On my mind today

As I'm writing this, the Cardinals have just beaten my beloved Rangers. While I'm heart-sick about losing for the second consecutive year, after a lifetime of waiting to get to the Series, the pain of the moment won't overwhelm the perspective time will bring. Last year, we got horse-whipped in the Series. This year, we had it down to the last strike before the whole thing went to pot. Perhaps by writing about some happier times, I'll be able to temper my disappointment. May 1974 - I had just turned 6 yrs old. My mom got tickets for our family to go to the old-school Arlington Stadium (that's it). I'd never seen such a site! They were playing the much-hated Yankees. We had great seats and I'll admit it - I was hooked. From then on, most every year my parents took me at (or near) my birthday to see the Rangers play. Year after year, spring training would come and, with high hopes, we'd eagerly look forward to getting to the playoffs - much less ...

Friday night, October 29 in Nacogdoches, I was witness to the weirdest game I've ever seen. We (Jacksonville) went down to Nacogdoches to play knowing that a win (or even a loss by less than 8 pts due to tiebreaker rules) guaranteed a return to the state football playoffs. A Nacogdoches win by less than 8 pts would give them a victory but eliminate them from the playoffs. Confusing? You should've been there in person. When was the last time you saw a team with a chance to win take a knee just to keep the game going? It happened. Or throwing a ball intentionally almost to the parking lot? Many of us who were there won't soon forget it. I won't bore you with the details. Instead, you can read a full account of the game here . Suffice it to say this: when the game ended after a national record 12 OTs, we'd played more than 5 hours (officially the game began at 7:30 PM and ended at 12:54 AM Saturday morning), seen almost 1,400 yds of offense, 18 touchdowns in...

In what has become a regularity, we find a discussion about the spirit of competition and the letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law. In what has to be one of the most repulsive acts of partianship in recent memory, a young lady pole vaulting for her team finds herself in the midst of this debate. Rather than rehash it, go to the Sports Illustrated article and see it for yourself. Warning: I was less than enthused about one of the coaches involved. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/highschool/05/11/track.controversy/index.html?xid=shareFB While no one disputes that the rules does indeed exist and that she was indeed outside the bonds of that rule, the spirit of the law should have been invoked. Did her jewelry grant her an unfair advantage? Did it interfere with competition? Was it the reason she was able to clear that pole vault bar? What is fair isn't always what is right.

I've always loved Opening Day of baseball season. Not just because of baseball but the optimism that it seems to bring to me. The sense that summer isn't far away bringing with it evenings outside with a sweaty glass of kool-aid in my hand, swims in our neighbor's pool, the pleasure of longer days and excitement that comes with students getting out for the summer. I love opening day. There's a certain serendipity to life when Opening day falls on the day after Easter and on the same day as the end of the NCAA basketball season. Speaking of that, what a game between Duke and Butler! Wow! Normally, I would post the "One Shining Moment" video, but for some reason they let Jennifer Hudson do it and it messed up the song for me so no "Moment" video for my blog. Instead, I've chosen a video from yesterday. I could tell you about it, but it wouldn't do it justice. It's about 1 minute long. It's perhaps the best defensive play I'...

I don't make it a habit to recommend movies. Most of them are worthless dribble, harldy worth the time it takes to make them, much less worth my time to waste watching them. That said, there are exceptions. Like this one. I've not seen the movie, but I know the story. Maybe you do too. If not, here's a link to a brief bio . Don't like to read? Check this clip out on his life and you'll understand my recommendation to see this movie.

Perhaps you missed it last night - I did - but I found it this morning. Coach John Wooden was honored last night by the The Sporting News as the greatest coach in American Sports history. I'm not sure how you can measure that, but I think they choose properly. He was near retirement when I was born yet only one other coach has had the kind of influence on me that Coach Wooden has had (Coach Tom Landry). He's now 98 yrs old but still has the clarity of man much younger. Take a couple of minutes and watch the interview he did with ESPN.

This is Tim Tebow, quarterback of the University of Florida Gators Football team. While I'm not a fan of the Gators, I'm a BIG fan of Tebow. He's used his stature and platform (Heisman Trophy and National Championship ring) to the forefront as a platform for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It unsettles many of those who have become jaded, like media members. It causes them to wait for "the other shoe to drop." I can't blame them - we've seen this before. But Tebow is different. When you have time, read this column about Tebow and it'll explain the details!

This shot might look like any other ordination going on and, in many ways, it is. The only difference between this one and others is what Donnie Maib (kneeling) does for a living. More on that in a moment. For most of the time the Lord has allowed me to be in ministry, I've tried to reinforce to people that they can be ministers right where they are. They don't have to quit their "day job" to be active and useful in the ministry of the Lord. In fact, many times they can be MORE useful to the Lord by staying in their present job. The Lord doesn't always call you away from a "regular" job to be a minister. Sometimes (in fact most times!), He plans to use you right where you are. That brings us back to Donnie Maib. Recently ordained at Promiseland West Church, he says this about his job: "God's given me a platform," Maib said. "I don't want to be offensive or preachy, but for those searching, I'm here to share my life'...