'Roid Rage

Today in an interview with Peter Gammons, Alex Rodriguez confirmed that he had taken steroids from 2001-2003.

I used to get angry when these stories came out. I hated Bonds, Giambi, and Sosa for cheating the game of basbeall and the sanctity of a game that takes numbers very seriously. But after years and years of exponential steroid stories, I'm drained, jaded and just sad. I barely even blame A-Rod. It's tough to blame players for just trying to keep up with the status quo of pitchers and hitters juicing up to improve their game. I mostly just blame Bud Selig, the players union, and the game of baseball for turning a blind eye to this in the 90's and early part of this decade and not cleaning this up sooner. Stories like today are the price that baseball must pay as more and more stars and more numbers become tainted.


Baseball is probably the most important for stats and numbers. It was the first sport to become popular in fantasy games (although you can argue that fantasy football has passed it in terms of popularity). We used to hold these records as something truly special. Maris' 61 home runs, Aaron's 755, Dimaggio's 56 game hit streak. Now every single stat from 1987-until A-Rod retires (because he'll likely break a lot of major records) will be completely tainted.

It makes me sad for the sport I love. I remember getting caught up in the '98 home run race with McGwire and Sosa. Now, that memory means very little. Now even some of my favorite players, like Jeff Bagwell, and David Ortiz, certainly fall under the suspicion of steroids at the very least. Roger Clemens was one of my favorite pitchers when he rocked out the '04-'06 seasons with the Astros, and now I know it could have all been a lie. Those memories are tainted. This is just another case of professional sports spitting on its fans. As ticket prices soar while the economy plummets, we can really see that pro sports care little about fans. MLB turned a blind eye and implicity encouraged steroid use in the 90's because of the simple reason that HOME RUNS MADE MONEY.It's the fans that suffer for this.

Maybe one day Major League Baseball will have some credibility again and we can take records and numbers seriously again. I hope that day comes.......someday. Until then we're just going to have more days like this as more big names come out.

40 days until Opening day........and it can't come soon enough.

Best Super Bowl ever?

I wasn't too excited about this year's Super Bowl, but it turned out to be an instant classic and at least one of the greatest Super Bowls ever. It had everything you could want. Lots of lead changes. Good classic football players. Big hits. An underdog going for an upset. A huge touchdown returned for an interception by Harrison. A long bomb to Fitzgerald. And a classic drive by Rothlesberger with 2:34 culminating in the TD pass to Holmes in the corner of the end zone, which will become one of the most famous plays in NFL History.

But was it the greatest Super Bowl ever?

Well, lets run down the list of greatest super bowls in chronological order. Unfortunately, there aren't many close ones, since they usually just turn into a blowout.

Super Bowl X: Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17
Close match-up between two awesome defenses.

Super Bowl XIII: Pittsuburgh 35, Dallas 31
Great shootout that went back and forth.

Super Bowl XXIII San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16
Montana leads game winning TD drive

Super Bowl XXV N.Y. Giants 20, Buffalo 19
Scott Norwood! Wide Right!

Super Bowl XXXII Denver 31, Green Bay 24
Close game as John Elway and the Broncos upsets the favored Packers.

Super Bowl XXXIV St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16
Kevin Dyson is one yard short! NOOOOOO!!!!!

XXXVI New England 20, St. Louis 17
Brady drives down the Pats to set up Vinateri's field goal for a HUGE upset.

Super Bowl XXXVIII New England 32, Carolina 29
Great game, although it's not remembered all that well. Another last second Vinateri field goal.

XXXIX New England 24, Philadelphia 21
Philly made it close but had TERRIBLE clock management down the stretch and ran out of time.

XLII N.Y. Giants 17, New England 14
HUGE upset as the Giants end the Pats perfect record. Classic game winning drive by Eli including the amazing catch by David Tyree.

XLIII Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23
Holmes catch for the win


Most analysts would probably say last year's Giants win was the greatest ever due to the historical significance of ending the Pats perfect season. But that was a really boring game until the 4th quarter. My personal pick would be the Rams/Titans Super bowl. That 2nd half was incredible. The Titans made a huge comeback, followed by a huge deep pass to Isaac Bruce, followed by McNair's incredible last minute drive (that never gets enough credit), followed by the infamous one-yard-short play. That was just a great game. I would probably rank tonight's game 2nd. It really was a well-played back and forth game by two teams and two quarterbacks that both wanted it bad. Plus, I enjoyed this one a lot hanging out with my friends in my apartment. So, my top 5 will be

1. Rams/Titans
2. Steelers/Cards
3. Giants/Pats
4. Pats/Rams
5. 49'ers/Bengels

Although my FAVORITE Super Bowls ever were XXVIII and XXX when the Cowboys won (I don't remember when the won XXVII. I think I had to go to bed.) But those weren't close games, cause they destroyed the Bills and Steelers.

What do you think is the best super bowl ever?

Lost Showdown

This is an awesome thing ABC is doing. It's a bracket of all the best moments in Lost history. You can go and vote here:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=showdown

The first round matchups are:

Season 1 division:
The Crash vs. "Don't Tell me what I can't do"
Opening the Hatch vs. Walt's abduction

Season 2 division:
"See ya in another Life brother" vs. Swan Station Map
Michael frees Ben vs. Desmond turns key

Season 3 division:
"We have to go back" vs. Kate and Sawyer hook up
Locke's falls from building vs. Charlie's sacrifice

Season 4 Division:
Desmond and Penny phone call vs. The Oceanic Six
Ben Moves the Island vs. Sawyer's goodbye



I picked "Don't Tell me what I can't do," Opening the hatch, "See ya in another life," Desmond turns key, "We have to go back," Charlie's Sacrifice, Desmond phone call, and Sawyer's goodbye.

What are your picks?

Headed to LP Field!

Tomorrow I will head out for Nashville for our annual Titans game! I am so pumped that I get to see in person this historic 11-1 (hopefully 12-1 after the game) season!

I can't wait to see Chris Johnson run all over the Browns defense, watch Albert Haynesworth pound the depleted Cleveland O-line, and the Irish laddie Cortland Finnegan hopefully pick off Ken Dorsey. It should be a fun game and a great weekend!Hopefully, I'll have pictures when I get back.

Our seats are in section 310, so look for up for us if you're watching the game on tv.

A Thanksgiving Game to be Thankful For-Pt 2

Update-6:02 P.M.

What a great day!  After the Titans shelacked the Lions 47-10, the Cowboys have rolled easily in the first half to a 24-6 lead.  Tony Romo has been almost perfect, for 210 yd and 2 TD.  Our O-line has been awesome, giving Romo all day, and our Defense has 5 sacks and a fumble recovery in just one half.

So, both my teams are looking dominant so far.  And don't look now, but UT basketball starts tonight.  So, it's been a great Thanksgiving so far.  I'm pumped to see how my teams play in December and how they finish up the regular season.  But for right now, I'm just enjoying some Thanksgiving dominance.

A Thanksgiving Game to be Thankful For

Live Update-2:01:

Well, this certainly makes up for our first loss of the season.  We are at this moment up 35-3 in the first half!  Chris Johnson is already over 120 yards with 2 TD, Lendale White has 2 TD, and we have a defensive TD.  I know the Lions are pretty bad, but this has been one of the most dominant halfs on both sides of the ball that I've seen this year.  It makes me very excited to see the rest of this season.  My favorite stat from the first half:  Titans TD: 5; Lions First downs: 3.

I'll try to be back with more updates from the 2nd half and from the Cowboys game later in the day.  Also, my mom's fried chicken and cornbread dressing are coming up soon.  I love Thanksgiving!

Relationships and Bonhoeffer

This semester in my mentoring group with Dr. Neller, we have been reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It has been really good, and it is nice to read the book that has been quoted by so many other books that I have read. It's tough on the church and really blasts those who offer "cheap grace," so it offers a very strong view of what discipleship really looks like.

Today I was reading this and I came across something really cool. Bonhoeffer was talking about relationships and how we have to be able to leave any relationships that claims immediacy over Christ. This sounds tough, but he explains that it is only through Christ that we can have true relationships, and any relationship without him is in the end quite superficial. He says:

"We are separated from one another by an unbridgeable gulf of otherness and strangeness which resists all our attempt to overcome it by means of natural association or emotional or spiritual union. There is no way from one person to another. However loving and sympathetic we try to be, however frank and open our behavior, we cannot penetrate the incognito of the other man, for there are no direct relationships, not even between soul and soul. Christ stands between us, and we can only get into touch with our neighbors through him [...]

But the same Mediator who makes us individuals is also the founder of a new fellowship. He stands in the center between my neighbor and myself. He divides, but he also unites. Thus although the direct way to our neighbor is barred, we now find the new and only real way to him-the way which passes through the Mediator.

This really struck me. I can really see how relationships with my friends are affected by this. Those with whom I have a spiritual connection are always deeper and more real. I hope that as I leave college next May and move to the next chapter in my life, that I can always seek to build my relationships on Christ.