Knockin' over judges to Gold !

For those that saw it last night, wasn't it just amazing? We got home from church last night, put our kids to bed and immediately turned on the TV to NBC. The women's 4x200 relay was in mid-stream and it was fun to watch us get the gold and break a world-record by a whole 2 seconds (which in swimming is an eternity).

Then there were the gymnastics. Now, as from yesterday blog would suggest, I'm not a huge gymnastics fan. Watching guys run around tight pants with more muscles than I could dream of leaves me emotionally confused as a manly-man ! But I digress...

I started paying attention when Paul Hamm (I knew about him because he has a twin brother [like me] named Morgan also on the squad) went to do his routine on the vault. If you saw it, you know what I saw. D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R !! "Yikes!" I said as I watched Paul miss his landing, fall off the mat and almost knocked over the judges. Kendra was brushing her teeth and immediately rushed to the TV to see what I was watching. Watching the replays didn't help anyone feel any more optimistic that Paul would be representing the good 'ol US of A on the gold medal stand. He was the favorite - but not any more.

However, like in great sporting events in history - it wasn't over. Through some minor mistakes by other competitors and a clutch last performance on the high-bar, Paul got the shocking news that he was an Olympic Champion. If you were watching it like us, you probably either shed a tear or had goose bumps running all over your body. It was amazing.

Afterwards, Paul made the comment that he just never gave up... hmmmm - sermons.com just got another addition! I was reminded of these passages to lift your spirits if you feel that the love of God just isn't in you today or if you feel like Jesus has had enough of your pitiful attempt at living life as HIM:

I Corinthians 1:9 (MSG)
God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

I Corinthians 13:4 (MSG)
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self.

I'm sure there are other verses that come to mind and I'd love for you to share them on my comments section !

God bless you all,

SJ

That's why I love sports!

I was watching the Olympics last night like most of you and I had some observations about sports in general:

1) I like a good "race". Watching gymnastics is OK but what I like is swimming !! Watching relays or even individual races is fun for me because I love a good competition. If I'm flipping channels and I come across a game (regardless of sport) that is almost at the end, I'll stay and watch it just to see how it ends. I've watched NBA games at the end just so I can see a good competition that comes down to the end. I've watched Doug Flutie's hail-mary pass because it's a great ending even though I know the guy catches the pass. Last night, the men's relay was fun to watch even though I knew who had won because I had seen the results already on the Internet.

2) There are some fun and great milestones that I love to hear about. I love to hear about the Texas Ranger, Mark Teixeira, who hit for the cycle last night. That's truly amazing. Some players go in slumps and here is Mark hitting a single, a double, a triple and a home-run in one single game! That's fun to see. That's why I love a grand-slam home run, a hail-mary pass in football, a half-court shot to advance to the Sweet 16 in March Madness. I love a no-hitter or even a perfect game. I remember being about 12 years old in our "Little Dribblers" BB season and I made a half-court shot right before the half. I can remember that like it was yesterday!! I remember hitting a home-run in Little League baseball over the centerfield wall to win a dozen donuts from the local bakery. And I remember throwing a hail-mary touchdown pass to a guy named Victor when I was a Freshman. (by the way, I never got to see the pass because it was the one game they didn't film!! And I was sacked on the play so I only knew he caught the pass because my coach came and picked me off the ground to congratulate me! HA)

3) As much as I love sports, I'm glad I'm not a total sports junkie. I had a guy tell me the other day that even though his wife is cutting back her hours at work and finances are tight, he just couldn't let go of his DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package. What??? Maybe that's because I'm not a sports junkie as much as I'm a "certain team" junkie. I love the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas A&M Aggies Football team, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Stars (hockey) and my hometown football team, the Littlefield Wildcats. Other than that, I'm not real involved in whether the Braves are going to win the pennant this year or if the Packers are going to win the NFC North Division. I bet my wife is thankful for that !!

4) I love new or classic sports stadiums. The Dallas Cowboys are trying to get a new (and desperately needed) stadium to replace Texas Stadium. It will be 2008 before it's ever completed but I want to know all about it now. What will it look like? Where will it be located? What cool features will it have? When they were building the Ballpark in Arlington (now called Ameriquest Field) where the Texas Rangers play, I loved a feature on morning radio that focused on daily reporting of the buidling being constructed. I would plan my morning commute around that segment. One of my dreams is to take my sons some time around to all the cool ballparks, stadiums and arenas just to say I've been there. I would love to see Yankee Stadium as well as the newer Bank One Ballpark. I would love to visit Lambeau Field or see Ohio St vs. Michigan play in the "Big House". Can't wait til Tom Landry Stadium is built locally !! (that's just my preference for the name as a throwback honor to the greatest coach the Cowboys ever had!)

Anyway, just some thoughts on why I love sports! Play Ball !!

God bless you all,

SJ