I can finally cheer publicly!!!

My good friend Tony Foeller and I have a great love for the Kansas City Chiefs, but when it comes to baseball we stay in the same state, just different sides of it.  Tony is a huge Cardinals fan, (you can read his latest words about them at his blog www.pastortony.wordpress.com

I on the other hand am a Kansas City Royals fan.  We have for the last 15 years or so been the laughing stock of the MLB, but not now!!!  We sit atop the AL central standings and have even taken down the NY Yankees two games in a row.  Even if it doesn’t last, I’m loving the 2008 Baseball Season!

SIU WINS!!!

Hey a big shout out to all my friends in southern Illinois!  I was watching the opening round of the NIT last night and saw several people that I knew in the crowd.  The SIU arena was Rockin’!  It’s always great to be connected to a group of people through a shared love of a sports team.  I know others out there that feel the same way, (I’m talking about you Leland), it’s just a great feeling to root for the old home team.

Arnie, what a guy.

I spent time this afternoon watching the Champions Tour Skins Game.  Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Jay Haas, Peter Jacobson, and Loren Roberts were providing great entertainment not only with their golf skills, but also through their commentary on the golf course.  The last player to round out the group was Arnold Palmer.  What a guy.  His golf game has deteriorated far more than the other players.  Several of the men could still compete on the PGA tour, all the others can still compete at a high level on the Champions Tour, Arnie couldn’t compete on the local high school tour.  But he was still the most pivotal charachter of the afternoon.  His ability to continue to be an ambassador for the game is amazing.  It reminded me that it’s not always about the performance, it’s about the person behind the performance.  It’s my hope that God would use me in such a way that it would not be about the performance, but about the God who is behind every good thing that comes from my life.  I may not ever light up the leaderboard, but I hope that His light will shine through me.

Bruised Egos & Broken Bones

Our church softball team began league play this past friday night with a respectable 1-1 record.  We lost the first game of our double-header but rallied to win the second.  While I still enjoyed playing the field, (I didn’t make any errors, with a few quick stops at third base), but batting was a different story alltogether.  I just don’t have the “pop” I used to have.  I know it’s the combination of age and extra weight that are slowing me down…but I still don’t like it!  Grounding out to short is not nearly as ego inflating as putting one over the center fielders head, oh well.  To make matters worse, I broke my big toe running to first, (ok, maybe it was more like jogging), so that’s been a royal pain.  But you know what?  I’ll still be out there this weekend.  Not because I’m a good ballplayer or even because I’m needed.  I just have this child like fascination with playing ball with a bunch of other guys who never got the competition bug out of their system.  We may never make an ESPN highlight reel, but man will we have fun.

Favorite Teams: Faithful Past or Local Convenience?

I am truly blessed.  I have a wonderful congregation that I have the privilege to pastor. I have a beautiful home in which to live in.  I have the greatest kids in the entire world.  But most of all, I have a wife who loves sports almost as much as me.  No really, I’m not kidding, last night she actually jumped off the couch and screamed “I can’t wait for football season to get here”.  Now there are some sports that she loves more than others.  She is a HUGE NFL fan, she loves Major League Baseball, likes college basketball and NHL hockey, and deals with the NBA.  So last night we entered into a very important discussion in our home.  What teams will our kids grow up rooting for?  During her formative years Rachel lived in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Therefore she loves the Bengals and the Reds.  During my childhood I lived in Kansas City, MO.  So I obviously grew up rooting for the Chiefs and the Royals.  For the past few years both of our football teams have been very competitive, either making or just missing the playoffs each year.  Because of that competitiveness they have been featured on several national telecasts, so we have been able to watch our teams often.  Our baseball teams have been a different story entirely.  My beloved Royals are the perennial cellar team of the MLB, this year the Reds have taken that position from them.  Because of their poor play neither team gets many nationally televised games.  While we were living in Southern Illinois we began following the St. Louis Cardinals.  I had always had a great respect for the team and the great fans of St. Louis so rooting for them was a very natural thing to do.  Here’s our dilemma…we’re an hour away from St. Louis, do we encourage our children to root for the local team that they will have the ability to follow more easily or do we remain faithful to our past?  Let us know your thoughts…we’d love the help!

Cautiously Optimistic

This weekend marks the official beginning of a die hard football fan’s season.  The first three rounds of the NFL draft took place yesterday with the remaining four to come later today.  My beloved Chiefs took some players that appear to have some upside, so I’m cautiously optimistic.  I really wish they would have addressed offensive line needs though.  Both Joe Staley (T) and Ryan Khalil (C) were available when the chiefs picked in the first round.  Both could become pro-bowl caliber players.  After losing Willie Roaf and Will Shields we’re desperate for quality line help.  It makes me fearful for our running and passing attack.  To paraphrase…Where there’s no Will, (or Willie) there’s no Way.