a Greater Glory

Michael Vick, fresh off his two-year stint in federal prison, was recently put on a construction crew in Virginia.  Once the NFL’s highest paid player, Vick is now making $10 per hour working in the hot sun.  This has got to be a humbling experience for the former Falcon.  Some will put the question out there, “Should he really have served that long of a sentence for what he did?”  While this question is alright to entertain, it’s not going to matter.  It is what it is.

For his own sake, I hope things turn around.  Although when asked to liquidate his assets in order to pay unsecured creditors, Vick was reluctant to give up one of his two homes and other luxuries.  One verse comes to mind when I read things like this:

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”  James 4:10

I can say from experience that the Lord humbles the proud, that he breaks us down in hopes that we search Him out.  My prayer for Vick, if he does not know Christ, is that he will recognize the fact that there is hope.  No, it’s not in football, money, or fame – but in Christ alone.

Follow this link to see the full article:  Vick to work at Boys & Girls Club

My bias yet poureth over.  Chris Heisey, a former teammate of mine at Messiah, was just promoted to Triple-A Louisville this past weekend.  Heisey, who hit .347 at Double-A Carolina, is quickly moving through the ranks of Cincinnati’s farm system.  Not only is this guy a five-tool player, he is a devoted Christian and husband.  Catch him today, Tuesday, on MLB Network as the Louisville Bats take on the Gwinnett Braves.  Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.

Bill Guerin the late season acquisition that the Pittsburh Penguins made is staying with the team. Guerin is taking a $2.5 million dollar paycut to stay with the team and have another chance to play with No. 87, which he cited as one of the main reasons he wanted to stay around. Now Guerin is getting a bit up there in age (39 to be exact), but the NHL is one of those rare leagues that you can play in until your 40s.  You have to love when guys take pay cuts to play with future Hall of Fame players.  It shows that the player appreciates the game so much.  Nonetheless, the Penguins are loading up for another run at Lord Stanley’s Cup.

I can’t honestly say I know Plaxico Burress and what his heart is like.  What I can say is that God’s word is very clear on “reaping what you sow”.  Galatians 6:7-8 says this,

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Plaxico Burress is currently embroiled in all kinds of legal issues.  These legal issues stem from an evening where Burress was carrying a concealed weapon (without a permit) and shot himself in the leg.  While it sounds almost humorous Burress and then teammate Antonio Pierce tried to cover up the shooting.

That has led us to where we currently are.  Burress has been indefinitely suspended by the NFL and is “reaping what he sowed” in the earthly sense.  There is a chance that Burress may have to go to jail and/or be on probation.  Commissioner Roger Goodell is waiting to see what legal actions are taken before handing out a punishment.  With all of that being said Burress could possibly be back in the NFL this season with a couple of teams.  The punishment or the reaping what you sow, seem almost insignificant at best.

However, the idea of reaping what you sow is not necessarily an idea for gaining pleasures on this earth. Yes, Burress may be able to continue his profession on earth and play professional football.  The key is that God does not forget.  We must all remember we will be called before God to stand for the lives we have lived.  No matter whether you are a Christian or not you will be called before the throne of God and asked to give a testimony of your life.  Hopefully, this situation has brought Burress to his knees and asked for the forgiveness and salvation of Jesus Christ.  Only then will he truly be forgiven.  This story though is an interesting reminder that even though many athletes, actors/actresses, musicians, and politicians may “get away with things” on earth, this will not always be the case.  Let us remember what ROmans 8:6 says and set our minds on the Spirit and not on on our flesh.

A Yahoo! article that I Read stated that Yao Ming could possibly be done playing basketball…forever, that’s quite a hit to the Rockets.  The article even goes as far as saying that the team should pretty much be blown up and start fresh.  That is of course after the team went to game 7 agains the Lakers this year in the Western Conference Finals (I love sports authors who think it’s easier to start over versus building on what you have).  Here is the article: Rockets could lose Yao for season or more.

It’s hard to believe that over 13 years have passed since Mariano Rivera recorded his first save of his career.  How long ago was this?  Well for starters, Braveheart had just won the Academy Award for best picture, Bob Dole had yet to pick Jack Kemp as his running mate, and I was in Mrs. Hampton’s third-grade class, banging out state capitals like it was my job.  Maybe the most impressive stat of that time was the attendance at Yankee stadium the night of Rivera’s first save:  19,087.  To put that number in perspective, the Washington Nationals are currently averaging 23,030 this year alone.

Anyway, back to Rivera.  It’s difficult to measure his worth to the Yankees over the last decade and a half.  Granted, the save has been a watered down statistic for the past 20 years or so and the modern era has been very lenient on pitching statistics general.  But still, there are several reasons why Rivera has been the MVP for the Yankees (yes, I said it) during their dynasty reign.

Reason #1:  Being the man during the steroid era while pitching in a bandbox

Maybe the main reason why we can say he has ice in his veins.  Rivera broke into the league amidst the pruning of baseball’s biggest juicers.  No names will be mentioned (thanks Raul Ibanez) although we can assume that Rivera pitched against some of the biggest juicers in the American league at that time.  Just in case that wasn’t enough, this guy had to pitch in little-league field they called Yankee Stadium – 315 ft. down the lines and 380 in the gaps.  You wouldn’t be able to tell from the results because he posted a lower than 2.00 ERA in each of his first three seasons as the closer.

Reason #2:  Being the man when it counts:  October

Most people have heard how money Rivera has been in the postseason, but the numbers say it all:  8-1, 0.77 ERA, 117.1 IP, 0.750 WHIP (which is ridiculous by the way).  Again the result is four World Series rings.

Reason #3:  The Cutter

Maybe the most devastating pitch in baseball.  Experts like to talk about Joel Zumaya’s fastball, or Brad Lidge’s slider, Francisco Rodriguez’s curve, or Trevor Hoffman’s changeup.  The difference between these closer’s and Rivera?  He has ONLY thrown one pitch his entire career.  It hasn’t mattered how much film a hitter can possibly watch, he has no chance.  Yankees reliever Brian Bruney sums it up:  “Let’s say you get a guy who comes into the league today, let’s say he throws 110 miles an hour, he will not be as good as Mo because his pitch is better than anything you could ever imagine.”

It’s almost as if this guy was born to pitch.  When asked if he ever feels threatened on the mound, Rivera responded “Never.  I’ve always loved the competition. I’m not afraid of it.”  That’s why we’ve loved to watch you pitch Mo.

The great female tennis player Chris Evert has taken something of a shot at some of today’s female tennis players.  In an article on ESPN.com Evert talks about how the shrieking has gotten out of hand in women’s tennis,

“It is distracting when you are hearing this and I think the grunts are getting louder and more shrill now with the current players.”

While I agree with Evert I think that her and Martina Navratilova need to relax a bit.  Navratilova has gone as far as saying that shireking or grunting was considered cheating, according to the ESPN article.  I could deal without all of the moaning, shrieking, and grunting, but I could also deal without Sergio Garcia regripping the club 10 times before he hits the ball, NBA players going through a free throw shooting ritual which includes everything except for getting a drink before they shoot, and place kickers having to walk off the distance between them and their place holder (don’t you think if you have kicked the ball as much as some of these guys you could just walk right to the spot, I mean the fields are marked every yard for goodness sake).  All of these things are part of these sports and shouldn’t change just because it bothers some people.    Here is the article though for your enjoyment: Evert: Shrieks distract from matches.

Congratulations to Mariano Rivera on his 500th save.  Mariano from all accounts is a committed Christian who is playing in the biggest baseball market in the world. For him to achieve this is monumental and amazing, congratulations to Mariano.

Yes, the title is bold and yes, I am a fan of soccer.  So before you get all huffy puffy at least hear me out my reasons as to why soccer will never matter in the U.S.  Soccer as everyone knows is a global phenomenon.  In a typical World Cup year viewing records are set boy those who watch the final.  For the 2006 World cup ti is estimated that 26 billion individuals watched the World Cup at some point during the tournament.  Of those 26 Billion the estimate is that 829 million were from North America and the Caribbean.  This was with every game being broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2.  That number compared with every other continent is so small that it is almost laughable.  Europe brought in 5 billion, Asia had 8 billion, Central and South America had just under 4 billion, Africa had just under 5 billion, and the Middle East which isn’t even a continent but is broken out for statistic purposes had 847 million.  The numbers themselves show how little attention is truly paid to soccer in the U.S.

Many will argue that soccer is growing and that bringing over big named players and allowing people a chance to watch will increase viewership and this may be true to a point.  But whether soccer lovers want to admit it or not, soccer is not fast enough for American viewers, the stretches of play are too long without a stoppage, and the sport suffers from an identity problem.

The speed of play in soccer is actually quite amazing.  When watching a fast paced soccer game there are few sports in the world that rival it (possibly only ice hockey or badminton). The problem for America isn’t necessarily how fast the players are with the ball, it’s the fact that the scoring and scoring chances aren’t frenzied enough and defensive games are normally not played in front of one team’s goal.  In any of America’s favorite sports scoring can and does typically come in bunches. That’s the first reason why Americans don’t enjoy soccer.

Along with there not being enough scoring or the speed of play not being fast enough is the fact that halves are too long for most American viewers.  Every major sport that we have has commercial breaks built into it.  You can get up and go to the bathroom, grab a drink, look outside and still only have missed a Viagra commercial, a truck commercial, and a trailer for a movie.  Soccer isn’t like that.  You are sitting for 45 minutes without a break.  Could you imagine if an inning of baseball lasted 45 minutes straight.  Baseball, Football, Basketball, Ice Hockey all have natural built in breaks and commercial breaks so they are easier for people to watch.

The last reason and maybe one of the best reasons that soccer will not matter in the U.S. is because it suffers from an identity problem.  Most soccer fans are the guys who didn’t play American football.  In our macho man America those Football players woud never be caught dead watching a soccer game, it’s just “not manly enough”.  The reason it isn’t manly enough is because every little kid plays soccer.  So it’s a little kids game, not a game played by men.  While David Beckham brought lots of little girls out to games, he didn’t fit the image of a guy you want to follow or a guy you would necessarily want to hang out with.  Imagine if Tom Brady played soccer.  If he played soccer and were marketed the way he is with football, that would bring in more men to the sport and would also get it covered a bit more.  Until soccer is seen as a sport that men play, it will continue to not matter, at least in America.

My wife laughs at me because I laugh at Bill Simmons.  Yes, it is true I have a slight man-crush on Bill Simmons, but the only reason this is the case, is because he gets to do what most men dream about doing.  He gets to sit around watch sports for a living and then make sattirical comments about them.  The worst part about all of this is that he gets paid for this!  Anyways, he was on Colin Cowherd’s show (ESPN Radio Personality) and this was after Mike Dunleavy (Coach and GM of the L.A. Clippers).  If you know anything about Bill Simmons, you know that he is not a big fan of Dunleavy.  I am including the downloadable clip of Cowherd, you can fast forward to 23:57 to enjoy the best parts. Colin Cowherd: Mike Dunleavy/Bill Simmons Confrontation

P.S. – the best part about this is where Bill says, “I think he’s a terrible coach, I think he’s an even worse GM”.