For college football fans, today is one of the best days of the off-season. It is National Signing Day. Leading up to this day, high school recruits have been making verbal commitments to the universities who have been wooing them. These verbal commitments, however, are non-binding. Some recruits have changed their minds and their verbal commitments.
If you ask me that is really not a commitment, is it?
Commitments really are not commitments until players sign on the dotted line. College coaches will stand around their fax machines awaiting these signed documents. Once the fax sheets roll out, then the players are committed.
If you are a football fan, then you have seen the video of Ndamukong Suh (Detroit Lions defensive lineman) pounding the head of an opponent into the turf and then stomping on that player. You probably have also heard the post-game response of Suh.
In his response Suh resorted to a line of defense that is used far too often by people. We might call it the “Why Would I Defense.”
So why would I do something to jeopardize myself and jeopardize my team, first and foremost?
During the past couple of weeks, I have met numerous fans of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. These fans have arrived in Palm Beach county from the Midwest to watch their beloved Cardinals play during spring training. As I have spoken to these fans, they are all a bit anxious about the future of Albert Pujols.
Pujols is in the final year of his contract with the Cardinals. These fans do not want to see him playing for any other team. They love seeing their favorite player wearing the red and white of St. Louis.
What makes a player this beloved by a team’s fans? Continue Reading…
Some veterans on the Denver Broncos obviously have a great grasp of history and a sense of humor. This is Tim Tebow’s new haircut courtesy of the rookie hazing tradition of the NFL. LenDale White posted this on his Twitter account.
What I love is that they played on Tebow’s Christian reputation. Good for Tebow for going along with it. It indicates his willingness to be a team guy.
The Nazareth Baptist Church of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa is claiming the manufacturing rights to the vuvuzela. You remember the vuvuzela, don’t you? The droning horn that played non-stop during The World Cup in South Africa.
This church is known as the Shembe church after founder, Isaiah Shembe. The church claims that Shembe invented the vuvuzela in 1910. The church also claims all rights to making and marketing the horn.
I bet your church doesn’t have this cool of an invention.
Will this knowledge cause annoyed sports fans to dislike the church?
It would have to be a Baptist church, wouldn’t it? Although it is not really a Baptist church since many claim that the founder is God.
27 other South African companies are now making a vuvuzela.
478 Chinese and Hong Kong companies are now making them.
The church spokesman referred to these companies as “Mickey Mouse” companies. My wife isn’t going to like that.
I confess to having downloaded a vuvuzela iPhone app during the World Cup. Just wondering, has anybody bought a real one yet or plan on getting one for college football games?
* This article in The Wall Street Journal is a must read. Writer Jon Shields writes about the Christian life of Manute Bol. Bol was a 7’7″ tall basketball player who was from Sudan. He passed away last week. Shields writes of Bol’s Christian commitment and the contrast of how the word redemption is used in the sports world. He correctly applies it to the life of this giant of a man who gave himself and all his resources away for the people of his homeland.
With all of the pre-game hype over the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad featuring Tim Tebow and his mother, most people did not realize that another commercial was developed and made by a church. One advertiser created a contest for people to submit an ad on behalf of the company. The winning submission was revealed when the ad ran during the Super Bowl. It may surprise you to discover that a Los Angeles church created the winning submission. The ad was for Doritos. The church is Mosaic in Los Angeles pastored by Erwin McManus.
The ad was the 14th most popular ad for the Super Bowl according to USA Today‘s Ad Meter. 2 other Doritos ads scored higher. I certainly have no problem with a church using talented people to create an TV ad. In fact, I like McManus’ comments in a USA Today article.
We’re not trying to use Doritos to propagate a message, but I think we want people to know that we have a sense of humor, that it’s OK to laugh. So much of what comes out of the faith community seems so dour and somber and we want to say, ‘Hey, we’re real people. You can be a person of faith and really enjoy life and laugh.’
The quote that I do differ on is from Mark Labberton, professor of preaching at Fullerton Theological Seminary. Labberton said,
Nobody’s going to fall on their knees and accept Jesus as a result of this spot. But advertisers on Madison Avenue spend millions on a Super Bowl spot because they know it influences people. It might not get someone converted, but I think it will get someone to say, ‘Maybe there is something I ought to investigate.’
Professor Labberton, it was a commercial for Doritos. The only thing somebody might investigate is if they have a bag of chips in the pantry.
On a cool Saturday in a winter in the early 1980′s, my young son, Cameron, and I ventured from Red Rock, Oklahoma to Stillwater and the campus of Oklahoma State University. We went to attend the Bedlam Series basketball game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. It was Cameron’s first major sports event and he was donned in a red OU sweatshirt and red OU sweatpants. We made our way to our seats in the rafters of Gallagher Hall primarily to watch All-American Wayman Tisdale of Oklahoma.
In all my years of being a sports fan, only a handful of athletes have reached hero status in my books. Tisdale is one of those athletes. He played the game at a high level and conducted himself as a role model. I was pleased to have my son look up to him during his early, formative years.
Tisdale was a basketball player, a jazz musician, a Christian and a family man. A few months ago, he left this world to be with Jesus in heaven. He left behind a legacy of living life with joy. During his life, he became friends with country musician Toby Keith. Keith is an ardent Oklahoma Sooner fan. After Tisdale died, Keith recorded one of the most moving tribute songs ever recorded about Tisdale. On Saturday night, Keith performed the song at the OU-Texas basketball game with Tisdale’s brother, William and other members of Tisdales jazz band. Here is the video for your enjoyment and encouragement. I hope you enjoy.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. […]
The “Grilled Tebow” … An iconic grilled cheese sandwich | eBay
