a Greater Glory

Lane Kiffin is funny.  He’s funny because he is so god a manipulating the media.  He gets free media coverage better than any other coach in college football.  Yesterday Lane Kiffin offered a scholarship to a 13 year old.  Here’s the article from ESPN if you want to read it. The best part about all of this is that ESPN and just about every other major news source picked it up and will talk about it and discuss it for the next 2-3 days.  That means Lane Kiffin and USC will be repeated at least a million more times in the next 2-3 days.  Kiffin is brilliant.  College football is over right now, but everyone is talking about USC.  They aren’t talking about the signings that they made, no they are talking about the fact that Kiffin signed a 13 year old.

For Kiffin though it doesn’t really matter, in the end offering a scholarship and giving an actual scholarship are two different things. If the kid turns out to be the real deal, then USC will have the first shot at him.  If he doesn’t then it is easy for USC to walk away and just say they thought it was in good fun.  Kiffin may not be liked by many, but you have to respect the fact that he is better than Mike Kryzewski of Duke at getting free publicity.

Talk about a stirring title! Now that I have your attention, we are going to take a look at James 3:5-10 to see what exactly I am talking about:

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

The tongue a muscle that we use for chewing and swallowing and the main organ that we use for tasting.  This muscle is one of the main reasons you are alive, without it you would be unable to process the nutrients you get from food that hasn’t been broken down yet.  While the tongue may be an important part of your body, it is also a part of your body that causes more controversy and can destroy everything that you have worked for in your life.  What will Bill Clinton be remembered for? Lying.  What will Ken Lay (Enron) be remembered for? Lying. What will Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens be remembered for? Lying and Baseball.

The ways in which each of these players have handled this has been different.  Sosa all of a sudden couldn’t speak English when he was asked about it.  Mark McGwire simply didn’t want to talk about the past.  Rodriguez lied about it, then kind of told the truth only once he was caught in his lie.  Palmeiro, Bonds, and Clemens well they still adamantly deny taking anything, or if they did they took it unknowingly.

In a recent ESPN interview Palmeiro still denies that he knowingly took anything and even hints at being “set-up”.  I am not saying that Palmeiro is lying or lied, but let’s use our imaginations a bit.  If I am a world class athlete and I work all year round to keep my body in peak condition and a  teammate offers me a “pill” don’t you think I might ask what it is? Second, let’s just say I don’t ask what the pill  is and just take it.  What percentage chances are there that on that specific day MLB is going to be doing drug testing?

To be quite honest and frank I beleive that Andy Pettitte handled this the best, he admitted to taking them and apologized.  What Pettitte did doesn’t make it right, but he at least handled it and spoke the right way about it.  When these players adamantly lie and say they didn’t do it, it only darkens their credibility more and more.  Eventually some new report comes out and implicates them further.  Then they have to back pedal and reword what they previously said.  It would be good if all athletes took the verses from James and memorized them or put them inside their locker.  The tongue can destroy so much of what they have created and it is a shame to see such great careers get taken through the mud.

So here’s one for you, Michael Vick may be joining football faster than originally thought.  An article by ESPN.com shows that the new United Football League is interested in bringing Michael Vick into the fold.  The league is obviously interested in the marketability of Michael Vick (think MLS bringing David Beckham into the league).  While the move is not definite it provides another opportunity for Vick who is still awaiting a decision from the NFL regarding reinstatement.   To read the article by ESPN click here.

I like Shaquille O’Neal, I really do.  I am not sure if it’s because he looks like a big teddy bear, or he just has a good time with his job, but I like him. In light of his recent trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers, I would like to link to a funny interview that Shaquille just gave to Cleveland reporters that was featured on ESPN.  The video is worth your time, as you can see just how funny Shaquille is, I have included it below:

ESPN has awarded the Los Angeles Angels as the Ultimate Franchise.  Be sure to read the article here on ESPN.com and you can also read about the methodology they used to come up with the Ultimate Franchise here.  The top five looked like this:

1. Los Angeles Angels (MLB)
2. Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)
4. Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
5. Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)

I have to be honest, these rankings seem a bit ridculous.  Four of the top five franchises have to be the Steelers, Phillies, Penguins, and Lakers.  The reason: THEY WON.  If you are basing an Ultimate Franchise based off of fan experience, then that is the number 1 thing.  The fact that four of the top five did not win their respective championships is nuts.  Only the Redwings even made it to the finals (other than the Steelers).  You have to love the way that ESPN conducts polls, I feel like I am watching American Idol for sports now.  Here are the rest of the standings.

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

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.

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”.