super-bowl

So Close

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I admit I didn’t have a dog in the fight, proverbially speaking. I was sorta kinda hoping that the 49ers could pull off a Super Bowl win, but I wasn’t going to cry myself to sleep if the Chiefs won. I respect and admire both coaches and both teams. Both quarterbacks seem to have a solid faith in God and Jesus.

It turned out to be a Super Bowl for the ages. If you’re a Chiefs fan. I mean how many Super Bowl games go into overtime? Only two that I’m aware of. And it was a battle royale of back and forth to the very end.

My heart goes out to those 49ers. They came so close, so very close. Literally it was a matter of inches. If that extra point is a few inches higher, it doesn’t get blocked and the game possibly has a different outcome. If that player falls on the muffed punt instead of trying to pick it up and run with it, the game might have taken a different trajectory.

Instead, those 49er fans are left with what ifs and what could have beens. As a Titan fan I can relate. I think about that 2000 Super Bowl where Kevin Dyson ended up one yard short of the end zone in their loss to the St. Louis Rams.

I know people will say that in time, it won’t hurt as much. If I want to find out the Super Bowl winners from more than a few years ago, I usually gave to google them. Life goes on and a new day dawns and all that.

But for now, it still stinks. At least for the 49ers team and fans.

Congrats, Peyton Manning

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Alright, I confess. I was slightly rooting for the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50. Nothing personal against you. I just felt like they were the better team. Plus, they had the kid from The Blind Side playing for them. It felt like the Christian thing to do.

Still, I also have to confess that I’ve admired you through your entire career, starting out at the University of Tennessee to the Indianapolis Colts and finally to the Denver Broncos.

You always have done everything and carried yourself with utmost class. You always have won the right way– by working hard and playing by the rules. You exemplified your Christian faith without using it as a bully pulpit to shame others.

I don’t know if tonight will go down as your swan song. It’d be nice to see you end your playing career as Super Bowl 50 champion. Still, that is totally your call. You are the only one who knows when it’s the right time to call it a career.

If this is the last rodeo for you, I wanted to be one of the first to thank you for leaving a legacy of class that I hope will be followed by not just future quarterbacks in the NFL, but by all professional athletes in their respective sports.

I love the way you’ve exemplified the truth that it really isn’t ultimately about winning or losing but how you play the game and why you play it. You always have played it for the love of the game and it has always showed. You have earned the respect not only of your fellow players and coaches but also of the opposing players and coaches.

No matter the outcome of the game, whether you had won or lost (and I am glad that you won), I would have considered you a winner either way. All this comes from a non-UT fan who grew up in West Tennessee supporting the other state college.

Thanks, and may you one day buy the Titans and run their organization right. I can dream, can’t I?

 

True Faith

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Well, my team lost again. I was rooting for the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl and they got oh-so-very-close, but still lost. Thus continues my streak of rooting for the losing team. But I’ll keep rooting for my teams, even if they keep losing.

Some will tell you that faith means that if you believe hard enough, everything will go your way and you will always get what you want and all your dreams will come true. I think that’s partially true. Sometimes, you believe and you receive what you want. But not always.

I think true faith is shown when you see no sign of your prayer getting answered, but you still keep believing the impossible. Your faith deepens and grows when you don’t get what you asked for and when the silence of heaven seems to be your only answer.

I’ve said it a lot lately, but I believe it more than ever before– God is the absolute best at making the impossible possible. He’s the only one who can speak life out of nothing, who can bring a whole universe into being by speaking it.

A church were I attended for a few months has a saying, “Everyone’s welcome. Nobody’s perfect. Anything’s possible.” As of right now, I officially made that my motto. I think it serves as a good model for Christianity.

Jesus will never turn away anyone who comes to him in faith. Nobody gets it right all the time and every one of us has royally screwed up at least once. And no matter how bad your situation is or how far away your dreams seem, it’s never too late and you’re never too far gone to see God show up, for with him all things are possible.

So you’ll probably hear me wailing and gnashing my teeth again after next year’s Super Bowl. But I’m not giving up hope that my team will win one day. And I’m especially not giving up hope on my God. He’s all I really have, anyway.

Why I Am Not a Professional Card Player

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I have finally come to the realization. I will never be one of those guys on ESPN making the big bucks playing poker. I will retain my amateur status as a nertz card game player.

What is nertz? Suffice to say that it is an insanely fast card game that requires fast reflexes. And a bit of a killer instinct. Both of which are sadly lacking in my case.

Tonight, I finished in 4th place. Out of 4 players. I don’t think even cheating would have helped me in this game. There were times when I ended up with more cards than I started out with, even though I’m sure that’s mathematically impossible.

Too bad there’s not professional freecell. I’m much better at that game, mostly because I’m the only one playing and it requires no dexterity or quick thinking or killer instinct.

Maybe if I started snacking on Ruffles potato chips with ranch dip, I’d do better. On second thought . . . . nah.

 

Signs that the Apocalypse Is Nigh

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I am not an end-times expert, so these signs are for entertainment purposes only. Kinda like those 1-800-PSYCHIC HOTLINE numbers, but with nothing even remotely psychic involved. You know the end is nigh upon us when:

1) The Chicago Cubs are actually favored to win the World Series. Forget them actually winning. Even the merest possibility of them getting there is a sign that the end draweth nigh.

2) There will be no more Left Behind-related books by either Jerry Jenkins or Tim LaHaye.

3) When we finally elect someone for President of the United States who is actually qualified to be President of the United States. Unlike the last 4 or 5 (just so you know I am not picking on one side or the other).

4) Gas is less than $1 a gallon again. Or maybe we finally get to the point where we no longer need gas to run our cars.

5) When Westboro Baptist Church members start acting nice to other people and paying them compliments.

6) On the day after the last Simpson’s episode (which will probably be after season 50).

7) When a girl actually agrees to marry me (yes, this one is particularly in jest).

8) When Apple products aren’t overpriced and when PCs don’t crash.

9) When there’s actually something good on television on a Friday night.

10) When I get all of my NCAA bracket picks right.

11) When box hockey becomes an official Olympic sport (and it actually should be way before the Apocalypse comes).

12) When I stop using so many parentheses (and I do realize that I sometimes go overboard on them at times).

13) When I come up with a sign for #13.

14) Hopefully not before I’ve seen every episode of Friends (again just kidding with that one so no nasty emails please).

15) Probably when all the hoopla about the end-times dies down and no one is really talking about it or expecting it to come. And probably when I’ve finally bought that winning lottery ticket.