A game that had it all

Went to the Panthers vs. Broncos game today because I was attracted to my wife's football knowledge while growing up (she could name the 90s Broncos Offensive Lineman, and being a center for 13 years it was attractive that she knew who really were the key players).

So the security line into Panthers stadium was so convoluted and packed it took us 40 minutes to get through an I missed the Panthers opening TD. I did get to witness a young woman faint right in front of me and collapse to the ground. But after a minute she popped up not wanting medical attention because she knew it would take her even longer to get through that line (seriously Panthers y'all need to fix that).

As we settled into our seats I got to watch Manning slice his way down an score on the Panthers, then we saw:

1) a punt return for touchdown
2) a missed field goal
3) an interception returned for TD
4) a safety
5) 8 sacks on Newton
6) a 50 yard screen pass get called back for Gross holding
7) John Fox win a game

I did make it on the Jumbotron, but it wasn't the kiss cam--which is probably good cause the guy next to me was burly.


Sent from my iPhone

Barry 1-Andersen 0

It's Time

Items for Sale

So after last nights game, these shirts are at a deep discount


New shirts to read:
Take Jake...Please

Or you can get this autographed photo collection:




If you buy the whole set, we will throw in this for free



Call now, operators are standing by...

Ha: Browns

You know your team is bad, when this is one of your drives. 3rd and 40, ha.



Not that the Panthers look much better, thankfully the NFC South looks flat. Thank you Delangelo Hall for the 67 penalty yards in one drive that turned the tide of todays game.

Gameday

I was sitting in my office today at 8:45 writing out a prayer, as I began to stare out the window. Lo and behold, I saw the Goodyear blimp flying around the church building. Then I noticed all the surface lots around the church starting to fill up. I was wondering, how in the world are we going to fit all of these people into our pews, and then I remembered--the Panthers were playing (if that is what you call the embarassment they coughed up today).

But this morning, I had my own gameday, as I was able to assist in worship at First Presbyterian for the first time. While I was extremely nervous all week because of timing the "live" tv component, once the service began I was able to fully worship today. As I sat in the highback chairs overlooking the congregation, I was grateful for God calling us to this community.

This past week has been a total affirmation of God's call for our family here. Saturday was Lindsay and I's 5 year reunion at Davidson. While speaking with the Alumni coordinator, she asked me what church I was serving. When I said First Presbyterian, her immediate response was, "Wow, how did you pull that?" Her words expressed the humble yet excited heart I have for serving this church.

As I have looked back over my "Sense of Call" statement that I wrote last November in preparation for the job search. It is eerie yet totally appropriate that every aspect of my sense of call has been fulfilled here. I am also able to look back over the annoying, disappointing and frustrating time I had last fall, since I did not pass my exegesis ordination exam. It was a truly humbling experiencing--since my only other stumble like that was the 47% and 49% I got in Intro to Psychology back at Davidson. But I can now see God's agonizing timing throughout all of the ordeals we have faced over the past year, which have helped to prepare us for this new opportunity.

As I walked home from the church this afternoon, going against the flow of Panther fan traffic, I was celebrating my own gameday and began preparing for the next as I look forward to seeing where God will lead me and this congregation as we seek to serve him.

Panthers Schedule

Yesterday, is like Christmas morning, the NFL Schedules come out.


I like these odds, though I am not as confident in our personal. Carr was a nice pick-up, and Terrance Melton will be big fill for Morgan when his career ends this year (too many concussions). Other than that, they better fill some holes, TE and Line. loosing Al Wallace was a bad move.

The Colts at home after the bye week? Maybe, just maybe the Panthers can remain the only team that Manning has never beaten. Jacksonville, Seattle and Dallas at the end of the year are bothersome. But getting to play Arizona, San Fran, Houston and Tennessee is a huge bonus. My guess 10-6 and 4-2 in the conference.

Want to see a tough schedule, check out the Chargers first month.

Devastating

What's more devastating than the Panther SuperBowl loss by a Vinatari kick?

Losing by inches on your 23rd and final attempt at a Daytona 500. Well at least we are second in points.

Worst Sunday of The Year

Well folks, it is that time of year again.
The worst Sunday of The Year,
It occurs ever year at this time,
and unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it.

We were teased yesterday with
the Pro Bowl and the Budwesier Shootout,
but unfortunately on this Sabbath,
there is neither Football nor NASCAR.

I know what you are thinking:
but what about Easter, Mother's Day,
and the Superbowl Bye Week.
Alas with those days you are in the midst of either season, but today my friends we are naught.

We are in the already but not yet,
The Superbowl has already occurred, but the Superbowl of Racing has not yet.

Therefore, take comfort and let us wait patiently, for next week we shall all rejoice.

peace and blessings on this, the worst Sunday of the Year.

Bad Sign

When the announcers break into your Panther game saying
"Alright,let's take you to Tennessee to see a more competitive contest..."
And that game is
24-10 in the 4th Quarter


Looks like we will be searching for a few offensive linemen, cornerbacks, linebackers and possible a backup QB this offseason.

Panther Apologetics

So I have been searching for months to find an internet feed of Panther football so that I may enjoy the mediocre Panthers.

Then one day while driving back from Philly, I discovered 1110AM, which is WBT out of Charlotte, NC. The strange thing is, I get this AM station only at night. The stranger thing is 920AM, which is a mile and half down the road from me, goes out once the sun goes down.

So in other words, I am able to pick up a radio station 600miles away, while a station located a mile down the road is inaudible, in order to listen to my local announcers call the Carolina Panthers MNF game (Who by the way, are lightyears ahead of Tony and Joe).

Couple this with the fact that ESPN has been out for 5 days in CRW, and "magically" reappears hours before the Panther's kickoff, and I think you cannot find a stronger proof of God's provision and providence...Or perhaps my sacrilege.

Strangers to Death

One of Miami (FL)'s top defensive players was murdered Tuesday night, and the question throughout sports radio these past couple of days is whether or not Miami should have 1) had the team practice on Wednesday and 2) agreed to play this weekend against Maryland (#23).

The major points made by Dan Patrick and Keith Obermen along with their emailers today was that this would be a great way for the players to make tribute to their murdered teammate, and to grieve his loss.

However, I am struggling to see that connection. In a Church History course this semester my professor claimed that Americans believe the appropriate length of grief, on average, is 2 1/2 weeks (you can email the prof for citations). In other words, we are afraid of death, we do not know how to handle death, and therefore we avoid talking about death and grief.

I can see that avoidance through this concept of paying tribute to the dead teammate. To put it bluntly, the teammate is dead, he will receive no benefit from the game being played (so the argument that he would have wanted them to play is moot, because it is not about him but rather it must become about his teammates.)

In CPE this summer, I realized how much I, myself, avoid emotion, especially strange and uncomfortable emotions. And rather than trying to embrace and be stretched by that raw emotion, I tend to want to diffuse the situation through avoidance and ill-timed humor. Dan Patrick today spoke about his brothers and sisters waiting around for someone to crack a joke at his father's funeral, because no one knew how to they should act. And Keith Obermen spoke about appreciating the fact that he had to go on-air 3 hours after 9-11, basically for the next 40 days, which helped him avoid having to address those emotions. He said, "I do not know what I would have done."

In other words...he, nor I, failed to discover how to grieve because we'd rather avoid that learning experience. Our culture teaches us to avoid grief, and that allows us to avoid the fact that we, ourselves, are constantly near death. Instead, culture tells us that we should continue playing a game "to honor the dead," or more appropriately "to help us from having to address those strange and awkward emotions of grief."

When one looks at the Jewish community, I forget which branch, and sees their tradition of grieving of a loved one for an entire year, we often think how strange and impractical. But isn't it strange only because our culture now believes the appropriate length of grief is 17 days, afterwhich we should then be prepared to get back into the fast pace life we are accostumed to by avoiding, escaping and bottling up these emotional opportunities for growth, self-examination and ultimately Revelation.

Because otherwise, we are thrown back into a culture where the day Corey Liddle died in a plane crash, Peter Gamens was asked, "So how will this impact the Yankees rotation?"

escapism

As I try to balance my three fantasy football teams, two pick'em leagues, while suring the blogosphere and watching TiVo was wondering:

What keeps us from seeing God?
Do we pursue these escapes in order to avoid the reality of our lives?

Recently I have been aware how much we long for Heroes. Back on the 5 year anniversary of 9-11, I was watching CNN where the anchorman at the end said, "Hey, let's pan on this guy [a firefighter] so America can get a good luck at a true hero."
At that moment, I realized that we desperately seek heroes.
If you notice Holywood's recent trend of Spiderman, The Hulk, Superman, Xmen, and even "nonfictions" like World Trade Center and United 91, you can see that our culture is seeking heroes.
Not to mention NBC's show called, Deal or No Deal...er...no I meant, "Heroes."

But in doing so, we search for heroes, whether in books, in sports or in the movies in order to hear about another's journeys, another's battles and to escape the reality of our lives.

And if you notice that most religions also try to escape reality by teaching us how to attain zen, how to leave this world for a better one.
But strangely, in the story of Jesus Christ, we do not see an invation to escape, but rather a God who decided to intercept reality.

Therefore, as followers of Christ we need to rethink our concept of Fellowship. Stanley Ott this past week lectured at Princeton and made a wonderful point that fellowship is more than "friendliness" but "hospitality."

Friendliness means we have greeters at the door who shake hands and smile. Friendliness means when you run into someone at the grocery store you ask them how their children, how their family, how their day is, and then quickly leave. You avoid the reality of life by trying to remain on the surface.

But hospitality asks the question "would you come into my life?" Or better "can I come into your life?" Can we grab a cup of coffee and talk about the reality of life rather than seeking surface and escapism.

This is the model of Christ, a God who broke into the reality of the world wanting to transform the here and now of our lives, and not just help the really good people escape into heaven by wearing plastic smiles and pretending everything is okay right now.

Downhill

Well, I am 27 today.

though still in my "mid-twenties" for the next six months, I have finally hit "that age."

As my strength coaches in college and high school explained (unless you are Barry Bonds, I guess) at 27 your body's ability to rebuild torn muscles, thereby making you stronger, starts to slow.

I guess it is fitting that I went to bed last night with a pretty sore right knee after running and practicing non-contact, co-ed intramural flag football,
Not that I ever expect to get back to my football weightlifting strength at Davidson College

Looks like my coaches were right: Research on Age at which Athletes are at their best.

Sigh.

the winner is...Catman.

There has been a little controversy down in the Carolinas.

Seems that the FOX Sports announcers knew that the people do not watch the preseason games. So to entice the viewers to hang in after the starters left the Dolphins vs. Panthers game, the commentators announced that there would be a new car give away at the end of the forth quarter.

Near the end of the 4th quarter, Siragusa waddled over to "Catman" and announced he was the winner of a brand new white Porsche as he handed him a hotwheel Porsche. "Catman," thinking that the toy represented the real deal, was ecstatic.

In the end it was a practical joke to keep the viewers glued to a meaningless game and commercial revenues coming (though no Panthers' game is truly meaningless).

The Charlotte area responded with thousands of emails to FOX, and the Observer ran a few articles about it, and so after realizing an apology would not be enough, the execs out in California have decided to give Catman a new Ford F150.

Which is nice, since Catman is not only one of the most recognizable fans (behind those dudes in the dresses in Washington and that spiked shoulder pads guy in Oakland), but he is also an inner-city counselor in Winston-Salem for troubled teens, and currently driving a 1991 Astrovan with 130,000 miles.

sarcasm alert: sure glad FOX was quick to remedy this huge crisis when there aren't more pressing needs in our country/world right now. But at least this appeases the angry viewers in the Carolinas so they will tune in for the ATL-CAR game on Sunday, and the advertisers will get their Neilson ratings.

for the glory

100degrees, 95% humidity, pads, black jerseys, helmets, windsprints, the red rack (hope it is still there)...why do they do it?
It is not for money, it is not for fame, it is for the love of football.
Unlike those guys with their fancy conferences, and bowl games, and "scholarships,"
The men down at Davidson College are going through two-a-days right now because they love the game.

As for me,
I have tried to run twice in this heat to begin formal training for the Philadelphia Marathon.
Once my 6 miler turned into 3 mile run and a 1 mile walk. It is amazing how zapped, dizzy and weird you can feel running in this heat. Thankfully I was with a buddy and we decided it was rather stupid to keep pushing.
The second attempt, I "smartly" went to the seminary's gym to run on their treadmill. However, since the seminary has not added airconditioning on its list of improvements the temperature in the gym was equal to the 100degrees outside.
So I ended up running for 40 minutes as opposed to my 60 minute training schedule, before running out of energy and sweat.

It begs the same question as folks are asking the boys at DC?

Pride, love of the sport, or...stupidity.

Preseason begins today

Thank goodness the Off-season of football is about over, and we can start focusing on February 4th, 2007 in Miami for XLI.

The NFL has released a few games to tantalize us with the revamped schedule:
Remember 1) to see MNF you now have to have cable; 2) NBC is now in the NFL mix with Sunday Night games, first time since 1997.

Thursday Night [September 7th]
Steelers versus Dolphins
Sunday Double Header [September 10th]
TO and the Cowboys versus the Jags of JAX.
Sunday Night Primetime
Eli vs. Peyton
MNF Double Header(?) [September 11th]
Vikings versus the Skins (7:00)
Chargers versus Raiders (10:15)

Looks like NFL forgot something when they created this opening schedule.

The fans.

• First you take MNF off of ABC and put it on ESPN. Then you add Kornhauser to Theisman.
• Next you let NBC come onboard so that Gregg Gumble or Bob Costas or whoever has been doing the weekly Figure Skating commentaries can host with John Madden?
• Third you feature the Dolphins against the Super Bowl Champs? How about a team with some relevance. Then squeezed into a hectic Opening Sunday is America's team versus another irrelevant team.
• Sunday Night has an intruiging matchup-Brother vs. Brother-but it is almost too cheesy for NBC's first real sporting event (minus NASCAR of course). I picture them using the fireplace set from Torino to have Katie Couric interview Archie Manning, "So Arch, you are you pulling for?"
• And then in an attempt to recuscitate MNF on ESPN they feature the Vikings...Uh, ESPN-Daunte and Moss no longer play there.
• Finally near MIDNIGHT, they get something right and feature two rivals with interesting QB situations, too bad 93% of America will be asleep because we don't care about the PST.

What happened Teaglibue? Decide that your predecessor should have it just as difficult as you did?

panthers...devastating

Perhaps it is too late, but I would like to make a motion for the Seahawks to be moved back to the AFC.

What an awful game. I apologize to everyone who is not a Panther or Seahawk fan and was looking forward to an intense, competitive game.

At least NASCAR is starting soon.

the playoffs

well it is always easier a week late...but I thought I would enrich you with my absolutely, guaranteed, correct Playoff predictions:


Panthers 21
Bears 17

Redskins 10

Panthers 28

Redskins 17
Seattle 14

Colts 28
Steelers 10

Broncos 17

Colts 24

Broncos 21
Patriots 20

Football Trivia

What are the only two teams that Peyton Manning has never beaten?

Team 1

Hint: Dungy justed suggested that he may not even get the chance to beat this team this season.

Team 2

Hint: Team 2, he lost to his final game of his rookie
season and a second time when Team 2 was undefeated.