I was not a fan of Tim Tebow… then I watched this video. Now I can’t help but like him, even if I hate the Gators. Watch it… feel stupid about your selfishness, pass it along.
Archive for September, 2008
As I worked through the unread posts in my RSS reader, I came across several posts along these lines today. This one by Kem Meyer touched me the most… particularly the end. I can not say it any better, please go here and read what Kem has to say about the 9/11 tragedy, and the effect it’s had on her.
For the record, here’s my memory of that day: I was still asleep when the first plane hit (I had a pretty sweet schedule my senior year of high school, my first class wasn’t until 11:30). My mother woke me up with the news that: “A plane hit the World Trade Center”. That didn’t mean much to me… I assumed it was an accident, and proceeded to go back to sleep. A few minutes later my mom came back in and said: “They think it may have been terrorists”. In 2001, the word “terrorist” didn’t really mean what it does in 2008, nonetheless, I rolled over, and flipped on the TV in my bedroom. Casually watching the news coverage, and realizing how serious this “accident” was, I was lying in bed when the second plane hit. My mom screamed from the living room where her and my dad were watching the same coverage. Instantly everything changed, my mind raced to the possibilities of the extent of what I might see next. I remember running out into the living room too watch all of this unfold with my parents. We soon found out when the 3rd plane hit the Pentagon, and the 4th crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
The next few hours went something like this: We prayed, my mom cried, my dad enrolled in the army (just kidding, but he was close), my brother called home from college, we watched the news, we heard about a plane crashing into a building in Dayton, Ohio (sheer coincidence, small single engine plane, but just imagine what we were thinking), I drove both of our cars to the gas station to get gas (the lines were so long), I didn’t go to school that day.
I’ll never forget that day. One day I’ll try to convey to my children what we all felt and experienced that day. While I hope they are moved, and gain understanding from the things I’ll share with them, I hope they never have to experience themselves. My prayers tonight will be for the families of those lost in the various stages of this tragedy, and for the men & women all over the world serving our country to prevent a similar catastrophe for future generations.
I eluded to this topic in an earlier post on this blog. It’s taken me a couple of days to formulate what I want to say, and gather the time & words to say it. I’m glad I waited to publish this, because Marvin Lewis (head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals) further confirmed my feelings. Here goes…
I’m finished with the Bengals. I simply can’t do it anymore. I love them, I’d love to continue rooting for them… truth be told, I’ll probably still watch them, and secretly hope that they win. I love the team, and the players However, I am not going to support this team financially, or emotionally any longer. I will not support a team ran by an owner more interested in cashing checks than winning football games. I will not support a team coached by a smug, arrogant, inexperienced, clown of a coach. Today in his press conference, Marvin Lewis said the following in response to a question about what he would say to fans who were “on the ledge”, Lewis said: “Do what you gotta do. I’m not gonna keep talking about it… If you’re a fan be a fan”. Today Marvin, I’m doing what I’ve gotta do. Picking a new team!!
Now for the exciting part… I’ve been thinking about this since the debacle against the Ravens on Sunday. Here’s what went into my decision: Owner/Franchise, Coach, Players, Tradition, Geography, City, Past Success & History.
First I’ve gotta eliminate teams… I’ve broken this down into categories as follows:
- Steelers, Ravens, & Browns (Vomit… Plus their in the AFC North. That’s too close to home)
- Patriots, Colts, Chargers (Too much winning… I can’t be accused of being a frontrunner)
- Giants, Jets, Bears (I’m a city boy, but not a big city boy)
- Packers, Raiders, 49ers, Bills, Redskins (Too much tradition. These fans deserve their teams)
- Dolphins, Falcons, Lions, Texans, Cardinals (These teams remind me of the Bengals. Once was enough, thanks)
- Chiefs, Jaguars, Panthers, Titans, Vikings, Seahawks, Rams (These teams seem boring. They should combine, then they’d be exciting)
So, that leaves the following teams: Broncos, Buccaneers, Cowboys, Eagles, & Saints.
I’ll be honest, I’d love to be a Cowboys fan. Their owner will win at any cost, they are a classy organization, my wife would look great in a Tony Romo jersey, and I love Jason Witten! That said… I know if I choose the Cowboys, I’d be killed. They just have too many fans, and have won too much over the years. So regretfully, I must cross them off the list.
The Bucs & Eagles are appealing. They have great/younger coaches, appear to have a plan for their franchises, and have had some recent success. They have exciting players, and are fun to watch, but when it comes down to it, I can’t just get into them…. I can’t imagine sitting on my couch on Sundays rooting for them.
That leaves the Saints & Broncos. The Saints are a great choice. They have star players, solid future, and are based in a great city (I’ve gotta get to New Orleans). Problem with the Saints is this. I feel like a lot of people jumped on their bandwagon in the past couple of years with the drafting of Reggie Bush, and the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. I can’t be another person jumping on the bandwagon… too bad.
“And the winner is….” The Denver Broncos! What a great choice! I’m excited about the opportunity to root for this team! The more I think about it, the better I realize that it fits… here’s why: I love the city of Denver… it’s beautiful, it’s a great size, it’s scenic, it’s just awesome! I have family in Longmont, CO. which is just outside of Denver… this gives me some claim to the team as a new fan, plus I have the opportunity to visit the family, and watch a game at Invesco Field! All of this, combined with the fact that although they have been enormously successful in the past (See John Elway), they have not been dominant that past few years, but things look promising… they are young, have a solid QB, and a great coach. Most of all, I trust that the Broncos will not turn their backs on their fan base as Mike Brown, and the Cincinnati Bengals have.
So, as long as Mike Brown controls the team and Marvin Lewis coaches the team, I will be rooting for the Broncos. What do you think of my decision? Am I a traitor? A fair-weather fan? Making an irrational decision? How do you feel about the Bengals? Let me know in the comments… while your at it, buy me one of these!
I want to hear your thoughts on this video. What does it say to you? What does it stir inside of you? Tell me in the comments.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge sports fan. It really doesn’t matter what the sport is, if it’s on TV (especially HDTV), I’ll watch it. However, I get especially geeked up for the start of the NFL season. Here are my thoughts from a wild week 1 of the NFL.
- 20 minutes into the season, one of the best QB’s in NFL history was rolling around on the field, and last year’s most dominant team was facing reality in the face without their MVP Superstar QB. Tom Brady’s injury is a huge deal for the Patriots, the NFL, and my fantasy football team. Thinks look grim…
- The Colts & Chargers lose to NFC teams. Maybe the AFC isn’t so dominant after all…
- Brett Favre looked like Brett Favre…. Aaron Rodgers better bring “A” game tonight vs. the Vikings, or that crowd is gonna be unhappy!
- The Bengals are the worst franchise in the NFL. I’m predicting a 4-12 season. I was one of the few optimistic ones…. yesterday proved my ignorance.
- I’m looking for a new team to cheer for. Seriously… my fan allegiance is up for grabs… more on that in a later post!
- Donovan McNabb might be the MVP this year… looks like he’s back, if he can stay healthy, the Eagles will dominate.
- I think I need to improve my NFL menu for next week. I wasn’t impressed this week. Here’s the rundown: Chicken breast strips with Crazy Sauce and curly fries from Wings & rings. Double cheeseburger & large sweet tea from McDonalds. I bought the cheeseburger spontaneously thinking the rest wouldn’t be enough… turns out it was, and I didn’t eat it…. score one for my arteries.
I’ve spent a good amount of time over the past couple of weeks watching the Republican and Democrat National Conventions. I’ll keep all opinions and preferences out of the discussion, because I don’t want my blog to go near that conversation… it’s often boring, hateful, and filled with predispositions that aren’t worth discussing. That said, this post is less about political ideas, and more about business ideas.
In 2003, Seth Godin wrote a now infamous book entitled: Purple Cow. Below is a summary of the book:
Cows, after you’ve seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though…now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff-a lot of brown cows-but you can bet they won’t forget a Purple Cow. And it’s not a marketing function that you can slap on to your product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. It’s built right in, or it’s not there. Period.
So here is my question: After dozens of speeches, hours of conventions, and endless debates, will either of these candidates/parties/tickets arise and be a Purple Cow? Come November, will we be able to say: “I’m voting for candidate X because he/she brings something unique to the table. Something that no one else does… something that is phenomenal, counterintuitive and exciting”.
I wish we could get past all of the rhetoric, party loyalty, and brown bag speeches. I wish a candidate would stand up and say: “I’m a Purple Cow, and I deserve your vote because I bring this to the table, and no one else does, nor ever has…”
*Wow… this is impressive. Passed two long standing browsers in a matter of hours. Can’t wait to see a mac version!*
Chrome grabs 1% browser share in a day – Digital Lifestyle – Macworld UK:
Google Inc.’s new Chrome browser grabbed 1 percent of the browser market in its first day out in public, Web metrics providers said today.
Both Net Applications Inc., a U.S.-based tracking company, and Irish vendor StatCounter put Chrome’s total market share at around 1 percent less than 24 hours after its launch, passing rivals such as the current Opera and the ancient Netscape in the process.
‘This is a phenomenal performance,’ said CEO Aodhan Cullen in a post to Statcounter’s blog on Wednesday. StatCounter, which provides free visitor statistics tools to Web developer”
I’m not sure that the reality of this being the first week of September has fully set in yet. Seriously… where did the summer of 2008 go? This is not to say that it was uneventful, for it was quite the opposite. This post is an homage to some of my favorite memories from the summer in both picture and text form (in no particular order). I’d love to hear from you…. what’s your favorite memory from your summer adventures?
- “BSM Beach Bash” – Our plans for a day of fun on the lake got rained out, but God had something amazing prepared for us at our backup location. One student received new life in Christ, and hasn’t looked back!
- Student Camps at Camp Lebanon – My unofficial second home during the summer’s in South West Ohio. I love Camp Lebanon, and the people I get to do life with for a couple of weeks out there every summer. 2008 was a great camp season for all involved, I look forward to 2009 with great expectations!
- Teeing it up in the Fairway at the Fernside Golf Outing – For the past couple of years I’ve had the opportunity to play in a really great golf outing at a really nice country club with some really good friends. This year I teed one up in the middle of the fairway, and stuck one about 10 feet from the flag on a big Par 5. Not sure the folks at HPCC have ever seen that before.
- John Mayer Concert in Indy – My man crush on John Mayer has been well documented on this blog before, so it’s no surprise that anytime he is within a couple of hours of Cincinnati, I get the craving to see him perform live. This year, I decided about 4:00 that I wanted to attend the 7:00 concert in Indianapolis. By 5:45, I had tickets, and was on the road with a buddy (and guitar player at Journey Church). John did not disappoint… he is the Eric Clapton of my generation!
- IYC 2008 in San Antonio, Texas – I could go on forever about IYC… bottom line, this was an incredible week, in a beautiful city, that I was fortunate enough to share with my wife, and three of the finest high school students that Journey Church has to offer. Can’t wait till IYC 2010!
- July 11th, 2008 – The day I became an iPhone 3G owner. Love it!
- Jay Bruce’s Debut – I had the opportunity to see the debut of one of baseball’s most promising young prospects; the Cincinnati Reds’ Jay Bruce. There was an energy at GABP that has not been present in quite a while… hopefully that is a sign of things to come!
- Birthday Bashes – This summer was filled with celebrations of birth (including my own). Jenessa and I had some great time with some great friends at various celebrations.
- Guatemala Mission’s Trip – Again, I could go on forever about this trip. Bottom line: The country & people of Guatemala is now a part of my heart. May God continue to bless Journey Church’s future endeavor’s in that wonderful country! Go here and here to see & read all about the trip.
- And now for some pictures… enjoy! Well that stinks. WordPress is being ridiculous, and not allowing me to upload photos to any blog posts. I’ve hosted the photos in a MobileMe Web Gallery. Click here to check them out!
Whenever I say the word “Remember”, I always want to recite the bit from the movie V for Vendetta: “Remember, remember the 5th of November…” but alas, that has nothing to do with this post.
I had my final opportunity of the summer to preach yesterday to the fine folks at Journey Church. I was called upon to pinch hit because our Lead Pastor was out of town, holding down the shortstop position for the Journey Softball squad. We wrapped up our series entitled: Proverbs – Playbook for Life with a talk on the tongue.
I said all kinds of things related to the topic, if you’d like to listen, you can check out the talk here. My main point was that we just need to gain a fresh realization about how powerful our words are. At one point I shared a quote that I once heard from one of my favorite pastors, Rob Bell. I can not remember, nor find the original context of this quote, but the power is rather universal. I use this quote whenever I get the chance… it has become sort of an anthem for me. Rob says:
It’s important that we remember, because if we don’t remember, we might forget, and when we forget, bad things tend to happen.
This is a really powerful thought. The point is that we have to intentionally remember certain things, or our human nature will kick in, and we will develop spiritual amnesia, and suddenly forget what’s been done for us, or what our responsibilities are. It’s at those times, when we have forgotten, that we are in danger or bad things happening.
So I’m curious…. what do you often forget? What do you need to ask God to help you to remember?
Welcome to my blog, thanks for stopping by. You'll find all kinds of interesting stuff here... I hope you'll stick around for a while and jump into the conversation by leaving a comment.