Another classic was from the guy's wife who came outside and in all seriousness looked at Scott and said, "Why don't you just hit it in the fairway?!"

Playing in the alumni baseball game was great! I went 0-2 with a walk, but was robbed of a hit because of diving stop by the 3rd baseman. One inning, my friend Josh and I threw out runners at the plate from the outfield on back-to-back plays. I have to admit, jogging in from the outfield after that made me wish I could do it all again.

The time with my parents was fun. Once again we played a lot of games together. Even played Clue for the first time in ages. We also introduced them to Snapper's Sea Grill (see previous post on this amazing restaurant here) and went to the beach on the Friday they were here. The weather couldn't have been better!

My lovely wife turned 27 on October 20th. Happy Birthday, again, Taryn! I could never explain how good she is to me and for me.

And finally, my meaningless fantasy football update. I'm 7-0 and 4-3 (thank you LaDainian Tomlinson) in the two leagues I care about and 2-5 in another league. Yes, that's how it works. You say you only care about the leagues you're doing well in.

Remember this date

2006-10-08T19:43:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 8th, 2006. Today is the day that Terrell Owens has officially begun to derail the Dallas Cowboys. Fox has shown him on the sidelines all game. He's been yelling at the defense (which they didn't seem all that thrilled about), yelling at the offense, getting talked to by a coach to keep him away from Bledsoe and getting a heart-to-heart from Mike Vanderjagt. Bledsoe just threw a pick-6 to Lito Sheppard to seal the game for the Eagles. This will only give TO even more to say to reporters today and throughout this week. If TO goes off on his teammates and coaches after this game, Jerry Jones might want to look into getting Dr. Phil out at Cowboys' practices.

The last straw

2006-10-05T23:41:00.000-04:00

I just got done watching the FSU-NC State game, which FSU lost 24-20. That drops them to 3-2 on the year and 0-2 in the conference and it means I'm done watching their football games this year. I'm tired of FSU's terrible offense. I'm tired of the announcers falling all over themselves looking for new ways to compliment the opposing team's players and coaches. And I'm tired of the difference in penalties called and penalty yardage when FSU's on the road. Good luck in the Music City Bowl. See you next year.

Victory ... again.

2006-10-01T23:38:00.000-04:00

OK, so it's not a world championship and that's not really our trophy, but yesterday I wrapped up my third consecutive fantasy baseball championship and fourth in the last 5 years over pretty much the same group of friends and family that I play with each year. Like the Chicago Bulls of the 90's and the New York Yankees, I have become a dynasty in this league. In fact, starting last year, I went ahead and decided to make that - The Dynasty - my team name. The best part is that one of my friends in the league (Tyler) named his team Coup D'Etat this year, with the intention of "dethroning" the king. The king is still in his rightful place and I could be wrong, but I don't believe they give out trophies for 4th place. So you'll have to come back and try again next year, Tyler. To all my friends in the league, keep your heads up. It was a good battle, you fought hard and there's always next year.

Grace is not opposed to effort

2006-09-29T01:16:00.000-04:00

Last week at the Bull Market (which is basically a flea market on campus every Wednesday, minus the guy selling boiled hot dogs and stale pretzels), I got into a conversation with a guy from a local church. He was there checking out the Bull Market because he wanted to come out the following week to "witness" to students there. By "witness", he meant set up an 8-foot high cross, hang a banner from it and then use a bull horn to tell people how much God loves them. Not the way I would personally do things, but I was happy that he planned on telling the students about God's love and grace as opposed to other "Christian" groups who have come out with bull horns to tell students the many reasons they're going to hell (which included smoking and wearing skirts).

He then started asking me questions about Impact. It became clear very quickly that he was measuring my validity as a leader and also the ministry's ability to lead students in the right direction. He asked a number of questions about my personal doctrine and beliefs and also about specific things we do as a ministry. After about 15-20 minutes of interrogation and me telling him some of the ways we're trying to serve the campus and community, he then informed me that I was teaching students to earn salvation by works and compromising God's grace. That was news to me, which of course I completely disagreed with and is not the case. We talked a little while longer about that, the details of which I'll spare you.

That conversation reminded me of a great article on spiritual formation that a friend (it might have been you, Dustin) sent me a link to about a year ago. In it, Dallas Willard and Dieter Zander are asked questions about spiritual formation and the role spiritual disciplines play in that. Because I liked their thoughts so much I printed and saved a copy of the article (titled The Apprentices), but it's still online and I set up a link to it. Here are a couple quotes from Willard that touch on the disagreement I had with the friend of mine at the Bull Market ...

"In most churches, we're not only saved by grace, we're paralyzed by it. We're afraid to do anything that might be a 'work'. The funny thing is we will preach to people for an hour that they can't do anything to be saved and then sing to them for a half an hour trying to get them to do something. This is confusing. People need to see that action is a receptacle for grace, not a substitute for it. Grace is God acting in our lives to do things we can't do on our own. Grace is not opposed to effort; it's opposed to earning."

On the function of spiritual disciplines, Willard says, "As an apprentice of Christ, I may be saved by grace, but I still have years of habitual anger, materialism, lust, and many other things to be dealt with. They're not just going to go away. Like someone who has a bad golf swing and always slices off to the right, I'm going to have to practice hitting the ball in a different way to make it go straight. The slice is in my body; it's how I have been formed. The disciplines help transform my habitual actions. The disciplines are not a substitute for grace, but receptacles for it."

Only a game

2006-09-26T23:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I had planned to blog about my thoughts on FSU's football team, their early season struggles and how much better they looked against the Rice Owls this past Saturday. Then I heard about the tragic death of Dale Lloyd, a freshman defensive back at Rice who was taken to the hospital after a routine workout on Sunday. Lloyd would never leave the hospital, dying on Monday morning due to reasons that have yet to be determined.

I obviously don't know him or his family, but it's impossible to not feel for his family. I love the game of football and emotions run high or low depending on how my favorite team does. However, it is in fact only a game played by young men who love what they're doing. I'll still blog about football in the future, but life trumps all. I hope my passion for life and people far outweighs my passion for football.

God bless the Lloyd family.

Yes, I'm still here

2006-09-19T15:51:00.000-04:00

To the handful of you who actually read my blog, I'll be back. I kind of took a break for awhile with so much going on around the start of the semester, but will share my thoughts on a few things including the PATHETIC state of the Florida State offense under Jeff Bowden. Each game gets more and more depressing. Anyway, talk to you again soon.

Less than a week away!

2006-08-29T11:05:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-24T18:03:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-08-18T23:53:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-10T14:37:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-10T13:57:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-07T16:42:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-02T23:58:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-01T10:29:00.000-04:00

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.

Eddie Griffin

2006-07-14T14:48:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this story about Eddie Griffin's (Minnesota Timberwolves) recent run-in with the law?? I couldn't believe it. It's hard to decide what's the worst part about this whole thing. Warning: there are shades of Pee Wee Herman in this story.

Bill Simmons' article on the World Cup

2006-07-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

I'm a huge fan of Bill Simmons, who's a writer for ESPN.com's "Page 2". He also wrote (or maybe still does write) for the Jimmy Kimmel Show. I have to admit that I had taken a break from checking out his articles for about a week or two until a friend of mine sent me the link to his latest article, Why I Love the World Cup. This article was money and pretty much described exactly how I feel about soccer and the World Cup. Before giving us his 10 reasons why he loves the World Cup, Simmons says, "Does this mean I like soccer? Of course not. I'm a World Cup fan, not a soccer fan." That's me. Anyway, his reasons are both hilarious and true.

Dustin, I think my favorite was actually #5, the "the postgame ritual of players exchanging sweaty jerseys". Please allow me to thank ESPN for giving us live "bonus" coverage of this ritual for about 2 straight minutes between Zidane and Figo after the France-Portugal semifinal match.

The drought is over!!

2006-06-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I finally did it ... again. After going homerless in softball for somewhere in the vacinity of the last year-and-a-half, I hit a bomb last night in a softball league at USF. With a 1-0 count on me, I put a belt-high, inside corner pitch into the trees in left field. Thank you, Tyler, for the mocking screams and cheers like it was a walk-off homer in game 7 of the World Series. I refuse to let you rob the glory from the moment. I'm a happy man and it felt good to have the power back. Here's to hoping the power sticks around and brings with it a little more trotting around the bases in the near future.

What I've learned about soccer ...

2006-06-15T00:34:00.000-04:00

from watching the World Cup so far.

There are really no clear rules for what contact or how much contact constitutes a foul. Sometimes I feel like I'm watching hockey on grass or a rugby match. I'll see a foul called for a slight tug of the shirt and other times it looks like a guy gets checked into the boards (figuratively speaking, of course) and there's no foul called. Can someone please explain this to me??
Inside the penalty box, defenders can pretty much do whatever they want. I guess this pretty much comes down to the fact that the refs and the powers that be in soccer don't want games decided by penalty kicks, especially World Cup games, but come on. I've seen guys get their calves stepped on in full stride, elbowed, scissor kicked, leg-locked ... I think one guy even got picked up and suplexed ... all in the penalty box with no foul called. If normal play in the field sometimes looks like the kind of contact you'd see in a hockey game, play in the penalty box looks more like Wrestlemania. Want to make the World Cup better?? Allow every country to "draft" one professional wrestler who just sits in their own penalty box to try and maul any opposing player who comes in there with the ball. Wouldn't you love to see The Big Show get a hold of Ronaldinho in the penalty box one time and choke slam him to the turf?!! I think Hulk Hogan would pass on retirement for the chance to do this.
You need more than one ref in a soccer match. I know you have the linesmen, but they rarely make calls other than offsides and who gets possession when the ball goes out of bounds. One ref is not enough.
Soccer players are both the biggest hypochondriacs and worst actors I've ever seen. They're like a combination of your little brother and Freddy Prinze, Jr. The way they roll around in "agony" after every foul makes you think the helicopter could land at any minute to lifeflight them to the nearest emergency room. I know they're trying get the yellow card for the opposing player, but give me a break.
Finally, despite the high international ranking, the U.S. still has a long way to go before they catch up with the rest of the world.

Here's to hoping for a U.S. victory over Italy and looking forward to August when our own brand of Football gets back on the scene.

Brian "Nasty Boy" Knobbs

2006-06-08T23:25:00.000-04:00

Wednesday night, at the Devil Rays-Angels baseball game, my friend Brian who works for the Rays introduced me to "Nasty Boy" Knobs. Wrestling fans might know him from his days as a pro from the late 1980's through 2001 (I looked this up on Wikipedia). Today you'd probably recognize him as the guest star/"babysitter"/friend of Hulk Hogan on the reality show "Hogan Knows Best".

All I can say is that he seemed like a really nice guy who's just enjoying life. I can't imagine how many times he has to make small talk with people like me, but he was really cool about it. Came over, shook our hands and talked with us for a few minutes like we had known him a lot longer. It was fun meeting him.

Knobbs has become a huge Rays fan! It was great to watch him during the game because he loves it and was trying to get the crowd pumped up a number of times. He's even done a few short video clips that they'll play on the jumbo-tron to get the crowd into the game. All good stuff. Let's just hope the day comes when he's getting 40,000 fans into the game instead of 15,000.

My airline adventure (part 2)

2006-06-04T20:40:00.000-04:00

Picking up where I left off ...

12:00 am - After making a couple phone calls and figuring it might be hard to sleep anyway, I decide to sit down and read a book I had already started.
1:30 - Finished The Signature of Jesus, by Brennan Manning. Really enjoyed it and found it challenging as he talked about what it means to be a disciple. Since it's so late, maybe I can get a little sleep now.
1:45 - Thankfully, the chairs in the Atlanta airport don't have armrests and there are plenty of open seats to lay down on. Only problem is that they're putting some new tile down near the gate, so it's pretty noisy. Guess I'll check out another gate a little further away.
1:50 - After finding my new "bed" and rearranging the things in my bookbag to make the most comfortable pillow possible, I'm just starting to get sleepy when an airport worker gets my attention and gives me a blanket-in-a-bag. No complaints there. It's freezing in the airport! Thankfully I had worn a long-sleeve t-shirt and now I can keep my legs warm.
2:00 - Some couple who just got off a flight has decided to sit down within about 10 feet of me to rant and rave to a third person about their flight and travel problems. Are you serious?!?! So many options for a place to sit and talk. Why next to a guy (me) wrapped up in a blanket with his hat over his face who's obviously trying to sleep?? I was almost out. Someone make the bad people stop!!!
2:03 - Mainly due to the same couple who are still talking with no regard for common courtesy, but also because of the 3rd drive-by from the "vacuum mobile", I'm on the move again. I've become an airport nomad.
2:06 - There is no really quiet place in an airport, but I did find a corner in an Airtran customer service area. In the middle of the area, there's a group of customer service phones that I'm guessing are used to talk with Airtran reps for help. No joke, one of the phones is dangling off the hook with some guy just passed out on the floor right next to it. If I weren't so tired, I'd probably laugh. Wait, that would be mean.
4:23 - I wake up out of my half-sleep hoping with all my heart it's at least 6:00am. No such luck. Not happy, I roll over and close my eyes again.
5:14 - The searing pain in my neck and back means it's time to get up. Thankfully, the Atlanta Bread Company opened at 5. Please allow me to give my highest recommendation to their turkey, egg & cheese on a plain bagel sandwich. That thing was amazing!! Mixed in a Kona Mocha Iced Coffee and I had myself a great breakfast.
7:45 - I am on the plane!!! We leave in 20 minutes! Oh sweet Tampa, I'm coming home!
8:20 - Trying to sleep on the plane in my window seat has been difficult because of the horrendous smells that keep invading my nostrils. Noticing it again, I adjust my hat and notice that the lady sitting next to me is looking out the window. Maybe she slept in the airport too and has a bad case of morning breath. Would it be bad if I offered her a mint??
8:35 - The smell is back, but the lady is not looking my way. Is she passing gas on me?? Shouldn't I be able to distinguish between the two? I give up. I'm too tired to worry about this.
9:15 - We are home! We've taxied to our gate and we're ready to get off. As the lady next to me stands up to leave, I become convinced I have been the victim of a barrage of silent farts during the flight. (I wish I was making this up) Oh well. No worries. I've reached my destination and it's time to go home.

My airline adventure

2006-06-03T22:58:00.000-04:00

Have you ever seen Terminal, with Tom Hanks? If not, check it out. I thought it was pretty good and a couple days ago, I lived it out for one night. My little adventure started on Thursday afternoon.

5:25 pm (central)- After getting to the Bloomington (IL) airport and saying my goodbyes, I get to the gate to find out my Airtran flight has been delayed from 5:45 to 6:25. Not good because I only had a 1 hour layover.
6:20 - As we back away from the gate, the pilot tells us we're scheduled to arrive in Atlanta at 9:05. My connecting flight is scheduled to leave at 9:15. Uh-oh. One of the flight attendants tells the lady next to me who's also headed to Tampa that they'll probably hold the plane since there's a lot of us on the flight on our way to Tampa. Feeling better.
9:00 (eastern) - Touchdown. As we taxi on the runway, one of the flight attendants makes a bunch of announcements about connecting flights. For those of us headed to Tampa, there is another Airtran flight heading to Tampa at 10:40. If we miss our scheduled flight, she says they can hopefully put us on that flight.
9:12 - Our plane does a U-turn between two terminals. Are you kidding me?!?!?!
9:18 - We finally arrive at Gate C2. Our flight leaves from D4. Must hurry!!
9:30 - Fast walking/jogging up to gate D4 with about 10 others, I see a plane there. Sweet!!! We made it! ..... The plane is for the next flight. Thanks for holding the flight for us, Airtran.
9:40 - An angry mob begins to form around the counter at the gate, which I stay out of. The last scheduled flight to Tampa is booked full and the next one doesn't leave til 8:05 the next morning. As people get more upset, they begin to lie saying they were "guaranteed" a seat for that flight. What a bunch of bull. No one ever said that. It's a fairly ugly picture of selfish human nature.
9:55 - After waiting and listening to those before me complain, lie, yell at the clerk and yell at their kids just because they've been a little inconvenienced, I make my way to the front of the line. The clerk (whose name I can't remember) has been incredible! It would have been so easy for her to just go off on some of these people, but she didn't. Some may chalk that up to professional courtesy, but I was impressed with her gentleness and humility. After telling her what a good job she was doing, she puts me on stand-by for the last flight (just in case) and gives me my seat for the morning flight. With it comes $25 off my next travel purchase and a $10 voucher for some food.
11:20 - After getting to the gate of the last flight to Tampa, using my voucher on some Popeye's chicken (which was pretty good food) and watching them close the gate door, it's now official. I will be spending the night in the Atlanta airport.

I'll stop this "action-packed" story here for now and finish it off tomorrow. I'm sure you'll look forward to it just like you would the next episode of Lost.

Retreat and vacation

2006-06-02T23:09:00.000-04:00

Once again, it's been awhile since I've posted. This is mainly because I've been gone for the last 16 days up in Illinois. The first week was spent at an Impact retreat for campus ministers and other staff. It was a great week and much needed. I really look forward to that each year. Then I spent about 9 days with my family up there. Did some fishing, catching only one in the three times Dad and I went out. He caught more, but I did have the biggest fish - a 16 inch walleye (not that that's a really big fish). I did do some work up there, but for the most part it was a chance to relax, enjoy being with the family and play a lot of games. If there's one thing my family and I love to do with each other, it's play games and play them we did. Hand and Foot, Dominoes, Farkle (some people call it "10,000" I think), Euchre, Pinochle, Spades and probably a couple others I forgot. For those of you who know the game Pinochle, we were playing a 3-handed game one time and I had 67 meld (or 670 if you keep the zero after the numbers) in one hand - a run, double pinochle, 100 aces, 80 kings, and a couple marriages. 67!!! That's got to be some sort of record or something, the stuff legends are made of. Ok, maybe that's a little carried away ... not the record part though.

Finally, it was time to come home yesterday. Only problem is that I didn't make it home yesterday. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I had my first experience with an overnight stay in an airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. It was a crazy day, one that I'll fill you in on over the next post or two. But for now, it's time for bed. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night, worked most of the day after getting home and then got worked over in a softball game tonight. Needless to say, I'm exhausted. Hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend and I'll tell you about my airline adventure soon.

Mother's Day cards

2006-05-09T00:24:00.000-04:00

Just a little venting here. Am I the only one who thinks greeting cards these days are utterlly lame and stupid? A couple days ago, Taryn and I must have spent about 20 minutes trying to pick out Mother's Day cards. It wasn't that there were so many good choices that took so long, but rather because we had to wade through all the cards with pop-ups and bad jokes that involved seeing yourself in a mirror. No joke, one card had SIX additional fold-out pages. SIX!!!!! I almost counted that as my "book to read" for May. My suggestion ... no more cards. Honestly, do we really need some Mr. Deeds wannabe to butcher how we say "Happy Mother's Day" or "Happy Birthday" for us?? I think not.

"An Inconvenient Truth"

2006-05-03T00:25:00.000-04:00

Al Gore's new movie, An Inconvenient Truth, has premiered at the Sundance film festival and is scheduled to be released in select theaters later this month. Not surprising, it's received immense praise from Hollywood and mainstream media who are ever ready to latch on to the latest liberal cause (feel free to substitute the word 'agenda' for 'cause').

Funny how the media and liberals (which, in many cases, are synonymous) jump at every turn to criticize President Bush for "scaring" people on the terrorism issue, yet alarmism and doom are the foundation for much of liberal thought on a wide variety of issues. They excel at creating victims and making people look at themselves as such. Victims of racism (the immigration debate is headed there), victims of the economy (whether it's good or bad), victims in the education debate, victims in labor/work issues - they thrive on creating victims. And now victims of global warming. Global warming is the ideal issue because they don't have to focus on special interest groups. Now, if you live on earth, you too can be a victim.

Please understand that this issue is not something that I feel we can just discard and not worry about. And I also believe in the principle of conservation and respect for the earth God has given us to inhabit. But much of the fanfare for this movie comes from the same people who champion Michael Moore as an icon of truth and accuracy. I don't believe in the inflated claims that An Inconvenient Truth allegedly puts forth, namely that the earth as we know it will be in chaos in 10 years if their ridiculous cut-back proposals aren't met. I also believe that the entire issue of global warming is still open to debate, which is a far cry from the consensus group-think you hear about, read about, and could well imagine based on Google searches on the issue.

I've included links to a few articles on this. Richard Lindzen is a professor of atmospheric science at MIT. Check out this article he wrote for the Wall Street Journal. Here's another good article from Tom Bethell. For a much more detailed scientific approach, check out this essay. Links to different sections of the argument are on the left-hand side of the site. The page I've linked to also includes a select list of scientists who oppose this alleged consensus on global warming. One of the best parts of this essay is that it directly addresses the weakness of connecting recent hurricane activity to global warming, as does Richard Lindzen's article. For more info on qualified scientists who disagree with the imminent global warming doom, do an internet search for Dr. Frederick Seitz and The Oregon Petition.

And just for fun, here's a list of some documented lies Al Gore told during his campaign for President. I must admit, I enjoy the irony in the title of his movie.

Articles links:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110008220
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8177
http://www.aetherometry.com/global_warming/gw_index.html

NFL Draft

2006-05-01T23:31:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have to admit it. I like the NFL draft. Not in the insane way where I have to be glued to the set for every pick of every round (including all FIVE HOURS of the 1st round), but I like to check back every 20-30 minutes or so to see what's happened. In case you didn't hear (just kidding, of course) the Texans took Mario Williams out of N.C. State instead of Reggie Bush. The Houston front office may not want him, but I hope I get Bush on my fantasy team next year. That guy's a freak of nature with the football in his hands. I just listened to an interview with Charlie Casserly (Texan's GM) on espn. He was talking about Barry Sanders being the best RB in the league during his career and how the Lions only won 1 playoff game with him. True, but the Lions supporting cast was never any good around Sanders, except for Herman Moore. Houston has a pretty good QB in Carr, a top WR in Andre Johnson and another pretty good back in Domanick Davis. Not to mention that regardless of how the Lions did, Sanders put people in the seats. Bush would immediately make them a better team and bring the fans out next year. Williams won't.

My hometown Jacksonville Jaguars did alright in the draft getting a big target at TE. From an offensive production standpoint, anyone's an upgrade on Kyle Brady. The thing I liked best was that they took a couple guys from my old school, Ed White HS, in Demetrice Webb (7th round) and Jamaal Fudge (free agent). Always good to see the hometown guys get picked up and great to see the Commanders get some love.

Finally, a couple other things that will keep me coming back for more draft coverage in years to come. One, Chris Berman being at a loss for words. It's pretty much the only day of the year we get to see it. The other is Mel Kiper getting all that face time. This guy is a robot in front of the camera. Did you see his ESPN Mobile Phone commercial leading up to the draft?? Couldn't they have given him a few more takes to try to find a little personality?? Watching him try to take himself seriously for that long on live camera is priceless. Only Al Gore could rival him for "Most Boring Man on the Planet". But like I said, I hope to see more of it for years to come.

Another year in the books

2006-04-26T22:20:00.000-04:00

Every year at this time, I'm always wondering how the year went by so fast. Taryn and I have pretty much finished up our 3rd year of working with the campus ministry at USF. There are a couple small things going on during finals week, but yesterday was our last weekly gathering. There are always a lot of thoughts running through my mind at the end of each year. I think about all the things that took place. I think about the students. Did they grow? Did they make friends and connect with each other and God in new ways? How well was God honored through the ministry? In all of those thoughts and questions, there are always the good things and then the other areas that I know could have been better. So it is with life.

The thing I really appreciate about working with the campus ministry is being able to honestly tell people and know in my heart that I enjoy what I do. I like the change that comes with each semester. I like being around and working with people. And having been involved with ministries on the campus for a number of years as I student, I know the value of it. It's just nice to be able to combine my faith with service in an environment I love being in.

So another year is in the books. It was fun and brought a lot of good memories ... like the picture above from our Fall retreat. If we had an award for "Picture of the Year", I think that would have been it. So thank you Kyle, Phil and Josh for that moment in time (as odd as it was to see you in those outfits) and to all of you who helped shape my life and faith through the ministry this year.

NBA and NHL playoffs

2006-04-20T00:07:00.000-04:00

Let the nightmare begin. The NBA and NHL playoffs are here. I can't decide if it's better or worse having them go on at the same time. Worse because their games dominate Sportscenter highlights and newspaper headlines, but better because they're over and done with at about the same time. This is easily one of the worst times of the sports year for me. In fact, if it wasn't for baseball, this would be right up there with the time from the end of the Super Bowl until the start of the baseball season, except for the break we get with March Madness. There are so many other things I'd rather watch on TV than one of these playoff games, including ....

An Arena League football game
A Kansas City Royals baseball game (that's for you Josh, in case you read this)
The UPN Saturday afternoon matinee of Bloodsport for about the 78th time
Saved By The Bell reruns
Joy of Painting with Bob Ross
The TV Guide channel
The Magic Bullet Blender infomercial

Do we really need 16 teams in the playoffs in each league?? Do we really need a 7-game series in every round?? Yeah, about as much as I need a kick in the head. Either cut the number of teams down to 8 (division champs and 1 wild card from each conference) or cut the games in each series - 3 for the first round, all at the higher seed's home arena, 5 for the second, and then 7 for the conference and league championships. I still probably wouldn't watch, but at least they'd be over quicker.

Thoughts on sports (and a bad movie)

2006-04-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

Wow. I've really slacked on posting lately. Things always seem to get a little busy this time of year, but it's starting to settle down. So you should be hearing from me a little more frequently. Now my two cents worth on a few things.

Barry Bonds. I've joined the camp that just wishes he'd retire and go away. There are times I feel for the guy and the abuse he gets on the road, but there are so many other things about him that I can't stand. I've caught a couple episodes of the ESPN show Bonds on Bonds. If you don't like the guy, don't watch the show. It definitely won't make you like him any more. The three things I've gotten from the show are this: (1) He became the player he is out of spite for his father, (2) he could care less if anyone outside of his family likes him, including media, fans and other players and (3) if you don't like him, then you're a racist. Never mind the problems he had with his manager in Pittsburgh and with other players. Never mind his arrogance. Never mind his indifference to fans through the years. Never mind the large amount of evidence up against him in this steroid investigation. Never mind the history his trainer has with steroids. It's all just a racist plot to bring him down. Whatever you say, Barry.

On the brighter side of baseball, Albert Pujols is the best hitter I've ever seen. The guy is unbelievable. In spite of all the things I just said about Bonds, I used to say that about him. Bonds will always be one of the best players/hitters to play the game, regardless of the outcome of the steroid issue. But Pujols has taken over as the game's most dominant player and he should stay there for a long time. The guy just doesn't take any bad swings. His 3-homer game - including the walk-off to win it in the bottom of the 9th - last Sunday against Cincy was simply amazing.

What about Chris Shelton?!?! Yes, he's on my fantasy team and I stole him in the 19th round of our draft. Better call for me. Two years ago it was Adrian Beltre in the last round. Last year it was Brian Roberts in round 21. I am the king of late round steals!! As of today, I'm in 4th place in our league, but based on how few innings pitched my team has compared to the guys ahead of me, I'm in good shape.

Going outside of baseball, I finally saw King Kong when I was up visiting my family in Illinois. Wow. What a terrible movie! I tried to ignore the scathing review I read on Dustin's blog and go into it with an open mind, but everything he said was on the money. The fight scene with Kong and the T-rexes is WAY TOO LONG. And the stupid looks the girl gives Kong the entire second half of the movie were just ridiculous. A few other issues I had with it: Kong and the girl "ice skating" on the frozen pond. Are you serious?!?! The fact that Kong's arms didn't fall off after getting bit about 39 times by the T-rexes. And the way the movie ends with the two morons (Ann and Jack) embracing on the top of the Empire State building without any concern for their lives and safety. You’ve got to be kidding me with that. Easily one of the worst 5 films I've ever seen.

Finally, the NBA and NHL playoffs are here. The only thing that excites me about that is knowing that their seasons are almost over. Here's to wishing for lots of sweeps.

Fantasy Baseball

2006-04-06T00:07:00.000-04:00

First of all, let me say that I love fantasy sports. I mainly just play fantasy football and baseball and have been playing fantasy baseball with basically the same group of guys (with a couple newbies each year) for the last 5 years. We just recently had our baseball draft for this year and here's my team.

C - Josh Willingham
1B - David Ortiz
2B - Chase Utley
SS - J.J. Hardy
3B - Hank Blalock
OF - Lance Berkman, Hideki Matsui, Austin Kearns
Bench - Luis Gonzalez (AZ), Luis Gonzalez (CO - mainly for utility purposes), Christ Shelton, Aaron Hill (also for utility)

SP - C.C. Sabathia, Jeremy Bonderman, Scott Kazmir, Doug Davis, Jorge Sosa, Kelvim Escobar
RP - Billy Wagner, Jason Isringhausen, Todd Jones, Brian Fuentes

A few things. First, I'm hands-down the dominant force in our league. I've won it 4 out of 5 years and finished 3rd the other time. In our scoring format (the league is points only, not head-to-head), saves are very important so having good relievers is as big a need as anything else. Having 4 closers in a 12-team league gives me an edge. My strategy each year is to go with power and strong relief pitching. Needless to say, it's paid off before and I'm happy with the way my draft went again this year. Starting pitching is always my weak point and that's no different this year. Gotta love it when my #1 (Sabathia) goes down in his first outing of the year with a pulled oblique muscle - the 2nd year in a row he's had that injury. Hey C.C., do you think it might have something to do with the fact that you're probably about 20-30 pounds overweight?? Still, I like the updside of Bonderman and Kazmir and Davis is solid.

Anyway, I'm the team to beat again this year. Always am. I'll give you updates from time to time to let you know how things are going ... as if you care.

More pics from New Orleans

2006-03-23T23:11:00.000-05:00

The top two pics are houses that were literally picked up from their sites by the flooding and settled in other places - one in the front yards of two other houses and the other in the middle of a street. It might be a little hard to tell, but the 4th picture is a Shrimp boat that settled in the street of a residential neighborhood. Seeing things like that was almost surreal. There's still so much work to be done.

This last picture is of a church in downtown New Orleans. Thursday afternoon, Crossroads (the mission we were working with) had scheduled in some time for us to go into the city. As impressive as the church looked on the outside, it was even more beautiful on the inside. Such a stark contrast to all the destruction we had seen in so many other places. It was nice to take a few minutes, sit inside and reflect on everything the week had brought on. I just kept thinking how the power of God had been displayed over the city. And now I believe He wants his love to be displayed in real and practical service to its people.

New Orleans trip

2006-03-22T13:29:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics from a service trip that I and some students from our campus ministry took to New Orleans. The primary thing we did while there was "gutting" houses - stripping almost everything out down to the frame - that had been ruined by flooding. Sights like you see in the first picture were all too common.

As things were taken out of the house, the debris was literally piled up in front of the house. It was difficult doing that as the homeowners looked on and went through what little there was to be salvaged. Flooring, celings, dry wall, even each nail was to be taken out. The goal was to leave the frame and prepare the house to be rebuilt. The last picture is a home that was finished. I'll post a couple more times about this over the next two days with a few more pictures. I'll tell you more about the people we met and some things I learned from my time there. Pray for the people of that city. It's a long road ahead for them.

FSU vs. Duke

2006-03-01T23:38:00.000-05:00

So FSU upset Duke tonight in college basketball action to pull even with Duke on the season, one win apiece. It was a good game, especially fun to watch since I'm an FSU fan. Win over #1 should also guarantee FSU a spot in the Big Dance later this month. But remember what I said about refs in college basketball a couple posts ago? Check out the free throw statistics from their two games this year.

1st game in Durham: Duke 31-43 FSU 10-11 (Duke won 97-96)
2nd game in Tallahassee: Duke 10-17 FSU 32-40 (FSU won 79-74)

Ok, so it's a pretty small sample size, but a pretty telling stat. Maybe I shouldn't throw around the word 'conspiracy', but it's pretty obvious the human element (officials/referees) seems to be a little influenced by the home crowd.

IM bowling

2006-02-25T17:23:00.000-05:00

In working with the campus ministry, USF recognizes me as "courtesy" staff and gives me many of the same benefits as other faculty. One of those fringe benefits is that I'm allowed to play intramural sports. I usually only play a few, but one of the ones I've played each year is bowling. Call me what you want, but I love it. Reminds me of being in college when every Monday night a bunch of the guys from the baseball team would go to a local bowling alley, draw names out of a hat for teams and bowl three games. The bottom half of the teams in total pins would pay for the top half. A lot of good times.

The last two years, I bowled with Travis, Andy (who both work with USF athletics) and Tyler (a student from the ministry). Last year, we had a slim lead going into the fifth and final week when we had a complete meltdown and finished second. This year was a different story. In second place and down by 186 pins starting the night, we were bowling heads up against the team in first, VSA (Vietnamese Student Association). We made up 153 of that over the first two games. Then we absolutely lit it up the last game with a team 766, averaging out to over 191 per person. Needless to say, we dominated all three games and took home the crown.

And for the record, our team name was Cobra Kai, the bad-boy dojo from Karate Kid. Nothing like paying homage to one of the greatest movies of all-time with our comeback victory. In the immortal words of Sensei John Kreese, "Defeat is not an option in this dojo, is it?!" No Sensei!

Reading some more

2006-02-20T23:36:00.000-05:00

I'm not big into New Year's resolutions because most of the time I find that people rarely keep them, but I did make sort of a pseudo-resolution at the beginning of this year. Very simply, it was to read more. And by reading, I mean books. I've never been afraid of a newspaper's Sports section, good magazine or the Bible, but those don't count toward this commitment. Nothing too overwhelming yet. I'm mainly looking for ones between 120 and 300 pages right now. My origninal goal - very modest at best, but a monumental leap for me - was to read 12 books this year, averaging out to one a month. I've decided to up that to 15 because I should be done with book number 3 by the end of February.

I finished The Ragamuffin Gospel (Brennan Manning) in January and then read through The Barbarian Way (Erwin McManus) in a few sittings the first week of February. I really enjoyed both - Manning's for his grasp of God's grace and McManus' for his challenge to avoid "comfort" and the "taming" of one's faith. The Barbarian Way was similar in many ways to Wild At Heart, but it's a message that was worth hearing again.

Now I've kind of shifted gears and am reading Lincoln on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips. It's kind of funny because this is a book that I bought for a class in my MBA program at USF, but never read. (sad to say, but that was a fairly recurring theme for me throughout college) It's billed as "executive strategies for tough times", which makes it sound very business focused. That's not the case at all. Even though each chapter is focused on a specific leadership principle, the book is really more Lincoln's life story. Phillips illustrates the trials Lincoln faced and successes he achieved, then recognizes the leadership qualities that made him great. And the principles highlighted in the book are good for any leadership situation and life in general. Anyway, enough of my amateur review of a book I haven't even finished yet. Still, I am amazed at all the things Lincoln faced before and during his presidency and looking forward to learning a little more about him.

Random thoughts, updates and venting

2006-02-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention this after my "Recruiting Junkie" post, but FSU reeled in another top 5 class this year. They always seem to pull this off with big names in the last week, so I wasn't really surprised. I'm also pretty sure you don't really care.

Could someone please explain to me what's so hard to understand about a 4-way stop?! If you pull up and other cars are already there, wait for them (whether it's 1, 2 or 3 cars) to go and then it's your turn. Why do so many drivers in Tampa who come to the 4-way stop between Fletcher and Bruce B. Downs not get this??

On another "driver's ed" note, what's so hard to understand about roundabouts?? Cars coming up to a roundabout are supposed to yield to cars already in the roundabout, but 95% of the people that live in our complex have no clue about this. I couldn't tell you how many times I've almost had the front of my truck taken off by some idiot who doesn't get this. Can't we just put that clip from European Vacation ("Big Ben, Parliament...") on every state's driver's license test as a visual aid to explain this?

This past weekend I helped out with Impact, a football tournament for Jr. High/High School youth groups at Florida Christian College. This year, more than 70 teams participated in the event, which is now split up into "Fun" and "Competitive" divisions. It's funny to me how big this has gotten because it all began with a single game between two church youth groups that they called the Toilet Bowl.

One of our local Tampa news stations just said that there is actually the possibility of a brief snow flurry in our area tonight. Must be due to that whole 'global warming' thing I keep hearing about.

I never posted anything about it right after the Super Bowl, but the officiating in that and other playoff games was terrible. Mainly with football and basketball, I'm starting to turn into a mild conspiracy theorist when it comes to possible biases on the part of officials, the league (pro) or conference (college), and their influence on the outcome of games. Outside of deliberate bias, I think they get too caught up with pleasing the crowd. Think about the homecourt "advantage" in basketball. The number of fouls called on visiting teams and, therefore, free throws attempted by home teams is almost always higher and usually by a significant margin. Someone please do a study on this. I bet we'd see a similar trend with penalties and penalty yardage in football. You think that maybe the officials/refs get a little caught up in wanting to please the home crowd?? I say yes. Whatever the case it all needs to stop because they're ruining a lot of good games.

Finally, the Olympics have started ... and I didn't even know it until today. Someone tell me how we did when it's all over.

Levi Lais

2006-02-08T00:07:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I was at the Grassroots Music site browsing around to check out some new artists or ones that were just new to me. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, grassroots is an independent music site primarily for Christian artisits with some crossover. I love this site because you can listen to 30-second samples of each song on almost any CD they sell. That's how I found Light My Skies by Levi Lais. Lately, I've been into mellow, acoustic sounds, which is what Lais brings to the table. His soft vocals blend well with the overall tone of the CD, but the lyrics are strong. I've really enjoyed listening to it. So if you're looking for something with a folk style, acoustic sounds and wouldn't mind trying something new, check out Light My Skies.

Retreat

2006-02-06T19:48:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I posted, but last week was a little busier than usual. This past weekend we (a bunch of us from the campus ministry at USF) went to Lake Wales for an annual statewide retreat. Groups from FSU, UF, UCF and Florida Gulf Coast University were there and I've always enjoyed them (gone the last 5 years, first two as a student) for that simple reason. It's encouraging to see others from across the state's campuses with Christ as the common factor.

Our speaker this year was Mark Cahill, former Auburn basketball player turned passionate follower of Christ. His message for us was a stark contrast from last year's speaker, Tommy Oaks. Oaks is a musically-gifted, emotional and energetic speaker who challenged us to improved character while encouraging us to see God's love, forgiveness and grace with the wonder of a child. Cahill is equally passionate, while direct and challenging in calling Christ-followers to share this love with others. Although the tone and content of each was completely different, there really was a natural progression there. While Oaks basically said "get to know and celebrate God's love for you", Cahill followed that up by asking us "why would we ever keep that to ourselves?!".

From everything others have said and the stories he told, Mark Cahill practices what he preaches. He will share Jesus Christ anywhere with anyone. I talked with a few of our students about what they thought and they seemed to have similar reactions to him. I was a little concerned by this. Each of them seemed to focus on only one or two things they didn't like about what he said or the way he does things and that's all they talked about. It seemed the heart of what he was saying - to share God's love with others - was lost in a defensive reaction to his directness. However, I don't believe the things they said were the real issue. I think it had much more to do with the fact that Cahill was calling us to actually use words and talk about our faith.

Let's face it. That's a scary proposition to most Christians. Most figure they'll let their actions do all the talking. It's more comfortable to let others try to figure it out on their own than actually get it out in the open in a real conversation. You've probably heard the famous quote attributed to Francis of Assisi that most Christ-followers have unconsciously made their spiritual life's motto: "Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." There's truth in that, but there's also a lot of fear-motivated adherence to those words and most have practiced it to the point that they're paralyzed when challenged or given the opportunity to actually talk about their faith in God. I know. I've been there. That's what Mark Cahill was challenging. But not just that we wouldn't be afraid to talk about Christ, but that we would be genuinely motivated by Love to tell others about Love.

Before I had the chance to personally listen to the heart of Mark Cahill, I had questions about some of the ways he shares his faith. There's still some difference of opinion there, but there are no questions about his love for people and his desire for the "other" to be loved by God.

Recruiting Junkie

2006-01-30T19:23:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make. I'm a college football recruiting junkie. Being an FSU fan, I've checked out this site called warchant.com over the last month about once or twice a day to see if they've picked up any new verbal commitments from high school recruits. I know. Pretty pathetic. But here's the best part ... or the worst, depending on how you see it. I don't even get any real information except the updated list of kids who have already made commitments to play at FSU (i.e. the "old" news). You have to pay to read the articles and get the latest info on who's going where, but I'm not going to shell out the $9.95 a month they want for that. All I get is the teaser-headlines with a sentence or two that's designed to break your will and get you to pay up because you just have to see whether or not Joe Blow is even considering wearing the garnet and gold.

Thank goodness National Signing Day (also known as "return to sanity" day for me) is almost here. That's the day when these high-school-kids-turned-temporary-gods are supposed to sign on the dotted line and make the final call on where they go to school. All too often, this is done in some ridiculous, over-hyped, theatrically televised showcase where they "take their seat on the throne" by putting on the hat of the school they've decided to grace their presence with for the next four years. Or maybe 3 if they leave early for the NFL. Or possibly just 1-2 if they flunk out or can't get a booster to post bail for them after their fourth arrest for marijuana possession. Yes, the madness ends on Wednesday. At least until next January, when the cycle is repeated.

What can I say ... I love this stuff. Enough talking about it, though. I need to go see if FSU hung onto that 5-star defensive end from Tennessee who the Vols are trying to steal away.

Jimmy Fallon

2006-01-24T18:24:00.000-05:00

Quick background here. For Christmas, Bryan got me the SNL dvd, "The Best of Jimmy Fallon". Great gift! He already knew this, but I think Jimmy Fallon is hilarious and was one of the most underrated cast members to ever be on the show. It was nice to see him get his due in that dvd.

The other day, though, I was having a conversation with Dustin during which Saturday Night Live was brought up and I told him about the Jimmy Fallon dvd. He just sat there, speechless, shaking his head in utter disbelief. He couldn't believe there was even such a thing as a "best of" for Jimmy Fallon or that I or anyone else would like him. So let's just tell it like it is. Dustin is wrong.

His main beef is that Fallon laughs in so many of his skits that it makes him unprofessional and a poor live actor. I have to admit, in asking other friends about Fallon's place in SNL lore, this is the polarizing issue. Either they didn't like him because of the uncontrollable laughter or they thought it only made his skits funnier. I'm with the latter. If anything, it only adds to the humor. And to his critics on this issue I pose this question: could you keep a straight face all the time in sketches with Will Ferrell or Horatio Sanz?? I think not.

Laughter issue aside, Fallon had two of the show's best recurring characters in Sully (the Boston teens) and Nick Burns (the computer guy, pictured above). His impressions are right up there with Darryl Hammond. And he was also one of the best news anchors the show had. Fallon was a great one. And don't you forget it.

End of the Spear

2006-01-22T21:56:00.000-05:00

Saturday night Taryn and I went with friends to see "End of the Spear". Simply put, I thought it was amazing. The story is based on the real life interaction between five Christian missionary families and the Waodani, a violent tribe living on the Amazon basin of Ecuador. A friend (Dustin) who we saw it with pointed out that the movie does an incredible job of telling the story from the viewpoint of both the tribe and the missionaries. It truly does.

The story itself is powerful and challenging and would be without any added dramatic element. More so than most, including others based on real events, I walked out with an experience over and above simple entertainment. It refreshed my understanding of sacrifice, forgiveness and what it means to serve. And that's always good for me since I have a tendency to place boundaries on those things based on my own level of comfort. Anyway, it's a good film and one that I'd recommend to anyone.

The Year of John

2006-01-20T00:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, I have to admit it. I just turned 29 a couple days ago and it feels a little wierd. I'm starting to look at my "youth" like a setting sun that's still just barely above the horizon. Still there, but fading fast. Of course, this is based on the fact that age is the sole defining factor to most people of whether or not a person is still young and that, in my mind, I've always considered your "twenties" to be the cutoff. So the way I see it I've got a year left to enjoy it. With that being said, allow me to announce that it is now the "Year of John".

I borrowed this phrase from my brother-in-law who had the "Summer of Bryan" before he graduated in the Fall of 2004. He had borrowed it from a Seinfeld episode when there was the Summer of George. Anyway, you think I would since I've made this declaration, but I don't have any great plans for the Year of John. At least not yet. My only real goal is to try and go to, learn, see or do a couple things I've never gone to, learned, seen or done before. Skydiving's crossed my mind here and there, but I have a real strong tendency toward the preservation of life that might get in the way. Maybe some of you can give me some suggestions. And don't worry. If it's a little adventurous, out of the ordinary or out of the way, I probably haven't done it.

I like to joke about it, but this aging thing really isn't a big deal to me. Way I see it, I'm just starting to enter the prime of my church Softball and Flag Football careers.

Patriots loss

2006-01-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Denver! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am about the Patriots losing yesterday's divisional playoff game to the Broncos. More than any other team in professional sports (with the Yankees being a close second), I hate to see the Patriots win. Here's a few reasons why.

One, they never should have won Super Bowl 36 because they never should have even been playing in the game. Brady's fumble-ruled incomplete pass that would have sealed their defeat in the divisional playoff game that year was the worst call I've ever seen in the history of the NFL.
Two, the NFL actually made a new rule (the "tuck" rule) the following year to try to justify that blown call. Give me a break. Just admit your mistake. Don't change the rules so that you're required to make the same bad call in the future.
Three, I'm sick and tired of the "Patriots can do no wrong" mentality among NFL analysts and broadcasters. Perfect example: In yesterday's loss to the Broncos, Willie McGinest and Larry Izzo got in a fight on the sidelines. I believe most would agree that this is not a good thing. Not with the Patriots, though. After that happened, the broadcasters said it was a positive, they were showing life and still had some fight left in them. Are you serious??
Last of all, Rodney Harrison. Biggest cry-baby in the NFL. I know he was hurt most of this season, but he's got a lot of teammates just like him. More than any other team (with Harrison being the absolute worst), the Patriots try to get away with more things (hold, illegal contact with receivers, etc..) while complaining the most if they don't get a call. Just shut up already. The infamous "tuck" should have been enough to keep you guys quiet for years to come.

My team's already out, but at least I can enjoy the fact that the Patriots won't be holding the trophy when it's all said and done.

"Book of Daniel"

2006-01-12T23:36:00.000-05:00

I'm guessing pretty much everyone's heard about this new show on NBC by now for all the controversey it's caused. It premiered last Friday and, yep, I watched it. Having been forwarded a number of emails about how terrible it would portray Christians through Daniel Webster (the show's main character) and his family, I thought I'd see for myself.

In case you haven't heard about the show, pretty much everything I read about it beforehand mentioned these main aspects. It centers around Daniel Webster, an Episcopal priest who is addicted to painkillers and also regularly converses with Jesus, and his family, which includes: his alcoholic wife, a gay son, a daugter who sells drugs and a sex-crazed adopted son. Those descriptions were on target, only there was much more. In the first episode, we also find out ...
- Daniel's brother-in-law is murdered after stealing $3 million from the church
- Daniel calls on a Catholic priest with ties to the mob in an effort to recover the money
- Daniel's sister-in-law, Victoria, (now a widow) is bi-sexual and was having an affair with her late husband's secretary.
- Bishop Beatrice Congreve, who oversees Daniel, is having an affair with Daniel's father, also a bishop in the church.

There were other problems for the characters in the show that I didn't mention, but you get the idea. Hey, just your average Christian family. Needless to say, as a Christian myself, I wasn't too fond of the show, but it wasn't the ridiculous portrayal of Webster and his family that really bothered me. That's the Hollywood I expect. As Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment at NBC said in a Wall Street Journal article, "By offering shows that have a morality and belief at the center as well as some racier content -- hopefully a lot of people can have their cake and eat it too." Sadly enough, that description probably fits a lot of Christians.

What got to me was the way Jesus was portrayed. The following description was on NBC's web site. "Keeping Webster grounded is his strong, loving wife Judith ... and Jesus (Garret Dillahunt, 'Deadwood'), his best friend and confidante who serves as a sounding board and encourages Webster to find the answers within himself." That's pretty much all Jesus was in the show. Just someone who popped in on occasion to have a chat. He listened well. That part was good. But no answers, no truth, no real concern over their problems, no power to bring change, and no desire to see change.

A sad, weak and watered-down version that doesn't even come close to the Savior I believe in. Still, it made me wonder how often my life actually promotes that view of Jesus. And how often do I relegate Jesus to nothing more than my "sounding board"? Hmmm ...

The Genius of Marcus Vick

2006-01-11T00:03:00.000-05:00

Amazing. I tried to imagine what goes on in the head of Marcus Vick while reading about his gun show at McDonald's, but I don't know if I could ever really understand it. Here's a guy "forced" into making millions of dollars a year earlier than expected after getting kicked off the VaTech football team and this is what he does the next day. To quote the great Will Ferrell (a.k.a. Alex Trebek) in a Celebrity Jeopardy skit on SNL, "I'm speechless." Even though I never bought into the hype about him possibly being better than his brother, the guy's still an unbelievable athlete.

Quick side note: I can imagine what kind of kids these were. I ran into one the other day who about plowed my mom over at a sporting goods store while she was standing still in an aisle, then acted like it was her fault. No apology and no respect at all. And this wasn't exactly the best day to be teasing Marcus Vick, but come on ...

You're Marcus Vick and these are just three stupid teenagers at a McDonald's. Let it go. Maybe it's just me, but I thought the fact that it happened at McDonald's was hilarious. Here's a guy about to be a millionaire and he gets arrested at a McD's, the absolute bottom rung on the restaurant ladder. I wonder if one of the part-time cashiers tried to get his autograph on a Big Mac box as they were putting him in the squad car. We can only hope that happened.

Anyway, I think we can go ahead and add Marcus the Leg Stomper into the category of "History's Dumbest Athletes". A couple other members include:
Eugene Robinson: Safety for the Atlanta Falcons who was arrested for solicitation of prostitution the night before Super Bowl 33. The best part is that same morning, Robinson had just received the Bart Starr Award for "high moral character". As Bill Simmons from ESPN.com likes to say, "you can't make this stuff up".
Albert Belle: The guy could hit a baseball, but what I'll always remember him for is when he picked up that foul ball down the left field line in the 7th inning of a game and drilled a heckler in the chest with it. That and the fact that he once chased trick-or-treaters off his property IN HIS SUV. And also the time ... well, I could go on for awhile with this, so let's stop here.