All Star Game

Well, it's 1am and I'm still up following the ASG in the 13th inning. I don't really know why I'm doing this, since I have work tomorrow. I guess I figure it'll have some big impact, on baseball, this season, and maybe even the Cubs in the World Series. All I know is I started watching this game at 8pm (for the pregame) at a pizza place in town. I am now all set for bed, laying on my couch, watching the updates online.

Oh, I hope this ends soon, with a NL win.

My other love

...Though I don't think "other" is correct. I just wrote about computers, which isn't really a love, it's more of an interest. Whatever it is, I'm on to the next thing: sports. You are getting an idea of what I do on my day off and how I go through my Reader: news then sports.

I love basketball. I will watch any game no matter who is playing and will follow March Madness though I don't have a team or follow the Playoffs when I don't care who wins. That's how it was for me this year. But come on, it was the Lakers vs Celtics, a classic matchup. "The NBA Finals games were the six highest-rated and most-watched programs so far in June, the first time that has happened in seven years." Sadly, being in the DR without a TV I was unable to be one of the 16.9 million viewers (on average), though I did watch the stats, courtesy of ESPN GameCast.

I'm not sure how long this will be up, but currently, my love in baseball is the topic of the front ESPN page. I owe many of my sports alliances to my father and brother, but I can say truly, I own this one passed on from them. This one even has roots in my grandpa- "Pop"; if only he could be around for this season. I am talking about the team that has the best record in baseball. The team which has had many curses. The team which has a great outfield. A team which may soon be sold. I'm talking about the Chicago Cubs. Here are a few things that ESPN has to say about this team:

• Some terms it would be helpful to know if you want to join the bandwagon. You should know these if you are a fan.


• Speaking of real vs bandwagon fans


• Wait no longer: 10 reasons this is our year


• If you have time and love baseball and history (or maybe even fashion) you should check out this take on the Cubs uniforms over the years. You think I'm link happy in this blog? Check out this guy; but his links are great.


• And lastly, there have been some good memories in Cubs history.

With a season like this, there has been very little of this.

Go Cubs!!

Interesting News

I am my father's daughter. He loves to email little links to news articles he reads or the days trivia to the rest of the family. I have followed this pattern. Today, I am taking that idea and copying off of a friend. I am sharing my cool news stories with you today. Warning, they are quite random.

• The discovery of an OLD church.
• Arrests at a graduation... for cheering too loud. Ah, reminds me of the airhorn that went off at my graduation...indoors.
• Ever wanted a large impact on your country? How about having your song chosen for the national anthem?
• The Sudoku fad is growing. It's become a great time-filler for everyone, including bored jurors.
• Have you helped the victims of the China earthquake? How would you if you were an NBA player? How about giving 2 million dollars to your home country and starting a foundation to rebuild schools? I always knew I liked Yao Ming

Channel flipping: Sean Taylor

I'm going to add to the many other online things about Sean Taylor. But he is not the focus of my post.

I was finished with classes and sitting in front of the TV while I ate my lunch. I didn't expect to find anything worth watching on ESPN news. But as I flipped by, they were broadcasting the funeral of Sean Taylor. I only caught the last bit: pastor David Peay Sr. talking about Taylor and his relationship with him, as well as the most important relationship anyone can have. I did my best to write down quotes, but I fear they will be paraphrases. Loud and clear through, I heard him talk about wealth meaning nothing without a relationship with Jesus and that you should "Just come to know Him before it's too late. You've got to know Him. You've got to have a relationship with Him."

Honestly, it caught me a little off guard to hear the truth and what I believe so clearly stated on TV. But I guess that was the intention. It is the truth and it needs to be told. Even when thousands are sitting there for a funeral. Even when you are being broadcast across the nation on ESPN news. I hope and pray many heard the words of Pastor Peay and will think more about knowing Him.

"Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You. There is not greater thing."

The 17 days of life at TU

My countdown chain is shrinking. Including today, there are 17 more days until my last final (December 12th). To commemorate these final 17 days, I am going to blog each day (this also gives me a good excuse to procrastinate since I have a BAD case of senioritis).

Today I guess I'll share just a bit about my thanksgiving. I was able to go home after keeping stats for a rematch of last year's NAIA Women's Elite Eight game with Taylor and Cedarville. But this time the result was a little different.

At home, I just chilled with my family, grandparents and my sister's friend. I got to see my brother for the first time since May and watch him play in two basketball games. I also went car shopping, but that story will be for another day this week. Coming home, I stopped at a friend's apartment for a while and watched Transformers. It is a great movie, but totally for guys! I have got to say, good friends are rare for me to find. And in this case, I think spending time with this friend has re-energized me for the rest of these 17 days.

So, stay tuned for my last 17 days as a Taylor student and the last days of my undergraduate degree!!

Futbol is still futbol

My first blog ever was three years ago yesterday. It was about soccer- the love of my life. That was inspired by doing stats for the TU men's soccer team; today I was reminded of the beauty of soccer while doing stats.

My soccer day actually started at 9am went I went to work out and the TVs in the Well had the Women's World Cup on. So while I ran, I got to watch Sweden take on Nigeria. Also on another TV was England/ Japan. In the time I was there, I got to see three goals scored. And by the time I got back to my apartment, I got to see Japan score in the 94th minute. While I'm not a big fan of women's soccer, it was fun to watch.

After classes, I went out, on a beautiful sunny afternoon, to do men's stats. I was quickly reminded of the poem I wrote on here 3 years ago; something about soccer strikes a chord in me. I mentioned in my poem that soccer is an art, not a sport. I saw this more clearly as I compared working stats for other teams with my boss. Baseball is honestly boring. While it is all stats, that's about all it is. Football is alright, but the athleticism comes only in short little bursts. Basketball is great, but you have to watch the game differently to take stats.

All of those sports have many stats to record and can be analyzed fairly well by just looking at the numbers. Now don't get me wrong, the numbers don't tell you just how hard that home run was hit, or just how he dodged all those tackles, or just how sweet that dunk and assist were, but the numbers pretty much tell the game.

Soccer- soccer has few stats. You can sit back and watch the game, taking a bit of time to record shots or corners or fouls. And if you are looking to improve and coach, you might record wins and losses on the ball. But soccer truly is an art. Every touch of the ball, every control, every leading pass- each one is beautiful when you watch a good team.

And so, three years and one day later, I still believe the same thing- "This isn't a sport: this is an art."

Super Bowl XLI

As promised, my views on the Super Bowl of 2007. First off, no Super Bowl in recent years has captured my interest like the 32nd and 33rd Super Bowl. I may live near Indianapolis for school, but they are still not my team.

My stance with the game was this: I don't care about either team that much, therefore whoever I rooted for was not based on personal preference. The next choice is based on what is good for the game. Both coaches were African Americans, a first for the NFL, but this doesn't help choose a team. So, I looked at who had won the Super Bowl in the past and who hadn't in the longest time. Now, this takes a history lesson on the NFL: the Colts have been in Indy for 20 years, and they moved from Baltimore. Well, the Colts have never won in Indy, but won in Baltimore in '71. The Bears, on the other hand, won in '86. So, I decided to root for the Colts. But more than anything I wanted a good game- darn rain ruined that.

But they brought home a Super Bowl win to Indy and the Colts team repeated what they did with Baltimore down in Miami in '71. And the first words out of the owner's mouth after he was presented the Lombardi trophy were a pleasant surprise to me. He said that their thoughts and prayers were with those involved with the deadly tornadoes in Florida earlier this month. And then other phrases which were refreshing to hear. While there was a lot of "shining glory" they gave "it all to God." My favorite had to be Coach Dungy, and his pride in "doing it the Lord's way." What a testament to the truth of God's word and the person of Christ!

Check out my pictures in my Picasa web album of the viewing in my dorm.

My thoughts on Prayer

Congrats Joanna- you got me to blog for the first time in a few weeks. She blogged about the Colts. I do not intend to reveal my loyalties about the game, though I may after the game is finished. What I intend to do is respond to her question about praying for the outcome of the game. I knew it would get too long if I just left a comment, so I am devoting a whole blog to it. Plus, I have been wanted to write about this topic and now I have motivation.

To preface, these are just my thoughts about prayer as I have experienced in my life. They have not been checked against scripture for their validity. But as I see it, there are 3 different types of communication we can have with God. First, we can talk to Him. This is simply conversing with Him as you would a friend: sharing the events of the day, your emotions and reactions to those events. This also includes statements about your desires, dislikes, and other emotions. These treat God as a friend who cares and is listening to anything you care to say.

Secondly is what I'll call a request. This is where the conversation shifts from being solely a friendship and introduces the idea that God is the Creator and Giver who cares for you and can act in your life. Here you ask things of God that you would like, with the knowledge that He is able to meet your request.

Lastly we have what I'll officially call prayer. While I have not looked up the scriptures, I believe this is supported as a conversation in which you trust fully in God's power and know that He will give you what you ask. Note the difference between what I call prayer and a request. A request acknowledges that God can do what you ask and a prayer acknowledges that God will do what you have asked.

But how is prayer even possible; do we ever know for certain that God will do as we ask? While I don't want to open up this new topic, I will say that I have been led by God to pray certain things which I fully believe He will grant, if I am willing to pray for them as He leads. A prayer is, therefore, not selfish. You know that God will grant the prayer when it is for His glory, in line with His plan, presented humbly. So a prayer is always answered in the way we asked? If it meets the requirements I listed above, yes.

I have often found that prayers require surrendering my own desires for what I know is God's desire. Prayers are hard to say, since they may not be what you want to ask of God. Requests are the desires you have and, knowing God has the power, you ask of Him. This DOES NOT make requests any less important, though I believe prayers are the mark of a mature Christian.

My conversations tend to have all three of these elements: I start by talking about my life in general and God tends to reveal to me what His will is. I then pray for those things, with a humble heart. But I always add my requests. He loves me for who I am, and while He is making me into His image, He knows I still have my own desires. I share those with Him; I ask Him for those things that I want. But I always end something like this: "God, this (my prayer) is what I want and I know You will do. I want it because You want it. But these things (my requests), Lord, are the things that I want. Grant them if You wish, but thank you for granting my prayers."

Wow, this is a long road to get to the answer (do you even remember the question?). I think we can ask God to bring about a certain outcome for the game, as long as we realize this is only a request: a question posed to God not because He will do it, but because He can. Oh, and He does care about these types of things (listen to Dr. Spiegel's idea on this).

Soccer in America

This is the biggest event in American sports for many years. Bigger than AI's trade to the Nuggets (even though I'm a Nuggets fan). Bigger than King James's success in the NBA. Bigger than Barry Bonds (and all those other guys) using steroids. Bigger than the Trojan's championships. Yes, ladies (though you may not care as much) and gentlemen...David Beckham is coming to America to play in the MLS. He may not be the greatest in the football world, but he certainly is up high on the list. He has played for two of the greats in the world: Manchester United and Real Madrid. And now, he wants to grace the LA Galaxy with his presence.

How much does the world care about this big event? Well, I took a look at some of the major online news sites from America, Britian, and Spain to see what they thought. Here is the breakdown (sites viewed at around 9pm, about 10 hours after the announcement):

• ESPN: the main story on the front page with various articles, predictions and polls
• Sports Illustrated: listed under "top stories" on the side; also a link to photos and featured in the "poll position"


• CNN: tiny blurb about halfway down on the left


• Fox News: tiny blurb at the bottom under "features and faces" to see pictures of Beckham and his ex-Spice Girl wife
• Fox News Sports: the main story, including predictions and reactions


• BBC news: one of four side stories- links to sports page
• BBC news sports: Beckham dominates this page- all of the main stories are about him


• El Mundo: link to a few stories related to Beckham and the move; second main story on the sports page
• Madrid Press: I'm not sure if these are listed in order of publication, but there is an article at the bottom about Beckham leaving Real Madrid; once again the second story from the sports page

I'm not sure I have a point other than looking at how a few parts of the world respond to this move. Personally, I am excited and will be sure to catch a game where Beckham is playing!!

Is this sexist?

Ok, so I have to vent right now. I have been keeping stats for my college for the past three years. My first year, I did men's and women's basketball, softball and baseball. Next year I did men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, softball and baseball. This year, I was gone fall semester and have come back to- just women's b'ball. One month and all I have done is the women's games. There have been 3 guys games, but Matt gets to do those.

I haven't really minded up until now. The sports information head at our school is also the track coach and they have a meet Saturday. Because of this, he will not be able to do the men's game on Saturday with Matt and so he asked me to help out and write the post-game summary. Finally a guys game! Oh wait- no! The sports info guy can't find someone to help with the track stats so who does he ask? Matt? Oh no, he's a guy, he can do the men's b'ball game. Let's ask the female, who has already said she prefers b'ball.

Don't get me wrong, he is my boss and working the track meet will mean more money, but why me? Why not Matt? Arrggg...I'm so mad!

I am a fanatic

According to dictionary.com, a fan is "a person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause". For me, the enthusiasm is extreme, overpowering, intense. The cause: sports. The crack of a bat brings me joy, a ball on the court sends chills of excitement up my spine, a ball kicked across an open field and into the net brings me delight.

Yes, I truly have an "unreasoning" emotional reaction to watching sports being played. It can't be described but one thing I do know: I never want it to change!!

Golf I like

Yes, I have a new game to play in my free time, or play instead of homework. My dear younger brother referred me to this site. Check it out and try not to get hooked.

Basketball becomes Baseball

This story explains it all. I'm just glad I wasn't at that game! (If the link doesn't work, let me know)

football is football...unless it's futbol

The sun, the green field, the filling crowd.
The start of the clock, the initial momentum, the first drops of sweat.

The footwork, the slide-tackles, the fakes
The headers, the shots, the saves.

The shirt-pulling, the shoving, the collisions
The "injuries", the yellow cards, the hand balls.

The yelling: of players, fans and coaches
The passion: to get the ball, to score a goal, to win.

The energy, the desire, the strength
The high, the escape, the love of the game.

The work, the discipline, the training
The improvement, the teamwork, the perfection.

The break-a-way, the goal, the celebration
The 90th minute, the hand-shake, the win.

This isn't a sport: this is an art.